Don't be afraid of carbon steel. It sharpens easy, takes a great edge, and has good edge retention. It is a pleasure to use. Don't be scared off by stories of rust; use common sense and take care of the knife (i.e, dry after using). I use my carbon knives in the kitchen all the time and they take on a nice patina.
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
What do you tell a newbie about knives?
- Thread starter piecesmaker
- Start date
Learn to sharpen, free hand.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2012
- Messages
- 1,336
'dont cut towards yourself'
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2011
- Messages
- 350
Learn the basics of what makes a knife. Learn the steel, construction, and handle materials. Be familiar with the major companies and what they have to offer. Be familiar with what you are interested in getting out of a knife in terms of use and performance. Be familiar with what is most important to YOU, not anyone else. Research knives that interest you. See what a wide range of people think about them but take it for a grain of salt. Once you have all that don't be afraid to shell out the money for a knife that you really like. Have fun, knife collecting is great!
Comeuppance
Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 4,765
A few things I've learned from experience:
- There's a bit of a hivemind on the internet regarding what is desirable in knives. Talking points will be parroted without verification of accuracy quite often. You can have twenty people tell you the same wrong thing.
- Never get caught up in hype over anything. Wait for facts and make sure what you are considering buying is both something that actually fits what you want (make no compromises, you'll regret them) and that it is at a price you won't regret if you end up trading or reselling it.
- You WILL be greatly disappointed more than once. You'll find a knife that seems to have it all, and it'll be a huge letdown. This is why you should shop around for a good price, take all glowing reviews with a grain of salt, and research thoroughly.
- Gerber folders are basically garbage.
- As someone who is a bit of a steel snob, i have found that there is not a huge difference in edge retention in the blade steels you will find in the 30-80 dollar range (VG-10 , AUS8, 8Cr13MoV, 440C), and it gets about 40% better but still just as interchangeable in the 90-170 range (S30V, 154CM). There are always exceptions. Research.
- Nano lube, tuff glide, and wiha are the best lubricant, corrosion preventative, and torx bit makers that I've found to date, respectively.
- Sharpening is an invaluable skill, and it takes a lot of time and practice to become proficient at. A strop, set of diamond stones, and some ceramic stones will serve you well. There is no steel so amazing that you will never have to sharpen it.
- it doesn't matter how cool a knife looks or what materials are used if you won't use the knife.
- Price doesn't always reflect quality. There are 150 dollar bokers that have the same build quality and materials as $30 ontarios, and there are $50 Spydercos with less functionality than $25 cold steel knives. Every knife is different. If the price seems too high, it is.
- Cheap folders have their place. My $25 Cold Steel Tuff Lite sees far more use than anything I own over $100. It's all about what you will use and for what. Don't spend 200 dollars on a knife that you won't use.
- Design is almost always more important than the materials used. A knife made with titanium and premium steel is still a poor tool if the blade shape or grind won't suit your uses.
- Warranties are your friend. There are always variances and mistakes even in very pricy knives.
- You don't NEED that next knife. Be patient, and you may find that you decide against getting something that the previous day you would have chopped off an arm for. Waiting will save you a lot of frustration and money.
- Never buy anything from an individual sight unseen. Pictures and videos are necessities, as you will find the words "Perfect", "new", "mint", "centered", and "sharp" mean very different things to different people. Be your own judge of condition. Be as honest as possible when making descriptions, too.
- There's a bit of a hivemind on the internet regarding what is desirable in knives. Talking points will be parroted without verification of accuracy quite often. You can have twenty people tell you the same wrong thing.
- Never get caught up in hype over anything. Wait for facts and make sure what you are considering buying is both something that actually fits what you want (make no compromises, you'll regret them) and that it is at a price you won't regret if you end up trading or reselling it.
- You WILL be greatly disappointed more than once. You'll find a knife that seems to have it all, and it'll be a huge letdown. This is why you should shop around for a good price, take all glowing reviews with a grain of salt, and research thoroughly.
- Gerber folders are basically garbage.
- As someone who is a bit of a steel snob, i have found that there is not a huge difference in edge retention in the blade steels you will find in the 30-80 dollar range (VG-10 , AUS8, 8Cr13MoV, 440C), and it gets about 40% better but still just as interchangeable in the 90-170 range (S30V, 154CM). There are always exceptions. Research.
- Nano lube, tuff glide, and wiha are the best lubricant, corrosion preventative, and torx bit makers that I've found to date, respectively.
- Sharpening is an invaluable skill, and it takes a lot of time and practice to become proficient at. A strop, set of diamond stones, and some ceramic stones will serve you well. There is no steel so amazing that you will never have to sharpen it.
- it doesn't matter how cool a knife looks or what materials are used if you won't use the knife.
