Thinking about hanging up my hat

[AusLoX]

My issues is I like blades in many categories. But my collection is mostly slipjoints because there’s so many different patterns and handle materials that I end up with several in the same pattern that are all unique. Lately I’ve been finding some older stuff at antique shops and that’s a lot of fun

 

[ShaiHulud]

I think, ultimately what helps feed this frame of mind and others similar to it is the pricing of knives. For those who are old enough to remember when they were literally half the price they are now, it can be easier to become disenchanted with the whole thing.
In some cases quality was better then than now, and one is paying twice as much for lower quality (in some cases)
If you need a knife as a tool or whatever, you can find that requirement for a lot cheaper in a slipjoint than paying high dollar for precision engineering in some fancy steel or space-agey lock

 

[fuyume]

I have been following the US knife market for years and saw the trends and I have to say: I'm just not impressed anymore with what is coming out, what they make it out of, and how much they want. I tried to deny it, and say to myself I need a locking knife because it's better, stronger; but if I'm being honest with myself, I'm using the knife as if the lock isn't there. I simply don't need the lock.

Inflation is out of control. I think there are plenty of nice knives available, if you can stomach the prices.

For me, the biggest reasons why I haven't bought a new locking folding knife in I think over 20 years now are:

1. because I don't need to, since I own two Gerber Harsey AirFrames. To get a current knife of this quality would cost over $400 each. I paid maybe $150 each for my AirFrames, in new condition via eBay, in the early 2000s.
2. because I think that tip-up carry is inherently less safe, even to the point of being inherently *unsafe*, and there are almost no high quality models left on the market that offer a tip-down orientation like my AirFrames.
3. because I also own a first generation (1998?) Leatherman Wave with the Wave Tool Adapter set, and I have no need to replace that, either. I don't carry it every day; it generally lives in my bicycle's portable toolkit.

The only locking folding knife currently on the market that I would actually like to own is the new version of the Benchmade North Fork, and that only because it would match my vintage Benchmade 190 Drop Point Hunter and 192 Bird and Trout knives. I'd remove the tip-up pocket clip entirely, and carry it in a pouch. But, it's over $200, and I don't really need it, I just want it because I like the design aside from the pocket clip and it would become part of a set.

The only slip joint knives I care about are Victorinox Swiss Army Knives, and a Rambler is actually the knife I use more than any other, because it has everything I need in a small knife, and nothing I don't. I also have a Leatherman Radio Shack Squirt E4, just for the wire strippers; I don't carry that every day, it stays in with my audio engineering tools.

I just got done filling out Victorinox' second knife customisation survey, and I just told them that I'd like to see a Cadet X (as so many others would, as well), and that my ideal Victorinox custom knives would be a set of two 93 mm or 84 mm Alox knives, one for carry in town, the second to supplement it for use in the woods.

The first knife would have the electrician's blade, scissors, caplifter, and inline Phillips driver; I don't need any other tools in town. The second knife would have the large blade, the woodsaw, and the reamer; I only need these tools in the woods.

I am constantly reminding people that the locks on locking knives are not intended to allow you to use a folding knife as if it were a fixed blade knife. The locks are only there to prevent accidental closure, and no lock should ever intentionally be subjected to stress. If you use a slip joint knife carefully, you are extremely unlikely to injure yourself with it.