Overrated Blades

[fulloflead]

As far as i'm concerned it was a misunderstanding on both our parts. I never ment to impute your honesty and for that I'm sorry.

Thanks. I could have been more clear.

(Kissy, kissy.) [If I don't make the kissy sounds somebody else will.]

 

[BuckyKatt]

I still couldnt have done it.

To clarify: My friend has been trying to get me to learn to play the guitar for months. I've always declined because I don't have the money for the equipment. This guy has over 10 guitars and so much misc. equipment it's sick... I think this was his way of forcing the issue. I realize there's a huge discrepancy between the values of the goods exchanged, but he's happy and I'm happy, so... Please don't think I'm consciously taking advantage of him!

 

[Ren the devils trailboss]

I should also say that I wasnt attacking Larry on any point he made either..Just stating my opinion..and saying FOL is a good guy to do biz with. Anyway...group hug...

 

[allenC]

I guess it depends upon exactly what the hype was about the knife in question.

Some folks don't like plastic handled folders like the Spyderco FRN Endura--but Spyderco's only "hype" is that they are lightweight, extremely good at cutting things (and with top notch blade-steel), very durable, and affordable.
So does the Endura live up to the "hype"?
I challenge anyone to find a BETTER plastic-handled, riveted, folder.

The ones I don't think live up to the hype are TOPS, Strider knives, and MOD.
And here is why:
Their ads give the impression that they are the preferred knives for military personnel and those who have "been-there-done-that".
So, some young guy reads these ads and thinks "Wow! Special Forces and Force Recon and Rangers use these knives--they must be the best!".

Now I'm sure that there ARE some SpecOps guys using those knives, but most of the guys I see with them are purely "armchair warriors".

Just my opinion,
Allen.

 

[fulloflead]

I guess it depends upon exactly what the hype was about the knife in question.

Some folks don't like plastic handled folders like the Spyderco FRN Endura--but Spyderco's only "hype" is that they are lightweight, extremely good at cutting things (and with top notch blade-steel), very durable, and affordable.
So does the Endura live up to the "hype"?
I challenge anyone to find a BETTER plastic-handled, riveted, folder.

The ones I don't think live up to the hype are TOPS, Strider knives, and MOD.
And here is why:
Their ads give the impression that they are the preferred knives for military personnel and those who have "been-there-done-that".
So, some young guy reads these ads and thinks "Wow! Special Forces and Force Recon and Rangers use these knives--they must be the best!".

Now I'm sure that there ARE some SpecOps guys using those knives, but most of the guys I see with them are purely "armchair warriors".

Just my opinion,
Allen.

For me it's a value vs. price thing. (This makes Spyderco never a disappointment IMHO.) For example, Emerson is on my list not because I think they're bad knife. In fact, I think they're good knives. I just don't think they're worth 50% MORE than a Benchmade/Spyderco and THAT'S why they're a disappointment.

Strider is on my list of disappointments too. I think they're great knives, but for that price I think I should be able to get a tough knife AND good fit and finish and don't think I should have to choose between one or the other for that kind of money.

I've rarely been disappointed by a Spyderco, Benchmade or Microtech.

 

[a deadly fart]

I have the rollock and that vanhoy knife from crkt. yeah i bought them for their unique opening apparatus so i wasnt expecting too much.. much the vanhoy blade i find too thick. also dissapointed to see aus 4 being used in the upcoming vanhoy.

as far as spyderco goes... yeah after going through this forum i do get a lot of hype from other members but they are for the most part worth it for their sharpness and blade type.

i also find that butterfly knives seem a bit overpriced on lots of models.

 

[the possum]

I see everybody kept their opinions to only factory knives. Anybody with the balls to voice an opinion on custom knives?

Well, I'll speak up about one particular custom I have. It was made by Randall Gilbreath. It's an utter POS.

The only reason I feel comfortable saying so, is because he is no longer interested in making knives, so I doubt I will hurt his orders. And, because this POS left his shop twice, and I've spoken with several other people who've had the same bad experiences. I really feel like he screwed me over, after I sent it back to him to be fixed, it took a year and half before he finally sent it back to me in even worse condition. Really, it's my fault for not checking the thing out better when I bought it. I could never in good conscience try to pass it off on someone, except for parts or something.

On the plus side, I've learned an awful lot about proper folder construction from his mistakes.

 

[WYK]

You routinely pry open car doors to use your lock-picking devices? What?

I have to repo cars on occasion, and people lock their keys in cars, etc. Though we have some very tough nylon pieces that fit in these door jams and work rather well, it is much faster to insert and pry with a good fixed blade. You only need about 4mm of space to sneak in a lock pick tool.

WYK

 

[silenthunterstudios]

I bought a Cold Steel Recon Tanto second, played around with it, jammed the point into a dead tree, and now the point is curved back towards the spine of the blade. Alternately, I bought a Cold Steel kukri machete, and have really abused it, it still works like a charm when clearing brush, or using as a camp tool. Some folders have not lived up to my expectations, and I haven't really put them to any hard use. Anything is better than the old Jaguar folders I used to buy, though. Being a teenager and stupid, I bought several Jaguars at a time, until one almost turned my hand into hamburger > . Now, I'm just a dumb 25 yr old guy who goes all giddy over every tactical folder he sees, but I'm getting better!

