How much of this is BS?

Lobo103

Lobo103

Joined
Jul 14, 2003
Messages
645
Reading over the forums recently it strikes me that a lot of the knife market today has turned into pure crap. So much of what people buy is based on hype and personality cults instead of real performance. Everything has turned into this expert or that touting the miracle prybar of the week. The knife magazines sure as hell can't seem to write up a review, most of the time they don't even test the knives before they write something that is the useful equivalent of "Looks cool, I think it might be useful for.......but I didn't really have time to try it". I've read much better reviews by posters on this forum, those threads unfortunately usually devolve into d-ck measuring contests between self proclaimed Guru's once again spouting that their favorite cash cow is more sacred than the competition. I wonder if we can ever get back to just discussing knives and related topics in an intelligent manner....if we ever did to begin with. Perhaps thats idealism shining through. Opinions?
 
Pissing contests or intelligent discussion?

There's a lot of both. I'd say there's quite a bit more intelligent discussion, but the pissing contests tend to attract the most attention.
 
Of course the pissing contest do. In the other thread about best threads, the last Strider battle over eight pages will get it´s rank. But yes, this is somehow degenerated. It is not on the knife topic.

There is an objektiv point:

What performance is demanded out of a knife?

I mean not a kitchen knife. I mean the knifes ppl. use to carry with them.

Some see knifes as special tools, made for cutting some got their flashback from the stoneage, like me.

What really is disturbing but somehow interesting at all is the way the new hypes are lead into the forums.

Two years ago Busse had a bad stand at least his followers had to argue against an objektiv metallurgical test, which prooved one blade to be bad (in fact, Mr. Busse recieved the translation of that test, that took place in germany, but exept one phone cal there never was a reply to it).

If you look at the last hype around strider, you find no will to argue. You may point at all design weaknesses considering the knife aspect, the weaknesses in material (a nonplastic steel for hard use, even in large choppers), everything. The best you get is: "Go away!" and the worst is: "We like the cool look!".

I see light at the horizon.

The last german knife magazin tested three hype knifes ( i refuse to say hard use) against each other. What made me hoping: They said every knife had cut bad.

That is no surprise, looking at the geometry but it has to be said, even though it was just one sentence in a three paged article.

Ppl. may start to think about, what knife they really need in terms of strength and what are the points to choise (steel, thickness, edge..). That would lead into a discussions about "can do or can´t do".

One forumite did ask, why ppl. are buying the thick knifes.

I think some others will follow.

At least, the manufacturers offer so much "thin" blades (average 3mm) that most ppl. will come to serious blades and the hype is just marginal.
 
Alot of times it just seems people tout whatever they like and crap all over any other brand. Much like Chevy vs. Ford, Miracle Whip vs. Mayonaisse, blonde vs. brunette, cable vs. satellite, Microsoft vs. Apple, etc. etc. etc.

You can find a lot of useful information if you look past the unavoidable biases people have but we'll never get rid of them.
 
Lobo103 said:
I wonder if we can ever get back to just discussing knives and related topics in an intelligent manner....
Click to expand...

Set an example of the type of discussion you want to see. People of similar outlook will engage you.

-Cliff
 
You can skim past the nonsense and read the informative posts or you can skim past the informative posts and read the nonsense for entertainment. The choice is yours. :cool:
 
I do agree somewhat with the starter thread above, but find it all still usefull info once I have filtered it. This forum is still more informational than just going at it alone without any info on the knives a particular person is interested in.

No complaints here. This is a place to discuss knives and opinions will be proffered. But I still value them. The threads that do turn into pissing contests I read as entertainment. It's really fascinating to see the thinking and psychology behind some of the heated debates.

Cliff
 
There are more great knives available now than any time in history. Back when the Bowie knife was a serious sidearm there were a lot of knives that were just big kitchen knives or sharpened prybars. Today you hear a lot of hype, but you also have a lot of real information (commonly through Bladeforums). You can pick a thick knife that is tough as a truck spring or a thin knife with laminated wonder steels. You can get fantastic damascus blades with supersteel cores. You can get any type of locking mechanism in your folder that you can imagine. You can really buy folding knives that rival fixed blades for strength.

