traditionals making a comeback?

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will62

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Oct 18, 2002
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With laws changing in some areas, will we see an increase in the number of traditional knives on the market? What if any patterns will stand out if this happens?
 
Actually, I have seen them steadily increase in popularity for the last decade (give or take) a year or two and the demand seems to still be growing.

I doubt that a particular pattern will stand out, but that is just my opinion.
 
traditionals making a comeback?

Did they ever really go away?
Just monitoring this side of the Forums though it does seem that some are switching from their battle-ready tacticals to traditionals. It just makes more sense in certain work enviroments.
 
comoha said:
traditionals making a comeback?

Did they ever really go away?
Just monitoring this side of the Forums though it does seem that some are switching from their battle-ready tacticals to traditionals. It just makes more sense in certain work enviroments.
Click to expand...

this is exactly what happened to me.

falah
 
I can't really respond to trend changes from makers because of changing laws. But many of the people that I talk to in areas with restrictive laws seem to need blades no longer than 3". So if laws do alter demand / production, I would think it would show up in the medium / smaller end product.
 
Opened up a bag of feed this morning. In my experience traditional knives just cut better. The bag opened with no effort like it had a zipper on it. When I have opened them with wider blades ya grab a corner and saw through. A sharpened traditional blade just zings through with much less effort. I may have needed two hands to open the knife, but only needed one hand to open the bag. :D We are also seeing an influx of folks who have focused in one type of knife seeing the usefulness of other styles. It's all good as they say.
 
I see a lot of interest in traditional knives on forums over here in the UK, probably because of the laws restricting us to 3" slipjoints for EDC.

I just wish we had a greater range for sale over here.
 
I think traditionals never dropped or regained popularity.They have always been popular. I think tacticals or as I used to call them, bench made came out several ,maybe longer years ago and they were the craze for a while, and I think that craze is wearing off. I have always been a traditional knife guy, and got into tacticals for a bit, but it wore off. They are very well made knives, but are too sterile for my tastes. My only "tactical" as you will is a Turzola Spydrerco, and I would hardly call it tactical. What tactical means to me are knives like Applegate's where they teach you fighting techniques.
 
Maybe people are getting tired and bored of the endless stream of G-10 and carbon fiber?
 
Traditional patterns, as Gus stated, have been popular for a good many years and (knock wood) don't give any indication of going away any time soon.

Though some of the current political and social climate may contribute to a rise in awareness of the type, I think that its success derives (for the most part) from the infinite variety, complexity, utility and beauty of these patterns.

Great craftsmanship (both custom and production) will always be appreciated by the discerning user or collector imho. At least I hope that will always be the case.
 
I was on the one handed folder trend for years. Ended up with five Chris Reeves and a Hinderer XM-18. When I found myself starting to use my Vic Alox Pioneer more than the others I had to start thinking about what kind knife I actually used day after day. Sold the Hinderer for the same price paid and put the others in a drawer. Just last week I picked up a Case Swayback CV and have to say that I'm more excited over this knife than I was the Hinderer! The beauty and simplicity of a traditional knife has sparked my interest again.
 
When my nephew's, and grandchildren's birthdays (Christmas too) roll around I always give them a traditional, slip joint, knife for their present. They all get excited about their new knives and except for school carry them regularly. Same things for their Dads. Hopefully, they'll continue this practice with their kids too.

Even if some people don't like a traditional slip joint knife there are several traditional lock backs they can choose from.

I don't think any particular pattern stands out although I read the other day on another site that Victorinox and Wenger are seeing an increase lately in the sales of their SAK knives.
 
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I don't think they ever really went away, but that they have been living in the shadows for a while.

There's a knife shop in Frederick Maryland, and it's about the only knife shop around, aside from the sporting goods section of Walmart or Dick's. In this knife shop, they have cases of the modern tactical knives. Cases of black handle thick blades things from Spyderco, Benchmade, Cold Steel, and others that all look the same to me. Multible case of black handles and bead blasted blades.

Around the corner from these cases is one case with some traditional knives. Some Case's, a few scatterings of Rough Rider's and other imports. Not very many. The owner is a pretty nice guy, who really likes knives, and we talk a bit when I'm in there. This subject has come up now and then, and I recall him telling me that for every tradition knife he sells, 10 tacticals will go out the door. The average age of the traditional knife buyer is about 40 or over, and the tactical buyer is from late teens to short of 30. The younger crowd wants every new knife they see in a video game, movie, or knife magazine. I think the younger crowd is not very interested in the esthetics of nice jigged bone or wood, but rather the hype of their video culture. Most of the sales of Case and other traditional knives seem to be the over 40 crowd.

