One deciding factor that can kill a knife purchase for you

Thin, fragile looking tip. I do not condone deliberately trying to pry with knives, particularly the tip, but if it looks paper thin and would snap off during normal cutting, not for me, especially on a ' heavy duty' field knife.

Bearings, flippers, sharp edges other than the cutting edge, lack of a guard, especially with smooth/slippery handles, exotic fasteners that you need a custom bit for...

Tip up/down...meh, after about 25 years of carrying both, I'm can run either...

Boss
 
BOSS1 said:
exotic fasteners that you need a custom bit for...
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I forgot this one. Anyone designer who makes you need a bizarre triangular bit or some other stupid thing to handle their fasteners can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. Why do they do it? There is no upside to it, and it's annoying as all get out.
 
evilgreg said:
I forgot this one. Anyone designer who makes you need a bizarre triangular bit or some other stupid thing to handle their fasteners can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. Why do they do it? There is no upside to it, and it's annoying as all get out.
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Yeah, this one is a lot of fun. It gets even better when you actually give in and say, alright, I'll just buy them......then find out the manuf. doesn't offer the bits after the knife has been in production for a year. Oh yeah, just friggin marvelous.
Wish I understood this idiocy.
Joe
 
Bearings. .......Its like putting furniture dollies under your car tires...........

The wave feature .........if you want to destroy your jeans AND the look of a knife at the same time......

Chisel ground knives, especially if the chisel is on the wrong side (Lemerson)

Black coating on blades,..... its not going to stay that way if you actually USE the knife. .....kinda like buying a car with a tricked-out paint job while knowing its going to look like a goopy mess the first time it rains.

Phallic looking blade, clip, engraving ect.... I have a problem with this....and that's all I have to say about that.....

Beefy folders with tiny pivots,.... Why! Why! I dont want it if it comes with a crumple zone!

Knives listed as "Damascus" ..............come on! was it made of old huffy bike frames and swing-sets? Tell me what kind of Damascus!

skeletonized alien looking stuff........some may like it, but I dont care for a knife that looks like it was used as futuristic movie prop...nor do I want a knife that looks like its going to transform or fly away by itself.
 
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There have been so many good ones so far...I'll add a couple, but they might be repeats.
No box or papers.
Knife changed to tip-up...meaning that I cannot resell it as ANIB...because it isn't.
Something other than 100% positive feedback will make me investigate "why."
Too heavy...hate a knife over five ounces. Large Sebs and the Zaan are just at, or just lower than, five ounces. And that's enuf.
Any scratches on the blade...or any spider-trails. This is true for any knife other than CRK. I love them new or used.
 
Poor blade geometry. Can sometimes be difficult to tell when buying knives online. When the tip barely tapers to a point. Thick behind the edge, and too thick of stock to begin with. "overbuilt" heavy knives that can not cut. Really good steel with a really bad heat treat and grind. too big of handle for folders that block access to pocket. Exotic hardware, that you need special tools, proprietary stuff, not a deal breaker, but I have to really love the knife. Too heavy, both folders and fixed blades.
 
Tanto blade and serrations... even if it is obvious ;)

Knives that cannot be disassembled
Fancy colors
Fancy engraved pattern on handle or blade
 
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We have these threads frequently, but here goes anyway...
I don't like recurves, lockbacks, combo edges, and I rarely buy knives below about 3.5".

I have my preferences for clip position but I carry knives with both clip positions. The Military is a long knife- carry it tip-up and you've turned a one-hand knife into a 2-hand knife. I carry a Manix 2 XL sometimes but it is frustrating if I need to open it quickly.
 
Bad pocket clips ruin many good looking knives imo (almost all zt...i really dont need ur logo on the clip please)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Full metal scales (light duty OK)
Combo edges
unknown blade steel
chisel grind
Autos and most assisted open
Odd screws that need special tools (Torx OK)
Non replaceable pocket clips
weird designs and used knives with lots of mods
Black finish on blade (willing to buy at the right price if I can remove finish)
Scales with a lot of curve.
Unnecessary bling

The list of what I do enjoy would have been shorter
 
I like this thread.

Evil Greg cracks me up.

Deal breakers for me :
- Flippers
- Non-Stainless Blades
- Weird Hardware
- Liner Locks
- Coated Blades
 
"value for the money". Which is entirely subjective, I grant you, so I'm not going to try and explain it, because it's a choice every person makes for themselves.

A blade thickness of less than 1/8" will also stop me. I'm careful enough with my tools, but I need to feel confident in their construction, and thin blades just don't do it for me. I'm willing to trade some cutting performance for that feeling of confidence.

Which is also partly subjective.....

Overall design. Some knives are too "fiddly", some have no soul, some are a strange combination of lines and shapes that makes me turn my head slightly sideways and say "why?"
 
Metal scales/handles in general although I make an exception for Alox SAKs.
Waved knives
Flippers in general although I can be convinced otherwise with the right knife.
With or without pocket clips.

Naming absolutes in design features on knives resulting in "no buy or no use".
 
evilgreg said:
I forgot this one. Anyone designer who makes you need a bizarre triangular bit or some other stupid thing to handle their fasteners can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. Why do they do it? There is no upside to it, and it's annoying as all get out.
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Agreed and its a shame cause Rick Hinderer does that. You can make the tool at home with a flat head screw driver and a dremel for the screws on his knives but not everyone has a dremel.
 
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