How to Enlighten the Uninformed?

B

Bob Lyon

Joined
Aug 11, 1999
Messages
69
A guy at work brought in a Pakistani-made knife with a 7" blade, and was asking me why it wasn't as good as a hand crafted knife.
I pointed out the obvious, the poorly fitting components, and told him the steel surely wasn't as good as it should be though offhand I couldn't give him specifics on the steel, but beyond that my power of persuasion failed me.
What would you have said to make a true believer out of him? He's definitely not one of those close-minded goofs we hear about all the time.
 
Poor steel= low strength and difficult sharpening with a tough time holding an edge. Questionable heat treat could cause dangerous stress risers. Also look at the ergonomics. The trouble is that in some situations a crappy knife is a better choice than a high quality knife, like if you're doing a job that will damage the knife (i.e. something a knife isn't intended to do in the first place). It all boils down to Pakistani knives not being very cool!
wink.gif
I would take him to a knife show that has a good mix of super high quality knives and Paki crap and let him make the choice. I think the more exposed someone is to a good knife the more they can appreciate the differences.

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Steve Agocs, D.C.
http://www.geocities.com/Chiro75/frames.html


agocs_s@hotmail.com
 
On my table at some of the gun shows, I have a Pakistan knife with the blade cut almost all the way in half with a Paul Bos heat-treated 440-c blade of the same thickness. I also have a unsharpened freshly heat-treated blade and can shave slivers of steel off the Pakystan blades. Wayne Goggard likes a rope cutting comparison. It doesnt result in a ruined blade like my tests. Bruce
 
By ruined blade I mean the Pakystan blade gets ruined not my demonstration blade. It is barely scratched. Try the nail cutting test, its fun too. Bruce
 
Ask him about his other interests. If none of them involve performance or artistry, it will be a tough sell.

Most people are satisfied with "cheapo" products because they either don't know any better or can't afford anything better.

Although custom knives have gained in popularity over the past few decades, we must remeber they remain unknown to most people. Many folks still consider buying any good brand name factory knife a "serious investment." Seeing a custom knife that costs ten times more will certainly raise many valid questions.

Sure, performance, quality, and style are fairly easy to explain. The fact that you are investing in an artist/craftsperson when you buy a custom knife is the tough aspect to convey to many people!


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Tom Anderson
Hand Crafted Knives
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by george tichbourne:
Grab him by the collar, shake him as hard as you can while screaming at the top of your voice that the knife is junk, or words to that effect.

Guaranteed to get you noticed.

</font>
Click to expand...

...or smacked up-side the head.

 
There are some people who just flat can't get it. They are blind to fit and finish, won't learn the performance differences because they'll never spring for a good knife or have an opportunity to try one. (The demo knives are a great idea!) If you ask someone what they think *their* time is worth, and tell them how much time you have in your knife, they'll probably get a glimmer. But maybe not. I have a guy right now that I can tell feels put out because I quoted him $60 for a hunter. I thought that was pretty reasonable. This is a guy who hunts with a thousand dollar rifle with a $600 scope on it, and has a lot of other nice stuff; I don't get it. He spent more than that on his drill! I actually think many people expect "hand made" to be cheaper than the upscale production knives. Plus, I think many people don't realize how much materials cost, and how hard the skills are to acquire. I know, let em each have a hand at the grinder!
biggrin.gif


Dave
 
Oh yeah. I had a guy ask me a similar question once. I wasn't as politic as you. I just told him it was a piece of s**t. I think I managed to say it with some conviction, too.

Dave

P.S. I have a little Chinese fruit folder that's just cute as all getout and cost me $5. It was worth every penny.
smile.gif
 
You might have them try doing a fairly demanding cutting job with one knife then the other. Something that requires delicate cutting with a hair poppin edge or something similar that will test the knife's performance.
One of my friends was carrying around a little 3" pakistani lockback at the fair last year and noticed was comparing it to my knife. He just looked at it and flicked it opena dn said that mine ( delica 98 )was cool but that he liked his. I said that mine could get alot sharper and he said his cut jsut fine ( butter knife dull). Then he was trying to cut open one of the those popsicles that coems in a plastic sleeve ( flav r ice ? ) and had to hold it against the wall and saw it off. I had him use my delica when he tried to cut open the second one. He stepped over to the wall and put the popsicle up againts it and held the knife ready to cut, then stopped and asked if I cared if he usedmy knife against the wall. He cut the top off the popsicle as he was turning and didn't even realize it. When he turned back around and saw it laying on the ground all he could say was " DAMN "

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I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I've got the sharpest knife in the room.
 
make an analogy with a Volkswagon Rabbit and a Dodge Viper. A Rabbit will get you where you want to go, but it is uncomfortable to drive, you have to refill the little gas tank often, you don't get much performance, the materials it is constructed out of aren't the best, etc. The same goes for a pakistani knife. I sharpened a knfie for a guy where my dad works. he bought it for $30 Canadian. All he uses it for is cutting tape from t.v. boxes and such, so it does what he needs- no need for him to spend $170 Canadian on a Benchmande. But, if your friend does enjoy more performance, finish the analogy. betetr steel means a sharper edge that lasts longer and is MORE ENJOYABLE TO USE!! Also, guys with Dodge Vipers get the chicks, and of the chicks who like knives, an Allen Blade, Mike Cooper, Bruce Bump, or soon to be CrayolaMade knife will get the chicks anytime over the pakistani numbers!
(So the analogy doesn't completely map over! So what!)

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"Come What May..."
 
Why isn't a manufactured knife as good as a custom made one?......hmmmm

...if he likes cars, refer to the Mustang versus a Saleen Mustang......or perhaps a forces issued HumV versus a leather seated, Cd player equipped HumV...

....or if he was like me before I saw the "light", any knife in my hand was a good knife. It wasn't until I started to learn about all the benefits of "special" steels, edge geometry, balance, etc.. that I really could understand the difference.

So, I'd sit down with a coffee and go over what makes a chip-board pool table worse than a 2" slate pool table....relate the benefits of your knives to something he can understand.

might be worth a try....
 
If the person is fairly responsible, or someone that I respect enough to want to understand the difference badly enough, I'll loan them one of mine for comparison. "Take it home, cook with it, cut up carboard, leather, etc..." Generally the stuff that they use knives for. I'll also cut up Mountain Dew boxes with both knives and show the differences in the cuts (clean vs ragged, straight vs curving off to the left or right) and of course the all-important shaving test. Don't know why, but that one always impresses them.

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Oz


"His name is Robert Paulson."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
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