The learning curve

mendezj

mendezj

Joined
Nov 24, 1998
Messages
993
I’ve been buying and using knives for decades. Where I live knives are a must. Fishing and hunting on a regular basis require good knives. I own hundreds of knives, I’ve made the pilgrimage to the Atlanta show several times. But one never stops learning. Or I should say, one never stops making mistakes.

I’m rather new to “modern” knives, though. I’ve already posted about some of my recent purchases. So the spirit of this post is to maybe make others feel a bit better about their disappointments when buying knives that you cannot fondle first.

Hinderer knives are NOT for me. It’s almost a fateful thing. First I bought an XM-18, 3.5”, impressively well built but with a Spanto blade which might be good for puncturing cans but not great for cutting. I tried to talk to the Hinderer people about but never received a response. They don’t answer the phone either.

So I find a Jurassic with a “slicer” blade and the picture in some monkey site shows the knife with the lanyard option ($60 by itself), and I buy it. The knife arrives without the lanyard extra. I write. I get the send-it-back-we’ll-return-your-money response. I write the personal email of someone at Hinderer that someone here kindly provided. Finally a response, deal with the monkey site. Sorry. I decide to keep the knife.

Then I find the lanyard option at another site. I ask: is the part compatible for the Jurassic? Yes, it is. There go $60 additional. I receive the part. It doesn’t fit the Jurassic. It doesn’t fit the XM-18 either unless I buy an additional part. I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY ANYTHING HINDERER. Lesson learned. Live and learn. No biggie.

Spartan. I want a somewhat rugged field knife. Some knife merchant suggests Spartan. I buy a Horkos. Immediate regret. The handle is SO small that it makes the knife dangerous to use. The scales are super small and very poorly finished. I haven’t tried the blade but it looks like a slab of steel not necessarily well finished with two tiny slabs added. The sheath is a generic cheap job, even though they sent me an additional one. Thank you for so much. But another lesson learned. I WILL NEVER BUY A SPARTAN KNIFE AGAIN. Live and learn. No biggie.
 
I remembered reading about your Hinderer story, and just out of curiosity, what kind of 'modern' knives are you looking for? Or what kind of criteria/budget/needs?
 
comis said:
I remembered reading about your Hinderer story, and just out of curiosity, what kind of 'modern' knives are you looking for? Or what kind of criteria/budget/needs?
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Well, I’m not really looking anymore. I mean, I need another knife like I need the proverbial hole in the head. But to answer your kind question, I was interested in high quality knives. Well built, functional, lasting knives. A knife good to use in the field as well as with boxes. Price is not really an issue. However, being mostly curious about “modern” (tactical, one-handed, spring assisted, etc.) I have no interest in “art” knives, or a custom Hinderer, for instance, which is just a polished regular knife at an absurd price (being the regular rendition pricey as it is). Thank you for your response.
 
Kind of hard to find but I have a Spyderco Chinook l in old-school 440V (equivalent, I believe, to S60V) that I think you’d really appreciate. Used it to skin countless critters and make many camp meals over the years. Love that freakin’ thing.
 
Never was a Hinderer fan either. They look cool but I don’t need a knife that’s as tough as a steel reinforced bumper, or as thick and chunky as an I beam. But they’re nice (to me, at least). Skinny might be my deal, haven’t tried one (yet!).

That said, you might try a CRK. It took me several to find the one for me, but my Large 21 Micarta is a forever blade. Some love them, some don’t. But they are good quality knives.
 
mendezj said:
I’ve been buying and using knives for decades. Where I live knives are a must. Fishing and hunting on a regular basis require good knives. I own hundreds of knives, I’ve made the pilgrimage to the Atlanta show several times. But one never stops learning. Or I should say, one never stops making mistakes.

I’m rather new to “modern” knives, though. I’ve already posted about some of my recent purchases. So the spirit of this post is to maybe make others feel a bit better about their disappointments when buying knives that you cannot fondle first.

Hinderer knives are NOT for me. It’s almost a fateful thing. First I bought an XM-18, 3.5”, impressively well built but with a Spanto blade which might be good for puncturing cans but not great for cutting. I tried to talk to the Hinderer people about but never received a response. They don’t answer the phone either.

So I find a Jurassic with a “slicer” blade and the picture in some monkey site shows the knife with the lanyard option ($60 by itself), and I buy it. The knife arrives without the lanyard extra. I write. I get the send-it-back-we’ll-return-your-money response. I write the personal email of someone at Hinderer that someone here kindly provided. Finally a response, deal with the monkey site. Sorry. I decide to keep the knife.

Then I find the lanyard option at another site. I ask: is the part compatible for the Jurassic? Yes, it is. There go $60 additional. I receive the part. It doesn’t fit the Jurassic. It doesn’t fit the XM-18 either unless I buy an additional part. I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY ANYTHING HINDERER. Lesson learned. Live and learn. No biggie.

Spartan. I want a somewhat rugged field knife. Some knife merchant suggests Spartan. I buy a Horkos. Immediate regret. The handle is SO small that it makes the knife dangerous to use. The scales are super small and very poorly finished. I haven’t tried the blade but it looks like a slab of steel not necessarily well finished with two tiny slabs added. The sheath is a generic cheap job, even though they sent me an additional one. Thank you for so much. But another lesson learned. I WILL NEVER BUY A SPARTAN KNIFE AGAIN. Live and learn. No biggie.
Click to expand...
You've told both of those stories multiple times, in a rather insulting way I might add. Seems to me this thread is just an excuse to once again share your subjective negative experiences. Sounds more like the airing of gripes than learning. I think you'll find these types of negative threads don't go well. How about some positives to what you have learned?
 
craytab said:
You've told both of those stories multiple times, in a rather insulting way I might add. Seems to me this thread is just an excuse to once again share your subjective negative experiences. Sounds more like the airing of gripes than learning. I think you'll find these types of negative threads don't go well. How about some positives to what you have learned?
Click to expand...


I’m ignoring you.
 
A long wall of text to basically say Hinderer is a big "No, No !" in your book and Spartan just as much a "No, No !". Being disappointed by a brand happens... Just move on and maybe share a wall of text about the knives which make you happy ! Some positive vibes. Like :
 
440V well treated is fantastic. I agree.

I own a couple of Sebenza. One is pretty old with a D2 blade, the other has a newer type steel. I also own a Green Beret and a Pacific. Great knives all of them.
 
Tha
herisson said:
A long wall of text to basically say Hinderer is a big "No, No !" in your book and Spartan just as much a "No, No !". Being disappointed by a brand happens... Just move on and maybe share a wall of text about the knives which make you happy ! Some positive vibes. Like :
Click to expand...

That’s the message I tried to convey to newcomers. Live and learn. Thank you.
 
This should probably move to the GBU since it's more about buying knives than the knives themselves.
 
Very special learning curve. Special Edition, anybody ? Cheers !
 
It must’ve been over ten years ago that I bought a new Sebenza and brought it with me on a deep sea fishing trip. I had it in my short pockets, went in the water with it, and the next day I couldn’t open it as it had rusted at the hinge. I sent it CR and it was returned as new. I’ll write to CR out of curiosity. I’ve been around here since 1998 and my memory might have turned rusty too. Hey, cheers.
 
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