Knives that made you go “Hmm, but why?”

Drop bear said:
All karambits.

Designed to accommodate a self indulgent fighting style that prioritises everything other than cutting.
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LostCause said:
First:
ESEE Pinhoti... as much as I love ESEE - that thing is just pure nonsense.
1. Folder in 1095
2. Thick blade and scandi grind
3. Friction folder - meaning no locking mechanism

And further:
-Double edge blades without any choils or guard
-Folding karambits
-Whatever the hell is XL Espada
-Cold Steel Rajah 2 and 3
-Folding machete (that one is Gerber I guess)
-Tanto kukri (yes, it exists)
-Scandi grind folders in general
-"Bushcraft" folding knives in general
-Jimping the entire spine of the blade (looking at you SOG)
- Holes on the blade, except spydie hole on Spyderco knives
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That which we do not understand , for which we posses insufficient skill or mastery, sometimes seems silly and useless , in our innocence . 🤨
 
Ill say it; Ball bearings.
From an engineering & blade stability perspective they are less then ideal.
Its takes more fine tuning to get a good action that also locks up well on washers, so many manufacturers will opt for the the easy solution, bearings. Anyone can make a smooth action on bearings.
They also develop blade play faster then bronze washers do as the bearing surface is much smaller, especially when contacting softer metals like Au or Ti.
They are also far more sensitive to dirt & harder to clean, sometimes even to dis/reassemble (ikbs).
I see far too many "overbuilt" or "Hard use" folders that use bearings.

Ultimately, fidget factor over function.
 
DocJD said:
Livin' up to your user name . 😒
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Yes. Because why not buy a folder that's not as easy to carry as other folders, is less slicey than some hatchets, will rust on you and has no lock! Perfect and safe bushcraft tool!


And everyone needs a dagger that they can't stab with, folding karambit as that's perfect utility blade.

Then pocket sword, pocket machete and pocket kukri that will neither really fit your pockets and will lack durability of fixed ones but hey - it's big.

Tanto kukri for stabbing car hoods with your kukri... they should make those with scandi grind so I can bushcraft with them.

Scandi bushcraft folder because... everyone needs to whittle and carve at work and nobody bothers to carry a fixed blade into nature...

Jimping entire knife, especially "tactical" ones to ensure they don't penetrate too deep during a stab, and for those with 10 inch long thumbs, makes for amazing push cuts.

And why not holes? High speed low drag! Looks scary to the enemy too. Putting speed holes on blades should be priority for every company...


I am trully lost cause for not understanding this brilliant ingenuity.
 
Olumin said:
I see far too many "overbuilt" or "Hard use" folders that use bearings.

Ultimately, fidget factor over function.
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I do mostly agree with you, but there is another angle that plays into this:

Overbuilt folders are oxymoronic and don't really make sense to me. If the task is something I'm willing to use a folding knife for, a simple backlock / liner lock / axis lock needs to suffice. If I'm applying so much pressure to the blade (in any direction) that ball bearings could be a point of failure, I should be using a fixed blade - not a slightly stronger folder.
 
bemymonkey said:
Overbuilt folders are oxymoronic and don't really make sense to me. If the task is something I'm willing to use a folding knife for, a simple backlock / liner lock / axis lock needs to suffice. If I'm applying so much pressure to the blade (in any direction) that ball bearings could be a point of failure, I should be using a fixed blade - not a slightly stronger folder.
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You are, of cause, correct. But ya know, if they're gonna do a sturdy folder, at least do it right. Like CRK for example with their oversized washers. Huge bearing surface + cutouts to store extra lubrication.
 
Good fixed blades with cheap rubber handles. Thin bushcraft blades than cannot be batoned. Thin folders that cannot handle side loading without bending, breaking. Brands that make great knives not using magnacut yet.
 
John_B said:
XL Cold Steel Espada. Unless you have to stab a tank.
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Haha, I understand you. But that is what made the old Cold Steel so great. Lynne Thompson did not follow conventional logic. Instead, he took things to extremes... because he could. I applaud him for going far beyond where other knife companies dare venture.
Just want to add, these huge folders are only possible because of the tri-ad lock's strength, which CS owns the patent to. I'm glad they pushed the envelope with designs like the XL knives.
 
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Olumin said:
Ill say it; Ball bearings.
From an engineering & blade stability perspective they are less then ideal.
Its takes more fine tuning to get a good action that also locks up well on washers, so many manufacturers will opt for the the easy solution, bearings. Anyone can make a smooth action on bearings.
They also develop blade play faster then bronze washers do as the bearing surface is much smaller, especially when contacting softer metals like Au or Ti.
They are also far more sensitive to dirt & harder to clean, sometimes even to dis/reassemble (ikbs).
I see far too many "overbuilt" or "Hard use" folders that use bearings.

Ultimately, fidget factor over function.
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However, I’m really intrigued by multi-row bearings, such as on my Shirogorov knives…
 
I have been looking for outdoors folder with low budget and CS Finn Wolf has been in my cart many times but I can’t get over who’s brilliant idea was it to put thumb stud in the middle of the blade that prevents sharpening and whittling.
 
This one might trigger more than a few people and the topic has been discussed but since we're here with this thread, I'd say the thumb stud on CRK knives. I have to confess that I only tried four Sebenzas and about 50 other folders with thumb studs and I still feel the CRK thumb studs are the most difficult to operate.
 
Its certainly fancy. Shiros are awesome, at least the older ones. I have no idea what they're doing nowadays. Never was able to get one. I still think the T95 is the coolest one they ever made.
 
A.L. said:
I have been looking for outdoors folder with low budget and CS Finn Wolf has been in my cart many times but I can’t get over who’s brilliant idea was it to put thumb stud in the middle of the blade that prevents sharpening and whittling.
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I mean, "outdoors folders" themselves are making me ask "Wait, but why?"

As if 9€ Mora or 15€ Mora Robust wouldn't do it better than a folder, and without mentioned issues...

And I doubt that concealment is a problem in the wild...
 
I remember the Gekko 1550 was advised as an "outdoor" knife, but its still one of my favourite folders. The ergonomics just work very well for me.

Outdoor folder are are kinda an oxymoron, I agree. Some people seem to love carrying one as a backup tho, which I can understand at least. The issue isnt so much that they dont hold up but that they're a pain to clean, lol! With my fixed blades, I clean em with dish soap under the tap, done.
 
Olumin said:
I remember the Gekko 1550 was advised as an "outdoor" knife, but its still one of my favourite folders. The ergonomics just work very well for me.

Outdoor folder are are kinda an oxymoron, I agree. Some people seem to love carrying one as a backup tho, which I can understand at least. The issue isnt so much that they dont hold up but that they're a pain to clean, lol! With my fixed blades, I clean em with dish soap under the tap, done.
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I had a Voyager I sold (for very cheap) after sand got into the mechanism and did it's thing.

I even did disassembly, clean, wash, oil and reassembly procedure - it was still gritty.
 
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