Most disappointing knife purchase?

[Thomas Linton]

As a teenager up til a couple years ago I mainly had sub $40 knives such as Gerber assisted openers, sogs and the like. Never really put much thought into what kind of knife I bought but after getting into knives for a lil while and about 15 spydercos later I got it into my head like an infectious brain disease that I needed an RHK.
After about a month or so of really pursuing one I finally got a 3" XM and a few small criticisms aside I had never had anything of that caliber quality wise in a knife. I think ricks selling practices and the chase involved coupled with the price of the knife irks people but when I actually look at the knife and flip it open I think its one of the best I've ever seen but that's just my 2¢ but then again I didn't pay $650 for mine I paid $450 so not as bad of a sting I suppose

So now we talk about knives we love instead of the topic of the thread?

 

[dougland89]

Crkt hootenanny. Sloppy detent and the pivot was engineered by a 5 year old with no comprehension of how they should work. I sent it bacj to CRKT and told them to keep it

 

[rjwiggall]

Crkt hootenanny. Sloppy detent and the pivot was engineered by a 5 year old with no comprehension of how they should work. I sent it bacj to CRKT and told them to keep it

I bought one of these and actually like it. I will say I had to go through 2 that were behind the counter at the store to find one that met my expectations (the first one flipped like crap to be on bearings)... That doesn't speak too highly for their quality control.

 

[Gusmanb]

For me It was my First OTF, the Schrade Viper, I guess you get want you pay for.
Was so despondent that I Puled the trigger on A Microtech Combat Troodon.
Thats the deference between a $50 knife and a $400 one.

The other was a Gerber Remix, picked it up from my Local Home Depot, because it
has a Similar design to A Custom I have seen, which I could remember which on.
it is Hard do deploy and the blade is really off center that it scraped the liner lock.

 

[silvercrank999]

I also agree, the CRKT M16. What a terrible blade. If the materials (all of them- blade, liners, scales) were made of high quality materials and they got rid of that stupid double lock (I forget their name for the lock), then it might be decent. Big let down.

 

[Gusmanb]

I'm disappointed to hear that about a Marfione custom. I have a production mini matrix, and I absolutely love it.

I have A production too!

I do not have any problem with my Flipper.

 

[Gusmanb]

ZT0770CF

Good looking knife but it flipped horribly when de-assisted. Flimsy internals and poor tolerances in the CF milling caused very poor support for the washers. So it had terrible blade play and poor centering. The stop pin had way too much wiggle for my liking. The CF handles had too much flex due to the milling for speedsafe, not to mention the pathetically small washer on one side. You needed two hex drivers to adjust the pivot. Raw carbon fiber feels like a chalkboard. The original aluminum version is much better.

It was a great knife ruined by Speedsafe and ZT jumping on this silly carbon fiber bandwagon.

I was planing on getting one of this, Guess I will just save for the real thing A 0777.

 

[Gusmanb]

I am in the same boat on the XM-18, while I won't say it's the most disappointing, I will say I didn't get it and promptly returned it one day after purchase. I did the same on a Strider SNG. Now the punch line, I am now waiting for an XM18, Eklipse, SNG, and SMF on the way and expected by end of week. We'll see if these versions invoke any buyers remorse.

Let us know what you fell about them when you get them?

I Just got an XM-18 and was planing to getting an Eklipse as well and was researching the Striders, particularly the SNG Performance.

 

[Captain O]

A Chinese "Stiletto" (read: cheap 440A steel knock-off.) It lasted about 2 months of "click therapy" and the scales cracked and fell off.

Captain O

 

[Rappy]

Boker vox rold...
Had nothing going for it, sold it. :thumbdn:

moving on!

 

[trevitrace]

That is why I never managed to get interested in them. Cutting thin paper is pretty minimal in my book... I think they do these edges because with all the weight (22-28 ounces in some?) the things get deeply stuck in wood when chopping, so they can't make them really sharp: The problem of diminishing returns would become too obvious... Then a 17 ounces San Mai III Trailmaster comes along, and it does stick itself in a few times, but basically it goes through a log quicker... Maybe some models are hollow ground and do better, but I wonder: I've seen videos of Battle Mistresses losing out in chopping: I'd like to see some videos of them winning... Cliff Stamp used to be a big proponent of Busse, but I'm sure the things were heavily, heavily re-profiled...

Gaston

Not the most impressive, but I find the edge I've achieved on this acceptable for a 17.5", 33 oz knife.

 

[Gaston444]

Very nice: Do you have the figure of the edge bevel base and angle on that edge?

