Knives you did not like in pics but loved in person

Another vote for the ZT0456. It looks like a stumpy tarted up Kershaw Needs Work in the pics.

Only when I handled it did I realize that it's a fine carry knife when you need a heavy duty folder that has a bit of style to go along with it. It's a bit heavy, but the solid feel inspires confidence.

The 909 is deceptively simple in design. It's a shame it never caught on because it's probably the first folder I would grab if I were fleeing out the door for an extended time. The 350 would be the only knife in my collection that would give it a run for its money in that role.

I'm going to say that I didn't think I would ever go with the ZT0850. It's got a polarizing design which I didn't hate, but I wasn't geeking out over it either. It's also really expensive. Once I handled it...man, what a fine folder. If my 450 is my church/wedding knife, the 850 is my cocktail party/reception knife. Just a gorgeous head-turner, imho.
 
Spyderco in general. I didn't get the look or the opening hole at all until I got my first PM2. Now they are some of my favorites.
 
Boker Apparo ; looked clumsy and almost goofy sometimes in pictures. saw one for 70.00 took a gamble. much much nicer in person very impressed with the quality and feel;much better looking in person than in pictures.glad I took the risk.
 
Not too many stores around here that carry nicer range knives so unless I buy it I never get to fondle. A few zt, bm or spydies here and there but that’s about it.

But I did buy a CS recon 1 xl back in the day just because it was basically a folding sword and it impressed the hell out of me when I actually got it. Felt good in the hand, super smooth action and sharp as a razor out of the box.
 
Zt 0460. Looks like a fantasy knife, makes perfect sesen in hand. I like it much more than the 0450 in use.
 
Several Spydercos have been that way for me. The Manix 2 is one example. It didn't appeal to me until I held it in my hand.
 
100% Spyderco Southard for me. Baby-poop brown scales. Gigantic pointless--it's a flipper for God's sake--hole in the blade. Weird droopy handle. Weird droopy blade. Stupid tacticool knife trend-driven too-thick blade.

Then my wife bought me one, and I discovered I really liked it in hand. I still hated the scales and the stupid hole, and wish it had a thinner blade, but it has a deep enough hollow grind to cut pretty well once it's thinned down some at the edge, the blade shape is fantastic, it carries small and light, and at least to me, it feels great in hand.

I went from hate it, would never buy one--wholly based on photos--to this:

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So I guess I shouldn't have judged the book by it's cover or refused the green eggs and ham or whatever. Now I have seven or eight Southards and something like thirteen or fourteen sets of scales that I rotate periodically.
 
Buck Stockman - Was looking for a cheap user for throwing in my bag when I travel. It didn’t really jump out at me but for ~$20 it was a no brainer. After using it a while I grew to favor it over my Case Stockman. This thing is a tank and is a great addition to any wood carvers load out.

Three Sisters Forge Gorgon - The pics don’t do it justice and the few videos I found leave you wanting more.
I actually got my hands on one when I drove down to Knivesshipfree before they moved out of Oregon. All it took was a good 30 seconds of handling it before I realized it was a keeper. Feels amazing in hand, smooth action, solid lock up and the blade just cuts so well. I’ve yet to develop any hot spots while using it for any length of time and the Stonewashed Ti slabs show almost no signs of wear or marking even though it’s been carried and used heavily.
 
Another for all knives Spyderco. Did not care for the look at all, and felt they all looked the same. Then got one as a gift and it stayed in my pocket for years.
 
abbazaba said:
Zt 0460. Looks like a fantasy knife, makes perfect sesen in hand. I like it much more than the 0450 in use.
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I almost bought one of those yesterday. They had a sale on them at the local gun shop. I agree, it feels amazing in hand. I just couldn't justify it since my 450 doesn't get carried as much due to my preference of a larger knife.
Scale that up to 4" and I'd be sold.
 
craytab said:
Spyderco in general. I didn't get the look or the opening hole at all until I got my first PM2. Now they are some of my favorites.
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Same for me almost. I had no interest in a Spyderco, thought they were ugly.

Then while pursuing the Benchmade display at a knife store, I decided to check out the Grip 555 to see what that hole was all about.

Long story short, now I have 4 times the number of Spydercos to the number of Benchmades.
 
First time a saw the ZT0700 I thought it looked bent. Picked one up on closeout years ago and it's been my most carried EDC since.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I almost bought one of those yesterday. They had a sale on them at the local gun shop. I agree, it feels amazing in hand. I just couldn't justify it since my 450 doesn't get carried as much due to my preference of a larger knife.
Scale that up to 4" and I'd be sold.
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You checked out the new models ZT has released for 2018 so far yet? I have a feeling you may appreciate the 0462...
 
Spyderco Dragonfly did that for me. Looked like the ergos wouldn't be too great and didn't care for the extra blade height from the hole, but wanted to try it to see what Spyderco was all about. Changed my opinion once I got it in hand and used it the first few times.
 
I'm in the "Buying my knives online because the 2-3 Stores are 5-7 hours away" camp. I'm not gonna start taking paid vacation days for a ~10 hour round trip to a knife store to try them out in hand. I just go by pictures and order them online.
 
craytab said:
Spyderco in general. I didn't get the look or the opening hole at all until I got my first PM2. Now they are some of my favorites.
Click to expand...
Yup. Never even considered the opening hole until my buddy got me a Tenacious. Wow. Really fast and easy to open! Almost like as much as my flippers..almost :)
 
Has to be th LE Yojimbo for me. Looked weird in pics, but I liked the blade shape.
Bought one. Couple months later, bought another.
Amazing action and melts in the hand. And that blade flat out cuts!
Joe
 
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