Pet peeves about knife discussions and youtube videos

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By far my biggest pet peeve on YouTube knife reviews are the guys that always start out with, "ok let's start with some battoning." Than when it doesn't go well, they bitch about how it's a really hard piece of wood. Drives me nuts. That and reviewers that claim the only way to get a fire going in wet conditions is to batton to the dry inner wood. Side note, I am a fan of battoning, just don't like how it seems to be everyone's main focus these days. Thanks a lot survival tv shows.
 
craytab said:
You must be joking. Automatic knives are precisely defined in legal terms by most every state. The definition is especially important to pay attention to in states where they are illegal (there is that silly legal definition thing). Of course YMMV when arguing in front of a judge that the "states" definition of an automatic knife is wrong.
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Judge? Who even wants it to get to a judge?

My experience has been the LEOs a) have a less firm grasp on the status of the current statutes and case law and b) generally take a posture of agressive intrepretation just to make a charge. It doesn't have to stick in court and they know it. At least the LEOs I know know it and admit to doing that if somebody's managed get their attention in a bad way.

Krelldoggy may not have it right by "the letter of the law", but I don't think he's entirely nuts for taking that approach.
 
Blues Bender said:
Why the hell do you think I'm more interested in looking at your arm instead of your knife:confused::mad:
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I guess it depends upon what you are looking for. There are pictures of knives here and all over the internet. Some with cigars, food, watches, coins, in the snow, rain, sunshine, on tables, books, with scenic backgrounds such as urban landscape, country landscape, etc. Everyone has some "angle" and method of showing a picture of a knife. Knives with arms, feet or whatever showing in the photo. What is right, wrong, artsy or crap, hell I don't know. :)
 
My main pet peeve is people reviewing knives they know nothing about other than the fact they own them. Especially the high end custom knife reviewers who don't really know a damn thing about knives other than the fact the one in front of the camera is pretty. Or basically any Nutnfancy review ever about knives that cost more than $200 he really is out of his depth there just watch his Emerson CQC8 video, the Microtech LUDT or HALO video.
 
If I want a flipper, I get a flipper. If I want it to open with little wrist action, get an auto. I am not a big fan of knives that you flip open with little effort. I tried them and went back to my regular locking knives. I like frame locks on Spydies. I can still one hand them if I choose to.

My only pet peeve about the videos is strength..... how often do I intentionally cut bricks? I seldom watch knife videos at all as I'm generally not interested in what they have to say. They never talk about sharpening. But they do touch on edge holding ability.

If the definition of the opening method is close to being illegal or subject to a lot of discussion, I have no interest in the knife as it will simply go into my pile and probably stay there.

I want knife pictures with a nice sunset behind them. :D
 
I agree, what is up with all the buttoning? Since when did a folder require this ability. Its called a hatchet.
 
Krelldoggy said:
I've reading and watching knife stuff lately and I am struck by some bizarre logic I see with these Internet knife experts. Sort of in the tradition of Nutnfancy and his weight fixation I see the following two points over and over that strike me as weird.

1. "Blade/Handle Ratio" - somehow people advance the idea that a knife has more value if the blade is an close as possible to the length potentially available in the handle. Really? A handle is for a hand...a blade is for cutting and different blades make sense for different types of cuts. By the logic I am hearing a short blade would HAVE to also have a short handle even if it does not fit well in hand. Or are they saying that all folding blades should be the same length as a comfortable handle? Really? Who thought of this criteria for evaluating a knife? I think designers (Emerson and Hinderer come to mind) that design good ergonomic handles regardless of the blade shape/length have a better plan.

2. Flippers the MUST flip with with almost no effort or wrist action. Folks, that is called an automatic knife. Is that the goal? I hear an XM-18 is a "bad flipper" because a new one takes a tiny amount of wrist to make it flip. Really? It opens reliably one-handed using the thumb stud or the flipper. Seems fine to me. I think this concept kind of reinforces the idea of knives a toys rather than tools. Is sitting on the couch and flipping (as fun as that is...) really the point?

Ok so I got that off my chest...I better flip for a while to calm down.
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Speaking as an engineer whose done a stint in marketing for a bit...

This kind of stuff is what you get when you have an object (knife, ski, bike) whose performance depends both what it's being used for (different materials to be cut, different kinds of snow, different riding surfaces and race types) and the skill/technique of the user (the person cutting, the skier, the rider).

IME, when you a situation like this, it's almost impossible to come up with objective criteria because the uses and users vary so much and tests rarely mimic actual use.

And it's super easy for the market to perseverate on easy to measure or easy to point to esoterica as ways of justifying large sums of money. Strike up a conversation with skiers about what makes a fast ski. Or ask a cyclist about how stiff or comfortable the frame material on his bike is. All you end up with silly tropes that get repeated on forums and in magazines. Like a bike frame should be stiff to be fast. <shrug>

People need to feel good about their purchases and this is how they do that.
 
craytab said:
I never said your state's knife laws were "precise". It's not my fault your state is confused about the difference between a gravity knife and an automatic knife. Personally, I would be more concerned about what they define a weapon as....
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Tell me about it, Cray. Washington law in this area is a "peeve" of mine.