I've managed good edges that had high performance, but they also had a very high bevel with a thick base: They were like 11-12° per side, which sounds ok, but then you have to factor in the bevel's base width: 1.8 mm on my TOPS Hellion. This means the edge has good performance, but will be extremely hard to restore to that performance once it is gone... On a Randall the typical edge bevel base is 0.5 mm, or 0.020", and my Model 18 is down to 7-8° per side on about 0.025", about 14-16° inclusive, and it is still an edge durable enough for light wood chopping (especially given the very weak chopping momentum of that lighweight blade)... My Model 14 edge was 0.020" and barely 10° per side, and it withstood wood prying and direct on edge sideway leverage without much trouble...

Here's an account that shows a Randall offers better chopping performance on wood:

www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthre...FBM-FBMLE-Bill-Buxton-field-test-knife-review

Gaston

 

[RIPtastic]

This Warren Thomas custom was a knife I owned for probably less than half an hour before I decided to get rid of it. I knew before hand an all titanium knife would be light but this knife just didn't feel like quality. There was way to much flex in the handle and the flipping action was non existent. Just not my cup of tea I guess.

 

[Spyderco_Ftw]

Benchmade 551 (Griptillian) I didn't like the feel of it i might get it back with some custom grips and get it a second chance

 

[williamisthe1]

Smith and Wesson Border Guard 2. I wanted a knife with a glass break but the clip get loose it has aggressive texture on both sides and it's way larger that I expected.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

That big gold CRKT M60. Most uncomfortable and unwieldy thing ever. Whole damn thing is a hot spot.

Use it for cutting foam blocks to ship ebay stuff now.

 

[demoncase]

Oh- Now I've gone away and thought about it a bit more:

Cold Steel Kobun
Superb knife with a terrible sheath- the kydex dulls the edge....Strop it, use it and it retains a great edge. But take it in and out of the sheath 4 times and it ends up dull with little shavings of kydex as mute witness to the reason why.

J.Nowill Fairbairn Sykes
'Issue' model for £40..
Blade dull as a hermit's Facebook page...."Sharpening" revealed a complete absence of heat treatment
Sheath made out of a 'leather' which even a chinese sweatshop would turn away as dross- dropping the blade into a worn-out sock would be a tighter fit.
Casting flash on the round handle at least 1/8th" thick and tall.
All finished in the kind of shiny gloss black that comes out of gas-station rattlecans.
Horrible.

 

[strategy9]

Smith and Wesson Border Guard 2. I wanted a knife with a glass break but the clip get loose it has aggressive texture on both sides and it's way larger that I expected.

I'm actually pleased with mine for a beater knife, but yeah, it sure is a big (and heavy) sob for sure.

 

[A.L.]

7 pages so far and not one single mention of a disappointing CRK, maybe I'll buy one. I just got a XM18 spanto and for the money I was not very happy to see a torn Teflon washer and discoloration on the inside of the lockbar near the detent ball. Machine flaw, idk. Probably not a huge deal I know, but its still mildly irksome for a new $500+ knife. Don't get me wrong, I love the XM-18 but I might start flirting with the idea of a CRK sebbie especially since no one has made mention of them in this "disappointment" thread.

I got professional soldier. I hated that knife! It was finely made knife, and I liked the sheath, but that's pretty much it.
The "gun kote" or whatever they call the coating, is so grippy it adds probably 50% more friction. Cutting cardboard boxes with that thing was pain in the ass.
But even more disappointing was the steel. I don't have experience of other S35VN knives but that knife dulled out from decent paper whittling (that was the best I could do for the knife) to completely dull by cutting one meter of cardboard.
Maybe it's not the steel, but I have no idea what Chris Reeve thought when he decided they run the RC to mid fifties.
The most overpriced non-functioning knife I have ever had.

 

[DPC]

This one (obviously this is not my picture)

I dont understand this knife.

Extremely heavy for the size (only 7 inches) , an edge so obtuse it hardly cuts anything even when shaving sharp, very (VERY) uncomfortable in the hand, and coated for rust resistance.... except on two absurd grooves on the blade.

Also, the saw works nicely, but is reduntant, since it is so ridiculously heavy you could chop with it.

Why? WHY?

Bonus super heavy points if you add a multitool in the pouch of the sheath.

I dont hate it because It was the best knife deal of my life, I got it for 28€, a bargain. I would feel extremely underwhelmed and depressed if I paid full retail though, in my humble owner oppinion, not worth it at all.

TOPS claims this was their first knife for "operators" but I honestly cannot figure out how anyone would carry so much weight for such a knife, much less professional badasses that abide by the practical over anything else sense. If I was military I'd choose a Glock or a even a Mora over this any day.