What are your production folder pet peeves?

Comeuppance

Comeuppance

Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
4,765
A lot of these are just personal taste, so, if you take issue with any of these, chalk it up to a difference in opinion. Nobody needs to be insulted or "corrected" on their knife preferences.

So, what things do major knife manufacturers do that annoy you?

Pocket clips:
- single position
- lots of handle sticking out of the pocket
- tip down only
- little to no flared-up end.

Blade:
- excessive recurve
- americanized tanto
- serrations
- lots of/large words or logos on the blade (looking at you two, Kai / CRKT. Having KEN ONION going down the blade is just tacky.)

Handle:
- aggressive texturing on clip side
- screws not flush with handle

Features:
- glass breakers on the end opposite of the clip (hey, I've always wanted holes in my pockets.)
- lanyard holes on the end opposite of the clip
- flippers that require wrist action
- tiny, tiny lanyard holes

Absolute dealbreakers:
- blade play
- assisted opening
- rubberized handles
- seatbelt cutters
- lack of a pocket clip

I'm sure I've forgotten some - but I bet you guys will remind me of 'em.
 
This is kind of hard to explain because I do not know the term, but when the knife is closed, the corner of the base of the blade sticks out. On an Hinderer XM-18, for example, it is rounded so no corner sticks out. But the corner sticking out occurs on even some high end production knives. Here is a very expensive knife: see the corner protruding....
IMG_0252_zpsd75e455c.jpg
 
Blade play
flimsy clip material-Had a CRKT that would hit surfaces and bend out...replaced it 3 times.
Auto assist Knives
Zytel handles
Off center blades
Crappy serrations
 
Blade play. I hate it with a passion.
I don't like off-centered blades but blade play is the big one for me.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
This is kind of hard to explain because I do not know the term, but when the knife is closed, the corner of the base of the blade sticks out. On an Hinderer XM-18, for example, it is rounded so no corner sticks out. But the corner sticking out occurs on even some high end production knives. Here is a very expensive knife: see the corner protruding....
IMG_0252_zpsd75e455c.jpg
Click to expand...

This....it can really mess up the lines of a knife *sigh*
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
This is kind of hard to explain because I do not know the term, but when the knife is closed, the corner of the base of the blade sticks out. On an Hinderer XM-18, for example, it is rounded so no corner sticks out. But the corner sticking out occurs on even some high end production knives. Here is a very expensive knife: see the corner protruding....
Click to expand...

Totally agree on that one, it looks bad and can scrape your hand on some knives when you reach into your pocket, depending on clip position.

Here is my list of things that ideally should never be on a folding knife:

- An assisted opening mechanism
- A lanyard hole
- A big, goofy opening hole in the blade
- A badly designed pocket clip (the Spyderco Southard stock clip, for example)
- Weight over 5-6 oz max
 
I've got no use for clips, but for the most part they're easily removed. And while I like my blades to be centered, I'm not obsessive about it provided they don't rub on the liners. Blade play doesn't bother me that much as long as it's not excessive. I have a love/hate relationship with opening holes. They look goofy as Greg suggested and they tend to make the blade wider than I like ideally, but knives with holes are a breeze to open. I tend to carry my EDCs in the coin compartment of my wallet and they're difficult to extract without a lanyard, so I prefer knives with lanyard holes. I also don't mind assisted opening mechanisms on a few of my folders (Leeks and Gunhammers), but not on most of them. Weight is a big issue for me. I won't carry a folder that weighs more than 4 ounces. (I make an exception of an additional 0.1 ounce so I can carry a Southard.) I refer to folders that weigh more than 4 ounces (affectionately ;) ) as pocket bricks. Hands down, my favorite knife is the one in my avatar. It's simply the finest EDC I've ever laid my hands on, and I've laid my hands on some mighty fine knives. But then it's not a production knife, so it really doesn't qualify to be discussed in this thread.
 
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1. bladeplay
2. poor fit and finish for the price (I'm looking at you Emerson and Strider)
3. Marketed as "hard use"
4. tip down only carry
5. Fangirls who make excuses for companies who screw up.

There are others, but these are my major pet peeves.
 
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-Funky looking pocket clips.(seen on some Kershaw knives)
-The corner of the blade sticking out like already said(beautiful knife BTW)
-Duel thumb suds because when I pull it from my pocket it gets caught on the fabric of my pants and pulls the blade open a couple of inches(like a half-assed wave opener) and I always stab or cut my finger.
 
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Not leftie friendly clips/ blade opening orientation (not everyone pulls it off on their "ambidextrous" knives)
Material I can't drill/tap to fit a leftie clip (more my own fault but hey, it bugs me haha)
Excessive distance between the heel of the blade and one's hand: Especially on something i'll be putting a decent amount of force on. There is enough negative leverage as is, why add to it?
thumbstuds that overlap the cutting edge: if I cut something that requires the height of the blade and then some, mushing thumbstuds down into the material or losing usable cutting edge is bothersome.
Excessively thick blades behind the edge: If I wanted a prybar, I'll get a prybar. If I want to cut something, I'll get a knife.
 
My main one would be obscured or hard to get to opening holes, studs, disks....then comes shiny clips.

I don't really like deep clips or handles where the spine/back of the butt is longer than the front.

This stuff kind of goes against the basics of daily user and/or tactical from people who should know better.
 
The only one I have is knives that are over engineered to the point they are uncomfortable to use.
 
The thing that annoys me most is stiff actions and overly strong detents. I love a super smooth knife, even if it means a relatively weak detent. I don't really need to thumbflick my knives quickly so the smoothness of deployment is a big thing for me.
 
I absolutely HATE deep carry clips. And small lanyard holes.
Other things I don't like are, off center grinds, bad thumbstuds, spydie holes (YEA, I SAID IT) and I think that's it.
I prefer manual, but will take both.
 
- Pinned together instead of screwed together
- Uneven grinds
- Coated blades
- Sharp edges anywhere besides the blade edge
- Pocket clips that don't match the shape of the handle
 
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