Slipjoints?

Tripton

Tripton

Joined
May 26, 2008
Messages
5,605
Honestly, what is the appeal?

Sounds like a stupid question, but I really do not get it. Is it nostalgia? The looks? The one that Grandpa gave you? The feeling of a sheepfoot blade closing across the back of your fingers?



Just seems that with the infinite choices available for knife buffs today, that these old looking knives have a really really large following. I can understand a simple niche market, but the numbers seem huge.

Is is kind of like a Harley with that repugnant "If I have to explain it, you wouldnt understand." aura? (Different time and place for THAT discussion...:D)

Anyone? Please help?








Oh, this is coming from a guy that hasnt had one since he was probably five...so I have no frame of reference here.
 
Ive never been real big into them either, only having one or two, but lately I've been becoming more and more interested.

Picked up a Sod Buster Jr at Lowes a little while ago.
Love it.
 
They're attractive and they cut. That last one may seem obvious but I've had many very nice one handers, with the latest super steel, that wouldn't slice worth a damn because they were thick hollow (or sabre) ground. The thin, flat grind slip joint is a slicing machine. Nostalgia may play a part but for cutting, not prying, they're very hard to beat.

Frank
 
well, i cant carry my RC-4 in my pocket (wont fit ). so i reckon its the schrade 340T. never met a knife i did'nt like., but i like some more than others.
 
I have been using slip joint knives for over 40 years now and have never closed one on my finger while using it. When you grow up using slipjoints you learn how to use a knife properly. I always cut with the sharp edge and don't try to use the dull edge...very simple. I don't pry with my knives, that is why I have pry bars or even screwdrivers.

And yes...some of it is looks...I think most tactical knives with synthetic handles are rather unattractive. I own them and use them but G10 will never replace nice jigged bone or stag in the looks department. I have slip joints made with bone, stag, pearl, ivory, wood, celluloid, etc...and they are all easy on the eyes.

As for nostalgia, my slip joints run back through the years to one that my great grandfather was carrying when his Jenny went down Christmas of 1921...that's history you can hold in your hands.
 
Tripton said:
but the numbers seem huge
Click to expand...

That should demonstrate that there is something there that connects with many buyers, that does not connect with you. Thats not necessarily a bad thing - it just is what it is.

Its sorta like folks who like fountain pens in this "advanced" age of the disposable Bic. Or who enjoy clipping a handrolled cigar when you can get those fancy Swisher Sweets at the Stop-n-Rob. I don't do either, but understand why others do.

The 1911 crowd is similar. Glocks go boom, but a 1911 has "soul".

So I think its just the pleasure of owning a fine cutting instrument that draws people to slipjoints. To me and others, they can slice like scalpels; remind us of Dad or Grandpa; feel like something finely crafted (can't say that about a Spydie Military); disappear in your pocket; and depending on the observer, can look like artwork.

I like my tacticool folders, SAKs and fixed blades. But having been down that road I'm now looking to a Queen #64 Canoe or Case baby butterbean for the pleasure of owning, carrying and fondling a quality knife. JMO.

I found an old Schrade slipjoint and gave it to my dad a good while ago. He's been using it for years now for everything from cutting string to cleaning the tines on his tiller. Gotta say thats probably my favorite knife.

:thumbup:
 
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I don't know, I can't explain it.:D

shovel2941.jpg
 
powernoodle said:
The 1911 crowd is similar. Glocks go boom, but a 1911 has "soul".

So I think its just the pleasure of owning a fine cutting instrument that draws people to slipjoints. To me and others, they can slice like scalpels; remind us of Dad or Grandpa; feel like something finely crafted (can't say that about a Spydie Military); disappear in your pocket; and depending on the observer, can look like artwork.
:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hey , I resemble that 1911 remark ! ;)

Now tell me , don't these 2 just go together ?
Ser 70 Colt Gov and an Erickson 3.5 EDC Slip

Img_8507.jpg


I find the slip joint will do all I need a knife to do. Maybe it's nostalgia , maybe it's just getting back to the simpler things , some call it " folksy" , some have referred to my slipjoints as " my old mans knife ".
Whatever you call it , they just have a different feel.

Used correctly , like a knife should be used , they are safe to use.

Just like a firearm , you never rely on the safety , you rely on you to be safe , same with a knife , never rely on a lock.

Now dont get me wrong , I have a couple " tactical " ( man I hate that word ) folders (both Striders) , but just about everything else I own has a traditional design.

