Knives that all look the same (Aston Martin Syndrome)

Spyderco's all looked the same to me when I was getting into knives as a kid, so I never bothered learning about them, so they still look the same.
 
I may be going against the grain here, but all slippies look the same to me. Very rarely will a traditional knife really make me ooh and ahh
 
Ok, so far we have:

RJ Martin
TOPS/ESEE/Becker/Ka-Bar
Strider
Kershaw
Spyderco
Any one G10/one bare metal scale
SAKs
Buck 110 clones
Most slipjoints
Randalls
Cold Steel
SOG
 
Tony8179 said:
All knives look the same to me with their steel blades and their handles made for gripping. :rolleyes:

If you want a huge (and useless) variety that all look different (and useless) then I suggest looking into wall hangers sold by United Cutlery.

Glancing at knives is the first mistake. You don't glance, you handle and study. If different knives made by the the same company are all looking the same to you then you aren't looking hard enough.
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Thank you. Well put.

All slipjoints look the same?!? Nonsense. Go get Levine's Guide, then tell me they all look the same.
 
In the end it comes down to knife design, and that has been narrowed down into certain categories, pending the superiority of newer designs in testing. Spyderco in particular chooses their designs based on the ideas of work and self defense, Benchmade I would say about the same but leaning a little more toward aesthetics, and Kershaw leans even more toward aesthetics than practicality(recurves). Slipjoints look(ed) the same because they're designed in specific ways, and what engenders brand loyalty can be as complex as blade steel and handle materials or as simple as that company being the first you've had experience with. Steels, composites, and alloys haven't changed enough to really make a drastic difference on blade design, such as making a super thin blade out of something nearly unbreakable. That being the case, materials aren't going to have that much of an effect on the design of a knife, unless it applies to aesthetics. Companies do branch out from time to time with new shapes and locks and configurations, but they're not going to abandon what they know works. Sometimes the difference between what you want and what you'd never buy is as simple as a slightly different curve to the edge, or a slightly different grip configuration.
 
All knives look alike to the untrained eye. This was made obvious to me when one of my employees said, "Man, that must be a great knife because you've used it everyday for the past 6 months and it barely has a scratch on it!" (And I rotate through about a dozen knives every week)
I too, considered spyderco knife designs to be very redundant until I actually bought and used them.
Now I realize that they all have similar characteristics because those are the characteristics that work.
For example: spydie hole, FFG blades, leaf blades, FRN + G10, etc.
Most SAKs look alike...but slipjoints (a very broad term) don't. Of course certain slipjoint patterns are the same, but a little interest in the subject creates clear differences between each one.
I do agree that alot of Kershaw models look alike, but certainly not Benchmade.
 
Hadji Flip Me Over said:
Ok, so far we have:

RJ Martin
TOPS/ESEE/Becker/Ka-Bar
Strider
Kershaw
Spyderco
Any one G10/one bare metal scale
SAKs
Buck 110 clones
Most slipjoints
Randalls
Cold Steel
SOG
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You can't argue against that conclusion....all knives that look just like Buck 110s do look the same. :rolleyes:

I think what you got there is one of them tautologies.
 
I don't see how all Kershaws look the same either. I think people are looking at a very small selection of what Kershaw offers and they are coming to this wacky conclusion. Some people see a recurve blade and then all recurves look exactly like each other. This thread is hilarious.
 
Mantis/Dork ops type knives all look the same to me: ridiculous.

Slipjoints have patterns but there is a lot of variation between companies and sometimes even between the models offered within a company. For example look at the stockman pattern. Look up Buck, Queen, GEC (Tidioute and Northfield), and Case's versions of the stockman. Aside from having 3 blades there are various stockman handle shapes, scales and scale designs (stag, bone, acrylic, various types of finishes including jigging designs and burnt stag vs natural vs genuine stag vs 2nd cut stag, etc), blade steels, blade designs (swedges, grinds, etchings), shields or lack thereof, bolsters (square, rounded, pinched), whether the blades have half stops, backspring design and more. The variations on even one pattern are pretty impressive.

Kershaw and Spyderco do make a lot of knives with G10 handles but there's still variation. The Gayle Bradley has carbon fiber. The sage series has the same profile and blade shape but entirely different locks and handle designs. The Delica and Endura have FRN in common but they aren't shaped the same.

There's so much variation it's almost overwhelming at times.
 
ddml said:
This. It is called "cognitive complexity" or rather the lack thereof. To someone who doesn't listen to jazz, it all sounds the same.
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Yes, but considering we are all on a forum about knives I would assume that most folks here are into knives. This thread puzzles me because people are throwing out names, but aren't justifying their answers. What is it exactly about the knives being mentioned that look the same?

Personally, I think a Kershaw Leek with a SS framelock looks different than a Kershaw Leek with blue aluminum scales and a liner lock. It may be the same pattern, but you have different scale materials, different colored scales, and a different locking mechanism. Due to the different scale materials, the SS handle is thinner than the Al handle which also makes them look different. I guess some people would look at those two knives and say that it's the same knife, but they would be wrong.
 
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