rant

Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
438
I was at work the other day, and my boss was asking where a particular knife of his was (I work part time at baskin robbins). He was cutting a slab of ice cream from the tub...anyway, he had a simliar knife in his hand (cheapo 420j 'swiss' paring knife), and asked where the other one was. Someone handed it to him, and I didn't notice right away, so I asked, 'what's the diff?' He goes "oh, this one has serrations, it can cut throught the cardboard of the tub". I look at the knife, and it's this piece of junk with plastic handles and Cold Steel type of serrations (fully serrated), the damn thing was so dull I think it's like 5 years old, I'd liken the edge to a file, more than serrations... and the damn thing's blade is so thin, I can bend it with my pinky, I wonder if it's even hardened! I'm like "oh, ok", turning around and rolling my eyes. (He thinks he's so clever). 10 minutes later I witness him trying to cut open a plastic milk bag with the same knife, I swear he was sawing away at it for 10 seconds LOL
I was tempted to just say "you know, a sharp knife will cut cardboard pretty easy too" and show him how with my mini SOCOM, but I changed my mind, not wanting to make my boss look like an idiot.
 
I'm guilty of the same nonsense as your boss in that I have a fortune invested in my knife collection but I still use some crummy $2 P.O.S. in the kitchen. Go figure.
 
Jadis,

No offense but you missed a prime opportunity to educate someone. When handled properly you could have gained some browney points. You could of simply handed him your knife while he was looking around for his and said "try this one".

Where I used to work I would find myself hiding knives so people would ask for one. Great conversation starter and ice breaker.

------------------
Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
www.wowinc.com




 
Everyone at work knows that I always have a knife on me, so now when ever anyone needs one they come strait to me
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I'm the same way at work. I always have my Leatherman Supertool on my belt and a Gerber Microlight in my pocket. My boss calls the Leatherman the "deadly weapon" and keeps saying I will get arrested for it, but asks to use it constantly. Go figure!
 
Hindsight being 20/20, if you're not sure if someone would be interested in something, just ask. "You know, a sharp plain-edged knife will cut cardboard pretty easy too. Would you like to see?" That'll leave the direction of the topic entirely in their hands.
 
you're right, thinking back I could have done it differently, but oh well, he seems happy with his knife LOL
 
A friend of mine has a small hardware store where I usually get my stuff from. I just realized lately that he has adopted some el cheapo Spyderco knock offs (the horror!) The boxes says they're made of 440 (what's new?) The prices are between $12 to $20. I have no objection whatsoever, because he seems to make some good money out of 'em.

The thing is he always tries to convince me and others that those knives are as good, if not better than my knives. Everytime I went there and there were some potential buyers, he was like "Now where's that Military knife you showed me yesterday? Now see the serrations? You could even saw beer cans with it!" He went ahead sawing a Dr Pepper can with my Military and dulling my knife in the process. I tried to explain to him that the serrations were supposed to help us in cutting ropes. But no, he continued his speech stating that his knives had the same steel as my Military (440 and 440V, yeah right!) But magically the scene would end up with one happy ending (not for me): they actually bought the crap.

I just gave my Endura to him, so that he could feel and tell the difference. I haven't met him since. I do hope that when we meet again, he has adopted a different opinion, that his knives are not up to the Spyderco's standard, that twice the price would mean a hundred times better. Oh I do pray...LOL


Reynaert
 
Frantium :

He went ahead sawing a Dr Pepper can with my Military and dulling my knife in the process

The Military in 440V got dulled doing that? That is surprising. What the edge rolled or indented significantly? How bad was it dulled?

As for the knockoffs, they are probably more knife for the dollar than the real thing. Very few people want, and even less need, the additional performance the actual Spyderco's (or whatever) give.


-Cliff
 
Cliff,

My Military was new when my friend did the stunt. I could tell that it was dulled when it developed a certain glint along the teeth. A rope cut test further confirmed this, it was somehow less "bity." And no, the edge was not indented, just rolled. Note that this was so minute that only a really close inspection would prove this. I believe it had something to do with how my friend applied the force when sawed the can too, full force like there's no tomorrow, that is
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. Overall, it's no big concern for everyday use. But it was new... and he already did this to me twice
frown.gif


And I agree, the knockoffs probably have more knife per dollar than the real thing. But there are "expensive" knockoffs and "cheap" knockoffs, and I believe my friend's come from the latter. The thickness is about 1/16" regardless of blade length. A little force along the spine and I almost cut my fingers, and this occured in 1 of every 4 knives I inspected. He told me that his cost was about $2.50 to $5.50 a piece. Obviously he sells his knives between 4 to 5 times his cost. My point is that he should lower the price a bit, and stop misleading people that his knives are of the same quality compared to the Sypdercos. My town is so small, and I don't believe the people are as exposed to better knives as their bigger city counterparts. The sad thing is that Bod Dozier and AG Russell are only 15 minutes drive away from here. Everytime I mention their names, people are like "Who?" Better knives are just a tad too expensive for them. Who would buy expensive knives from some "unheard" companies? "Spyderco you said? I surely never heard." Schrade Old Timer is one of the "best" knives here
wink.gif
.

Reynaert
 
Frantium, thanks for the details. This does confirm certain doubt that I had about 440V's toughness when compared to say D2 or M2.

About the knives yeah I mainly agree. My only point is that most of his customers would probably not notice much of a difference.

-Cliff
 
My friend once did the "put something in front of the blade before opening" -stunt with my "Nato Military" OTF. The blade didn't pierce it (my couch), but it went out of its place and needed to be flicked back to the position. Later, I discovered the spring making this weird noise every time I open or close it (I don't really use it, just play with it). It's a cheap knife, but if I want my knives to be broken, I'll break them myself. Now he doesn't get to see all the knives he would want to, because I'm certain that he's The Terminator.
Also, the same friend has one of those Eagle-brand Spyderco rip-offs (it looks like a Delica, but with a slightly smaller blade) and he used to boast about it giving the best bang for the buck and so on...The knife costs about $4.50, so it doesn't really blow your budget, but I don't buy it when he calls Spydies or other knives in that price category "rip-offs for that kind of a price". He quit carrying it when he was leaving my place and clipped it to his pocket and *snap* the clip (Zytel) fell right off and ironically, landed in my traschan.
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A simple real of thumb to follow in such situations is to accept those knives for what they are, bargains. Somebody does not go into a hardware store looking to purchase a high quality knife. if they even do purchase one there it was an "impulse" buy. The one thing I do not approve of tho is salespeople stating that they are more than what they are. Some of those knives are good value for the money, but as with most things, you get what you pay for. Nnow on a brighter note, the person that bought the "knockoff" and had it break 3 months later, will next time buy a little bit better one, till it breaks, in which case they will buy a little bit better one, and so on and so on, etc, etc, etc.

Jonathan
 
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