However, we got the suppressor thing figured out, and the short barreled rifle issue solved... so I hold out hope that autos and balisongs are next on the plate.
 
pinnah said:
Judge? Who even wants it to get to a judge?

My experience has been the LEOs a) have a less firm grasp on the status of the current statutes and case law and b) generally take a posture of agressive intrepretation just to make a charge. It doesn't have to stick in court and they know it. At least the LEOs I know know it and admit to doing that if somebody's managed get their attention in a bad way.

Krelldoggy may not have it right by "the letter of the law", but I don't think he's entirely nuts for taking that approach.
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The vagueness of laws and the interpretation of such laws is a concern. That said, if you are doing something bad already, is generally where you get into knife law trouble.

In many states he has the letter of the law (as well as a definition discussed on a website full of knife nuts) very wrong. An auto is a big no-no in a lots of states. There is a reason for the rules on shipping auto knives: http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/bnchmd/autoform.html

This thread is about pet peeves when discussing knives. Mine is when people get facts so blatantly wrong:

Krelldoggy said:
2. Flippers the MUST flip with with almost no effort or wrist action. Folks, that is called an automatic knife. Is that the goal?
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No, it is not an automatic knife. :thumbup:
 
Velitrius said:
Tell me about it, Cray. Washington law in this area is a "peeve" of mine.

However, we got the suppressor thing figured out, and the short barreled rifle issue solved... so I hold out hope that autos and balisongs are next on the plate.
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Why they even throw that suff in about gravity knives being automatic is beyond silly. Looking at your law I can see how the OP might be confused on the subject :confused:
 
I don't really get the blade-to-handle ratio thing, either.

E.g., there's a reason a scalpel has a relatively large handle and a small blade.
 
I can't be the only one, but almost every single time the PM2 is mentioned the person has to go on a 3 minute tangent about how amazing of an EDC it makes. We get it. We're knife people too.
 
Wow, anal much? How about revising my statement to "Folks, if you want that get an automatic knife".

craytab said:
The vagueness of laws and the interpretation of such laws is a concern. That said, if you are doing something bad already, is generally where you get into knife law trouble.

In many states he has the letter of the law (as well as a definition discussed on a website full of knife nuts) very wrong. An auto is a big no-no in a lots of states. There is a reason for the rules on shipping auto knives: http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/bnchmd/autoform.html

This thread is about pet peeves when discussing knives. Mine is when people get facts so blatantly wrong:



No, it is not an automatic knife. :thumbup:
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Any review over 10 minutes. It just gets boring. GET TO THE POINT.

Every Cold Steel "lock strength test" video. We know the triad lock is strong. We get it...really we do. How about you showcase some other attributes and maybe, just maybe I'd be interested in purchasing one of your products. And stop negative campaigns for God's sake. It's just in poor taste.
 
Blade to handle don't bother me as the PM2 is still one of my favorites.
All my manual flippers act like autos, no wrist action needed.
I used my PM2 the other day around my father in law (not a knife guy) and he says, "You always carry a switch blade on you." Guess he thought because it opens fast must be switch blade.
 
Krelldoggy said:
I've reading and watching knife stuff lately and I am struck by some bizarre logic I see with these Internet knife experts. Sort of in the tradition of Nutnfancy and his weight fixation I see the following two points over and over that strike me as weird.

1. "Blade/Handle Ratio" - somehow people advance the idea that a knife has more value if the blade is an close as possible to the length potentially available in the handle. Really? A handle is for a hand...a blade is for cutting and different blades make sense for different types of cuts. By the logic I am hearing a short blade would HAVE to also have a short handle even if it does not fit well in hand. Or are they saying that all folding blades should be the same length as a comfortable handle? Really? Who thought of this criteria for evaluating a knife? I think designers (Emerson and Hinderer come to mind) that design good ergonomic handles regardless of the blade shape/length have a better plan.
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Think about it. The value proposition of a knife is in it's cutting "capacity" which generally correlates to the blade length. When folded and unused and in the pocket, the knife is simply taking up real estate in one's pocket.Since the handle is going to take up space and also used to house the blade, then to maximize the utility of the space and the cutting "capacity", the blade would come as close as it can to the length afforded by the handle.

I don't know about Hinderer, but I was looking at a particular Emerson model that sported a 2.75" blade with a "normal" sized handle. But that was for a particular purpose which is for localities which have a 3" maximum blade length law.

And it's not about a knife having more value due to its blade to handle ratio but rather it's an attribute that might draw more interest from different groups of knife buyers. It's similar to car makers touting miles per gallon, others power to weight ratio, still some zero to 60 time, etc. It's not "bizarre" at all when you understand markets, market segments, product differentiation, order winners, etc.
 
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Nfd538 said:
Blade to handle don't bother me as the PM2 is still one of my favorites.
All my manual flippers act like autos, no wrist action needed.
I used my PM2 the other day around my father in law (not a knife guy) and he says, "You always carry a switch blade on you." Guess he thought because it opens fast must be switch blade.
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Yup, lots of people are confused on what an auto is, even some who post on a knife forum.
 
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