How popular these knives are in USA?

snowreaper1 said:
Most non knife people will own something like a SAK or leatherman as their main blade. Most regular folks I know think a knife costing over $50 let alone
one thats over $100 is a little crazy.
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So true...and for a reason! leatherman changed the game, it used to be if you needed an all purpose knife SAK/others was it, enter leatherman- man when I think back on what I've done with a leatherman-well its a damn lot, bless those guys :)
 
Agreed, most of the knives I see people carry around here are on a Leatherman tool, I don't like to go anywhere without one either.
 
Out of all the people I've worked with who carry knives, I'm the only one who has purchased "higher quality" knives. My coworkers mainly carry S&W knives, or some other form of foldable crap. But hey, to each his own, right?
 
Most guys in this area carry Case, Buck, or older Schrades. I see more carrying "low-end" imports(like Rough Rider) than carrying $40+ knives by Benchmade or Spyderco. The three blade stockman is the most popular pattern and when I feel like carrying a traditional folder that's what I carry. It is usually a made in USA Schrade Uncle Henry.
 
I think it's the same everywhere . Only people who are "into" knives do the research to find out about knives and learn what makes a great knife rather than just a usable one . Here in Canada we also have Walmart stores as well as our own chain of Canadian Tire (that sells everything) . Both carry knives with names the average person knows , but nothing of top quality . However the average guy who sees the knives in the case with the guns and amo just assumes they must be good , after all they're in the "hunting" section , right ? Every flea market also has a couple of guys selling hunting knives from China , India or Russia at cheap prices . They look good with thick blades and nice looking handles . Will the handle fall off? What steel is the blade made from ? Who knows , but the average guy sees that they are not too expensive and buys them . However , like everyone else here I would rather have one good $150 knife than five $30 knives and thats how I afford to buy real good knives , I just buy less . Or try to ;)
 
I carried a few quality knives for years before I got into knives. A SAK tinker, a Schrade folder similar to a Buck 110, for hunting a Schrade PH2. None of these are collector items, but even as a non knife person I was able to tell the quality difference of a decent blade and a real cheap one. Now Im into more expensive knives but the Schrades and SAK still get used.
 
I've seen alot of spyderco's carried, along with kershaw, buck, gerber, a few benchmades, lots of sog's, sak's, multitools. On the other hand I've never seen a Chris Reeve in anyone else's pocket. Saw a guy carrying a ZT once and a Al Mar.
 
I often see people carrying cheaper models of CRKT, Benchmade and Cold Steel. I rarely see someone with a Spyderco so I know if I see one, they must be a knife guy. The most knives I see are Gerber, followed by cheaper Kershaws and some BUCKs.
 
rubiconss said:
Its like a lot of things, what was once for a select group becomes mainstream once they start manufacturing for the big box stores. Look at NorthFace as an example.
Used to be hardcore hiker/mountain climber gear - Now every 11 year old girl has a NorthFace jacket from Dick's Sporting Goods.
Dicks sells Kershaw, Gerber, Buck, Ka-Bar and SOG etc. Will they ever get Spyderco? Dunno.
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One word.... SouthButt. Check it out. ;)
 
"I detect saturation intelligence wicking itself into the sponge one post at a time :)" ;)

Has anyone ever knocked off ESEE?

I am buying Products made in Australia, America, Britain, Europe, South + Central America, some Asian countries etc now because am sick of my appliances, tools and electronics breaking down after a few months, also I am more and more mindfull of whos economy I support. You can't help buying Chinese, Indian stuff most of the time but when I have a choice I am paying a bit more and hopefully it will pay for itself over time.
 
That adage about price relating to quality is good, I'll have to use that next time somebody asks me why I spend so much on knives. XD.

And generally, I see most people carrying an SAK or maybe a Kershaw. Spydercos are pretty rare outside of the knife community, and I don't think I've seen anybody save one law enforcement officer carry a Microtech (Then again, Mircotech tends towards being over priced, in my humble opinion.) Never seen anybody EDC a Chris Reeve. I personally carry Spyderco or Benchmade knives. That's my 2 cents on this matter. And I wish you luck in getting higher quality knives.
 
Can you get Mora / Morakniv knives in China? Made in Sweden. They are very inexpensive in America and one of those knives that well suited to everyday life.
 
I live in Texas. Until i was in my mid-teens, i was completely unaware that not every man in the world carried a pocket knife.

Every man i had ever met in my life (that i can think of) carried a pocket knife. The two most popular brands where i grew up were Case and Old Timer. Most everyone carried either a Case Trapper or Old Timer Muskrat, as if it were a piece of clothing. People looked at you weird if you didn't have a pocket knife on you.

