New guy with a couple Kershaws

celtic11

celtic11

Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
611
Just wanted to introduce myself here. My name is Alex and I am new, not only here, but to the world of pocket knives. I had some pocket knives as a kid in boyscout but nothing nice and only used them when we were whittling.

A couple years ago my brother-in-law, who is an avid knife guy, was looking for christmas ideas for me and I told him I wouldn't mind having a decent pocket knife. He bought me a Kershaw Ener-G. I still have and love that knife and carry it most of the time I am not at work. At work I have been carrying a Kershaw Select Fire. I also own a Kershaw Tremor that I got for a good price.

My newest addition is a Cold Steel Ak47. Cold Steel seems like one of those brands that people love or hate. I realize the marketing tactics may be gimmicky and a little over the top, but it seems to sell knives so hard to blame them there. In any case, this seems like a very well made knife and the tri-ad lock is a thing of beauty. Knife fits awesome in my hand and definitely has a lot of "cool factor."

In any case, I am relatively new in my pocket knife endeavors. I am just here to learn a little more about my current and future knives.
 
Hey Celtic, welcome to Blade Forums.
Seems you have a good start, you have two really nice Kershaw's.
Cold Steel doesn't make bad knives by any means. I sometimes think they want a little much for what they are, but the AK-47, Recon 1, and American Lawman are probably their best knives, especially for the money spent.

Before you know it though you'll be buying Spyderco, Benchmade, more Kershaw, ZT, Emerson, a DPX H.E.S.T. 2.0, and many more lol.

This is a good place to be when it comes to info and finding out what you like.
 
That's how it all started. Junk knives here and there. Then moved onto Kershaws. Then went up. Kind of like a disease. Good Luck!
 
I think you got yourself a great Cold Steel knife, I had an old Spyderco Delica given to me when I was about 19, but before that, all of my blades were low end. That Delica lasted me so many years, it is about the best EDC, and I still don't have one to replace my old one... Have the PM2 and a full serrated Endura. I just need to buy more knives.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums Celtic. You've begun a journey that will lead you to all kinds of nice knives. You'll begin to appreciate the different steels, handle materials, grinds, locks, liners, and makers. You will come to love the edge, and all it's variances. It's a fun hobby. But, can get expensive. For years all I carried was slipjoints of the Schrade USA, Case or Queen variety. Then I got a Buck 110 and 119. I used them for a few years. Then I found some Kershaw's in a flea market for cheap, and bought up 12 or 14 of them from the same guy. I got them all for cheap, like 10-15 each. I did some trading and ended up with a good selection of Spyderco. Then I got into ZT. Then I picked up a few Benchmades. Then I got a couple Esee's. Then I traded into a custom fixed blade, which I love dearly. I'm on a high end steel kick right now. The last two knives I've purchased were Benchmade exclusives with m390 and cpm m4 steel. I love both of those steels, and plan on buying more.

You will enjoy knives. Take it slow. It can get expensive fast. Enjoy your knives. Learn to use them. Learn to sharpen them. Learn to appreciate them. Have fun with them.
 
^ what he said!

Start saving up, NOW! It's an addictive hobby, as your Brother-in-Law can probably tell you. It's also quite rewarding, in friendships, knowledge and fun.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome! Luckily, I don't have a lot of money to spend on anything right now so I should be able to keep my knife purchases in check for a while. I have been eyeing a SOG Aegis for a bit so maybe I will grab one of those soon. As far as prices go, Amazon seems to beat pretty much everyone from what I have seen??

As for Benchmades and Zero Tolerance, maybe someday but those are still a little steep in price for my taste right now. Spydercos get rave reviews on here but they just don't appeal to me aesthetically at all. Maybe they will grown on me.
 
Keep an eye out Celtic for a Benchmade Griptillian, or Mini Grip. Sometimes you can get those pretty inexpensively. They are pretty good. Also, there are many sites that sell Benchmades a bit cheaper. You just have to have them email you their discounted prices. Amazon does have some decent prices on knives though. I've bought a few off of there myself. In fact, they have some ZT's pretty cheap right now.
 
celtic11 said:
Thanks for the warm welcome! Luckily, I don't have a lot of money to spend on anything right now so I should be able to keep my knife purchases in check for a while. I have been eyeing a SOG Aegis for a bit so maybe I will grab one of those soon. As far as prices go, Amazon seems to beat pretty much everyone from what I have seen??

As for Benchmades and Zero Tolerance, maybe someday but those are still a little steep in price for my taste right now. Spydercos get rave reviews on here but they just don't appeal to me aesthetically at all. Maybe they will grown on me.
Click to expand...

I'd warn you against SOG's, most people here have been disappointed with the quality for the price. They have some decent materials in some of their knives, but they're just kind of flimsy and gimmicky compared to their competitors. Spydercos didn't appeal to me at first, either, mostly since to the newcomer they appear to sell the same knife at wildly different price points, but after owning a few I've grown to appreciate them. They don't make many knives that impress at first glance or from handling them in a store, but after you've actually used one you'll see why so many people like them. What kind of knife are you looking for? We'll be happy to give you some suggestions.

You can find good deals if you look around. The for sale section here is a great place to start, the prices tend to be better than ebay because sellers would rather sell to a more knowledgeable customer and Bladeforums doesn't take a 12% cut of the sale. There are two retailers I know of that sell Benchmades below the normal discounted price; GPknives is the one I can mention without "deal-spotting."
 
SOG's are... okay I guess lol.
Any newer produced SOG normally has an amount of blade play I can't deal with. The materials are less than ideal for the prices. The fit and finish isn't all that great. Gets better as you go up in price but still leaves something to be desired.
The best SOG's I've ever owned were a cheap SOG SogZilla and a SOG Sculptura(long discontinued).
There are several better knives out there for the price.

I didn't like Spyderco at first either. Then I owned one. It's one of those things. They may not appeal, until you have it in hand. Then you want them all. Lol.
 
Well I am far from dead set on a SOG, but a couple things..

I recently had a SOG kilowatt that for $35 was a sweet work knife. I do HVAC work and do a fair amount of wiring and having a little wire stripper in my pocket sure came in handy. I lost it, but I never noticed any blade play or issues with it but I only had the Kershaw Ener-G at the time so I didn't have many knives to compare it to.

My brother-in-law, who started all this, has a SOG Vulcan tanto and that knife just feels amazing to me. The blade is weighted beautifully and flips out effortlessly. Just seemed like a really nice knife, but I can't spend over $100 on a knife right now and the Aegis had pretty good reviews so I thought I would give it a try.

That said, I am a ways away from another purchase and plan to do plenty of reading here before I do so. You guys have been helpful already!
 
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