Weight obsession?

basmca said:
Everyone has things they like and dislike in knives, some want flippers, some hate it, some only carry fixed and some won't even take them out of the kitchen, ect ect.

Most things i can understand, but the one thing i just don't get is the obsession over a few grams. It's not like you're going to notice the difference between the token light knife(benchmade bugout) and a mini grip, delica or ZT 0450 (Cf)

Personally i want a knife that's at least 100 grams.

So please explain to me why so many of you guys want lighter and lighter knives, at the cost of quality and strenght.
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Prior to buying more light weight knives, I guess, I did to a degree equate heft with quality.

I still carry more 'weighty' knives when having a purpose for working with them but after using 110s, (all steel quality) PPTs etc and then switching to a PM2, there is no going back.

When working with a knife, it never bothered me to have the reassuring weight of for example a PPT in the pocket but when I bought a PM2 - ohh boy, what a difference.

With MISSION all titanium knives, PM2, Southard etc, it very noticable if not difficult to switch back to heavier knives especially when wearing summer weight pants or shorts.

In regards to the bolded statement above, I can assure you, that I DO NOT give up an iota of quality when using the relative light weight PM2 instead of (insert knife model of your choice here).
 
To me, weight doesn't matter. With jeans, I never notice the weight (I do carry a ZT 0301), but what I do notice is how they carry in the pocket. For example, the ZT 0562BK weighs in at around 5.4oz, but has a slim handle 0.48" and a deep carry pocket clip, so it carries like a much smaller knife. Also, with the ZT 0566, it is heavy for its size but with its slim handle and again deep carry clip it is very unobtrusive. A full size griptilian even with a deepcarry pocket clip would be less comfortable/more noticable to carry than the ZT 0562bk because of how bulk the grip is even though it weights 2oz less. I would say "bulk" matters over weight in normal EDC conditions, however it does depend on the situation. As sometimes (if I'm hiking/camping) wearing gloves etc, the bulk helps as the ZT 0301 is easier to get out of pock and operate, but still I never find a knife too heavy.
 
So some of the stuff like the Bugout is aimed at the Ultralight backpacking crowd who focus on covering distance as quickly as possible. Extra weight slows you down and cost more calories.

In day-to-day use I will carry nearly anything.
 
basmca said:
Everyone has things they like and dislike in knives, some want flippers, some hate it, some only carry fixed and some won't even take them out of the kitchen, ect ect.

Most things i can understand, but the one thing i just don't get is the obsession over a few grams. It's not like you're going to notice the difference between the token light knife(benchmade bugout) and a mini grip, delica or ZT 0450 (Cf)

Personally i want a knife that's at least 100 grams.

So please explain to me why so many of you guys want lighter and lighter knives, at the cost of quality and strenght.
Click to expand...



With lightweight materials like Carbon fiber and titanium there is no compromise as both of these are very strong
 
I think what is more important than just looking at weight alone is how the weight is distributed throughout the knife and how much surface area of the clip has and how much of the area of the clip contacts the pocket. My valet is lighter than my 940, but my 940 "carries lighter".
 
basmca said:
So please explain to me why so many of you guys want lighter and lighter knives, at the cost of quality and strenght.
Click to expand...

First, please explain to me why you equate lighter with lesser quality?

What about the ZT0770CFM4?
Light, thin, and M4!
 
basmca said:
Everyone has things they like and dislike in knives, some want flippers, some hate it, some only carry fixed and some won't even take them out of the kitchen, ect ect.

Most things i can understand, but the one thing i just don't get is the obsession over a few grams. It's not like you're going to notice the difference between the token light knife(benchmade bugout) and a mini grip, delica or ZT 0450 (Cf)

Personally i want a knife that's at least 100 grams.

So please explain to me why so many of you guys want lighter and lighter knives, at the cost of quality and strenght.
Click to expand...

How many ounces is 100 grams? :)
Personally, I don t like and edc folder more than 6 ounces, and I prefer 5 oz or less.
Less weight doesn't t equate to less strength in most quality knives.
 
Unless I've got my overalls on I'm always wearing a belt.

I don't care what the specific weight is of a knife, I just know I like a knife in my pocket to be lightweight.
If it's going on my belt in a nice piece of leather than weight is no issue.
 
Overall , I like some weight to my edc. It's a feeling of solidity and strength. My current edc is a Spyderco Vallotton Sub-Hilt which weighs 6.3 oz. and I love it.

Of course , it all depends on what I have to do , what I'm wearing and my mood. I think during summer I tend to carry knives that are a bit lighter since I'm in shorts and sneaks instead of jeans and boots.
 