MANY people got in trouble in our school because they forgot to pull their folder out of the pocket before heading to class, but unlike today, where you're instantly suspended, they just took it from you and gave it back to you when you got on the bus to go home

I had also never seen any kind of locking knife except a Buck 110 folder.

Now i carry a Kershaw liner lock, and I live in Austin, where no one seems to carry a knife.
 
Down here in Argentina, most city folks don't EDC a knife (or any sort of useful tool, for that matter). Some have a SAK (lots of Classics and such). Out in the countryside, most guys EDC fixed blades, folding knives are seen as toys or novelty items by old farm hands.

Good quality folders are hard to find. You've got to order them from the US most of time, since only one store in the whole country stocks knives from brands like Benchmade, Spyderco, Emerson, ZT, etc. Prices are inflated because imports are currently almost cut off and getting dollars to pay for US made goods is almost impossible (you've got to get special permission from the government, which is nigh impossible, or go through the black market), add in the fact that minimum wage is around $400-500 (and stuff costs the same or more than in the US) and you'll understand why many chaps don't carry nice knives.

Most of my friends are into guns and knives, they have big collections and seldom carry the same knife for more than a few consecutive days, but I know we're the exception rather than the rule.
 
BePrepared said:
MANY people got in trouble in our school because they forgot to pull their folder out of the pocket before heading to class, but unlike today, where you're instantly suspended, they just took it from you and gave it back to you when you got on the bus to go home

Now i carry a Kershaw liner lock, and I live in Austin, where no one seems to carry a knife.
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Seriously, I hardly ever see anyone with a knife in ATX. When I do, it tends to be something generic (gerber, gas station, etc)

I graduated '06 in Abilene, and used to carry a knife clipped to my pocket every day. Only one time did anyone ever say anything. I got rat'ed on for carrying in 10th/11th grade, and the school officer came to my class to talk to me. I was straight with him about it, and explained that I feel more comfortable having the tools with me, whether I need them or not. He knew I wasn't generally a trouble maker, and let me go with a half-hearted, "don't bring it anymore"...aka don't carry it so that other kids can see it.
 
I think the real truth of the matter is, it's no different here in America than anywhere else in the world. The knife aficionado will have a nice knife on him, and the non knife person won't have any knife at all, unless it's required by a job or sporting activity like fishing or backpacking. From what I' ve seen of people sawing open boxes with thier house key, I seriously doubt many people don't even bother carrying a knife at all, unless they are one of the obsessed cult followers of the knife. Certainly, with modern life in the big city, you can get by with no knife at all, and millions of people do it. If the non knife obsessed does recognize in the dim recesses of their minds that they do indeed need a knife, they will buy something cheap, and small enough to fit on a key chain. Of the 35 million knives produced each year by Victorinox, 9 million of them are the tiny classic. Imagine 9 million knives each year, for years. That's a SAK classic for just about every keychan that is carried. Not too many years ago, one of the knife magazines had a full cover photo of a classic, and billed it as the most confiscated knife in the world by airport security all over.

The awful truth is, that for most people these days, a knife is not high on the list of important things to carry. Most people woujld rather have a nice pen or watch, or the latest phone, than a knife to carry. We're different, because we're the obsessed, the mutants. Those who think starting the day without a knife in our pocket is worse than going without our morning coffee. And I love my morning coffee, don't get between me and the coffee maker when I come downstairs in the morning. I'd soon as go out without my pants on than without a knife in my pocket, but I've always been looked at as the strange one. Most co-workers and friends think I'm a little nuts over knives, and those who do carry a knife, just carry some small pen knife like a Buck companion or Victorinox classic. Or a gas station 2.99 special.

With modern life in the 21st century, a knife is just not as important as it used to be. Very few of us will skin buffalo for a living, or fight off wild injuns while trapping the high country. But there is still UPS packages to open, string to be cut, and sundry other little things that come up in the day in a life in the big city. A knife is still a nice thing to have on occasion, but it's not going to be a matter of life and death too often. On the other hand, twice in my life, I had to act in an emergency where once it was a matter of freeing a girls loose sneaker lace from an elevator, the other was an over turned car that was smoldering with a driver that had to be cut from a seat belt. I was glad I had a knife, even though it was a modest slip joint and did the job well. The small sharp 2 inch blade cut the seat belt just fine.

It's sad, but carrying a knife seems to be going out of style except for the afflicted like us. The rest of the world is content with the latest electro gadget of the month.

Carl.
 
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