When I think of the crap that I had to pick through back in the 60's to find halfway decent blades I think that I have now died and gone to heaven. Now I know what alloy my throwing knife is made from and how hard it is. I know what alloy my knife is made out of and get to pick whether it is uniformly hardened, differentially hardened, or laminated. I even get to pick the alloy for my camp hatchet (S7 if you please).

There is plenty of BS out there, but there is also an unprecidented amount of hard technical information and real choices available. Wading through choices is fun.
 
If I've learned nothing else here, I have found that what works for me is more important than what someone else thinks, or has found through some sort of field tests. Part of the joy in these forums is seeing how others see the same products. I don't particularly care how many times a piece of rope can be cut before a blade needs sharpening, but if I have nothing else to go on, it might sway my opinion one way or the other. One mans junk is another mans treasure certainly pertains here as well :)
 
Lobo103 said:
Reading over the forums recently it strikes me that a lot of the knife market today has turned into pure crap. So much of what people buy is based on hype and personality cults instead of real performance. Everything has turned into this expert or that touting the miracle prybar of the week. The knife magazines sure as hell can't seem to write up a review, most of the time they don't even test the knives before they write something that is the useful equivalent of "Looks cool, I think it might be useful for.......but I didn't really have time to try it". I've read much better reviews by posters on this forum, those threads unfortunately usually devolve into d-ck measuring contests between self proclaimed Guru's once again spouting that their favorite cash cow is more sacred than the competition. I wonder if we can ever get back to just discussing knives and related topics in an intelligent manner....if we ever did to begin with. Perhaps thats idealism shining through. Opinions?
Click to expand...

LB103,

With the zillions of knives in production and for sale I don't think anyone pretends to be a guru. Some folks will be gurus in their own brands or specialties. I give opinions based on what I have used and the opinion of knowledgeable friends. Like many things in life BS flows everywhere.

I'm not a big fan of the guys that bash things with their knives to test them. Stupid IMHO. A knife should be for cutting. I haven't had any of many types of knives fail me. Then again I don't confuse them with a hammer, a screwdriver, a nail-puller, a crowbar, an axe/hatchet, or a saw (except for my Leathermans!).

Don't take any of this knife business seriously. The sun will come up and the tides will go out no matter what anyone's opinions are. I like to view the knife builders forums because they are putting their time and money into something and I think many are really wizards regarding styles, steel types, sharpening techniques, etc. I like the knife cutting contests. That to me is the review I want to read. It puts the guy's knife to a real test. If you think you have a great knife and are a great sharpener then I would challenge you to enter a knife cutting contest and see how you stack up. Gurantee you will learn something useful about knives!

Just my BS'ing $.02.
 
everyone's got different opinions about the same knives. unfortunatly, very few adults can admit that they are wrong or even concede that they're opinion is only that.
 
Even in the worst of threads there is plenty of valuable information. You have to put in the effort too, and filter out the sycophants from those with relevant and useful comments.

n2s
 
Thanks to those of you who replied for the encouragement. I guess I was just a little fed up at the state of things, but you all are right there is a lot of good info and some good people hidden amongst the chaos. :)
 
Laceration said:
Alot of times it just seems people tout whatever they like and crap all over any other brand. Much like Chevy vs. Ford, Miracle Whip vs. Mayonaisse, blonde vs. brunette, cable vs. satellite, Microsoft vs. Apple, etc. etc. etc.
Click to expand...
In many cases it comes down to people making a choice between two closely-competitive options, then feeling the need to rationalize or justify their choice. "Obviously I made the right choice, because the other is CRAP!" I see it a lot these days; heck, I've even caught myself doing it.

(Put me down for Dodge, mayo, brunette, cable, and Apple :D )
 
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