Knife Pet Peeves

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Prybar/cold chisel edge geometry, Busse, Benchmade
Exposed tangs, Bugout and most slipjoints
Giant choils on folders Spyderco, Strider
Backlocks,Buck n Coldsteel.
Recurve grinds.
Rubber grips of any kind.
Glass breakers and "Hammer" tang extensions.
Partial serrations, especially round top serrations, Buck, Mission.
Compound grinds with multiple plunge lines.
Scandi grind on anything thicker than 3mm/ eigth inch
Karambits, its ALL recurve!
Full tang "swords"
Swing guards.
Speed holes in the blade.
Fullers that go off the end of the blade, it should have two neat radius' like a Kabar.
Coatings of any kind on the blade.
Chisel grinds, especially on the wrong side,Emerson.
Thick bladed, steep chisel and scandi grinds with a secondary bevel. Emerson.
 
1. Serrated blade
2. Ball bearings 🤬
3. Chisel grinds
4. Chinese "crap steel"
5. Respected American knife manufacturer collaborations with an obscure Chinese manufacturer
6. Cold Steel
 
nhobo said:
Tanto style blades.

Like I really need a blade that was designed for piercing armor?
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I never bought the armor piercing capability of tanto blades. How is that nearly chisel type of blade supposed to be piercer?
 
Stuff that will keep me from buying a knife? Hm.

- Coated or acid washed blades, mostly. Platings are fine, Nickel, Silver, Hard chrome.
- Weird angular grinds with multiple edges, like the American Tanto.
- More often then not, a cheap steel (420, 440a, 4116...) in an expensive knife. Not because the steel is necessarily garbage, but because I feel a bit ripped off. Funnily enough I don't mind low alloy carbon steels in $100+ knives (if they are well executed), because at least they tend to perform well.
- Assisted opening. Just never.
- Bearings, for the most part.
- Overly thick blade stock, unless it has aggressive distal taper.
- A grind that's too thick behind the edge.
- Serrations, mostly (unless its on traditional style blades).
- Full convex grinds (with certain exceptions).
- 3D printed sheath or scales (with certain exceptions).
- Faux bone or stag. Faux anything really, including Pakkawood (laminate woods).
- "Forged" or Scale finishes on blades. Few exceptions here & there.
- Sand blasted finishes on blades. Rust magnet.
- Gaudy/kitschy slogans, logos or designs on blades or knifes in general, including ugly makers marks.
- Subtle (What does Nick Shabazz call it? Non-commital?) recurves. Probably a few exceptions.
- Overly big sharpening choils, but not big enough to use as a finger choil. Choose one or the other. I don't mind it so much on traditionals, its par for the course with those. I also don't mind it so much on bigger blades.
- Blade cut-outs, with the exception of opening holes.
- Badly skeletonized full-tangs (leaving to little metal, edges not chamfered...). Just taper your damn tangs instead you lazy bums (talking about CNC made knives).
- Hidden tangs with square shoulders, and left un-annealed. Especially on large blades. Sadly the vast majority these days.
- Stacked leather handles which are peened or riveted, instead of screwed.
- Plain, black, textured G10 scales (like on a zero tolerance). Its just too boring, I'm sorry. They don't feel good either.
- I don't like clips or false edges (swedges) that aren't sharp. Wont prevent me from buying a knife, simply because its unfortunately near universal.

- Limited editions. Either make a knife or don't make a knife, but at least make up your mind. Its all shady marketing & creating demand with artificial scarcity. Its dishonest, and more then that its just plain annoying.

I'm not listing any of the obvious stuff like "Bad fit & finish", "over priced" or "tip-down only", like common. This list is more about personal preferences.
 
Blades that dont sit straight off of the handle. Needs to look symmetrical for me, not a fan of the downward crook look.
 
elasmonut said:
Full tang "swords"
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I'm actually curious as to your reasoning for this one.

