Odd Knife Question

Clem Kadiddlehopper

Clem Kadiddlehopper

knife guy
Joined
Sep 4, 2012
Messages
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What's the most important part on/of a knife for you?

Or is there one?

I was thinking of this for my self and I couldn't answer my own question.

So is it the look, feel, design, size, steel, smooth action, the cutting edge or what, that is the most important part.

Or are you like me - the knife just has to be right and work.:D:thumbup:
 
I think this would depend on the type of knife, such as folder or fixed. A strong blade would be most important to me on a fixed. A good lock would be important to me on a folder.
 
What's the most important part of my coffee cup? The body of the cup that surrounds the contents, or the empty space into which I can pour my coffee? The best part of the knife is to drive my enemies before me, hear the lamentations of....Nah, I just want the knife in my hand to safely take care of the task in front of me. The first question is actually a trick question, because the damn cup is empty and I could really use a cup of coffee.
 
When talking about folders I think you have to look at the knife as a whole. If the knife has a great lock but a so-so grip, or grind you will have issues with it. Find a knife that has it all, and that does not mean it has to be expensive. Yes I think my Wilson Combat large Sebenza is perfect but I also think my black on black para 2 is perfect also. My rat 1 is also up there with perfection. Different knives have different things that stick out more than others but at the end of the day it has to work every time you need it to.
 
The knife exists, made up of all its parts. Without one part there can't be the other. Is it the knife that cuts or is it simply me dividing space with my mind. Can there be a micro bevel without the bevel? Can the handle be a handle without the blade? What is truly important? All the molecules of powder compressed to form steel? THe heat that forges is nothing without the man who uses it.
 
First thing that comes to mind is, well, the "look,' the design, the visual appeal that it has for me.

Sounds odd, but please follow. Been using knifes all my life. For me, I think that I have accumulated all of those life moments into a sub-conscious library of what works and what doesn't work for me. If maturity (nice way of saying "aging") has benefits, one of them is that I don't really have to work my way through a checklist any more. Those of you BFers who have worked at pretty much the same occupation for many years understand the elegance of "shorcuts."

I see it, I like it, I buy it!

Ergo, my knife accumulation.
 
The most important part of a knife to me is practicality from a performance-oriented point of view. It needs to give me:

-A comfortable and secure grip
-Blade and edge geometry conducive to good cutting performance
-A durable and properly heat treated steel with good edge retention, ease of sharpening
-A strong and reliable lock (if it's a locking folder)
-A reasonable degree of resistance to the elements
-Quality construction, fit and finish (there are many expensive knives that do this poorly and many inexpensive ones with great F&F)
-A good value (this doesn't mean it needs to be cheap [many of my favorites certainly aren't], but it needs to give me my money's worth)

I tend to primarily buy Cold Steel, Spyderco and Buck (in that order) because of this. Just my preference, YMMV.
 
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Asking me "What's the most important part of a knife?" is like asking me "What's the most important part of a woman?".

My answer to either question is- It's the whole package that I value ;)
 
The ability to use MY OWN choice of grip.

I HATE handles and ramps that force the hand into a specific position under the guise of "ergonomics." The insistent trend of putting ramps and jimping for SABER GRIP is asinine, yet seems to be insisted upon by 90 percent of companies. WHY ???

Saber grip is about the least effective and most awkward position there is for nearly any task (unless you are large blade dueling).

Ugg. Just let me rest my thumb naturally along the spine where it is actually useful. No leverage or control when the thumb is forced back over the handle and the resulting gap in the hand destroys grip strength. So stupid.

To sum: neutral, generic handles are important to me.
 
The most important part of the knife for me is the price in relation to my available funds at any particular moment...
 
PocketKnives4Sale said:
What's the most important part on/of a knife for you?

Or is there one?

I was thinking of this for my self and I couldn't answer my own question.

So is it the look, feel, design, size, steel, smooth action, the cutting edge or what, that is the most important part.

Or are you like me - the knife just has to be right and work.:D:thumbup:
Click to expand...

The most important thing is having a suitable edge. That is what defines the thing as a knife. Beyond that you need a usable handle or haft appropriate to the intended task and a safe sheath.

n2s
 
1st: blade design- its gotta be a usable design for me.
2nd: blade material- if it's a great design, but crap steel, it's a deal breaker.
3rd: lock quality- if I don't trust it, that's a deal breaker.
4th: deploy- gotta be user friendly..I tend towards flippers (If its a flipper, it better damned flip well, so that eliminates...haha)
4th: fit and finish- if execution sucks, well,...
5th: handles/scales: Premium materials...if its economy materials -meh- I'll pass.

That's my order of operations when evaluating or contemplating a new knife.
 
I edc a ZT0200. What drew me to it was the 3/8 inch bolt holding it all together. I also like the recurve blade. Finally it fits my hand perfectly. Rock solid construction comes first, with blade steel, and grip shape last.
 
PocketKnives4Sale said:
What's the most important part on/of a knife for you?

Or is there one?

I was thinking of this for my self and I couldn't answer my own question.

So is it the look, feel, design, size, steel, smooth action, the cutting edge or what, that is the most important part.

Or are you like me - the knife just has to be right and work.:D[emoji106]
Click to expand...
Overall quality and function, as well as design aesthetics.
 
What's the most important part on/of a knife for you?
Click to expand...

and for cutting tools in general from a metal lathe tool bit to my pencil shaped retractable splinter in finger digger outer.

For me it has to be . . .
Cutting angle / Edge shape = Geometry.
I've often bought knives that from the factory the edge geometry made the knife just useless and after thinning it out and sharpening it up the knife becomes a friendly useful tool.

closely followed by :
  • thinness of blade. as thin as possible but not frail for the task
  • large handle ratio to blade size more control that way.
 
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