Knife features/trends that you can do without?

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kgriggs8

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What features do you think are pointless and worthless on a knife? What trends seem to be going in the wrong direction?

I have a few but they are not Spyderco specific.

I don't get the whole idea of hanging beads or bits of cord off the end of your knife. I have tried it and found it to be irratating at best. I have almost lost knives that had cord tassels hanging out from my pocket when they caught on something. I also find they get in the way when you are gripping the knife most of the time. I just don't see the point. I am not talking about laynards that you can wrap around your wrist or tie to something, they have a use and I use them when around water mostly. I am talking about short bits of cord with beads sometimes that people carry.

I also don't like the general trend towards who can make the absolute strongest knife regardless of if it still cuts or not. It is possible to make a knife that will never break but you loose what the knife was meant for, i.e., cutting things.

One thing I don't like that is Spyderco specific, compression locks. I think they are a bad idea and Spyderco should give up the ghost on this type of lock before it starts to hurt sales.
 
I have to politely disagree with you. I like the compression lock. I would like them more if they were reversed (to me they just feel left handed). I do agree on the "make the strongest knife/folding crowbar" trend. I do more actual work with a UKPK than I do with my Manix. If the Manix can't handle it, it isn't a job for a folding knife. In fact, even if the Manix CAN handle it, it may not be a job for a folding knife. That base is covered, move on.

My personal pet peeve in current knife developement is the mall ninja look. By that I mean the trend toward emphasizing the weapon aspect/scary look of a knife to the detriment of the utility/tool aspect. This is personal, as I carry knives as tools, and self defense is not even a consideration in my selection process. Thankfully, Spyderco seems to be resisting that trend.

I am also not a big fan of the knife fobs, although I do like a lanyard when working aloft or over water.
 
I'd have to agree with the mall ninja look- trashy... like Paris Hilton. I'm also not a huge fan of zytel as a handle material- just too slick & cheap... like Kevin Federline.

Beads can actually add a little individuality to a knife- as long as the lanyard doesn't end up with as many beads as a drunk, busty female at Mardi Gras.

The Spyderco compression lock works great for me... I'd endorse them like Rafael Palmero does for Viagra.... ok, that last one didnt work...
 
I find that with smaller knives, which only have the space for a two or three finger grip, a bit of cord with a large monkeyfist or similar can make holding the knife much more securer.

Agreed with the strongest knife issue, if the knife cuts and is strong, fine. If it's strong but doesn't cut, then it's no longer useful for me. Ditto with the mall ninja aspect. Unfortunately, sometimes it's difficult to separate a practical feature from a mall ninja feature. Black blades, for instance, can help protect the blade, but looks mall ninja-ish.

Out of curiosity, why don't you like the compression lock?
 
Okay, I'll bite. There are so many good quality handle materials these days that FRN is now in my rearview mirror. I'll be packing my titanium, micarta, and G-10 handled knives.
 
I can very well do without the Boye dent on my Spydies.

I have never had a back lock knife without the dent close on me.

IMO the knife looks soooo much better without the Boye dent;)
 
I can do without silly thick prybar blades that cater to nimrods who don't know how to use a knife properly.

I can do without tanto anything.

I can do without assisted openers.

I can do without people commenting that serrated knives are hard to sharpen. Bull crap! With a 204 Sharpmaker -- i.e. the right tool for the job -- they're SIMPLE to sharpen. For my money, if you don't have a Sharpmaker, your only option to sharpen a spydie edge is to send it back to Golden. But just take the plunge and buy a Sharpmaker already. I recently got one and was amazed how easy it was to bring the serrated edge on my Leatherman Wave (which had become horribly dull) up to screaming sharp. In fact, this revelation has totally opened my eyes to the beauty and efficiency of a sharp serrated edge. Hard to sharpen? Not at all. Hard to sharpen without a 204 Sharpmaker? You bet. But why would you try?
 
this should be in whine and cheese , knives are all about personal taste and chosen apllication
 
Anything assisted doesn't do anything for me. It's just one more thing to break or raise the eyebrows of already suspicious Lawmakers. I'm OK with heavy-use folders as long as they still do the primary task of a knife well. I've got a $7, 6" little prybar for prying. I don't need a $100+ knife for that.
 
