What is the appeal of traditional folders?

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iandh

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I've always leaned towards the modern folders, with assisted opening, fancy composite handles, complicated lock mechanisms, and especially because of the many variations that are available.

Traditional folders, however, don't really seem to have any of that stuff. For the most part, they're copies of each other stylistically, and they don't offer any high tech, new fangled design features.

For some reason though, even though I'm still lusting after several modern super-folders, I can't get the Case Raindrop damascus stockman out of my mind. The $150 or so that this knife costs could buy me one of my fancy modern folders, but for some reason the Case is at the top of my list right now.

It's really hard for me to put my finger on. I'm not old enough for it to be nostalgia, so it has to be something else... or maybe it could be nostalgia, but just a different kind than most of the older guys here get.
 
Some of the custom handmade slipjoints & some production & semi prod. have modern designs in the pivots,like bronze bushings & bronze washers.For long life,strength & smoothness,FYI
-Vince
 
there is just something about traditional folders that pulls us in, i'm not so sure that it isn't the simplicity of them, and the history behind them that makes them appealing. i'm 24 and i use to only carry a modern one hander to work, but then i found my dad's old worn out case stockman and carried it a couple of days and i was hooked, i had them when i was little thanks to my old man, but since carry dad's old stockman i have gone traditional crazy. maybe it is nostalgia in that they hold lots of history which generally interests humans overall. someone will have a better reply than me in a little while, sorry to ramble.

thanks
sam
 
For me, it's function. The base patterns haven't changed in centuries because they simply work. Don't need the steel of the week, 1095 or 50100B work well and have for longer than any of us have been alive. Basic bone, stag, wood or composite holds up well, looks good, and simply works.

I have some modern folders, a few Spydercos, some Kershaw and so on, and yet, when the time comes to go to work, the classics are always there. My Sodbuster weighs roughly the same as my Endura, but cuts far better. Drop a yellow Sodbuster, and you can see it. A black Endura? Not so much.
 
iandh said:
I've always leaned towards the modern folders, with assisted opening, fancy composite handles, complicated lock mechanisms, and especially because of the many variations that are available.

Traditional folders, however, don't really seem to have any of that stuff. For the most part, they're copies of each other stylistically, and they don't offer any high tech, new fangled design features.
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IMHO, the new modern folders are just copies of the same thing too. The knife is a simple tool, there are only so many things you can change on them...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking modern knives, they just don't do much for me. No character and no soul.

The simplicity of slip joints is part of the appeal. The designs haven't changed much because they have worked for over 100 years, and continue to work to this day.
They were used by men that really used their knives, and served them well.
They didn't need locks because they knew how to use a knife properly, and weren't trying to penetrate car doors with them, or batton firewood.

With modern tactical style foldewrs, you get to choose between black scales, orange scales, or Ti or aluminum.
Slip joints offer almost endless choices for scales. If I take a slip joint out of my pocket, I can sit and stare at it and fondle it, and it will put a smile on my face. I've never done that with a modern style knife..

The advertising for a lot of modern folders is targeted at people who want to believe that they really need an ubercool folder, because they will be in life or death survival situations. When in reality, most could get along just fine with a SAK :D

Sorry for the little rant. The fact that a slip joint has caught your eye, is a sure sign that things will be changing for you in the future :D

Don't fight it. Just go with it and enjoy
 
samblam said:
there is just something about traditional folders that pulls us in, i'm not so sure that it isn't the simplicity of them, and the history behind them that makes them appealing. i'm 24 and i use to only carry a modern one hander to work, but then i found my dad's old worn out case stockman and carried it a couple of days and i was hooked, i had them when i was little thanks to my old man, but since carry dad's old stockman i have gone traditional crazy. maybe it is nostalgia in that they hold lots of history which generally interests humans overall. someone will have a better reply than me in a little while, sorry to ramble.

thanks
sam
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The stockman is the one I'm really looking at... the blade combo looks perfect for me.

The wharncliffe style short blade is perfect for opening clamshell and blister packs, and cutting packing tape and straps.

The stubby blade is perfect for sheeple duty, and the long blade is perfect for general use.



I may just buy an amber bone stockman for now until i can afford the fancy stag damascus version.

