Traditional folder knives - I don’t get it

Landshark99 said:
For some, there will always be people who like a more traditional approach. Two examples from other interests. In photography, something I did professionally for over 40 years, there are still a few film cameras around and there will be for the foreseeable future a few who will hang on to film from both young and old enthusiasts. Yes both film and digital cameras take quality images but digital has all but buried film usage and cell phones are crushing point and shoot digital cameras. On the other hand for me in the kitchen years ago I bought the latest and best modern food processor with all sorts of blades to make chopping and slicing more convenient and faster. Well I discovered traditional handmade custom Japanese kitchen knives soon after and never used the food processor for any slicing, I prefer cutting by hand. My point is there will always be diversity in our choice of knives but market trends are what they are, maybe in some markets people like a traditional knife in their pocket and in others like to wear a belt pouch, I just see in my ripe old age of 69 the modern folder is becoming the dominate style going forward. Fixed blades I think is a different story.
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That's a great comparison you make there, Sir.
The digital camera vs the good ole 35mm film camera 👍
I still remember in Jr. High School making a pin-hole camera out of a coffee can... I didn't pay much attention to learning much in Photography Class, but I remember such things as being fun 👍
 
The Buck Saunter, the Kizer Pinch, the Medford Gentle Jack, the Kershaw Culpepper, the Pena X, and countless Bokers, GECs, Tidioutes, Cases, Laguioles, Northfields, and Vipers. (*just to name just a few)

"Nostalgia" or not, trust me, "traditional" folders aren't going anywhere for a very, VERY long time.


If anything, the steels, build quality, and materials will just keep getting better and better...and we'll all be the luckier for it.
 
Some of those you mention are probably better described as traditional inspired hybrids, like the China made Kizer Pinch, US Medford Gentleman Jack, and the China made Kershaw Culpepper.

Also, Gec, Northfield, and Tidioute are all the same company... GEC. They are just different catagory/brands that GEC sells their knives under.

As far as I know, the US traditional knife companies are Gec, Case, Buck, Bear & Son, and Utica... Maybe a couple more I have missed. I know some of these firms make knives for other firms with whatever logos they want on them, but the source is usually these I have listed.
The Queen name is trying to make a comeback in the USA, but thus far so few in numbers produced, that they are closer to small custom shop than a true quantity producing manufacturer.
There are a few more here and there in that same category as Queen, so little in production numbers that they are more like little custom shops, rather than actual manufacturers that make a real dent in putting out numbers.

Again, we shall see 👍
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I'm 56 years old, and I must admit, I sometimes look around and am amazed at the changes that have taken place during my lifetime. So many things have evolved, and of course that is a never ending trend. While things would stay pretty stagnant at times in world history, the advancement of technology has changed that drastically. If you were to be zapped ten to fifteen years into the future, you would likely be very amazed at the changes that happened during that time frame.

That brings me to what many of us think of as being traditional folding knives... I mostly mean knives like the Congress, Canoe, Peanut, Barlow, Toothpick, and other such classic patterns that we can easily relate to. Heck, even the Buck 110, seen by most youths as only being a good boat anchor.
I believe these knives are definitely all on their way out.
That does not mean totally disappear from being produced, but certainly relegated to a niche product. As long as some nostalgic and older folks are still alive, there will be a market for these knives, but the market is already much smaller than it once was, and although there will be a new maker here and there to offer and fill that niche, the overall trend will continue being that the traditional knife will be mostly a thing of the past.
This eventually happens with pretty much everything. New things come out, and the younger generations of people start adopting them as their norm. The future is with them... At least for a little while. Why do I say that? Well, because these younger generation folks that have formed new norms, will also age... And then they too will see that things have drastically changed within their lifetimes. They too will see this happen, and then even wonder how the newer generations of folks find this or that to somehow be better or more visually pleasing to what had been the norm.
This does not stop, I have embraced this fact. My younger friends at work have no interest at all in traditional folders, but they get pretty excited about getting the latest modern folder that just cost them a couple/few hundred dollars. They show me their new modern folders, and although I am polite and say nice things to them about their latest aquisitions... In reality their knives don't do anything for me. No matter how well made they may be, it just looks like a well made tool to me, nothing more. They themselves look at them as being a well made tool AND a thing of beauty.
Yup, it's just the process of time... things change.

Maybe some of our traditional knives will wind up in collections after we pass... But, just as likely that they will be seen by the newer generations as things to be discarded. Or, maybe loved ones will place them in boxes in attics and basements, where most will eventually be forgotten and left to start deteriorating to the point that eventually they too wind up getting discarded by them, or maybe by their children as they too grow and move on.

