Quality knives that just never caught on

I never understood why Soque River wasn't more successful. Their Lev-R-Lock of marginal quality was made by Camillus for some time, but their good stuff that was made in Japan never made a dent in the market and quickly vanished. It's hard to even find a picture on the internet.
 
I like the Kershaw RAM suggestion, it's such a slick, interesting design.

Another Kershaw that I don't understand why it got discontinued is the OD-1. Again, a really interesting mechanism, I don't know why they didn't use it in more knives.
 
The Benchmade Kodiak, it was around for a few years, then off it went. It might of been too plain for the line up, as Benchmade was influx during the time, and getting more fanciful with their designs.

The Outdoor Edge Magna copy of Kit Carson's design was a great knife, alas, Outdoor Edge never seemed to get a foot hold in the tactical market.
 
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T. Erdelyi said:
There were a few I can think of, Gerber International Silver Knight series made in Seki Japan, these were event quality knives that had superior F&F, these were lockbacks made with economy to premium scale materials also made in 3/4 sizes IIRC.

This is not mine but mine looks exactly like that except for all the pocket wear on the scales but when I first started collecting there was a book I had gotten that listed what to look for in a quality knife and it met them all.

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I wanted a gentleman's knife in the 80's, so I bought one of those. I could not agree more that the Silver Knight was one of the best made knives I have ever purchased. From design to fit and finish, it is an excellent specimen of what a mass manufactured knife CAN be.

I chose the green checkered scales with the sword in the stone shield as I thought it looked a bit more heavy duty. Now the checkering is worn almost completely smooth and the Gerber shield looks almost like a brass rivet! But... it still locks up perfectly and has absolutely no blade wobble.

My contribution to this thread though would be the Kershaw Tremor. I purchased it on the advice of a couple of Kershaw guys when I was looking for a heavy work knives along the lines of the RAT 1, Junkyard Dog II, etc.

I love the knife. It is a large knife made for work and as an actual user. It is extra heavy duty, has a massive liner lock on it that doesn't show any signs of loosening up. I have been using it as my nasty duty knife in my construction work for about a year and a half and while I only use it as a knife, I have never babied it for a second. The the steel is pretty good, but since the blade is hollow ground it takes a wicked edge and sharpens very easily. I can clean the knife (and do!) with charcoal lighter fluid to get off caulk, tar, adhesives, etc., squirt a drop of oil on the pivot and I am back in business.

I paid $15 for this knife as it was discontinued when I found it. After using it for a month, I contacted the seller and bought the remaining two he had left!

Robert
 
T. Erdelyi said:
The Cold Steel Twist master, a modern teams on the Opinel done in Zytel and the old CV blades, these were work horses that were dependable and having an essentially fail proof lock.
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I've never seen one with an elliptical blade shape like that - only clip points. I missed them the first time around, I guess.

I wish there were more leaf-shaped blades out there.
 
I'd definitely agree with the Kershaw Ram. Great knife.

I'd also add the Spyderco Wegner and the original incarnation of the Chinook. I miss those two a lot.
 
AntDog said:
I'd definitely agree with the Kershaw Ram. Great knife.

I'd also add the Spyderco Wegner and the original incarnation of the Chinook. I miss those two a lot.
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the chinook is definitely one of my favorite production knives ever, i have 5 of them. i have 1 first generation, 1 second generation, and 3 of the third generation. i bought a custom sheath on ebay for the third generation chinook that allows me to carry it in the fixed position, its pretty awesome:) really one of spydercos finest, i really hope there will be a fourth version or some sprint runs in the future. a sprint run of the first generation chinook would be a dream come true, its a completely different knife than the second and third generation verions. the chinook 1 is a monster!
 
I love my lionspy. I only wish the detent wasn't so strong. Same goes for the lock bar.. Hurts like hell trying to close the damn thing. I guess I agree with everyone here, they should've gone full ti scales, I've never been a fan of g10/ti scales. Looks silly to me
 
I would like to enter the Chokwe. All around amazing knife. I think people just couldn't get past the aesthetics.
 
Gotta go with the Benchmade Skirmish. I think maybe people were seduced by the design but didn't quite know what to do with it--particularly the larger model with the 4.3" blade and near-7 ounce weight. At least that's the dilemma I had: too big for EDC; too damn pretty for 'hard use'.

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^Currently residing in Russia. :(
 
JeremiahWeaver09 said:
the chinook is definitely one of my favorite production knives ever, i have 5 of them. i have 1 first generation, 1 second generation, and 3 of the third generation. i bought a custom sheath on ebay for the third generation chinook that allows me to carry it in the fixed position, its pretty awesome:) really one of spydercos finest, i really hope there will be a fourth version or some sprint runs in the future. a sprint run of the first generation chinook would be a dream come true, its a completely different knife than the second and third generation verions. the chinook 1 is a monster!
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That's cool! I agree sir, the original Chinook is indeed a monster! One of my favorites for sure. How does the latest version measure up? Is it anywhere near as stout?
 
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