Sword and Shield said:
For me, it's function. The base patterns haven't changed in centuries because they simply work. Don't need the steel of the week, 1095 or 50100B work well and have for longer than any of us have been alive. Basic bone, stag, wood or composite holds up well, looks good, and simply works.

I have some modern folders, a few Spydercos, some Kershaw and so on, and yet, when the time comes to go to work, the classics are always there. My Sodbuster weighs roughly the same as my Endura, but cuts far better. Drop a yellow Sodbuster, and you can see it. A black Endura? Not so much.
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Yeah, I got looking at the patterns and the stockman in particular just looked really useful to me (see above).

There's something else, maybe it's just that these traditionals seem like the folding knife distilled, no BS, just knife. It's kind if neat not having to worry about the latest super-steel or locking method.
 
I have a 2008 KLR 650 and a 1973 Honda CB450. I have modern knives and slipjoints. For about the same reasons. I worry my slipjoints a lot. Keep em in my hand. Run my thumb up the scales. Don't ever do that with new non-traditionals.

I prefer to use the traditionals. But they both have their place. Lost out in the woods, I'd rather have my KLR and a big old heavy modern knife. In my day to day life, well, the Honda has more charm. And so does my Sway Back Jack.
 
Because that's what my grandfather, my dad and my unlces carried! It's a true piece of Americana like a 92 or a 94 Winchester, SAA or a HD or old Indian motorcycle or 57 chevy too many comparisons to name but that should give you the idea! The last reason they just flat work!
 
Peter Parker nailed it.

I'm not old enough for it to be nostalgia either but the traditional folder hearkens back to a time when life seems like it was simpler. Many of the customs are simply works of art that appeal to me in a way that my other "modern" or even "tactical" knives do not. Straight forward pieces of beauty that I believe every body, knife nut or not, can appreciate and admire.
 
I've found I don't need new fangled design features to open my mail and boxes. If I need a knife for more difficult tasks - I use a fixed blade. Plus, I like things that don't look like they were designed by a computer, and made by a robot. Traditional knives have a "soul" that most modern folders are lacking IMHO.

Adam
 
I don't post here much because most of my Slipjoints I have had for quite a while and I dont have much to contribute , other than lusting over stag handled beauties.

I enjoy nearly all aspects of the knife world , save a few which do not interest me. Like many of you my first knife was a slipjoint.

I do not care for most of the modern slipjoint offerings , customs included. Yes they look very nice and i'm sure are a pleasure to use and own. I would much rather have an old Remington , Syracuse , Camillus or Rebeson than the new offerings , custom or not.

The appeal to these older ,traditional slipjoint knives ? They already have history in them and a story to tell and I think that alone sums it up for me..

Tostig
 
For me they remind me of my grandfather, my roots and a bygone era when a man was expected carry a pocketknife and to be somewhat self sufficient.

Despite the "simplicity" that gets mentioned a lot, the fact is that slipjoints are knives which take quite a bit of craftsmanship to produce. There's a reason why slipjoint makers are so highly esteemed by their peers.
Plus, they are just plain interesting, functional and beautiful to behold

Here's a quote I think you guys will enjoy from the book On Your Own In The Wilderness by Colonel Townsend Whelen and Bradford Angier (1958):

"The most indispensable tool for a hunter or fisherman or camper, and in fact for any outdoor man and boy anywhere, is the knife-a businesslike knife, sharp and keen. Mrs. Whelen's aunt, who taught high school Latin for thirty years in Nebraska, had the right idea. She asked every class, "Which boys have a jackknife in their pocket?" The ones who had none did not rate very high with her.

Her philosophy was that if a boy did not have a knife and know how to use it, he was not likely to grow up able to do many things for himself...I have had a knife like this in my back pants pocket ever since I was knee-high to a chopping block."

