Lower priced knives sold at big box stores sealed in plastic.

Hackenslash said:
The worst thing about big box retail knives is clam shell packaging. You need another knife to get the knife you just bought out of the packaging...which means you need to buy more knives...making clam shell packaging the best thing about big box retail knives...

Its a conundrum.
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Scissors work just fine, cut around the rim of the entire package.
 
What with all the attention disposable plastics have been getting lately, I do find myself looking at the way things are packaged more often. Although I don't think I would actually skip a product I would otherwise desire, I do appreciate it when manufacturers avoid using unnecessary plastics. Since there are so many better alternatives to clamshells, I could get behind a ban on clamshell packaging.
 
Somebody probably already mentioned this but, you'd think the corporations would be all for little to no plastic bubble packaging as it creates so much waste and takes up so much additional space that could be used for additional product. I mean, just imagine how much more space could be yielded in those gigantic shipping containers from smaller boxes because they're not filled up w/ oversized plastic packaging garbage. :confused:
 
It is becoming somewhat "cool" for corporations to be environmentally friendly. Hopefully if they couldn't give a rat's arse about an endangered sea turtle with a disposable plastic straw up its nose, they would at least join the bandwagon to fit in. There is a risk that they may be dishonest about their actual practices. I've rescued wild animals and I've personally witnessed the impact of non-organic materials in the environment. I hate clamshell packaging. It's difficult to carry because of its size and shape, it's difficult to open, it doesn't allow me to properly experience the knife before buying, and it's so unnecessary. Give me a cardboard box or I'm not buying the knife. It's that simple.
 
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Only good clamshell is a dead clamshell.

Anyway a clamshell is a good way to be certain that you are getting an brand new knife and not a return sold as new.
 
One of the reasons I detest clam shell packaging is that it is simply poisoning the environment for future generations. We should be reducing plastic packaging, not in the future, but now. I like knives that come in a cardboard box. There is an outdoor gear company here in the UK called ‘Rab’ - top class gear BTW - and all their packaging is paper and cardboard. No problems whatsoever, and the planet doesn’t accrue yet more useless, selfish, irritating, plastic crap.

/rant
 
I suspect the clam shell type packaging will go by the way side just like many styrofoam packaging at burger places are gone. Just a matter of time.
 
I saw one of those hacks one time where the person took a cranking can opener and opened a plastic clamshell.
Did I ever mention how much I hate clamshell packaging?
 
bobobama said:
I think we all agree- Clamshells suck!

To me it just cheapens the product, and like it's been mentioned, you can't get a feel for what you're buying. Nothing beats going into a brick and mortar and playing with the merchandise.

Hope it doesn't become the wave of the future.
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I refuse to buy knives from "big box stores." Usually get knives at farm & ranch stores, hardware stores, gun stores, gun shows, etc.
 
It sucks for sure, but it's sooo much easier to to hang large quantities of product, in a secre manner, right in front of the customer, who can buy on impulse, without ever to find and wait for a 'team-member' to help them with something.

You guys are all looking at it from the wrong angle. Collectors and efficianados (of all sorts, not just knives) may want the tactile experience, but for mass consumerism, it's perfect for both the retailer and the buyer. For the retailer, it's easy to stock out in the open, secure, workers can quickly identify product for restocking, and it's simple to scan. For the general consumer, it's quick to identify, self serve, can be thrown (literally) in the cart, and easily run through self checkout.

Yeah, it sucks, but then again, the knives you're seeing in clamshells are usually the lower budget ones aimed at the general masses to begin with.
 
One more thing. The few knives and tools I've bought in clamshells all had problems.

Gerber L.S.T.: Middle pin is loose, so the handle 'pulls apart' slightly when the knife is opened or closed. Also, badly-centered blade.

Gerber Dime: Blade dulls itself by slamming against the inside of the handle when closing. All the tools feel cheap and delicate which has meant I never dared to put it to proper use.

Opinel No. 8 "Inox": Locking collar doesn't fit properly. It can shift up and down in its place. Hence, I experience up and down blade play upon opening and locking the blade open. I have to re-tighten the locking collar to eradicate the blade-play, and this happens every time I open the knife. I use it as a friction-folder now.

Potential for manufacturing defects is another reason for my avoiding clamshells, besides the environmental reasons as I shared in my previous post.
 
Just to add a little fuel to the fire. Any body else notice that they have a tendency to slice open the bag when your carrying it in the house. Drives me nuts.
 
Uncle Timbo said:
I like the way GEC does theirs in a hard cardboardish tube with the knife wrapped in heavy brown wax paper. Pretty slick.
But we have a knife store in the town I live in. Nothing like asking to see a particular knife and actually getting to do the ol touchy/feely thing first.
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I was pretty impressed with the GEC packaging. Simple, less plastic, kind of old timey and nice.
 
Brhowser87 said:
Just to add a little fuel to the fire. Any body else notice that they have a tendency to slice open the bag when your carrying it in the house. Drives me nuts.
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don't use plastic bags - we've gone full reusable bags, assuming we don't forget them at the house....

i get both sides, clamshell is the worst - but i can also understand the manufacturer's and retailer's reasoning behind it too.
for my purposes, and regards to knives - its not really an issue as I'm not looking at the knives in clamshell or buying them at the big boxes
 
Prester John said:
I refuse to buy knives from "big box stores." Usually get knives at farm & ranch stores, hardware stores, gun stores, gun shows, etc.
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There are big box stores and then there are big box stores.... I generally don't buy knives at places like Walmart, generally. But I did buy my first Spyderco Native and a Gerber River Shorty at Walmart. I bought a couple SOGs at Lowes for work knives and they basically sucked, although I do own some good SOGs. Most of my knives come from online knife retailers, at a knife show, or in person at a knife store. I don't consider Bass Pro, Cabelas, or Sportsman Warehouse big box stores, but they are sporting goods big box stores none the less. A few knives have been sourced from those places, but mostly from Sportsman Warehouse which sells a modest selection of knives; some in clamshell packaging (SAKs, Schrade, Buck, some SOGs, Gerber), but most of their better knives are under glass and you have to ask for them.
 
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