Just going to leave this here...

I think John Davis does a nice job. I've watched many of his videos, particularly on sharpening techniques and reviews of various knives that are in fashion right now. I agree with his premise concerning the hard use lock scenarios. There is no lighter user than myself. I generally have carried a BM 690, and of late have started a love affair with Spydie Military and PM2's in various super-steels. Yes, I want a knife to cut, to cut well, to cut a long time before sharpening. Part of that opinion is perhaps due to the fact that I'm terrible at knife-sharpening, but have recently picked up some "tools." We shall see, and I'm starting out with cheap knives...
Sonny
 
While I agree with most of what he says, the video annoyed me. The noise of the absent-minded flicking and closing of the knife off-screen was very distracting, and almost all of the video was a static shot of the weird plate of knives, with only occassional appearances of the poster's hands, mostly to finger the same knife over and over. 10+ minutes was about 3x too long for the point he is making, this could have been a decent post and pic; as a video...neh.
 
MassMatt said:
While I agree with most of what he says, the video annoyed me. The noise of the absent-minded flicking and closing of the knife off-screen was very distracting, and almost all of the video was a static shot of the weird plate of knives, with only occassional appearances of the poster's hands, mostly to finger the same knife over and over. 10+ minutes was about 3x too long for the point he is making, this could have been a decent post and pic; as a video...neh.
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Yeah, that happens too often these days where someone films themselves talking, and it would be much better suited to a written form. Seems like they always assume that they will reach a wider audience if they make it in a video format, or assume that it somehow makes it more convenient for people or something.
 
The statements of the author would be much easier to criticize, if I didn't agree with him.
 
I like his collection. ;)

No problems with what he said, but I'm ok with people who are into hard use folders. Takes all kinds and some people can't carry fixed blades where they live.
 
I like what he said and share his opinion, but fortunately we live in free country and I do not see problem for people to go crazy as long as this doesn't hurt others. Most of the people will not understand our passion for "regular" knives either.
 
That video and the message he is trying to put out is single minded and pathetic. He is discrediting Emerson entirely, Strider, and others. He is saying everyone is lieing they need a heavy use knife, he is only putting heavy use factor on the locking mechanism which is false, he is using scrapping as a acceptable use, but he's pretent scrapping his hand instead of real life situtations where if you needed a tool to scrap its because you could not life or peel with your fingers. He showed a one sided opinion and lost my respect. Stick to your cutting demos, hopefully theres no BS in that.
I love hving my thick blades on me, more meat equals less chipping/breaking. Yea I often do chop at trees or other stuff and need that weighted blade, I do use the back of my thicker blades to hammer certain things like picture hanging hardware. Just becuase all he does is cutting test doesn't mean other dont need heavy use knives. If you use a knife in self defense, and swing or thrust the blade and hit something even a jean rivot your blade might snap in half, good luck having a great slicing blade at that point, this is ridiculous he made that video.
 
I think there are knives that are made to cut and slice well. There are knives that are made to chop or baton with some efficiency without falling apart.
However it is unusual to find one knife that will do both.

I suspect that John was implying that the bulk of us are light users and don't spend much time out in the woods. I respect that opinion. But, as some folks have noted, we need to respect the wishes of the minority and to hang together as a stronger community with a louder voice.

So, the HEST 2.0 with its blade-width of 0.195" is not of particular interest to me when I have my Paramilitary 2, but there are fans on both sides.

Sonny
 
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I agree with what he has said. The delivery was a bit too long and not perfect, but the point was still valid. I'm not particularly annoyed with it, I just ignore that kind of topics. I do agree that it is just fad and marketing. But if somebody thinks differently - fortunately that is not my responsibility and I do no have "to set the record straight". So let them play and enjoy it!
 
Flectric said:
Yea I often do chop at trees or other stuff and need that weighted blade, I do use the back of my thicker blades to hammer certain things like picture hanging hardware.
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What situations are you often in that you need to cut a tree down with a pocket folder? Seriously. If you're constantly in situations where you need to cut trees down with your pocket knife you should do some better planning.

Why would someone buy an over priced knife to use to hang pictures? A cheap $5 hammer does the job perfectly.

Can you imagine the world kept turning for thousands of years without "hard use" folders? Somehow people still cut down trees and hung pictures.

If you use a knife in self defense, and swing or thrust the blade and hit something even a jean rivot your blade might snap in half,
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Must be a defective knife. I can take my $15 gerber and swipe at a jean rivot and the blade won't snap in half. What kind of blades are you talking about that are so weak?


The guy in the video makes some very good points. 99% of the population does not need a knife that can cut through and destroy kryptonite. For 99% of the population a simple liner lock is sufficient. Most people arent walking around doing spine wack test or using the spines of their knives as hard use hammers. Nor are they using their knives as a land bridge between two bricks. When was the last time someone needed a 1000 lbs lock strength? Oh I know, maybe when someone's car broke down? Maybe they ties a rope to their car, and then tied the other end of the rope to their pocket knife and then tried to pull their car down the street? Seriously, what real world everyday situation dictates having a lock strength of 1000 lbs? A lot of the features on current knives are "cool" and fun to have, but they are in no way necessary for 99% of the population who use knives for their intended purposes and every day cutting task.
 