Lots of full width tang swords throughout history, most prominently the "Messer", which was massively popular. Japanese swords are damn near full tang. Wilkinson even made full tang sabres. If well executed a full tang doesn't seem to have any disadvantages so far as I can deduct, but it does have a strength advantage. Many swords use pommels, or their hilts, as a counter balance anyway, so its not as if a full width tang would add that much more weight (+ you can taper it too). They dont have to be uncomfortable either, Wilkinson full tang sabres has the same grips as their regular ones.
 
Enzo’s Woodshop said:
In general, I dislike folders. Also dislike unsealed handles on fixed-blades (such as removable handle scales).

My knives get dirty every single day. Plant matter, animal fat / blood, food, dirt, whatever. Any knife I carry gets thoroughly washed a good 4-5 times on an average day, as I typically use the knife I’m carrying for everything on any given day. Having a fixed-blade with a sealed handle is just magnitudes better for me, the way I use my knives.

I dislike recurves / quarter-rounds / serrations / anything else that might prevent me from woodcarving the way I’ve done for years and am accustomed to.

I dislike sub-hilts and double-edge knives as well. Again, it impedes the strategies I like to use while woodcarving.

I dislike hard angles / edges on handles. Another reason I dislike most folders. I will often use a knife for 6-8 hours at a time, sometimes more, and any defined edge on a handle REALLY gets noticeable. Smooth surfaces and well-rounded edges are what works well for me.

Lastly, I dislike extremely thin handles. Again, these tend to hurt after a while of use.
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I really like this post because Enzo explains the reasons that he dislikes things in light of the ways he uses knives.
 
Cheap crap knives… Life is too short for cheap crap knives. Knives are tools and cheap crap tools are cheap crap! You know why you don’t see harbor freight tools on a real job site? Because cheap crap tools result in cheap crap work!

Collectable / souvenir knives…WTF? just stick to spoons and shot glasses!

Fidget knives… move out of moms house and get a job.


Now if you will excuse me I am going to stop and go yell at the clouds before I write something Blues Blues regrets!
 
I'm not very picky with knives but I do have some avoids for when I choose a knife.

Serrations - I have my Leatherman for that, keep that tacticool stuff for cheapo amazon junk.

Bearings - I make exceptions for some folders if they're just going to be used for small workshop or warehouse tasks. But if they're going to be needed for outdoors or considered for it, I'll need washers.

Limited runs for the sake of limited runs - This one's tough as we don't always know what goes on in the minds of makers. And a lot of times they have a logical and understandable reason for it. This is mostly directed towards big companies that do have the infrastructure for a bigger availability run.
 
A.L. said:
True, but weren’t tantos really much more lean towards the tip vs the ”americanized” tantos?
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My understanding was that Americanized tantos weren't necessarily better at piercing but, instead, provided an adequate point that was stronger and less likely to bend or break while doing the piercing and/or being removed from the target. Lynn Thompson also talked about the "second point" along the edge that helps bite deeper during snap cuts. He may have had a point (heh) but idk how much of that insight was just good marketing.
 
John Phillips said:
1. False front finger choils that are about 80% of the size of my index finger(Snafu 2.0).

2. Pocket clips that are too tight and destroy pants and make you look at your situation every time when trying to get it out.

3. Knives over $400 that are NOT sharp from the makers.

4. Knives over $800 THAT ARE NOT SHARP FROM THE MAKER. Seriously, WTF???

5. No COA with expensive knives, Shamwari comes to mind. No big deal, $1,500 for a knife and I have to remember or make a note.

6. Any cheap China knives

7. Friends who think Kershaw is amazing , no longer friends

8. Lock bar death, some knives will NOT deploy or become extremely difficult with the slightest bit of lockbar tension

9. Recurve blade design, haven’t figured out how to sharpen and don’t want to.
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Ya bro, if you lose a friend because he likes a good cheap blade.. you arent a good friend to start with. Theyre better off without you. Knife nerds are weird. Cant imagine caring enough about em to get mad over someone elses choices.
 
nhobo said:
Tanto style blades.