Oddly enough, a huge amount of sak's are sold it 30 something people. I can only wonder if as kids, they were MacGuyver fans.

I worry about the future of the traditional pocket knife, because the culture that spawned them is gone. Very few of the grandpa's are left from that era, and few of the modern dad's are into a life style that they take junior out to the lake for fishing, or hunting. The modern outdoors person seems to be the yuppy backpackers, mountain bikers, and the REI crowd. They seem to mostly go for the multitool.

I think there will always be a slip joint maker around, but it seems to be going toward the boutique collector segment of the market. Knives from GEC, Queen, and S&M don't seen to appeal to the crown that just wants a knife in thier pocket in case something needs to be cut. With Schrade and Camillus gone, there is no more 15 dollar Old Timers. The lower end practical user market is all Chinese imports of tactical knock offs, Buck Batam's, Gerber paraframes, or Victorinox sak's from Target and Walmart. I see a ton of classics out there on key chains.

Of the current sales of traditional knives, I can only wonder how many are repeat sales to collectors who already have several of the brand. How many new knife buyers are spending the money for a Case or Queen, vs the guy walking into a Walmart and buying something for 10 dollars and that's it. He has a knife, and he doesn't care about fit and finish or materials. He just wants a sharp edge to cut something.

I don't know what the solution is, but the traditional knife companies can't keep going on just the repeat sales to the collectors. We need some low priced traditionals in the market place, or else. The market can't go on competing with under 20 dollar plastic handle locking blade knives like Buck Bantam's and Gerber LST's by selling 40 dollar pocket knives like granddad used to carry. The younger generation just ain't gonna go for it. I hope I'm wrong.

I think there will always be a market for the traditional. but I don't see them ever getting as popular as the tacticals. It's just to easy with CNC technology to make a gee whiz knife faster and cheaper than a traditonal. As far as any restrictive laws, people turn to things like the Spyderco UK pen knife. Or a sak. The sak seems to be a unique nitch in the market.

Carl.
 
While traditional factory knives never really went away, I agree that they've taken off in a big way during the last decade, as Gus said, and I've observed a virtual paradigm shift toward traditionals among custom makers during that same time frame. If I recall correctly, before the late '90s, you could count the number of hot custom slipjoint makers on one hand. Now they're a large, competitive, and constantly expanding segment of the custom knife market, thanks in no small part to the Old Dog.
 
I think we'll see a shift in size more than pattern. Some of the shift will be in response to blade length laws. However, I'd think the shift would be due more to usage.

I know I'll get slated for this, but save the popcorn, it's just MHO...

Not as large a chunk of the population works with its hands as much as did previous generations. The knife is still a necessary tool, but not exactly as it once was. What a farmer or rancher needed is not what the urban dweller needs. From sheeple reactions to the pocket strength of suits and dress slacks, a smaller model fits more with the needs of more of the workforce.

OK, a lot of forumites do work in professions or hobbies where a larger, more solid knife is indispensible; but, we're the exception, not the rule. Even here, there are many threads praising smaller blades or saying a pattern would be better if smaller.

Another factor to consider: Smaller versions also use lesser quantities of materials, so the manufacturer can get more units out the the same investment.
 
I don't know if they're making a comeback, but it definitely seems that interest is increasing. About a decade or so ago when I was still in college I was interested primarily in modern one handed folders. This was partly due to the fact that these types of folders were the ones that received the most attention in knife magazines. Of course there was the occassional article or two on custom slipjoints, but I never really paid attention because of my student's budget.

Looking around now it seems that the traditional slipjoint market has expanded quite a bit. In addition to the old marques like Queen and Case we now also have Rough Rider and GEC. There are also factory/custom collaborations like the Case/Bose and the Queen/Burke knives. And then there are the custom makers themselves, it seems like there are more good knifemakers now than at any time in recent memory.

It's a good time to be a knifenut.

- Christian
 
The Internet plays a role, it's a great vector for the vast majority of us who are not near a knife shop. Moreover,It also makes knife patterns/catalogues a lot more accessible &comprehensible, this accounts for a greater awareness and interest in Traditional knives.
 
willgoy said:
The Internet plays a role, it's a great vector for the vast majority of us who are not near a knife shop. Moreover,It also makes knife patterns/catalogues a lot more accessible &comprehensible, this accounts for a greater awareness and interest in Traditional knives.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
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