A very few will always be in some good knife collection or museum... This can all very well happen... History tends to repeat itself, and this process is no strange phenomenon.

Please forgive my long winded response to this topic.
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Sumed up in these few words Jimmy ~ " What is truly new under the Sun " ~ Some see it Is evolving, and Some see it as De-Volving ~

A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,
nor will there be any remembrance
of later things yet to be among those who come after.
 
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If by traditional , we mean a folder with no lock ,( or even just no reliable lock) and opening with a nail nick ...I have issues with functionality not aesthetics .

I'm past 70yo , so I grew up with "traditional " everything . Most stuff has been improved over time . Including folders , IMO .

Most of my modern folders wave open ; easily, almost automatically , and very fast .

Most have the Tri-ad lock that allows these folders to be safely used for almost anything a fixed blade can accomplish , within reason .

I don't mind traditional knives for others . Some are very attractive and many folks can use them for what they need cut .

I just like a folder that is as close to fixed in function as possible .

Personal preference . YMMV and that's fine by me ! :):thumbsup:

PS : I do sometimes carry a RangerGrip SAK (I have a 2 different models) , but they have a pretty sturdy liner lock with a button release . I don't know if they qualify or not ? 🤔
 
I think that Lionsteel makes some pretty good looking “traditional” styled folders but with modern materials; M390, titanium, micarta.

I bought one for situations were flipping out my preferred carry of an XM-24 or similar knife would raise more than eyebrows. My dad thinks I’m going to accidentally stab someone with a big knife, so I just fish out my Lionsteel Warhorse and use that.
 
eveled said:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I cannot stand modern folders, but I never thought to ask or even care why other people like them.

You like what you like, I like what I like. Simple as that.
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This is the thing- I carried traditional folders back when that was the thing to do. Then at some point many years ago I switched to modern folders. I don't have a problem with traditional folders and I can see some ways that they have their good points. If that's what a person likes then that's what they like and nothing wrong with that.
 
I think the convenience and efficiency of modern folders has gotten some people to start carrying a knife who may not have carried one otherwise.

It doesn't seem that the traditional folder is going the way of the dodo for a while, yet. The production volume of Case, Buck and Victorinox are an indication of the continued popularity of what we used to just call a pocketknife. Also, some countries prohibit locking knives or one hand openers.

Life is short, try different things. You don't have to choose just one style of knife.
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KVT said:
So this isn’t meant as a dig or to stir anything up, this is just my opinion and we all are entitled to some, right?

I just don’t get the appeal of, pretty much all traditional folding knives. Whenever I see a Case knife I cringe just a little.

I’m pretty much a modern folder guy with some fixed blades where necessary. I do own some Victorinox kinives (not talking about those.)

I appreciate some of the history, design, materials and workmanship that go in to some of the traditional folders, but I really dont understand the appeal of the nail nick thing, the bolsters, the sizes and just the whole look of them.

From a utilitarian perspective I guess you could say 2 blades are better than one.

From a concealment perspectiv, we’ll, they do conceal quite well.

Why do they have to be so darn ugly?

I can’t be alone on this.
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you are not alone. I often wonder why the GEC blades fetch what they do.

🤷‍♂️
 
My "bone" with traditionals today might even be more offensive than the OP: today's traditionals are MOSTLY JUST replicas of pocket knives from before 1965. The quality, finish, and obvious manual input that went into those old knives just can't be found even in those by top makers today.
 
There's just something that just takes me back to the 'good old days' with slip joint folders, here's a John Primble folder I had a few years ago;

Primble_hand_bw by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Sharp, sturdy and kinda purdy

Primble_congress_presidents by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Seahorse_2010 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Eureka_open_ by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

or even some French folders;

Opinel_line_setting by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Slim_ by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Chambriard_compagnon1 by GaryWGraley, on Flickr




G2
 
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Traditional designs, are old patterns used for hundreds of years that were cutting edge tech at the time. They were designed as tools, to cut.
Not pocket jewellery, machining exercices, artistic expressions of a makers skill, or navy seal approved combat essentials.
As much as I love my Sebenza and Lionsteel integrals, my Opinel cuts better, is lighter, easier to sharpen...and no-one thinks its a "weapon"
 
fonedork said:
They’re good for using in public, around various wimps of society
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fonedork said:
Why are you asking me what the problem is with my reason
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I don't think you are being entirely accurate as to what I was doing. I was neither asking you what the problem was with your reason, nor pointing it out myself.
I was actually saying that it was a very good reason for Traditionals to be a good thing while mentioning that you did put it rather negatively.

There are people that will overreact to a knife. There always have been and always will be. Not garnering a reaction from those people, or anyone else, is a good thing regardless of your opinion of anybody, no?
 
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