Ten Worst Folders, and a Giveaway

J

JNieporte

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Nov 1, 2004
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Tell me what you think are the ten worst folding knives. This can mean design, execution, a really low quality; whatever you define as "worst" in a folding knife. Give a reason for each. This is the contest.

I have one knife and one only in mind; the person who gets it first wins. Please don't try to make guesses based on what knife you think I have in mind; you'll lose and I won't hear your real reasons for the ten knives you choose. I'll let this go on for at least a week (even if the correct knife is named) so we can get all of our "bad knives" out there. The prize is something from my Forbidden Drawer of Mystery: could be a knife, flashlight, sharpener, etc. but it won't be low quality.
 
I honestly can't think of even one knife I would submit for such a list - much less ten. But I am interested in seeing what others have to say about this. When I think of a crappy folder, the only thing that comes to mind is the cheapy folders you see at the Stop-n-Rob next to the cashier. And even those aren't so bad for $3.99. :)
 
I fear this thread will start arguments between people posting their opinions, and people refuting them. I suggest we all limit our posts to only list their opinions to fulfill the guidelines of this giveaway. Any arguing should be taken elsewhere.



My picks:

1. S&W Extreme Ops folder(s). Horrible heattreat, suspect lockup, bad design (blade hitting standoffs when closed, for example).

2. CRKT M16 series. Why should a knife need a secondary lock unless the primary lock is suspect? Mediocre steel.

3. Cold Steel Paradox. It's a balisong that's not a balisong. What's the effing point?:confused:

4. Cold Steel Espada series. Ridiculous size, mediocre steel, absurd-beyond-belief price.

5. Cold Steel Black Talon. Obvious ripoff of the Spyderco Civilian/Matriarch, absurd price.

6. MTech anything. No explanation needed.

7. Senmenru 710. Low quality Sebenza ripoff.

8. Mantis MT8R Zmora. Mall Ninja buffoonary at its pinnacle.

9. Dork Ops Stratofighter. Besides being an overpriced, low quality Extrema Ratio ripoff, their marketing campaign is rivaled in its ridiculousness only by Mantis.

10. CRKT KISS. Just a horrible idea. A framelock with only half the frame? Easy to disengage by accident just by holding the knife. The chisel-ground edge is duller than a dog turd, and if you try to make it sharper, you're liable to cut yourself when the knife is closed.

Thanks for the chance!
 
Boker Bulldog: bad steel, no tip at all, flaky construction
CRKT M16 Kit Carson: bad steel, weak frame, weak liner.
Smith&Wesson Homeland Security: heavy, bad steel, bad serrations, weak pivot
Camillus Heat: no grip, weak spring, weak lock.
Boker Plus Direkt: insanely dumb flipper (actually cause injury)
Cold Steel Black Rock Hunter: opening/closing construction waaaay too complex.
Kabar Dozier Bobcat: knife way too heavy for what it is.
Schrade Avatar: just complete junk
Gerber Chameleon: weak lock, impractical design
Kershaw Speedbump: Stupid blade design, stupid lock design
 
CRKT M16-10Kz: Aus 4 steel combo tanto: Has poor edge retention. Auto-Lawks is diffcult to use and liner lock is extremely thin. Pivot won't stay screwed.

Anything with Mtech: Over prised rip-off knives which locks won't hold. (Mtech Tactical Stinger)

Deal Extreme knives (Spyderco copies, CLB copies, Böker copies etc) Blatant rip off's of famous companies. No matter how cheap they sell it, its not worth of it.

No name China made knives from early 90's. Their worth is paper weight, fishing net weight or if heavy a throwing blunt instrument

Gerber Rip-stop 1 folder: Sharp edges every where, stickily frame lock, awkward to hold, poor thumbstuds, bad out of box edge. Pivot screw kept unscrewing all the time.

if you count bad samples from makers great reputation: I had very bad encounter with GEC 735109L out of box. However its currently in custom's office so I should get it back from this week: Out of Box it was: Blade was warped, lock did not engaged, linver scratched blade, up and down and side to side blade play, huge gaps between bolsters and slaps.

However that was a bad sample from good company.
 
The one bad folder I can think of is the Gerber Paraframe. The framelock is extremely week and the blade has horrible edge retention.
 
