Knives you want to like

For me it's the Bowie knife, and similarly shaped and sized knives. Which is why I haven't fully warmed up to many of the Randall knives.
I feel like I should like the Bowie, and I've really tried to like them because they're so iconic, but if I had one, I wouldn't know what to do with it. If I did know, I'd probably want a tomahawk. I shy away from any fixed blade more than 6 inches.
 
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To be clear I wasn't asking for knives models or patterns that you hate, but those you've really tried to like and maybe do like on paper but just never really do in practice.

Take the Sodbuster for example, I can't think of anything I dislike about them inherently , they were the slipjoint pattern that most caught my eye as a teenager, and the 1st slipjoint I ever purchased, but they just never speak to me when it's time to choose what to carry.
I want to like them, and maybe would really love a little baby Sodbuster but for some reason I can't pinpoint I don't love the Sodbuster.
 
There are many patterns available that I like the looks of and have bought just to have the pattern . When I want to carry a knife that I do not expect to really use them it does not seem to matter which one to carry as long as it looks nice . When I expect to have to actually use the knife to cut something tougher than paper , the pattern does not seem to matter . To me it is the blade that matters . I do not care for Spears or Speys , even though many people do . I want a Clip , Sheepfoot , or Lambfoot blade . I do like a handle with a little curve to it . I can no longer open Gator Snaps so the pulls have to be manageable . When I expect to have to do some real work , I will usually pick 2 to carry that are similar to these 2 .
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Right now , I have a Stag knife with no Brass in it , a Clip Blade , and Gunstock Pattern in my pocket .

Harry
 
Jaburg1 said:
For me it's the Bowie knife, and similarly shaped and sized knives. Which is why I haven't fully warmed up to many of the Randall knives.
I feel like I should like them, but if I had one, I wouldn't know what to do with it. If I did know, I'd probably want a tomahawk. I shy away from any fixed blade more than 6 inches.
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That's one of my exceptions , I have no use for them but they're cool and so Iconically American that I've gotta have one. Most pocket knives and modestly sized belt knives have to be practical knives I'd enjoy carrying.
 
The Sak, in it's many forms, is probably the most useful knife I could carry around. By all sane accounts it is perfect. Size, shape, tools... Everything

I just can't get into it. Its boring.

I have a couple nice ones. They come out on occasion but nowhere near what they should.

Mark me down for the sodbuster too... Great knife but it needs a point. Maybe a clip blade and I'm all over it! Lol. Those new crossroads ones look so nice too. Just not my thing.
 
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Hickory n steel said:
To be clear I wasn't asking for knives models or patterns that you hate, but those you've really tried to like and maybe do like on paper but just never really do in practice.

Take the Sodbuster for example, I can't think of anything I dislike about them inherently , they were the slipjoint pattern that most caught my eye as a teenager, and the 1st slipjoint I ever purchased, but they just never speak to me when it's time to choose what to carry.
I want to like them, and maybe would really love a little baby Sodbuster but for some reason I can't pinpoint I don't love the Sodbuster.
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I understand completely. I honestly have really wanted to like the peanut and Vic classic. I have bought classics for my kids, my nephews, nieces and others. I like the concept, price, tools, and convenience. I’ve even in the past put them on Christmas list only to be relieved that my wife chose a different knife.


The peanut was my son’s first knife I bought him probably 16 or 17 years ago. Seems like to me once again a convenient size, tones of scale choices. Honestly with my current lifestyle could probably handle most f my cutting needs. Every time someone post a peanut I start looking at dealers for one only to change my mind once I get ready to put it in my cart.

I guess the peanut and classic are the two I honestly wish I liked.
 
Trappers and Whittlers. I don’t like the two long blades on Trappers and I don’t care for the blade arrangement on Whittlers.

I want to like Whittlers because there are a lot of nice ones out there but aside from looking nice, they just don’t do anything for me.
 
Railsplitter said:
Trappers and Whittlers. I don’t like the two long blades on Trappers and I don’t care for the blade arrangement on Whittlers.

I want to like Whittlers because there are a lot of nice ones out there but aside from looking nice, they just don’t do anything for me.
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I was thinking of getting a seahorse whittler recently but started thinking I probably wouldn't end up liking it.
The Camillus 72 whittler I really wanted to like, but ultimately couldn't get past the cut swedge and the thick edged saber ground blade.
With a flat ground blade and drawn swedge I think It could be the one 3 blade knife that really works out for me, no spey blade and the coping blade gives me the function of a sheeps foot without being obtrusive.

As far as trappers goes I love the frame shape and the main blade, but don't need the spey or a 2nd full length blade.
I'd buy a single blade 54 pattern trapper ( 61054 ? ) but I don't know how much I'd carry it.
I had my eye on a mini trapper in CS and dark red bone when contemplating that Sodbuster JR, but it's not a single blade and couldn't turn the spey into a sheeps foot without loosening the nail nick.

