I like "nice" knives.

[cwood8656]

I also have come to like 'nicer' knives. Right now I have either this 55 with me or my Lanny's Clip. Some days, the boy's knife. When it looks like rough work might be required I carry this AGRussell curved regular jack.

Chris-

 

[Peregrin]

All traditional knives are fair game in this forum. There is no correct opinion as to which is best.

If someone likes custom knives, bully for them, and I will OOH and AHH right along with the crowd.

If someone likes to dredge up beat up old knives to fix up and carry, bully for them, and I will OOH and AHH right along with the crowd.

If somebody likes used but serviceable knives that they buy for a song, bully for them, and I will OOH and AHH right along with the crowd.

We all like what we like.

I'm on board with this. Everyone's idea of "nice knife" is as different as their idea of "best pattern". There's no right or wrong here.

 

[kamagong]

I love that knife since you first showed it and had to wait to receive it from your family...It looks like that 73 is going to be a part of you for a long time to come. I sure can't see you passing it off.

Yes, it's always a pleasure to see it, and to see your pleasure in it my friend.

Thanks fellas. This is my knife, the one that my kids and grandkids are going to remember me using.

Christian, as I recall, the last time I saw this come up the word was not "Nice" but "Expensive".

I find it somewhat ironic that to this point the vast majority of knives in this tread are production/mass produced knives.

Nothing ironic about it. I deliberately used the word nice instead of expensive. I'm not drawn to a knife because it's pricey. I don't enjoy spending more, but it's hard to get the quality that I want, in the materials that I like, without paying extra.

Besides I don't need customs and "perfection." Perfection is such an ephemeral thing anyway, lasting only until the first scratch or hint of patina. All I ask for is a knife with decent steel, natural handle materials, and made by a craftsman who takes pride in his work.

 

[leghog]

Besides I don't need customs and "perfection." Perfection is such an ephemeral thing anyway, lasting only until the first scratch or hint of patina. All I ask for is a knife with decent steel, natural handle materials, and made by a craftsman who takes pride in his work.

Nothing man-made will ever be perfect, and production knives, even pricey ones, aren't as "craftsman" as many would like to believe which is why I pointed to the irony of most knives in this thread being production/mass produced knives.

I like just about all knives, I just don't collect all knives.

 

[jc57]

Glad you found a knife you're happy with. I get the same sense of satisfaction of ownership from one of my $40-ish Case knives and consider them to be nice knives. I've got a few GECs but so far haven't felt especially compelled to carry any of them.

I do have more knives than I need or even want. However, rather than doing the math of "I'd rather have ten $400 knives than 100 $40 knives (still $4,000 worth of knives) " my feeling is that "I'd rather have 10 $40 knives ($400) and $3,600 cash than 100 $40 knives." It just took me a while to figure that out.

 

[sitflyer]

Been thinking about this thread for a bit now. I don't see this as an either/or question one bit. We all have too many knives if we're hanging around a knife forum I've got lot's of plain Jane knives that I love every bit as much as my "nice" knives, not that they aren't "nice" as well...
As a kid growing up I never really liked the "cheapo" knives that we all seemed to carry back then, and saved up my money at the age of about 14 to buy a Buck 112. To me, that was the nicest knife available in my location at that time, that appealed to me.
As for accumulating, I guess "you never know what you have till it's gone" applies somewhat...Camillus, Schrade, Imperial, now are looked at with a different eye, Nostalgia maybe? All of them are nice.




I consider the above two knives to be nice, because they are excellent examples of production knives that exceeded my expectations...and I just like them.




I consider this AG Russell muskrat in black lip pearl to be nice, because of materials and sheer beauty...and I just like it

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder...

 

[SAK Guy]

:thumbup: :thumbup:

These are fine knives!!!! Nearly constant EDC in either the carbon or Schrade+ versions since Christmas. Becoming almost as indispensable as my ALOX SAKs.

 

[Double Ott]

Fine knives...Yes

Tom

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[arizonaranchman]

Knarfeng said it even better.


*In my case*, Things I carry on my person can get lost and are also used "in a pinch" fairly often. I don't want to worry about them. I don't go for cheap stuff but use the info I've learned here to get a great tool for my money.

Now, I might spend more money on a computer or software or a tool which I keep at my bench 'cause that's what want there.

I actually like old knives and old tools quite a bit.

You will lose a $200 knife in a day but you can throw a $30 knife out your car window in traffic and it will be on your dresser when you get home.

*but*

It's all good.

Those are beautiful knives.

Isn't that the truth! Same with sunglasses!!

 

[avoidspam]

Great thread

kamagong - I always admire that stag #73 too. Class.





I thought I'd contribute by posting up two quite different knives from my collection. The top one is by John Lloyd and is by far the fanciest knife I own. If you'd asked me a couple of years ago if I would have bought that knife I would have said no! Time moved on and my tastes evolved and broadened a little... I carry and use this knife, it's actually very useful. Thin grind, comfortable and well balanced. I still think it's a bit 'showy' so I asked my wife, she said no, so there you go! I've scratched that itch though, I can't see me buying another like it. And like it I do!

The second is by Mike Zscherny and what really drew me to it was the lines and the craftsmanship. After a nervous wait it landed over here and in hand his craftsmanship really showed! Now, what I think is interesting is, as opposed to the Lloyd when I pull the Zcherny out of my pocket to cut something most people won't even bat an eye. Yet I will always take pleasure in his work every time I use it

 

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

I just like having something nice in my life, and it isn't cars, clothes or watches, knives it is. Something nice about cutting a nice steak with a nicer knife, that actually cuts! If it is on a knife it better be able to be carried, thrown in a pocket and aged with use!

