The Gentrification of Knives

Quiet
"Not sure how it points to where knife design is going."
Somewhere I wouldn't won't to be seen with it ;)
Rich
 
Srtr said:
they shouldn't be, but unfortunately people think they are.

a lot of knives are bought as status symbols and fidget toys now.
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So what's the problem??

This is culture and a hobby, do you realise how stupid you guys are sounding. It's like the grumpy old man grouch thread.

Are you this uncharitable in spirit toward every hobby?
 
Not a fan of bling on my knife.
In other words, not a fan of real fancy styling or materials.

More often than not I will find a knife that I love the blade but hate the grip. Or the handle is perfect but the blade is over the top.

Then you also have great designs that would be perfect except for the makers choice of materials. I have lost count how many times I have found a knife only to be turned off by exotic materials and high prices.

I am not complaining. This is probably the best time to be a knife nut. Our Grandparents never had the choices that we have today.
 
Houlahound said:
So what's the problem??

This is culture and a hobby, do you realise how stupid you guys are sounding. It's like the grumpy old man grouch thread.

Are you this uncharitable in spirit toward every hobby?
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no problem, I just think fidget toys should be fidget toys and knives should be knives. nothing I do will change the fact that people buy knives as toys and status symbols and I'm ok with that.

Its just slightly annoying watching a knife review and hearing "would this be my one and only knife? no because I cant fidget with it"....well how does it cut first before dismissing it.
 
eveled said:
Here is a picture of every knife you will ever need Buck had it nailed 40 years ago View attachment 1398056 I like the old designs, a Buck 110 is literally the only non kitchen knife I used for 20 years. I never felt deprived in fact it was a nicer knife than what others were carrying (in my circle) if they carried a knife at all.

I see the new knives as ugly for the most part, the design innovations are driven by trying to get sales out of a saturated market.

The knives I like now I liked when I was six. My tastes have not changed in 50 years.
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I kinda agree with this. I do own modern folders, and carry them regularly. I still make sure my 110 gets used often though, and I never find myself lacking when I carry it. I would never part with my BM 6800 (the best knife ever made). I also agree some of the real modern super angular folders (like WE knives) are hideous looking. Diffrent strokes I suppose.
 
Interesting post. While I do think the modern era of knives has brought us some fantastic knives; it has also brought us users that think unless it's 20cv to open Amazon boxes once a week.

Our grandfathers did twice the work with half the tools and kept them for twice as long.
 
I think its just good ‘ol fashion capitalism that’s brought us to a glut of knives. People figured out how to market knives to eager collectors.

back in the “old days” our grandfathers didn’t have internet nor did they have the luxury of “hobbies”. They walked down to the corner hardware store and bought a Case or Schrade ( or similar) for a good price and for the sole purpose of using the knife.

Nowadays the choices are mind boggling but so it goes for other industries

years ago we had a choice of Miller, Bud, Schmidt’s and Schaefer beer. Now I can’t walk one block without passing a “micro brewery “

It’s all good. Competition forces the cream to rise to the top.
 
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Curious if guys here still using those black powder musket American war of independence type rifles because they were good enough for the old times folks.
 
steelhog said:
...Our grandfathers did twice the work with half the tools and kept them for twice as long.
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I don’t know about “twice the work” but, thy did seem to keep the same tools until they were worn out. Unlike young people today.

My daughter and I were recently talking about the differences between her and her husband. She said that her husband has a tendency to purchase the cheapest thing possible. Use it, abuse it, throw it out, repeat.

Rebekah seems to have the attitude to “buy once, cry once” and keep things forever.

She has told me not to give her husband any of my better knives because, according to her, “He won’t take care of it.”

He once told me, “She is very protective of stuff in her kitchen. Especially her kitchen knives.”

Should be fun to watch how the two lovebirds work this stuff out.
 
Ron Sabbagh said:
I think you’d be surprised by how many people still use & enjoy black powder rifles
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In my area to own a "normal" firearm involves a lot of legal hoops to jump thru. However I can walk into any place without ID or a thing other than cash and legally buy as many fully functioning black powder canons, rifles, pistol I want without question.

So I believe you.

Having said that: would I rob a bank with one, possibly yes. Would I go to war with one, possibly no.
 
steelhog said:
I
Our grandfathers did twice the work with half the tools and kept them for twice as long.
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You are wrong !
But right way:^D
I still use my four grandparents ALL knives all the time - the are just great, as always.
And I'm old, so count years of actual use :^))))
 
i am one of the folks who appreciates good fidget factor in a knife, because this is a big element in how often i will carry/use it. if i don't enjoy the mechanism, the sound, and holding the knife, I'm not going to carry it. which means i am not going to use it, and it is just going to collect dust somewhere. the fun knives get carried more, and used more because of it.

this is a hobby. knives are entertainment, like movies or video games.
 
PaultheCarpenter said:
Well that's certainly an opinion and mindset I can't identify with on any level, but whatever works.
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I get putting knives as tools first, but honestly, there would be no Blade Forums without viewing knives as an aesthetic and superficial pleasure on some level.

My dad has used a Buck 110 as a work knife for about 50 years. He usually burns through one every decade or so. Cuts, scrapes, scores, digs the dirty grease out of the joints on our excavating equipment, etc. The Chris Reeve sitting in my pocket as I type will NOT do 15 times the work that my dad's 110 will do for what I paid for it. But I didn't buy it for that. I use it. I use it hard. The blade has scratches and the handle dings where I has taken a bad bounce on warehouse floor. However, I bought it because I like how it opens, the way it feels running on the PB washers, the way it snaps and locks up like a bank vault when I open it, the tiniest of glass-break snap as the detent engages when I snap it shut. Every line on the knife has been thought out and everything tuned as well as one could expect for a production knife.

In short, its functional mechanical art.

I collect knives for all kinds of reasons. Some because I want the best performance for a specific task, some because they are sentimental to me, some because they are neat snapshots in time like the knife Andy Roy spun up for me over a decade ago when he was just Fiddleback and not Fiddleback Forge. Some are just to play with and enjoy. My Microtech is functionally a $500 fidget spinner that I mess around with while at my desk. Not useless, but I will say certainly not practical.

If I didn't enjoy knives for other reasons besides cutting, I would have stopped collecting 30 years ago.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
In short, its functional mechanical art.
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That is one thing I do enjoy about modern knives. It's entered a world of pure engineering in terms of form and function, which is of itself beautiful and intriguing, and I get it completely.

I don't personally collect knives, but I do go through a lot of them so it's tricky for me to understand the justification to spend hundreds on something I'll lose or break and feel has no intrinsic value to me beyond being a tool to do my job. I have favorite knives like I have favorite shoes.
 
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