How "traditional" is your collection?

TAH

TAH

Joined
Jul 3, 2001
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The other day, I was thinking, as popular as "tactical" knives are, I don't own one. Curious, do you own any "tactical" knives or do they just not interest you? Which knife in your collection is the closest to being "tactical"? I guess mine would be this little Buck. Still not very tactical - no super steel, no high-end synthetic handle, no one-hand operation, no pocket clip, etc., etc.


 
I own one tactical knife, pictured below. Otherwise, small "modern" traditions knives like CRK Mnandis and a couple of slip joints.

Here is my tactical knife, which i basically fondle and open everyday, it is small (mini-CQC7) and smoothest action you could imagine. I own it for the beauty, I personally do not carry knives for self-defense.

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TAH said:
The other day, I was thinking, as popular as "tactical" knives are, I don't own one. Curious, do you own any "tactical" knives or do they just not interest you? Which knife in your collection is the closest to being "tactical"? I guess mine would be this little Buck. Still not very tactical - no super steel, no high-end synthetic handle, no one-hand operation, no pocket clip, etc., etc.
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As long as the discussion and images center around this question, I'll leave this thread open. If it becomes a display and discussion of obviously non-traditional knives it'll get closed. If it gets "too close to call" it'll get closed also.
 
I have a large sebenza which I carry a lot. I have a production Emerson which I won. I don't carry it much.

Every other folder is a traditional. I can't say it will stay that way, but that's the way it developed. They're just so much fun.
 
I own one modern knife that I can think of (I gifted a couple away I think?). It's a Cold Steel Voyager with 4" Tanto blade (one heckuva beefy knife!). I've carried it maybe twice in the 2 or 3 years I've owned it.

Now that I've gone back to them (after 20 years of carrying a clip-on Spydie type modern) I just enjoy my old, classic traditionals and don't feel the least bit disadvantaged with them. The get the job done in classic fashion and feel great to carry.

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Peregrin said:
As long as the discussion and images center around this question, I'll leave this thread open. If it becomes a display and discussion of obviously non-traditional knives it'll get closed. If it gets "too close to call" it'll get closed also.
Click to expand...

Fair enough! :thumbup:
 
I have a handful of folders I don't consider traditional. With one exception, the most recent is this Buck, which I was sent for review 25 years ago, and which I've never used or carried. I've filched this pic from the net so I don't have to go and look for it ;)



I also have one of the early Japanese-made Spyderco Co-Pilots in G2, but haven't carried it in 20 years.
 
I like knives of all kinds, heck, weapons of all kinds, but prefer traditional pocket knives over tacticals by a wide margin. I own over 250 traditionals and only five modern OHO, two by Spyderco, a SOG, a CRKT and a Kershaw. Two of them I keep in the cars' consoles for emergencies, the other three are for hunting backups to my fixed blades and for general dirty work. I hardly ever (maybe a couple times a year) carry any of them.

I do like the newer "super steels" and wish more traditionals were available in them, especially the stainless varieties. My favorite hunter is a 9" drop point in CPM-M4 powder steel at 65 HRc. I'd love to have a large stockman in S90V.
 
I have a kershaw Blur in elmax steel. I got curious about elmax steel from reading about it in the general discussion forum. The Blur was the most inexpensive way I could check it out so I bought one off of the exchange. It's a nice knife that I seldom carry however I don't think I'd ever sell it.
 
I have many, many traditionals as they have been and are my passion. I drifted into non-traditionals for awhile and still have a few left. Someday, I'll sell them except for one which is more of a gentleman's modern than "tactical" (Spyderco Des Horn which my wife gave me for one of my birthdays).

What's not to love?

 
I have 5 or so non-traditionals, with the most tactical being my H&K.

As far as "most tactical traditional", I've got a black G10 Peanut! :D Watch out, everyone! Mall Ninja over here! It's not as scary as Frank's Tacti-nut, though!
 
I don't think I own a "tactical knife", maybe a few sheath knives that might fit that classification. I do own a good number of William Henry, Chris Reeve, and custom one hand openers, no where near the number of traditional knives though. With few exceptions the OHO knives do incorporate more traditional cover materials and some Damascus.

That being said I almost always have a traditional knife and a modern OHO knife with me everyday. I use one or the other depending on the task and my mood at the time. I don't think I own a traditional that would be close to a modern except maybe this little Case "Ducks Unlimited" that had some kind of delrin handle, no liners and a lockback.

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All my knives are traditionals. I don't own a single modern or 'tactical' knife.

Two of my most carried; a Boker 240 penknife and a Camillus made Remington peanut.
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Seventy year old hand made pocket knife.
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Sardinian resolza in rams horn. Carried often.
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Buck 303 cadet. A 'modern' stockman.
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Northwoods stockman in 1095 and rosewood.
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And of course a SAK and an Opinel.
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An Italian zuava. Although in all honesty I don't really have this one anymore. The better half made a home for it in her purse. Oh well, I still get to touch up the blade for her now and then!
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My collection is about half & half. I always carry a traditional pocket knife & usually a small 3-3 1/2" fixed blade. For the times that I don't carry a fixed blade, it's nice to have a one handed opening "tactical" folder, like a Sebenza or Benchmade.
 
Why are you guys so preoccupied with distinguishing between traditional and modern folders? From my viewpoint they are all good. The type of knife a person carries is largely a matter of taste. I have a higher opinion of someone with a Strider SMF than I do of those helpless, benighted folks who try to open a box with their house keys.

For the record my accumulation heavily skews in favor of traditional designs. I don't turn my nose up at good knives though, and have a Sebenza and a Mora Companion to go with my GEC 73 and Inkeroinen Tommi.
 
Christian, if we weren't particular about it, this sub forum wouldn't exist and we'd all be in the general forum. Personally I have no prejudice just preference. And my preference brings me here [emoji4]

 
Preference over prejudice is a great way to put it. The anti-gunners have long attempted to pit the traditional firearms crowd against the newer black gun, high cap semi-auto group. It's stupid to turn on people in your same family over petty differences. Knives is knives . . . period.
 
That's what I'd hoped. Sometimes though those preferences are so vocal that it seems almost judgmental. Glad to see I misread things.
 
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