Knife/knives you regret buying

[abcdef]

I plead the Fifth Amendment.

 

[junglefighter]

To be fair, I think the OG models are still okay. SRK, Recon Tanto, your classic Demko/Wallace folders, etc. I haven’t read/heard any Schrade horror stories about those old guard models yet.

I’m reluctant to try the new models though, after Mr. Thompson is no longer at the helm. I’m perfectly happy with the old warhorses.

I have a early model rajah that I acquired a few years ago through a trade.. I tried to carry it for a couple of days and was disguisted with the locking mechanism.. opening it is no problem, but closing it is another story.. I have taken a file and filed down some of the locking bar and it is still a PITA to close.. It is now regulated to a deep dark dusty corner of my knife cabinet because it is a POS. I have one of the first generation SOG tomcat folders that has seen better days, but when I called the customer service on getting it back to a decent working condition, I was told that they didn't have parts for it any more.. so it is also regulated to the back corners of my knife cabinet

 

[DangerZone98]

I have a early model rajah that I acquired a few years ago through a trade.. I tried to carry it for a couple of days and was disguisted with the locking mechanism.. opening it is no problem, but closing it is another story.. I have taken a file and filed down some of the locking bar and it is still a PITA to close.. It is now regulated to a deep dark dusty corner of my knife cabinet because it is a POS. I have one of the first generation SOG tomcat folders that has seen better days, but when I called the customer service on getting it back to a decent working condition, I was told that they didn't have parts for it any more.. so it is also regulated to the back corners of my knife cabinet

Dang, sorry that was your experience man. That sucks. Did you try reaching out to CS customer service?

 

[Quiet]

Nope, just knives I regret not buying. Going to Blade Show with a pre-determined budget makes for difficult choices.

I tried that the first time, and have half-heartedly tried in a couple other years and can report that I'm standing at a strong 0 for 3 score.

As for the original question posed, I have knives that I've purchased where at the time I was excited for them and loved or liked them quite a lot that, these days when I look at them, I'm fairly indifferent. I've also sold a lot of knives in the past where that was ultimately the case, so I'd say that yes there are knives I regret buying, but only in very few cases have there been emotions strong enough to take direct action and sell them (or all of them) off after new information came to my attention. I sold off my Survive?!* knives when I realized what a scumbag that guy was, and sold off 90% of what had become a significant Emerson collection for the same reason. I have a few knives left here or there that I probably need to move along, but eh, I'll get to it eventually.

So, Blues really nailed it, second post of the thread.








* Spoiler alert: they didn't LAWL

 

[Quiet]

Dang, sorry that was your experience man. That sucks. Did you try reaching out to CS customer service?

Not who you were asking, but from what I've seen in the Cold Steel section, folks are getting told "(big air shrug) Not much we can do broh!" by whoever the GSM rep is for Cold Steel. Maybe it's gotten better recently, but for awhile, they basically said they've got no backup parts, and can't help you. So any new Cold Steels I've purchased, have been the bulletproof models that are classic designs. I love Cold Steel knives, but I'm thankful that there are plenty still around from Mr. LT's days to buy up. Any I buy these days, I do so with the expectation that if anything ever goes wrong, you just attempt a fix yourself, or toss it and get another one or something else.

 

[jlauffer]

Think only 2 I can think of. A Cold Steel GI Commando (their idea of an Ek), and believe it or not, a SOG Desert Dagger. The GI Commando was laughably light and cheap feeling, like a toy. So opposite of the typical CS. The Desert Dagger was similar, but not as bad. Love daggers and wanted one for so long, and then when I finally got one, was underwhelmed due to how light it was, making it feel a bit cheap. Have had other SOGs that had some heft that gave them a quality feel, so was expecting the same.

 

[Drop bear]

The Gerber military survival knife. The LMF 2.

I thought I was going to own the ultimate post apocalypse survival knife. And never managed to find a place for it.

 

[RPZIP]

I’ll go against the grain here, but I regret buying most of them. I never wanted a knife “collection”. I just happened to acquire one over time as I was figuring out what really worked for my daily uses. The upside, I’ve got lots of nice, mostly unused giveaways to gift to others. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved pocket knives ever since I can remember. I think they are a right of passage and every man (and woman) should carry one. Just not a fan of dozens of knives sitting unused in drawers, boxes, etc.

Exactly why for many people better to buy cheap at first until you have figured out what you really need and want. This angle came up on another thread about camping knives for a lady.

 

[BD_01]

LionSteel Mini. Great looking knife. The blade of my sample was nicely ground, but the rest of the fit & finish was poor.

CRKT Ignitor. I bought this just as I started getting into knives. IIRC, there was a locking mechanism incorporated into the thumb studs to prevent unintended blade deployment. It was annoying and kinda ruined a knife that was otherwise pretty good, for what it was.

 

[Roguer]

Ka-Bar Shorty, didn't fit my hand, pretty useless if it didn't do that. I gave it to the nephew when he was a lot shorter and he loved it, till his dad stole it as he is short...but he grew like a weed in two years so he let his dad keep it. Its a great little blade for who can use it, nice steel and a good hunting knife for smaller handed people. I knew I should of got another Mk.1 Navy.

 

[The Grendels]

Sometimes a knife gets purchased, but then you buy a new one or two or more that's a better knife so fast that you never really end up using the first knife much. You might have read and watched a ton of reviews before buying that first knife, but until you start comparing it to other blades in person you might not be getting the full picture from knife reviewers or you don't find a more balanced view of the knife until after you buy it. In the case of purchasing a Benchmade Leuko, the greatest tragedy is that that money could have been spent on a knife from a maker like LT Wright or Battle Horse. The Benchmade Leuko isn't a horrible knife. It's just not the knife that in the end I wanted to use.