So you're happily surprised to find out that someone EDCs a knife...

Kaizen1

Kaizen1

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Jan 4, 2006
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And you ask them if you can see it, and it's a piece of crap. Do you mention to them about the quality of the knife? Do you suggest other brands that even what we might consider "cheap" would still be roughly 8-13 times more expensive?

I was in a Martial Arts equipment store and the owner, who's a really cool guy, has a knife sitting on his counter. I asked to see it and it was a China made knife from a company called Maxam. Surprisingly, it was very smooth. It was flickable like a Benchmade with a flimsy looking liner lock. I told him it was cool and briefly showed him my Emerson CQC 14. I gave him a little run down on the legality of folders in CA, the way I understand it but that was about it.

So I check out this Maxam name online and they averaged out be cost about $3 each. Not surprisingly, they have a bunch of blatant knock offs of Strider, Kershaw and Buck. The store owner's knife had the shape of a BM Rukus, but I'm not sure if it would look like a "blatant" copy of it.

In this particular case, I really didn't care to get too much into talking about knives, because I had places to go (Anyone check out the "Ides of March"?). But I'm curious, what do you guys/gals do when you see someone with a crappy knife? I'm sure most of us are just happy that we see someone who carries a knife. If I had more time, I probably would've gotten into the whole quality thing. But keep in mind if I suggested a Byrd knife, it would've cost him nearly 8 times what he paid for his.

I think this may have been brought up before, but we got a lot of new people roaming around these parts, so I'd love to read what you'd do.


***Edited for clarification***
My point about talking about quality was the concern of the possible lock failure. If you felt the lock was unsafe, would you mention something about it? How would you talk about it considering that a "cheap" knife you would recommend would be so much more expensive than what he's got? I'm NOT talking about mentioning how much more my knife costs than his.
 
My theory is never insult someone else's knife, so I try to just be positive about it if I can, or just not say a lot.

I try to keep in mind that very few average knife owners will spend what some of us here will.
 
Maybe it's just me, but everyone I see who carries a knife, seems to be carrying a clunker. Of course, I don't go out of my way to 'pick' their pockets, so my experience has been only a handful of people. I don't preach, either; I'm polite.
 
Whats ugly or low-end to me is just right for someone else, and vice versa - whether its a knife, a light or a woman. So they are all good as far as I'm concerned.

:thumbup:
 
I had some situation like that two years ago,fellow from work brought some 10˝ China Rambo knife,plastic handle,huge sawteeth ,synthetic leather sheath,and with shiny eyes said:˝Look what my girfriend bought me for birthday˝.So,how could I say something bad about it,when it was gift.So I just mumbled something about how it was maybe too big for ordinary use,but would look nice in his room.Hope he put that thing in drawer and forgot it.
 
My baby brother carried a Browning gent's lockback for about 10 yrs until he lost it. Nice little knife with a combo edge. I was alway's impressed he could carry one knife for so long. After he lost his Browning he asked if he could have an old Frost small lockback I had in my garage.
I bought the Frost out of curiousity to see how the FF was on them:o He's had that Frost now for a little over two yr's and it works just fine for him. I guess it all depends on Boy's and the cost of their toy's:)
To each his own, I appreciate the fact that a person even carries a knife:D

Paul
 
I'm getting to the point where i don't care what kind of knife they carry as long as they have some type of sharp steel on there person. I'm constantly amazed by the young guys that hire on here and don't carry any knife at all. I've carried a knife everyday of my life since i was little and i haven't been little in a looooooonng time.
 
ahgar said:
I'm getting to the point where i don't care what kind of knife they carry as long as they have some type of sharp steel on there person. I'm constantly amazed by the young guys that hire on here and don't carry any knife at all. I've carried a knife everyday of my life since i was little and i haven't been little in a looooooonng time.
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+1 for carrying :thumbup:

Yep, I could say the exact same thing as ahgar :)
 
I usually talk to them about there knife, it it’s a half way decent knife (don’t really say anything about mine unless then ask, don’t wana look like a snob). If it’s something that is really bad like Frost, I’ll just say “nice” or something like that.
 
My momma said, "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all."

I follow that a lot when looking at knives other folks carry.
 
I actually ordered some Frost knives about a dozen years ago from some discount magazine, had a special that included a bigger discount the more knives that were ordered. Still have all of them, these were actually made in Japan and not China and are decent enough for less than $8 a piece.
 
My response depends on how well I know the person;) If one of my friends is using or carrying a piece of crap and they show it to me, I tell them it's a piece of crap and suggest something else. If it's an acquantance or someone I don't know very well, I just say something nice and go on:D
 
When that happens to me, I just say something about how glad I am to see younger people actually carrying a knife, and how handy it is to have a sharp blade on hand, and what on earth do people without a knife do to open one of those stupid plastic packages everything comes in now?!?

I'm not about to insult someone because their knife is less (or more!) expensive than mine. God bless 'em for not being a bladeless sheeple! :thumbup:
 
The Last Confederate said:
My theory is never insult someone else's knife, so I try to just be positive about it if I can, or just not say a lot.

I try to keep in mind that very few average knife owners will spend what some of us here will.
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I'll second that thought.

If its someone I like AND I know they've been carrying that knife for a while, I'll trade them for something of a little higher quality. At least something of a known brand. My nephew still rants about the Gerber Firestorm I traded for his POS.
 
If I see someone with a knife I sometimes ask to see it. Or they will see mine and show me theirs. I usually comment on it being good or bad and the reasons but not much unless they want more. Some cheap knives are good and I will tell them. If they are a poor quality knife I will tell them what to look for in a better knife, ie; materials, makes, and models.
I have a few Japan made Frost knives that are good and I still carry. I do not know about the Chinese made ones though.
 
I see plenty of really cheap knives out there, alot of guys just dont wanna pay more than $10 for something that they are gonna use for nothing more than a sharp screwdriver, pry bar ,putty knife. How can ya criticize a fella for using it that way when he purposely buys a cheapie just to have for those kinda jobs?
 
Maybe I have a negative attitude, but most of the time I feel like it's a mute point. My first point would be that there are better quality knives out there, and their first thought would be "duhh, that's why they cost so much more." Then I would have to explain that even in their price range or for just a bit more, there are better quality, and their thought would be "duhh, they cost more." Then I would have to go into better steels, and better handles, and more reliable lockups, and their thought would be "Know it all", and then "him must think I not so smart for buying what I bought".

Of course this would depend who I'm talking to. I sharpened my riding partners Klein brand pocket knife, and this got me talking about my folders, and different steels. A couple of days later, he bought a Walmart Native.
 
I had a really surprising situation at work, where a temp. employee pulled out his knife to cut up some cardboard boxes. I was shocked to say the least to see a Case swing-guard come out of his pocket. We talked knives a bit and he had been carrying it since the 70's. Since it looked like it hadn't been sharpened since new, I offered to put an edge on it, which he gladly accepted. It felt good to turn his old knife back into a sharp tool that he will probably carry forever.
 
I try to keep my comments to a minimum unless the other person wishes to further the conversation about either their knife or mine. There were times when I'd go on spurting out stuff like "S30V," "full flat grind," "nested liner," etc., and if the other person wasn't in to knives their eyes would kinda glaze over and we wouldn't be on the same page, so I do my best to avoid that.
 
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