- Joined
- Nov 1, 2000
- Messages
- 28,365
This thread has inspired me to do a recap "long term ownership" review.
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
The best knife review?
- Thread starter kancler
- Start date
1. Introduction: why you bought the knife.
2. Dimensions: especially ones not given by the manufacturer, like overall thickness.
3. Ergonomics: How it feels to carry and use the knife.
4. Fit and finish
5. Comparison with similar offerings: not a must but helpful.
6. Blade sharpness, sharpenability, maintenance requirements
7. Pros and Cons: Outstanding attributes and problems; the latter help my buying decision immensely.
8. Demonstration or First hand account of use. A knife is meant to cut, which is always good to see. Innovative uses add a lot of value.
9. Customizing/Mods: optional but appreciated.
10. Long term reliability: only possible with long term use, but greatly appreciated.
2. Dimensions: especially ones not given by the manufacturer, like overall thickness.
3. Ergonomics: How it feels to carry and use the knife.
4. Fit and finish
5. Comparison with similar offerings: not a must but helpful.
6. Blade sharpness, sharpenability, maintenance requirements
7. Pros and Cons: Outstanding attributes and problems; the latter help my buying decision immensely.
8. Demonstration or First hand account of use. A knife is meant to cut, which is always good to see. Innovative uses add a lot of value.
9. Customizing/Mods: optional but appreciated.
10. Long term reliability: only possible with long term use, but greatly appreciated.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
The only knife review worth a damn is the one I do myself. Doesn't matter how much a guy loves a knife, if it doesn't work for me then it's useless. Also, too many of these "reviews" contain preconceived bias and/or fanboydom. Or the worst thing, a guy that has no idea what he's talking about with regard to the tool. We had a prominent guy on the board give a review of a type of tool he knew very little about. That type of thing throws all of his impressions out the window IMO.
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2003
- Messages
- 1,797
I don't think a good knife review needs to have testing. We can infer a lot from the construction, materials, and mfr. reputation.
I do agree that the review should not be done immediately after receiving it. Those videos should be titled 'first impressions.' I think the knife should have been used a bit, so that the ergonomic and mechanical faults, if any, could be discovered and exposed.
Sometimes, I have my choice narrowed down to about 3 models, and I just need one little tie-breaker to make the final decision for me. For instance, someone saying: "xx knife has so much traction on the grip that it tears up my pants pockets when I clip it on." That knife is immediately ruled out for me, as I've never had a problem with keeping my grip on any knife. Sometimes, there's a feature or lack of features I was unaware of, until someone pointed it out.
I guess what I'm saying here is that I think a good review points out most of the things (both good and bad) that are not immediately obvious from reading the knife's specs or just seeing photos or videos of it.
I do agree that the review should not be done immediately after receiving it. Those videos should be titled 'first impressions.' I think the knife should have been used a bit, so that the ergonomic and mechanical faults, if any, could be discovered and exposed.
Sometimes, I have my choice narrowed down to about 3 models, and I just need one little tie-breaker to make the final decision for me. For instance, someone saying: "xx knife has so much traction on the grip that it tears up my pants pockets when I clip it on." That knife is immediately ruled out for me, as I've never had a problem with keeping my grip on any knife. Sometimes, there's a feature or lack of features I was unaware of, until someone pointed it out.
I guess what I'm saying here is that I think a good review points out most of the things (both good and bad) that are not immediately obvious from reading the knife's specs or just seeing photos or videos of it.