I'll give this a shot:

1. Chris Reeve Umnumzaan, junk.
2. Chris Reeve Sebenza, little better, still junk
3. Strider SnG, pathetic excuse for a knife.
4. Strider SMF, makes me sick.
5. Spyderco Military, crappy build quality=unsafe knife.
6. Emerson CQC series, designed for combat against what? Teddy Bears?
7. Zero Tolerance 0150-0550, yeah lets put daimond-like-carbon on a blade :rolleyes:
8. Spyderco Stretch (1,2), Perfect EDC knife? I don't think so.
9. Spyderco Manix (1,2), original Manix was junk, new Manix is lighter junk.
10. Chris Reeve Mnandi, waste of titanium and/or s30v.
 
Supmonkeyface said:
I'll give this a shot:

1. Chris Reeve Umnumzaan, junk.
2. Chris Reeve Sebenza, little better, still junk
3. Strider SnG, pathetic excuse for a knife.
4. Strider SMF, makes me sick.
5. Spyderco Military, crappy build quality=unsafe knife.
6. Emerson CQC series, designed for combat against what? Teddy Bears?
7. Zero Tolerance 0150-0550, yeah lets put daimond-like-carbon on a blade :rolleyes:
8. Spyderco Stretch (1,2), Perfect EDC knife? I don't think so.
9. Spyderco Manix (1,2), original Manix was junk, new Manix is lighter junk.
10. Chris Reeve Mnandi, waste of titanium and/or s30v.
Click to expand...

I would love to hear your top ten knife list.
 
Supmonkeyface said:
I'll give this a shot:

1. Chris Reeve Umnumzaan, junk.
2. Chris Reeve Sebenza, little better, still junk
3. Strider SnG, pathetic excuse for a knife.
4. Strider SMF, makes me sick.
5. Spyderco Military, crappy build quality=unsafe knife.
6. Emerson CQC series, designed for combat against what? Teddy Bears?
7. Zero Tolerance 0150-0550, yeah lets put daimond-like-carbon on a blade :rolleyes:
8. Spyderco Stretch (1,2), Perfect EDC knife? I don't think so.
9. Spyderco Manix (1,2), original Manix was junk, new Manix is lighter junk.
10. Chris Reeve Mnandi, waste of titanium and/or s30v.
Click to expand...

I´m pretty sure this list is gonna raise some eyebrows :p
 
I bought a couple of China-made Schrades a year or two ago that were pretty bad. Grinds looked like they had been done by a blind monkey, blades had lots of wobble, etc.
 
I don't know enough knives to come up with ten, but here's one: the Smith & Wesson SWATBS. 4034 steel(?), grip is in fact skateboard tape that peels off, tiny screw fell out of mine, and too thick for its size. Not the worst knife in the history of the universe, but pretty bad.
 
For me, the worst knife I've had was my first, a Boker HK Drop point. The coating was nothing more than paint, the handles were made of cheap plastic and had a cheap feel to them. Not to mention the ergonomics were terrible and even with the stippling, it had little to no traction for the hand. The blade held a poor edge, and the serrations tore material, rather than cut it. The pocket clip was poorly placed, under the pivot so one must remove the pivot in order to swap the clip. WTF. Not to mention the pocket clip bent out when I attached it to my pocket. Lock up was not very secure, and there was blade play in every direction. The thumbstud/disk was difficult to use, but that's okay because the detent didn't hold the blade in at all.

*Sigh* I feel my blood pressure rising. Gonna go have a smoke.

That would be my worst. I don't think I can come up with a list of any specific knives, but they range from the gas station special knives, to the $1.50 folding knife from my local Japanese dollar store, to the no name Chinese produced S&W/Jeep/Hummer etc. knives at the local Big 5 Sporting Goods, to the 10 for $10 special at the local surplus store. Each of these has poor edge retention, poor ergonomics, poor lock up, and just poor quality in general.
 
The worst 10 knives I ever bought were a set of kitchen knives from Family Dollar. Two of them broke the first time I used them and the others rusted after their first wash. Eight dollars for 10 knives is still a waste of $8. I wanted some inexpensive knives for picnic/camping use, but this set didn't turn out to be a bargain.
 
#1 crkt point gaurd(huge pocket clip,tip-down only,no need for the lawks)

#2 coleman 18 inch machete(not a folder but i hate it)

#3 imperial zytel barlow(probably not even zytel,feels like plastic)

#4 cold steel ti-lite(not a bad knife,intimidation is all its made for)

#5 any maxam knife,horrible quality,didnt hold an edge

#6 crkt edgie(poorly made,sharpener didnt work)

#7 any knife with "winchester" on it

#8 crkt m-16 edc(very cheaply made,auto-lawks is annoying)

#9 kershaw zing(the detent was WAY too strong)

#10 those cheap pakistan 110 knock-offs,i hate those things
 
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