I have trouble modifying perfectly good knives sometimes.
I want the knife to better suit my preferences, but it's also gotta look good because It's not a necessity.
 
85 spear point,my first experience with it just so happened to coincide with being my first gec,at the time I was an mgd beer drinker which was a screw top so decided after our canadian case dealer didn't have the case trapper with a bottle opener to try and get the 85 cap lifter and was immediately impressed by the solid build.all was well carrying and using it until that cold winter day when the rubber of my windshield wiper tore apart,so after picking up a blade that was in hard shrink wrappe plastic i found myself frustrated in the -28 weather and using that fat bellied 85 to get into the package found myself yelling for something with a sharp point.that is my reason17654957140992140458104320180774.jpgbut how do you not like the knife that got you chasing gec being carried by rabbits into their hole
 
Oldy said:
i found myself frustrated in the -28 weather and using that fat bellied 85 to get into the package found myself yelling for something with a sharp point.that is my reason
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GR8 ... "excuse" ... 4 Y U should carry more than one. 😁
The 85 pairs well with the Bunny Knife, Barlow, or even a large or sow belly stockman. 😇👍
 
Well, in the spirit of the original question, there were two patterns I bought thinking I would like them, but they really did not work for me:

Case Muskrat. Great size, two very useful and identical clip-point blades. Like a single-blade knife with a back-up blade so it lasts twice as long between sharpening. Should have been right up my alley. I had a gorgeous one in CV steel with the Chestnut bone. But it just did not click so I passed it on to a forum member here (Zan Augustincic over in Slovenia).

Case Canoe. Another one that should have been great. Easy pocket carry, two useful spear blades, nice execution, I even liked the classic blade etch. But just never made it into my pocket, so I sent that one along as well (to afishhunter, in fact, who got lots of use out of it).

Ok, so maybe more than two.
Congress patterns, especially Case's version, are ones I thought I might like but just didn't.

I will agree with the sentiment about toothpicks, but only for those tiny 3" Case Toothpicks. I got one, just for being a completionist. Cute little thing but dainty. I am sure it could cut a few things and do some detail work, but I'd rather have a Peanut over it.

I like the more sturdy and larger #12 toothpick patterns from GEC, though, and have a couple of them and one of the Powderhorn Jacks.

Most of the time, patterns or styles of knives I just outright did not care for never made it into my collection. The "wasn't interested, still not interested" category.

However, some of the patterns others have mentioned in this thread were "knives I did not think I would like, but after getting one, found that I really loved them." Kind of the opposite of the original topic. Full sized regular Case Trappers, for example. Love the knives, love that long spey blade. Did not care for them until I tried one on a whim.

Stockman patterns were another one that I initially had no interest in, being more of a 2-blade jack knife guy, but after trying a couple out, I love the utility of them and it is one of my favorite pattern families.

I also like the simple basic utility of Sod Buster patterns. I have 3 of Case's SB Juniors, including the black-handled version with the plow etch on the blade, and a Queen Country Cousin in D2.
 
The two patterns of blades that I've really tried to like, in fact love the looks and the idea of them, but just cannot enjoy using them, are the fat spear and the punch. I've tried the fat spear in two-blade jacks and single blades, and the punch in two-blade jacks and stockman/cattle knives. Both are so specialized that I just didn't see the utility of them for an EDC. Both blades are available in the teardrop frame, which I love, but still couldn't like the knives with those blades. I have carried an Evo Grip 14 SAK almost every day for over 5 years and have only used the awl/punch on it twice. I had a gloriously hafted S&M Keystone series teardrop with a beautifully swedged fat spear and just couldn't bond with it.

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Hickory n steel said:
Are there any specific knives or general patterns that you want to like or have even tried to like but just don't for some reason?

I just almost bought a Sodbuster jr in CS with dark red bone covers, but I had to stop myself because I knew that I probably wouldn't carry it much if at all.
The dark red bone looks good with a nice dark patina covered CS blade and they really do call to me on paper so I had to try hard not to order order one but was ultimately able to pass.
I think more than anything I've just been itching for another carbon steel pocket knife.

I like the idea of the Sodbuster JR and I have 2 but just don't carry them because I most favor little pocket knives, I have exceptions but for some reason the Sodbusters just don't call out to me when it's time to pick a carry for the week.

I have no explanation for why.
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To me, the sodbuster jr IS a little knife.🤷‍♂️Minuscule even. I carry a full size Soddy all the time.

I’ve tried to like teeny tiny knives like the peanut and I just can’t.
 
AntDog said:
To me, the sodbuster jr IS a little knife.🤷‍♂️Minuscule even.
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I like knives many people would say are uselessly small, like the Buck 305 & Schrade LB1.
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It's just a matter of preference and perspective, I'm definitely in a minority.
The average person probably considers the Sodbuster JR to be smaller or just right, while I view it as a larger pocket knife.
 
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