Common sense from the days when common sense actually seemed to be common.
__________________
 
If one can't see the beauty of the purest of form that truly follows the functionality of all the diverse patterns that traditional pocket knives have to offer in a cutting tool, than it just probably cannot be explained.. My advise to folks is to simply try one, and you'll like it, a lot. :)


Best,
Anthony
 
I enjoy them for many reasons but I like the extra time they offer me. With a OHO it takes nothing to open it but with my traditional I get to stop, slow down from my busy life and take a moment for me to collect my thoughts and to open my wonderful knife. Everyone is in such a hurry and I like to stop and smell the roses to say. We only get one chance at life so why rush through it. :) Slippies=Time to me.
 
sunnyd said:
If one can't see the beauty of the purest of form that truly follows the functionality of all the diverse patterns that traditional pocket knives have to offer in a cutting tool, than it just probably cannot be explained.
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Send that man a t-shirt:

if_you_have_to_ask_youll_never_know_tshirt-p235746551296998596trlf_400.jpg
 
Peter Parker said:
Because that's what my grandfather, my dad and my unlces carried! It's a true piece of Americana like a 92 or a 94 Winchester, SAA or a HD or old Indian motorcycle or 57 chevy too many comparisons to name but that should give you the idea! The last reason they just flat work!
Click to expand...

This gets it about 2/3d the distance, but it's not just that.

There's a reason something lasts over a hundred years. Yes the work, because they were created by a market place back when people actually used knives in their daily work on the farm, ranch, ship, warehouse, or factory. Our grandfathers worked a harder, more rural life than we ever knew.

The stockman pocket knife for example, had to fit a wide range of uses for a man in the saddle for most of his working day back in the 1880's, when the premium stock knife evolved from the cattle knife. The trapper evolved from the need of skinning pelts in a short amount of time, again and again. Back in those days, men needed a cutting tool that really was engineered for a real working life. Form had to follow function. I like pulling a knife out of my pocket that a working cowboy from the 1800's would recognize.

Today we seem to have the opposite; function that follows form in strange blade shapes and weird handles that have littler to do with reality. Today's knife market seems like 99% artificial market that has little do do with the end product working better at a job.

The thin flat ground blades of a traditional pocket knife will cut better, be easier to touch up in the field, and do the job very well. The lastest whiz bang steel of the month is not needed. Old 1095 still works well after a century.

The handle shapes will still be comfortable in the hand after 30 minutes of hard cutting, breaking down boxes or other work. The smooth contours of a barlow or serpintine jack handle has no sharp corners to poke, edges to wear a blister or hot spot on the hand. I don't know about some of these black square things I see with knife blades in them.

Like the old lever action 30-30 that still kills more deer than almost anything else, it's hard to argue with something that is so time proven, it's almost wrong not to use it. There's a reason that there is a strong collectors market for old Winchester rifles. Some of those old lever actions go for many times what the sold for back when they were new. The were a standard of quality and performance that is still respected today. In knives, the old original Remington pocket knives in good condition bring big money. One can only wonder if years from now, some black plastic handle knife with a tanto stainless steel blade will be worth much. There's a reason things stay around to become classic. Put a '55 Chevy and a '86' Ford Tauris out for sale, and see which one gets the attention. People have an innate sense of what looks right, and time will tell. For me, there is just no contest between some stamped out stainless and black zytel thing, and a nice looking knife from Case with a chestnut bone or stag handle and CV blade. I know the case is just going to get better looking with time, and cut like I want.

Carl.
 
the are simple designs that work, my vision and reason for liking them a bit more than modern folders

I've been carrying and using them for a bit now, had a yeller trapper for 2 years and have been confronting it with spydercos benchmades and others, it only cuts "less" in term of edge holding but it sometimes even cuts better with a good edge, i'ts east and non threatening, gets razor sharp in no time

so for me it's a good way to go, simple working design
sometimes I carry/use more modern folders because I feel they are more tough and hold a better edge, or are stainless but at the end I end up using slipjoints more, that's for the reasons above

use one, carry it, sharpen it and you will understand what a "knife" meant as a "tool" is
couple cents
Maxx
 
aplehr1 said:
I've found I don't need new fangled design features to open my mail and boxes. If I need a knife for more difficult tasks - I use a fixed blade. Plus, I like things that don't look like they were designed by a computer, and made by a robot. Traditional knives have a "soul" that most modern folders are lacking IMHO.

Adam
Click to expand...

Yup, that's more or less what I was going to say.

Traditionals have some soul to them. Modern folders honestly to me are kinda generic and utilitarian. A lot of stainless blades and black scales, after a while they all look the same to me. Don't get me wrong...I carry a modern folder in addition to my traditional....I certainly see how some of them are practical and many are very well made. But I wouldn't be caught dead without a old fashioned slipjoint in my pocket too.
 
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