- Price doesn't always reflect quality. There are 150 dollar bokers that have the same build quality and materials as $30 ontarios, and there are $50 Spydercos with less functionality than $25 cold steel knives. Every knife is different. If the price seems too high, it is.
- Cheap folders have their place. My $25 Cold Steel Tuff Lite sees far more use than anything I own over $100. It's all about what you will use and for what. Don't spend 200 dollars on a knife that you won't use.
- Design is almost always more important than the materials used. A knife made with titanium and premium steel is still a poor tool if the blade shape or grind won't suit your uses.
- Warranties are your friend. There are always variances and mistakes even in very pricy knives.
- You don't NEED that next knife. Be patient, and you may find that you decide against getting something that the previous day you would have chopped off an arm for. Waiting will save you a lot of frustration and money.
- Never buy anything from an individual sight unseen. Pictures and videos are necessities, as you will find the words "Perfect", "new", "mint", "centered", and "sharp" mean very different things to different people. Be your own judge of condition. Be as honest as possible when making descriptions, too.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2013
- Messages
- 520
Heres some advice,
DO:
Choose Quality over Quantity. Its better to have one or two good knives than fifty $5 flea market folders.
Try a few different brands. Each company tends to bring something unique to the market.
Use your knives. Don't baby them.
Don't
Automatically write off foriegn products. In some cases Chinese and taiwanese knives are well-made. In many cases, companies will produce lower-cost versions of their best sellers that are made in china. For example, buy a Kershaw Thermite (A great $30 knife) instead of automatically spending $200+ on a Zero Tolerance folder or $400+ on an actual Hinderer.
Buy into the hype/propaganda produced by companies like Gerber. Certain companies think that their customers are ignorant, so they hide the actual product specifications under a mountain of "feel good" and "tactical-sounding" phrases. If a company does not specifically say what the product is made out of and where, move on to a different brand.
DO:
Choose Quality over Quantity. Its better to have one or two good knives than fifty $5 flea market folders.
Try a few different brands. Each company tends to bring something unique to the market.
Use your knives. Don't baby them.
Don't
Automatically write off foriegn products. In some cases Chinese and taiwanese knives are well-made. In many cases, companies will produce lower-cost versions of their best sellers that are made in china. For example, buy a Kershaw Thermite (A great $30 knife) instead of automatically spending $200+ on a Zero Tolerance folder or $400+ on an actual Hinderer.
Buy into the hype/propaganda produced by companies like Gerber. Certain companies think that their customers are ignorant, so they hide the actual product specifications under a mountain of "feel good" and "tactical-sounding" phrases. If a company does not specifically say what the product is made out of and where, move on to a different brand.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
Sure but not for information. There may be a nugget of info here and there worth while on youtube but the vast majority of what's on there is crappy info or info that is just plain wrong. A newbie shouldn't be using youtube for info because they can't distinguish between the two. I second his statement. Another couple places to flat out ignore are reviews from sellers and reviews in magazines. Largley crap info and fluff pieces.
My advice is to buy what you like and don't be swayed by hype. A 10 dollar opinel gets the job done so IMO anything more than that is just personal preference. And learn how to sharpen. Knowing how to get a good edge on a knife will set you free.
Locutus D'Borg
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2012
- Messages
- 5,222
What do I tell a newbie about knives: if someone pulls one on you, run!
- Joined
- May 6, 2011
- Messages
- 2,724
This is very good advice. If you want good info read threads here.
Trying to find out what you like can be a challenge if you arent able to handle very many knives. Buy a knife you are looking at second hand, try it out. If you dont like it sell and get something else. Even if you take a $20 hit, the experience is worth it. Also knife pass arounds here are a good way to handle knives for a week.
For me, I get a lot more enjoyment out of a $250-$400 knife vs a $50 knife. Yes, they both cut, thats an obvious one. The difference comes in the feel of the knife in your hand, the ease of operations, how it opens, how it carries and of course the materials in is made from, which matter. Life is too short to carry a boring steel with plastic scales and a thin liner lock. I want carbon fiber, titanium, M390, ZDP189, 3D machining. I want an awesome knife in my pocket.
OR
OR
And post pics when you can
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2006
- Messages
- 8,250
I'm caught in between. I want a fancy knife as much as anyone but my 15 and 30 dollar knives(fixed and folder respectively) just plain outperform my spendy ones. So in use I love my cheap ones. Sitting home on the couch I like my fancy ones. I guess my grail is a fancy knife that actually performs.
Love that first knife in your post. That inlay really classes it up.:thumbup:
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2011
- Messages
- 449
or you could start with a spyderco delica and word your way up... That was my first folder besides Swiss Army Knives and the ones I always bought when I was a kid when I used to go to the flea markets in TJ, Mexico.