 

[Nick Hyle]

Boker. And I don't mean magnum. I have a Boker Brend, the top of line one with rosewood scales and titanium bolsters - MSRP is something like $180? Nice design, crappy execution. I use it as a letter opener, because I like the ergos and the blade, but utterly distrust it as a carry piece. The liner inspires no confidence - it may be titanium, but I have severe doubts that it is 6AL4V. Or maybe it's just the workmanship.



I guess I ought to give Boker a chance to try and fix it some time.

In fact the ergos impressed me so much (in a "great design, shame about the execution" sense) that I went out and found an old Benchmade Brend and payed a premium for it. One of the few liner locks I actively want to keep.

 

[richardallen]

WYK, i also know some stuff about picking locks. I am sure you know what you're doing, but I just wouldn't call it picking a lock. I'd rather call it opening a door by force ,)
I think that's the misunderstanding here...

 

[WYK]

WYK, i also know some stuff about picking locks. I am sure you know what you're doing, but I just wouldn't call it picking a lock. I'd rather call it opening a door by force ,)
I think that's the misunderstanding here...

Ah. I see it now. Yeah, I do not bother picking the lock - per se. I just wedge open the door to get at either a hatch or door release, or pull a handle, etc. This is assuming it's a car that you can't easily use a slim jim on(my first choice). So you can see how a hard metal object can be quickly inserted in between the door and the frame and used to pry it open enough to fit a "door tool" in:
http://www.awdirect.com/awdirect/ca...id=6743&secid=88&linkon=subsection&linkid=420

However, I am familiar with picking locks, and do have a copy of the MIT lock picking guide. I just rarely have occasion for it.

WYK

 

[eda-koppo]

ANYTHING by CRKT. Their steel didn't need downgrading to make me puke--their original 6A and 8A blades already had bad edge retention because they're just too soft. Weak liner locks, too. They have interesting design features and nice prices, but zero QC.

Also, any folders by CS--balky, gritty, bulky, and most of them are hard to draw given the FRN texture.

 

[dennis75]

overrated/overpriced/overhyped/over-whatevered?:

-chris reeve
-boker
-cold steel
-extrema ratio
-masters of defense
-mercworx
-kershaw ken onion's designs
-karambits in general, only the pinky-hole is useful
-microtech
-automatics in general
-benchmade's 630 skirmish
-spyderco's yojimbo, dodo, and their fixed blades
-crkt
-gerber
-laguiole
-emerson
-sog
-fallkniven
-strider's new 'nightmare'-models
-schrade
-protech
-assisted openers in general
-tinives
-frost
-katz
-randall
-mission
-wenger
-camillus
-buck-striders (i've "de-animated" all 3 of which i had within no time. the blade is the only good thing about them, but all other components are nowhere near the standards of 'real' Striders)

just to name a 'few'........

 

[Larry B.]

Just curious,what do you like?

 

[dennis75]

Just curious,what do you like?

very funny..... :grumpy: . actually i basically like everything else not mentioned in the list. my favorite stuff however is Spyderco, Strider, TOPS, Benchmade, balisongs, LM-multitools, and then some.....

dennis

 

[OilMan]

overrated/overpriced/overhyped/over-whatevered?:

-frost

just to name a 'few'........

Frosts are overrated? Did someone think they were something other than junk?

Oily

 

[Neko2]

Frosts are overrated? Did someone think they were something other than junk?

Oily

I've seen posts (especially in rec.knives) where folks just love 'em.

N2

 

[cdf]

Right now I,d say CRKT , I tried a Crawford point Guard , disgusting liner lock, lousy edge holding . Gerber and Buck multitools are way overrated .

 

[Planterz]

Not necessarily overrated, but I'm not particularily impressed with Protechs. I've only played with a few, but those that I played with didn't really "do it" for me.

Runt/Stinger: Fun little knife. I'll admit that I liked these. No real use for them myself though, but no fault of the knife.

Tactical Reponses: I'm not a fan of chisel grinds, so the TR1 was out. The TR3 had a better blade profile. But it had the same problem (in my mind) as the Godfather.

Godfather: Protech's flagship, and I wasn't very impressed at all. For such a large knife, it was almost excessively light. It felt flimsy. The handles didn't feel solid, and the blade seems like it'd break with the slightest bit of flex. OTOH, it was just about the sharpest knife I've ever seen. I'd like to try a titanium handled Godson. That seems like it'd be a much better feeling knife.

My view on autos is probably skewed though, with my 2 side openers being a Woodard Fer De Lance and a Severtech. Almost everything seems flimsy compared to these two.



I wasn't very impressed with the Sebenza I handled either. I mean, it was nice, but not $350 nice. For that much I'd instead go with a custom or 3 Benchmades. But I'd buy a CRK balisong if he made one.