Like I really need a blade that was designed for piercing armor?
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The Yoroi Dooshi (armor piercer) was one specific type of tanto with what folks would call today "overbuilt" features. They were used during the 1400s-1500s
which is called the Sengoku jidai (Warring States Period) when battles in full armor was common. But the last such battle (Battle of Sekigahara) in 1600
established the victorious Tokugawa shogunate after which there were no battles until the 1800s, when armor was not a major issue as swords, spears, bows, rifles and even gatling guns were used. Post 1600 is also the period when bladed weapons in Japan shifted from "battlefied weapons" to "artistic works/status symbols".

So no, "most" Tantos were never designed to pierce armor. The blade design of Japanese blades (Tachi/Katana/Wakizashi/Tanto/Kaiken etc) are all strictly to cut and pierce people. Nothing else.
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Grumpy Old Man said:
1. Serrated blade
2. Ball bearings 🤬
3. Chisel grinds
4. Chinese "crap steel"
5. Respected American knife manufacturer collaborations with an obscure Chinese manufacturer
6. Cold Steel
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Dear grumpy
May I ask why you listed 6.? Is it because they changed hands to GSM? Or do you have any other reason. I used to like CS before pre GSM but not any more. I don't like them too much either. Anymore
 
Vlade said:
Dear grumpy
May I ask why you listed 6.? Is it because they changed hands to GSM? Or do you have any other reason. I used to like CS before pre GSM but not any more. I don't like them too much either. Anymore
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I particularly liked the Ti-Lite model, so I ordered it. When I received the knife it had a faulty lock. I found an older model with a titanium handle in a store, I bought it and after a while the lock broke. The next three were also defective, so I will no longer buy any Cold Steel products.
 
Stamping  Earth on the tang. I'm buying a knife, not a lesson in vacuous virtue signaling.
 
KenHash said:
The Yoroi Dooshi (armor piercer) was one specific type of tanto with what folks would call today "overbuilt" features. They were used during the 1400s-1500s
which is called the Sengoku jidai (Warring States Period) when battles in full armor was common. But the last such battle (Battle of Sekigahara) in 1600
established the victorious Tokugawa shogunate after which there were no battles until the 1800s, when armor was not a major issue as swords, spears, bows, rifles and even gatling guns were used. Post 1600 is also the period when bladed weapons in Japan shifted from "battlefied weapons" to "artistic works/status symbols".

So no, "most" Tantos were never designed to pierce armor. The blade design of Japanese blades (Tachi/Katana/Wakizashi/Tanto/Kaiken etc) are all strictly to cut and pierce people. Nothing else.
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Yoroi means 'armor', Dooshi means 'go though'.

The overbuilt features of the Yoroi Dooshi (thick spine, well-supported point) are the basis for many contemporary tanto-style knives.

On a visit to Japan I stayed in Okitsu, one of the 53 ststions on the Tokaido highway that was immortalized by Hiroshige in a series of woodblock prints.. The village samurai there surrendered and cut off his topknot when Tokugawa Ieyasu rode in with 5,000 mounted warriors. The samurai's wife convinced him to open an inn (the Miniguchi-ya), which has been family run for over 400 years.
 
TC said:
Stamping  Earth on the tang. I'm buying a knife, not a lesson in vacuous virtue signaling.
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Dunno what makes you call that 'virtue signaling', aside from maybe some acute early onset dementia, but they mark it 'Earth' to indicate the intended lifespan of the company, i.e. beyond that of our time living on this rock alone. It's got nothing to do with 'signaling' anything, much less about the 'virtues' of Spyderco as a company. It's like Babe Ruth pointing beyond the stands before taking his batting stance, not whatever goblin you imagine to be lurking in the stamp
 
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