 

[kamagong]

Good stuff guys.

 

[zippofan]

It's funny, that I come from an "affordable" forum about wristwatches, where we say that affordable means whatever you can afford. In watches, $1K may be affordable, or a $5K Rolex, or a $50 Timex or $10 Casio. When I buy even an expensive Case/Bose (for me, relatively speaking), it's still less than what I may have spent on a watch. I feel blessed to afford either, as someone already pointed out, more than one of any item like a watch or a knife is essentially a luxury. As I have more than one nice knife and one nice watch (and Zippos too ), I am really blessed.

So to reply to the OP, I love nice knives:

Speaking of nice knives, my Buck Custom Shop 501 in buffalo horn/S30V should be here any day! :thumbup:

 

[Alnamvet68]

Simple elegance is nice....

 

[mnblade]

I guess it's my Scottish roots, but I'm basically a tightwad. As such, bang-for-the-buck knives are generally what appeal to me. On any given day, in my pocket you'll find a Case peanut or mini Soddie, an American-made Schrade Old Timer 33OT jack, an Opinel 6 or 8, or any number of different Victorinox SAK I own. Given that I have a mortgage and three kids, we keep a pretty tight rein on the budget (I'd never buy toys on credit). With that said, if I do splurge or make a "pride of ownership" purchase, most times it'll be for music gear. I have a boutique hand-wired tube amp made in Holland, and a $400 custom-made harmonica microphone (sold off my only GEC to help cover that purchase), plus a case full of high-quality harmonicas. This is not to say I won't ever step up and purchase something like another GEC knife -- I probably will at some point. But for right now, I'm satisfied.

-- Mark

 

[kamagong]

OK my friend, let's engage in a little thought exercise. For our purposes let's say you lost your treasured peanut and you want to get a replacement. You have a couple of choices. The first is to get another Case, the same model as your old one. The second is a custom 'nut made by none other than Tony Bose. 52100 blades, old Utica bone covers (or whatever else you may prefer), made to Tony's impeccable standards. Now here's the kicker -- let's imagine both knives cost the same. You can't turn around and sell the Bose and use the proceeds to buy new music gear because he doesn't command the same premium prices in our universe.

Would you still choose the Case?

If you choose the Bose, I posit that you like "nice" knives just as much as the rest of us. You just aren't willing to pay the premium.

 

[mnblade]

OK my friend, let's engage in a little thought exercise. For our purposes let's say you lost your treasured peanut and you want to get a replacement. You have a couple of choices. The first is to get another Case, the same model as your old one. The second is a custom 'nut made by none other than Tony Bose. ... Now here's the kicker -- let's imagine both knives cost the same. You can't turn around and sell the Bose and use the proceeds to buy new music gear because he doesn't command the same premium prices in our universe.

Would you still choose the Case?

If you choose the Bose, I posit that you like "nice" knives just as much as the rest of us. You just aren't willing to pay the premium.

I like "nice" knives just as much as the rest of you. I'm just not willing -- at this point in my life -- to pay the premium. You can PM me for my mailing address to send that Bose!

-- Mark

 

[kamagong]

LOL...I'll send that peanut over as soon as Tony finishes building me a BP.

When I said nice I wasn't necessarily talking about fancy covers like ivory, pearl, or stag. First and foremost I meant the use of good steel -- 1095 at very least for carbon steel, ATS-34 for stainless. I also want proper construction in a knife, not a bunch of production shortcuts. Things like pinned instead of glued shields.

Not to mention good, old-fashioned craftsmanship. Little touches like the flush joint on the knife in the left leave me ooing and ahhing.

- Christian

 

[ISKski]

Hear, hear Kamagong!

 

[silenthunterstudios]

I could lie and say, my father bought junk tools because that's all he could afford, and I learned to buy good stuff. Nope, I own mainly junk tools as well. It is an addiction, plain and simple. We would all get along fine with a Vic sak with plastic red covers, a Mora and an Estwing hatchet. Where's the fun in that? We are collectors, we amass knives. A few or a hundred. Custom or production. I will geek out over an older junker Imperial cattleman I find at a knife show, or a 2013 Case Bose wharncliff trapper I buy at a knife shop.

What I don't get is, why do those with higher end knives sometimes look down on a guy geeking out over a barlow or an Opinel, and conversely, why do those with less expensive knives look down on a guy geeking out over a custom or higher end production knife?

Personally, I was looking at my collection the other day, looking at what I could sell (the ones I want to keep others want to buy, my luck ) to buy customs. I have mainly rescued folders, in pretty good condition, of varying vintage and make; GEC and Case Bose. Oh yeah, a custom too. I was looking at which GEC and rescues I could get rid of. Why do I carry a Case Bose everyday? Because I can. I like a really well made knife. I should carry a Buck or USA made Schrade, and sell the others. But, I have a sickness.


And to the peanut issue, I would buy the Bose in a heartbeat! I would be a convert real fast.
Buy what you want. Get that custom Oeser, that Case sodbuster, that Rough Rider. As long as it is a quality made piece.

I could joke, and say that I am going back to my ramen noodles, but nah, I'm lucky this week. Bologne was on sale ...