I prefer 1911's , dbl action S$W wheelguns ( pre-locks ) , Mausers , Enfields and my 97 shotgun ( made in 1903 ). ( & moonlight walks on the beach with nude supermodels but that has not happened yet :eek: ).

Folksy ? Perhaps....
whatever it is , wander over to the traditional forum and look around.
It's a kindler , gentler place where everyone knows your name ( if you participate there a bit ).

:thumbup:
 
+1 on the 1911 & Slipjoints!!! I had a boatload of the New Tacticool One Handers and found they had no flare no soul so to speak... I picked up a Case Stag Russlock one day and I was hooked. Polished Bolsters and Bone Stag Or other Natural Scales and Thin Blades that were sharp and could be sharpened with no special stones or tools... Plus they fit in my pocket and when I take them out to use em people don't take off for the hills screaming... It's amazing how much Quality is in a $35.00 to $80.00 Slippie compared to a One hander in the same price range... I have unloaded a ton of BM's and Spydercos as well as Al Mars and Kershaws as of late to buy Queens Casexx Schatt & Morgans Buck Creek and more... It's just a different hunt, thats all... Something New thats not New at all!!! Happy New Year All!!!! ~kevin~

DSC04178.jpg
 
Absintheur said:
I have been using slip joint knives for over 40 years now and have never closed one on my finger while using it. When you grow up using slipjoints you learn how to use a knife properly. I always cut with the sharp edge and don't try to use the dull edge...very simple. I don't pry with my knives, that is why I have pry bars or even screwdrivers.

And yes...some of it is looks...I think most tactical knives with synthetic handles are rather unattractive. I own them and use them but G10 will never replace nice jigged bone or stag in the looks department. I have slip joints made with bone, stag, pearl, ivory, wood, celluloid, etc...and they are all easy on the eyes.

As for nostalgia, my slip joints run back through the years to one that my great grandfather was carrying when his Jenny went down Christmas of 1921...that's history you can hold in your hands.
Click to expand...

Well said and mirrors my sentiments. I wish I had one of my great grandfathers knives. :)
 
A nice slipjoint is sort of like a fine quality wind-up watch...


There are lots of reasons why slipjoints remain so attractive to so many.

(Of course, tacticals have their place as well.)
 
Tripton said:
The feeling of a sheepfoot blade closing across the back of your fingers?
Click to expand...

Cut with the sharp side and this won't be a problem.

I started out with a slipjoint when I was a kid, progressed to SAKs, then to tacticool folders. Now I'm back to a slipjoint in my front pocket and a small framelock (Spyderco Cricket) in my back pocket in case I need the one-hand opening. Slipjoints do all the cutting I need done on a daily basis, and they honestly do it better than the locking folders I had. A Case with CV blades slices an apple much better than a Benchmade or Spyderco. The thin blades cut like lasers. They also don't freak anybody out when I use them. I keep the Cricket for those stupid plastic blister packs and zip-ties, although I could cut both of these with the slipjoint, I usually need the one-hand opening ability.

Try a slipjoint for a week or so and you'll get it. Keep the folder you have now clipped to your pocket and see if you can get by with the slipjoint. You'll be surprised, I know I was. Try a Case CV Peanut, it looks like the tiniest little toy until you go to use it.
 
I grew up with slipjoints. There were no "tacticool folders" available. In my neighborhood, most men and most boys carried a folder, and that included to school.

While I appreciate the convenience of a one-hand opener that clips to my pocket, I also appreciate the workmanship and art of a nicely done traditional folder. Aside from the convenience of one-hand opening, I see no advantage to such knives when it comes to the actual cutting. They all work pretty much the same.

If you don't want to cut your fingers, cut with the edge instead of trying to spear something open.
 
I used to carry tacticools all the time, and the bigger the better too. Thing is, I couldn't remember ever having to take out a sentry or punch a hole through a car door. I do, however, need to cut flesh, fiber, strapping, rope, plastic wrap AND move among the sheeple everyday. I also like the slippies for the same reason I like dogs, old guys who fish, baseball and people who like to cook. They remind me of a time when our world made a little more sense, when agression was NOT the order of the day, when people could be expected to behave decently and generally did. I also like the way that the appearance of a slipjoint is as important as it's function. A function by the way, that was adapted and perfected over more than a century. Let's see how the tactical makers are faring a hundred years from now before we write off the slipjoint.
Oh yeah, if anyone thinks I'm down on tacticals, I have a Laguiole in my left front pocket and a Spydie Native in my right.
 
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