I'm a converter!

B

bladeboss

Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
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First off, let me give you all some background info on my friend here.
He carries a knife every single day. Gerber stuff mainly. Not because he isn't educated in knives, but because he tends to abuse them a bit, and doesn't mind not having it real sharp. Using it as a scraper, pryer, screwdriver isn't rare for him, and he doesn't mind screwing up a $20.00 knife.
He has a Kershaw Storm 2 that he carried for a while, but I told him that it was a discontinued knife and worth more than the $20.00 he spent on it closeout.
Thus, he then realized that he shouldn't have been using it quite the way he was......
So, back to the Gerbers he went.
I have been bringing him to local army-navy stores to see knives.
Spydercos, BUCK, Benchmade, Kershaw, Case etc.
He's not really into Spyderco designs, and Case knives aren't his "thing".
So BUCK and Benchmade.
He got a BUCK Bantam BBW, and the blade wiggles around worse than a gas-station knife.
He also doesn't like spending money........
On with the story
So, there we were, having a small bon-fire at my house.
We got bored, so out came the knives. :rolleyes:
I began whittling with my Benchmade Griptilian that I have been carrying for the past few weeks.
He was messing with his Gerber Paraframe-1, seeing if it was sharp enough to slice free-hanging grass.
I got thinking to myself: "it's been a long time since I've actually used a Gerber knife..."
So I asked if I could try and whittle with it.
We swapped knives for a bit.
I couldn't even begin to cut the wood at all with his Gerber....
We went back and forth for a while.
So I got my whittling project down to simple carving, and I asked him: "do you want to use it for a "real" job?"
"sure!"
I handed him my Griptilian and the wood piece.
"wow, that's pretty sharp...."
He went on slicing little pieces off, to see how sharp it was at first, and then started cutting.
(Keep in mind that he is always picking on me for spending so much on a knife that's "overpriced plastic handled nothing-special". He realizes that it's built better, but he still likes picking on me about it because he knows it bugs me, but he still doesn't like plastic.)
He got quiet and then said:
"I'm really starting to like this... I'm not a real fan of the plastic handles still but.....it still feels solid! And it's comfortable! It works really good."
"That's what I've been trying to tell you for this whole time!"
We swapped knives back again and he held his Paraframe-1 and said:
"Ugh. This thing feels like crap. The holes in the handle suck. It doesn't feel like a man's knife. I hate you! Now I want one of them! Plus the logo looks badass."
All coming from someone who told me a day or two ago that the ONLY thing he liked about it was the blade shape.
Didn't like the handles, or the AXIS lock, anything.
He said the blade was absolutely the only thing going for it.
Now he wants one.
:D:D:D:D:D:D


So, have you ever converted someone?
 
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Good job! I've never converted someone from low to high quality knives. But I have converted my dad from a non knife carrier, to a knife carrier. I got him a ladybug for his birthday, and he liked how he barely noticed it when he carried it, and he realized how useful a knife is. Now he's looking at a delica or stretch.
 
Yea, well sort of... I used to buy like five dollar knives until I discovered the cold steel Finn bear much sharper and better grind then those frost cutlery types and then I thought I would try a name brand folder so cold steel? No I got a kabar dozier and then came the collection I now have at least 40 better quality knives (in about 1 year) my friend tried some out and now he has about 15 quality(more so than frost cutlery) knives
 
Hell yeah! I noticed one of my co-workers cutting up his lunch with a BM mini-grip about 2 months ago. I got super excited, thinking I had another knife nut to talk to, but quickly realized this was not the case. Still, my co-worker was curious to how I had ID'ed his blade from across the room, and I whipped out my EDC that day (ZDP Delica) and told him about my fascination with all things sharp. Now he comes up to me everyday and asks me "What's your every day carry?" (I told him to say EDC, but he prefers the full version). He wants to see the rest of my collection to decide on a replacement for the mini-grip. So far, his favorite was my Para 1 in CPM D2, go figure...
 
Ive converted quite a few friends simply by gifting them high quality knives. I've given away a three delicas, one native, two dragonflies, a stag kiwi3, a benchmade mini dejavoo, a mini grip, a 707, a couple kershaw leeks and a couple chives, a case peanut, and a few random crkt something or others. All of them were given to family and friends, some turned into people who carry quality knives everyday, some did not, but all learned the value of a good knife.
 
mkjellgren said:
Ive converted quite a few friends simply by gifting them high quality knives. I've given away a three delicas, one native, two dragonflies, a stag kiwi3, a benchmade mini dejavoo, a mini grip, a 707, a couple kershaw leeks and a couple chives, a case peanut, and a few random crkt something or others. All of them were given to family and friends, some turned into people who carry quality knives everyday, some did not, but all learned the value of a good knife.
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That's awesome.
Well my friend's birthday is coming up next month. I hope I can scrounge up enough cash to buy him his own Griptilian
 
mkjellgren said:
Ive converted quite a few friends simply by gifting them high quality knives. I've given away a three delicas, one native, two dragonflies, a stag kiwi3, a benchmade mini dejavoo, a mini grip, a 707, a couple kershaw leeks and a couple chives, a case peanut, and a few random crkt something or others. All of them were given to family and friends, some turned into people who carry quality knives everyday, some did not, but all learned the value of a good knife.
Click to expand...

That's the way I do it also. Most of the time I see my friends using a crappy knife and replace it with a good one. Probably have traded knives with about a dozen people at work, including a couple of supervisors. Whenever I gift/trade a knife I also offer free lifetime sharpening and general maintenance. Some like them laser like while others prefer a steeper angled working edge. Best thing is that I know they are using a safe, well made tool. They all quickly learn to appreciate a quality piece of equipment that works well consistently. About half of them have even taken sharpening lessons, which to me is one of the most important things any knife owner can do.
 
I haven't exactly converted anyone, but there was a fellow that asked me some questions before making his first knife purchase. So, you could say I helped the cause.
 
I have a friend who runs a yard service on the side of his regular job. He did some work for me and I showed him one of my CS kukri machetes. He liked it, knew it would come in handy in his work and offered me what I paid for it. I told him, he said, "No, really, whatever you paid for it." I told him, "That is what I paid for it." Later, I provided him with some bright yellow 550 cord to wrap the handle since he kept losing it in the grass and weeds.
 
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