I like the hefty feel of a 110, but when it comes to EDC carry or backpacking, lighter is better. Today's advanced grip materials like G10 and FRN are incredibly strong, corrosion resistant and light compared to traditional materials. That said, I still appreciate and own a good number (who counts?:D) of 'traditional' knives with wood and stacked leather grips. (No stag at the moment, though... must address that issue:rolleyes:.)
 
whp said:
Personally, I don t like and edc folder more than 6 ounces, and I prefer 5 oz or less.
Less weight doesn't t equate to less strength in most quality knives.
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I think an argument could be made either way, really depending on the knives in question. However, I do think it would be slightly more accurate to say lighter weight knives do offer much less traction than heavier knives generally (also because they're normally built for different purposes I feel).
 
I have a self imposed 5 oz rule (about 140 grams) but will go over that on occasion. A lot has to do with how the knife feels in hand and carries in pocket.

My heaviest modern is the ZT 0801 which weighs nearly 6 oz but seems much lighter in hand and in pocket. Conversely, the Massdrop Falcon weighs 3.6 oz (barely 100g) but seems overly dense when I hold it.
 
When you're up and down ladders and crawling through attics all day every little bit helps. That being said I don't freak about a knife being a little heavier if there's a significant gain in strength.
I haven't seen anything over 5 oz that offered any practical gain in strength for my purposes though.


Umnumzaan = 5 oz
Large Inkosi = 4.96 oz
Endura = 3.4 oz
Manix 2 = 4.2oz

I'd say all of these are quite substantial when you need a larger folding knife and they're all 5oz or under. Just about anything I've seen in excess of 5 oz was either poorly manufactured and needed the extra material to make up for a loss in strength due to poor fitment, or an attempt at making a folder fixed blade strong was made.

I would just assume grab a fixed blade if I need anything with enough heft and strength to weigh in over 6 oz
 
whp said:
How many ounces is 100 grams? :)
Personally, I don t like and edc folder more than 6 ounces, and I prefer 5 oz or less.
Less weight doesn't t equate to less strength in most quality knives.
Click to expand...
100gm = 3.5oz. Here is a picture of a 105gm knife. The blade is 10cm long (3.94in).View attachment 834026
 
Spec sheets never tell the whole story, but the weight has to rationalize the rest of the knife. Many times it can be validating, depending on lots of factors.
 
Oke so it seems the main issue is when not wearing jeans but some other pants that don't really have pockets that support a heavier knife.


evilgreg said:
FWIW, I do this. My process is more like "Oh, that looks neat, wonder what it weighs?" followed often by "5.4 oz? No thanks." It's usually the very first thing I check after seeing a picture and being interested. I still buy some of the heavier ones, but I do so less and less these days as I know I just won't carry them often.
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So you actually feel the knives in your jeans when it weighs 150+ grams? (5.4 ounces) to a point where it bothers you enough yo not carry it? Or is it the feel in the hand you don't like?

Sunyata said:
With lightweight materials like Carbon fiber and titanium there is no compromise as both of these are very strong
Click to expand...
NJBillK said:
First, please explain to me why you equate lighter with lesser quality?

What about the ZT0770CFM4?
Light, thin, and M4!
Click to expand...
Oke i should've been more clear, i don't mean to say light knives are always lesser. But some knives seem to go too far in the weight shedding.

And having some weight to it does add to the feeling of quality. For me atleast.

whp said:
How many ounces is 100 grams? :)
Personally, I don t like and edc folder more than 6 ounces, and I prefer 5 oz or less.
Less weight doesn't t equate to less strength in most quality knives.
Click to expand...

About 3.4 ounces.
 
I wear shorts pretty much 24/7/365, and lighter blades carry far better than heavier blades.

I carry a Benchmade Bugout nowadays.... And at the "cost" of neither quality nor strength, thank you.
 
First I don't believe quality has anything to do with weight or size of a knife ... heavy or light or in between affects the quality absolutely ZERO ...

now many people watch and want and only carry lighter knives ... and I see nothing wrong with that ... to me that's no different from some people prefering one brand over another ... to each their own.

And personally I carry a bit of everything but probably carry heavier and a bit larger than many most often ... but that is just what I like and what works for me ... and I don't notice the weight at all as far as carrying the knives ... I notice it using them depending on what I am using them for ...

But I have field dressed whitetail deer with a medium sized traditional ... and I have stripped wires with a BK5 ... so use what I happen to have handy ... weight has no bearing ... unless you plan on splittin wood or carrying EDC on your speedos ... just MHO.
 
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