Newknife,
you are looking at it if thats why I carry I knife. I carry three knives but 2 at the very least. They are tools to me. I work as a casino engineer in las vegas, as alot of time I am a hike away from my shop and it is easier to use the tools at hand than go get the right tools. Usually my leatherman TTI does anything I need, but has nothing to pry with. As far as chopping down a tree, no I doubt, I do however cut branches off, cactus foliage, and alot of strapping materials that need that extra meat to hold up. As far as the blade breaking thats comes down to individual cases, no it wont always breaks for silly reasons but there is way less chance of my Dark Ops Stratofighter breaking in combat than my Barrage M390.
My point is some blades will never be good enough, and some men need heavy use blades, to discredit all of it is a joke, especially from knife entuasist.
 
Regarding your last paragraph, I agree with the point of how many pounds will it hold is dumb. But like I said, one point cannot discredit heavy use knives, and the whole video did off of the locking mechanism theory.

As far as your " thousands of years the world without "

Thats a dumb statement, our world has advanced, am I'm damn happy it did. We have easier tools that makes life easier for us.
 
And take a look at the thread were someone is explaining how a kershaw broke doing the job it was designed to do. Tell me then random stuff can't happen
 
Flectric said:
Usually my leatherman TTI does anything I need, but has nothing to pry with. As far as chopping down a tree, no I doubt, I do however cut branches off, cactus foliage, and alot of strapping materials that need that extra meat to hold up.
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I understand. I carry a leatherman too. In all reality, it's probably the most practical type of knife/tool to carry for most people. Most pocket knives can cut branches and cactus foliage. Heck, I've seen people chop down a tree with thin blade Mora knife. It's often more about how you use the knife than how thick it is. Right now I'm carrying a Buck Avid. I can cut most branches with it, within reason.

My point is some blades will never be good enough, and some men need heavy use blades, to discredit all of it is a joke, especially from knife entuasist.
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I'm not discrediting all heavy use blades. I'm just saying that most people don't really need these overbuilt blades that are marketed with all kinds of hype that most people never use them for. In fact, I like the CS Lawman even with all the hype.

As far as your " thousands of years the world without "

Thats a dumb statement, our world has advanced, am I'm damn happy it did. We have easier tools that makes life easier for us.
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I am too. However, cutting down a tree and hammering in nails to hang pictures with your KNIFE is not an advancement. Cutting down a tree with a saw, axe, or chainsaw, and hammering in a nail with a hammer IS.
 
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I like it.

Everyone should go at least a month with just a Victorinox or Case slipjoint just to see how much you actually rely on the lock everyday (probably not at all).

At the same time, he is preaching to the choir a bit.
It's kind of ironic that non-knife-nuts don't even think twice about abusing knives. They don't read forums, they don't do tests, and they don't even care how strong the lock is. In the eyes of the average person every knife is inherently a mini pry-bar just as much as it is a knife, and these people are the primary consumer base for nearly all knife companies. I'm going to guess that this has been the case ever since power tools became the primary method of shaping the world around us.

Point being, I don't think the "hard use" trend on forums is going to ruin knife design for the masses.

I do think we could do without the current aesthetic (the "Military" or "Tactical" theme) that goes along with your average "hard use" folder, but I don't think overbuilt locks will ever go away.
In the end, for many (if not most) of the people on this forum practicality lost #1 spot on their list of concerns a long, long time ago. You could almost argue that practicality lost #1 spot just by joining the forums.
 
I will agree that the vast majority of people that buy "hard use" folders don't really need to use them in any way that approaches hard use. On the other hand I don't think there are very many people that need cars that go over 75 mph or 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds. But we are free to buy them and enjoy them responsibly and I'm glad that we are. If I want a knife that is over built by 500% of what's necessary then I should be able to buy one and use / abuse it in any way I see fit as long as no one gets hurt.
What I really don't understand is why this guy cares so much about how others treat their knives. I haven't had any trouble finding knives that are great slicers. Have you?
I really think this guy is passionate about knives and is trying to convey what is, for him, the truth. But I part ways with him when he tells me or anyone else that we are wrong or dumb or ridiculous for wanting what we want. As long as I'm paying for it, it's my business and only my business.

No disrespect meant to anyone who has a differing opinion, just expressing mine.
 
newknife said:
I am too. However, cutting down a tree and hammering in nails to hang pictures with your KNIFE is not an advancement. Cutting down a tree with a saw, axe, or chainsaw, and hammering in a nail with a hammer IS.
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I do not cut down trees with a pocket knife, I often cut away branches, cactus in my way of working equipment round my place of work. If I feel that using my knife to bang on something then thats what I do. Yes I have hung up pictures and billboards with hammering with a knife, sometimes even used a knife slamming a quarter for more surface mass over a nail head. I'm not happy with how the video maker discredited the people who use knife in a heavy use manner because thats how I use my knives. You dont need to agree with me or anyone, you may use your knives differently.

And to add fuel to the fire, no I dont agree with it about the lock ups holding weights there is a arguement for it. If you use your knife to hit things like I do, I would suppose I knife that can hold 1000lbs would be able to pound with better than one to hold 200lbs, s force generated threw banging is greater than hanging free weight.
 
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