My pursuit of perfection

H

H3baton

Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
6
First of all, please excuse my English grammar. I am not a native speaker and English is my third language.
I love knives. Particularly, I love "kabar" style knives. Fixed blade, metal double guards, and around 7 inches of blade.
My first knife was Kabar USMC and I fell in love with it. Went on campings in 3 different continents and it served me well.

However, I began to notice imperfections in Kabar knives. I never found a production knife (kabar, Ontario, Bark river, Benchmade, etc etc) that has perfectly symmetrical primary and secondary grinds. I work for Patek Philippe and dealing with a half million dollar watches changed my personality and I wanted to have 1 knife that is absolutely precisely made and perfect.

Thus, I set my budget as 30000 dollars and began my journey in custom knife field.
I have bought/inspected/sold custom knives from various price ranges. Chris Reeve Green Beret, Busse Custom, Bill Bagwell custom bowie, Brend Walter, Randalls, Moran, Rados etc etc etc.

They were all fantastic knives. However, I never found one that is absolutely perfect. May be I am a very unlucky person but all of them had some sort of flaw in my eyes. Some custom knives had more flaws than production knives in my honest opinion. Most of the flaws I saw are blade grind and handle grinds.
Consequently, now I am back to production knives. My favorite is still Kabar USMC. Back to full circle. I have sold all my custom knives and now all my knives are production knives and all of them have flaws. I have accepted the fact that nothing man made is perfect and I am happy with production knives.
Just wanted to share my pursuit of perfection and what I learned.
 
Take the 30k and put it toward a CNC machine that will get you sharpened perfection. When knives are made/ground/sharpened by hand, there will be imperfections. Gives them character!
 
Perfection is a dream, not a reality. The best one can hope for is functionally perfect, and even that is extremely difficult to find and highly subjective.

Also, your English is pretty good. You made very few grammatical errors, and I have seen considerably worse writing from many who speak English as their first language.
 
H3baton-

I collect vintage/antique pocket watches as well as knives. I would kill (not actually) for a Patek Philippe pocket watch. I've been a knife collector for over 65 years and have never found "perfection" in any of them: some are good, some are not so good and some are junk. Just find one that you like (customize it yourself if you wish) as long as it is a good functional knife. I carry a Hamilton 992 made in 1918 daily. While it is not perfect, it is a good functional watch. Knives are no different.
Welcome to the forum. Hope to see many posts by you.
Rich
 
H3baton said:
First of all, please excuse my English grammar. I am not a native speaker and English is my third language.
I love knives. Particularly, I love "kabar" style knives. Fixed blade, metal double guards, and around 7 inches of blade.
My first knife was Kabar USMC and I fell in love with it. Went on campings in 3 different continents and it served me well.

However, I began to notice imperfections in Kabar knives. I never found a production knife (kabar, Ontario, Bark river, Benchmade, etc etc) that has perfectly symmetrical primary and secondary grinds. I work for Patek Philippe and dealing with a half million dollar watches changed my personality and I wanted to have 1 knife that is absolutely precisely made and perfect.

Thus, I set my budget as 30000 dollars and began my journey in custom knife field.
I have bought/inspected/sold custom knives from various price ranges. Chris Reeve Green Beret, Busse Custom, Bill Bagwell custom bowie, Brend Walter, Randalls, Moran, Rados etc etc etc.

They were all fantastic knives. However, I never found one that is absolutely perfect. May be I am a very unlucky person but all of them had some sort of flaw in my eyes. Some custom knives had more flaws than production knives in my honest opinion. Most of the flaws I saw are blade grind and handle grinds.
Consequently, now I am back to production knives. My favorite is still Kabar USMC. Back to full circle. I have sold all my custom knives and now all my knives are production knives and all of them have flaws. I have accepted the fact that nothing man made is perfect and I am happy with production knives.
Just wanted to share my pursuit of perfection and what I learned.
Click to expand...

Pics or it didn't happen.:confused:
 
Confirmation Bias. Also, grinds can be rectified, check out CNC made knives instead of hand made customs. Brian Nadeau/Sharp by Design, or Reate Knives. Also I am glad I don't care about watches.
 
Good luck on chasing your perfect knife. I'm admittedly not too picky on the bevels. I own some sharpening stones, I can even them out myself. I'm not on a quest for the perfect knife.
 
Daedric Panther said:
Jesus Christ, $30k for a knife?!?! I’d have bought a $14 Opinel and a well used Cummins longbed with the rest.

Also no need to apologize about your grammar. You’re English seems very good
Click to expand...
Lol that’s what I’m thinkin. Buy a $200 knife and just beat the hell out of it, buy a couple more for backups and spend the other $29,000 on a GT500 or Corvette...
That’s what I’d do anyway
 
tony281sc2 said:
Lol that’s what I’m thinkin. Buy a $200 knife and just beat the hell out of it, buy a couple more for backups and spend the other $29,000 on a GT500 or Corvette...
That’s what I’d do anyway
Click to expand...

You're entirely missing the point.

1) I believe our new friend had a $30,000 total budget to spend on knives.
2) He was willing to spend a large amount in the pursuit of a perfect knives. Flawless execution. Perfect tolerances. That is what his quest was.
3) You can do whatever you want.

