- Joined
- Sep 9, 2003
- Messages
- 2,361
The ABS test and full tang vs. narrow tang thread sort of sucked me into it despite my reticence, but it got me thinking about what could cause normally reasonable people to get quite personal and angry over something so insignificant and trivial as the shape of the handle on a piece of sharpened steel. We have been spoon fed the sensational lines for so long we really dont even think and rationalize before going into combat mode over nothing more than sales pitches. But the problem is when sales pitches become doctrine, they need to be taken down with facts, despite the emotions. I submit the following:
Damascus steel is superior to carbon steel, carbon steel will outperform stainless steel, the katana is the finest blade ever made, a full tang is strongest and best, a 600X finish is superior to a 400X finish, a mirror polish is better than all the rest, the convex edge is the ultimate cutter, the hollow grind is the most efficient cutter, the flat grind will beat them all, 5160 is the best, D2 will out-cut 52100, 52100 will out-cut Gods personal knife, my secret process is better than all the rest, my proprietary phlegm-butter-bacon grease quench beats everything else out here, coal forge blades are superior to gas forged blades, multiple quenching will beat any other process lacking a philosophers stone, I am the greatest blade maker alive in the whole wide world and of course a blade beat with a hammer is undeniably more fantastic than one shaped with a belt!
We could add to this list forever. Do we ever get tired of it all? Think about it, if you try to remember the last time you had to listen to that kind of, nah, nah, naah, nah, boo, booo banter, it was probably on a playground. It is just steel with a sharp edge on it, all it has to do is cut something and it works. If I buy one to clean my toenails with and it manages to do just that, I am a satisfied customer who got his moneys worth.
Where is the source of this petty one-upmanship? I put it at the feet of overly competitive makers, and collectors whose egos are inextricably attached with displaying the image of having the best. Some feel their work cannot sell itself so they set it on top of sales pitches, pretentious claims, and portentous processes. Then collectors of their work form a destructive codependency, in order to justify the price paid and convince themselves that they could not be taken in with a hyped up schpiel.
If you havent figured it out by now, I will tell you that I despise hype! In fact despise may be too gentle of a word for how I feel about overblown marketing. I really wished folks would think about their line of bull, and what it really means, before they start disseminating it and begging for dissention and division. Whenever you say something is superior it must necessitate that something is inferior. If a smiths blades are claimed to be superior then it is unavoidable that the question of, superior to what? will be asked. If one maker in a group stands and says to the public that his knives are better it is just human nature for the rest of the makers to look at each other and assume that they, and their knives, are the inferior reference point.
If Kevin Cashen starts broadcasting the word that his knives are superior and he is the best in the world at anything, he may gain some gullible customers, but all he will have really done is put himself on a pedestal with a bulls-eye in his forehead, in a room full of armed marksman, that he stepped on to get up there. If his claims are not iron clad, they deserve to be taken down with some well placed shots, regardless of the feelings of those who bought his line.
I bring this to this forum because I have seen the reaction that a guy can get when he starts thumping his chest too loudly here. There are thinkers here, with good noses for B.S.. And they know the red flags to look for, I have seen it.
Remember back in your childhood before you graduated from the 2nd grade sandbox, no claims could be subtle or realistic, everything had to be as overblown grandiose as imaginable. Your sand castle wasnt just better than little Jimmys, it was the biggest and the best in the whole, wide world! Some folks have emotionally matured only enough to drop whole wide, but are still the best in the world, and if you put yourself above the entire world, you had better be able to handle the entire world gunning for you.
In consideration of this, self made claims of, worlds best always reek of emotional retardation to me, and it would appear it does for others as I have seen the reaction it can instantly evoke. Unfortunately, there are too many kids not ready for the sandbox who look with wide-eyed belief at the big kids making the claim. It is sad, and it is all ego games in the end anyhow. Be it for the blind pursuit of money, or self validation, it all comes down to ego games.
You know, we should all just make the best knives we can and let the public buy the ones they like. What a novel concept
Damascus steel is superior to carbon steel, carbon steel will outperform stainless steel, the katana is the finest blade ever made, a full tang is strongest and best, a 600X finish is superior to a 400X finish, a mirror polish is better than all the rest, the convex edge is the ultimate cutter, the hollow grind is the most efficient cutter, the flat grind will beat them all, 5160 is the best, D2 will out-cut 52100, 52100 will out-cut Gods personal knife, my secret process is better than all the rest, my proprietary phlegm-butter-bacon grease quench beats everything else out here, coal forge blades are superior to gas forged blades, multiple quenching will beat any other process lacking a philosophers stone, I am the greatest blade maker alive in the whole wide world and of course a blade beat with a hammer is undeniably more fantastic than one shaped with a belt!
We could add to this list forever. Do we ever get tired of it all? Think about it, if you try to remember the last time you had to listen to that kind of, nah, nah, naah, nah, boo, booo banter, it was probably on a playground. It is just steel with a sharp edge on it, all it has to do is cut something and it works. If I buy one to clean my toenails with and it manages to do just that, I am a satisfied customer who got his moneys worth.
Where is the source of this petty one-upmanship? I put it at the feet of overly competitive makers, and collectors whose egos are inextricably attached with displaying the image of having the best. Some feel their work cannot sell itself so they set it on top of sales pitches, pretentious claims, and portentous processes. Then collectors of their work form a destructive codependency, in order to justify the price paid and convince themselves that they could not be taken in with a hyped up schpiel.
If you havent figured it out by now, I will tell you that I despise hype! In fact despise may be too gentle of a word for how I feel about overblown marketing. I really wished folks would think about their line of bull, and what it really means, before they start disseminating it and begging for dissention and division. Whenever you say something is superior it must necessitate that something is inferior. If a smiths blades are claimed to be superior then it is unavoidable that the question of, superior to what? will be asked. If one maker in a group stands and says to the public that his knives are better it is just human nature for the rest of the makers to look at each other and assume that they, and their knives, are the inferior reference point.
If Kevin Cashen starts broadcasting the word that his knives are superior and he is the best in the world at anything, he may gain some gullible customers, but all he will have really done is put himself on a pedestal with a bulls-eye in his forehead, in a room full of armed marksman, that he stepped on to get up there. If his claims are not iron clad, they deserve to be taken down with some well placed shots, regardless of the feelings of those who bought his line.
I bring this to this forum because I have seen the reaction that a guy can get when he starts thumping his chest too loudly here. There are thinkers here, with good noses for B.S.. And they know the red flags to look for, I have seen it.
Remember back in your childhood before you graduated from the 2nd grade sandbox, no claims could be subtle or realistic, everything had to be as overblown grandiose as imaginable. Your sand castle wasnt just better than little Jimmys, it was the biggest and the best in the whole, wide world! Some folks have emotionally matured only enough to drop whole wide, but are still the best in the world, and if you put yourself above the entire world, you had better be able to handle the entire world gunning for you.
In consideration of this, self made claims of, worlds best always reek of emotional retardation to me, and it would appear it does for others as I have seen the reaction it can instantly evoke. Unfortunately, there are too many kids not ready for the sandbox who look with wide-eyed belief at the big kids making the claim. It is sad, and it is all ego games in the end anyhow. Be it for the blind pursuit of money, or self validation, it all comes down to ego games.
You know, we should all just make the best knives we can and let the public buy the ones they like. What a novel concept