I agree with SirGalant that this should be in Whine and Cheese.
(here comes the whine)

Things I don't like in knives (some of which are recent trends):
black blades
assisted opening
chisel grinds
quartz crystal/wing walk/skateboard tape/sandpaper handle inserts
sharp-edged thumbstuds
sharp-edged blade holes
sawback blades
crappy sheaths
painted or shiny pocket clips
excessive writing/ huge trademarks on blades
badly finished G10
flames/ skulls/ tribal ornament
mall ninja marketing
liner locks
 
and i agree with you , moonwilson , on the following
chisel grinds
crappy sheaths
 
I could do without high prices. Recent Spyderco fixed knives are more expensive then Swamp Rat Ratweiler ($200), BM Nimravus Cub ($145), Chris Reeve large Green Beret ($300), etc.
 
I could do without:

Pocket Clip (Detracts heavily from ergos, prefer pocket carry)
Blades over 1/8 inch thick on a folder
Tanto
Chisel ground
Serrations
Sandpaper grips
Steel grips (Never felt good to me, temp of the handles varies tremendously over the seasons)
Blade coatings (Makes little sense to me to have a coated stainless blade. Even on my carbon folders I feel no need for them)
Auto / assisted opening
Thumbstuds and thumbdisks (Give me the hole or use a nail nick)
Blades over 1/8 inch thick on fixed blades under 4 inches
The newer super steels that have no advantadge over more basic steels other than edge retention (I''ll take AUS8 over ZDP)
Boye Dent (Never felt it was needed, in some models all it's done is made the knife harder to close)
Brand-based knife design names (Not sure what you'd call it, but things like Buckcote, Spyderedge and so forth. Just call it a blade coating or a serrated edge.)
Seat-belt cutters in the handle
Saw teeth on the spine
Guards that extend to the top of the handle (Can anyone explain the functionality of this outside of a knife duel?)
Fanboyism
Liner locks, frame locks
Obtuse edge bevels, requiring me to re-profile the majority of my knife purchases to get the preformance they're capable of (Again, G10 Byrd)
Smooth G10
Spydercos where using the choil places your thumb at an extremely uncomfortable position above the hump. I never use the choil on my G10 Meadowlark because of this. Many Spyderco models I can't use the choil because it puts my thumb in such an uncomfortable position. This problem alone has made me consider checking out some Benchmade's, Kershaw's etc.



Of course many of these have their applications...they just do not suit me. Some I would call worthless, but others I see their use, just have no need for it personally.
 
Without makign a huge list...
Any trademark or laser etching on the blade....I think the spyker would be way nicer w/o it.

Tanto points - they just dont do it for me

Chisel grinds - not nearly as nice as other forms

FRN - I know it is strong but I just like the feel of heavier material

Mall ninjas - nuff said

Linerlocks - just doesnt fit me

Sharp jimping! (original native)
 
I could do without FRN.

I could do without AO or automatic (95% of the time).

I could do without chisel grinds.

I could do without grip tape inserts.
 
I could do without "stainless" steel, or at least I could do without so dang much of it. Start with a good steel like M2, 52100, etc, for most knives. Add a PVD coating for people worried about getting stains, and save the "stainless" steels for specialty knives that actually need it.
 
Vivi said:
I could do without:

Spyderedge and so forth. Just call it a serrated edge.)
Click to expand...

The Spyderedge is a specific serration pattern designed entirely by Spyderco. Before them, that highly performing serration pattern was not around, and therefore they had every right to name it, and it's disrespectful to suggest that it is unecessary to call it by what it's designer named it. Not trying to flame, I disagree with a lot of your gripes, however, they are your opinions, but this particular one I felt I should point out.
 
I think that pocket clips are a solution looking for a problem, but the clip on my new Cara Cara is so inocuos that I haven't bothered to remove it.

I simply don't understand the "need" for stainless steel in the blade. Some SS's are certainly good, but even in a survival situation, I can't imagine not having 10 seconds a day or week to wipe off the blade. Certainly having a rust resistant metal for all the working parts is great in a folder, but I would rather have CPM 3V than SV 30 or VG-10 and I would rather have M-2, A-2 or D-2, rather than a 440 or 420 series, in the blade.

I have read reports of blade edges rusting and causing dulling while someone is actually using the knife to cut acidic vegetables or cutting in the rain. This is right before I went down to my shop in the basement and picked up my Japanese Plane with a laminated "white steel" blade and proceeded to make perfect shavings on some wood. This blade had been sitting untouched in its white oak body for several months in my basement with no wax, oil or other treatment. Then I removed the blade and it still shaved the hair on my arm.

When people report this "super-rusting" behavior of non-stainless steels, I think something else is at work.

Don
 
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