What I find interesting, though, is that our friend says he works for Patek Philippe, and would know that their time pieces are not hand made, but hand assembled. I would think he would realize that their "perfection" relies on machined parts...it would seem odd to assume that would be different for knives.
 
Many things will claim to be perfect
glock_perfection_brand_r.jpg

....My glock knife is isn't.
I don't expect anything ever is.
Don't fall victim to microscopic views.
Its better to take a few steps back
and enjoy a wider perspective on things.
Hey op! Ka-bar is fine too.
Welcome back to the reality of life.
Being fussy about the small things in life
would lead to a sour grumpy disposition.
Don't be fooled by looks alone ;-)
Btw, i think this looks great
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/extrema-ratio-mk2-1-review-lot-of-pics.1348866/
 
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^ I agree with the post above. I know it’s not my place to say how somebody else spends their money, but nothing is truly 100% perfect. In my experience, with anything (a knife, a car, a vacation etc) if your expectations are too high it can only let you down.
And like others have said, maybe the op could invest in a good sharpener and still have his favorite knives, but with a more even bevel.
 
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tony281sc2 said:
^ I agree with the post above. I know it’s not my place to say how somebody else spends their money, but nothing is truly 100% perfect. In my experience, with anything (a knife, a car, a vacation etc) if your expectations are too high it can only let you down.
And like others have said, maybe the op could invest in a good sharpener and still have his favorite knives, but with a more even bevel.
Click to expand...

For every price paid for a knife, there is someone who thinks it is too much. This place is crawling with people who spent over $1000 on knives in pursuit of some exotic supersteel.

Nobody tells them to get a sharpener and get over it.

Our new friend claims to have the funds and opportunity to chase the knife of his dreams.

That makes what he did exactly like what everybody else here does.
 
marcinek said:
For every price paid for a knife, there is someone who thinks it is too much. This place is crawling with people who spent over $1000 on knives in pursuit of some exotic supersteel.

Nobody tells them to get a sharpener and get over it.

Our new friend claims to have the funds and opportunity to chase the knife of his dreams.

That makes what he did exactly like what everybody else here does.
Click to expand...
I hear you, but he said he’s had customs and other knives that he really likes, but with uneven bevels and such. So what would the perfect knife be ? Is the answer just to keep buying the same knife until you get one that is perfect?
I’m just trying to offer up a solution to the problem he is having. I’ll admit that my biggest problem with knives is not having the best equipment and knowledge to resharpen a knife perfectly.
Btw, I’m not knocking people who have multiples of the same knife. But even he will admit that there could be some flaw with any knife, no matter how much money you spend on it.
 
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[QUOTE="H3baton, post: 19120935, member: 334775"...
Thus, I set my budget as 30000 dollars and began my journey in custom knife field.
[/QUOTE]

My friend, feast your eyes on this:

eiqxGig.jpg


Look at it. That is nothing less than a KaBar sword. If you like KaBar knives, just imagine the staggering magnificence of the sword version!

There is one problem, however: that one is not perfect. But you could have a perfect one. I, titanium sword maker Mecha, accept the challenge to make you the perfect KaBar sword.

How could I be so confident it would be perfect, you might ask, when perfection in a blade has been so elusive? Well, I'll tell you why: because it would be hand-forged from ultra rare titanium alloy made for space ships which is itself, metallic perfection.

I guarantee that when you get your titanium KaBar sword, and you close your eyes and pick it up and keep your eyes closed, that the sword will not only look perfect, but it will feel absolutely flawless, a symphonic perfection of balance, a veritable living, animated piece of metal. o_O

Guaranteed.

By the way, did I tell you how dashing you look in those purple wingtips and Cazals?


qSKAvE8.jpg
 
Mecha said:
[QUOTE="H3baton, post: 19120935, member: 334775"...
Thus, I set my budget as 30000 dollars and began my journey in custom knife field.
Click to expand...

My friend, feast your eyes on this:

eiqxGig.jpg


Look at it. That is nothing less than a KaBar sword. If you like KaBar knives, just imagine the staggering magnificence of the sword version!

There is one problem, however: that one is not perfect. But you could have a perfect one. I, titanium sword maker Mecha, accept the challenge to make you the perfect KaBar sword.

How could I be so confident it would be perfect, you might ask, when perfection in a blade has been so elusive? Well, I'll tell you why: because it would be hand-forged from ultra rare titanium alloy made for space ships which is itself, metallic perfection.

I guarantee that when you get your titanium KaBar sword, and you close your eyes and pick it up and keep your eyes closed, that the sword will not only look perfect, but it will feel absolutely flawless, a symphonic perfection of balance, a veritable living, animated piece of metal. o_O

Guaranteed.

By the way, did I tell you how dashing you look in those purple wingtips and Cazals?


qSKAvE8.jpg
[/QUOTE]
TAKE ALL MY MONEY!!!
 
This begs the question, if a perfect watch can be found, why not a perfect knife? What are the issues knife makers face whether its custom or production? How can this be resolved?
 
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