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I've refined my thoughts on this.
Traditional knives are just cooler.
Traditional knives are just cooler.
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What is the case/argument for traditionals over a modern folder?
- Thread starter cchu518
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I've refined my thoughts on this.
Traditional knives are just cooler.
:thumbup: This is the definitive statement on the question...you can close the thread now!!!!
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I don't, and like them the same, and have since modern folders came out.
I'm a knife nut(not a traditional nut,lol), and love many types of knives. About the only ones I don't like are the ones that look to tactical, as in black blades, double edges, re-curves, etc...
To many great knives out there for me to like only one type.
kamagong
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Lol, this old thread. Well I've been merrily on my journey of knives now since March of this year.
This is off the top of my head and not exact but you get the idea...
March - August (the latter is when this thread was made) my newbie knife nut self purchased or traded for:
CKRT: Tribute (3 as they are great knives), Lake, Minimalist, Drifter; Kershaw: Skyline fixed and folding, Chill, Leek, Cryo, JYD, OD2; Benchmade: Mini Grip, Pinnacle 750: SanRenMu 704, Spyderco Tenacious, Ambitious, Endura, UKPK and I know some others that I'm forgetting.
From August and this very inspiring thread until now I was able to pick up a Buck Yearling, Schrade Old Timer, Boker Copperhead, Delica, Mini-Presidio, RR Trapper, RR Peanut, Sodbuster and Sodbuster JR, Opinel, another Mini Grip and I forget what else I know there were some more but I had this funny compulsion for a while. I would order a knife after hours of research, longingly wait for it. Get it in hand and then tell myself that this knife is not for me and then immediately forget about it.
Out of all of these I kept the Mini-Grip, Delica, Mini-Presidio, Opinel #9, RR Trapper, RR Peanut. My appetite for new knives outside of getting a G10 Peanut by Case, Ti-Framelock and a HardEdgedKnives necker at some point has really diminished though.
The knives that I currently possess to me, feel like best in breed for my needs. I can't say that I would swing one way or the other but I have a SERIOUS appreciation for traditionals now.
My problem is that the trapper, peanut and Opinel pattern are SO good at what they are I feel as if I don't need to explore other traditional patterns. What I have is enough. I.E. the Sodbusters are incredible they are like Opinels in their scalpel like thinness. If I had to do it all over if I had picked up a Sodbuster before anything else, it might have been all over with. The sodbuster is tough, narrow, compact and scalpel sharp with its thin blade and easy to maintain.
As far as one hander moderns go by and large Spyderco and Benchmade are really best of breed production knife companies for the masses. Love 'em! And whenever I do yardwork the moderns are what I go for. On hikes it's anyone's game but I usually carry the trapper or peanut. And for normal EDC in the city I carry that little Peanut and Micra. The peanut is just a swell knife all around! Can't say anything bad about the peanut. It's become my favorite traditional of em all.
Happy hunting and holidays everyone!
This is off the top of my head and not exact but you get the idea...
March - August (the latter is when this thread was made) my newbie knife nut self purchased or traded for:
CKRT: Tribute (3 as they are great knives), Lake, Minimalist, Drifter; Kershaw: Skyline fixed and folding, Chill, Leek, Cryo, JYD, OD2; Benchmade: Mini Grip, Pinnacle 750: SanRenMu 704, Spyderco Tenacious, Ambitious, Endura, UKPK and I know some others that I'm forgetting.
From August and this very inspiring thread until now I was able to pick up a Buck Yearling, Schrade Old Timer, Boker Copperhead, Delica, Mini-Presidio, RR Trapper, RR Peanut, Sodbuster and Sodbuster JR, Opinel, another Mini Grip and I forget what else I know there were some more but I had this funny compulsion for a while. I would order a knife after hours of research, longingly wait for it. Get it in hand and then tell myself that this knife is not for me and then immediately forget about it.
Out of all of these I kept the Mini-Grip, Delica, Mini-Presidio, Opinel #9, RR Trapper, RR Peanut. My appetite for new knives outside of getting a G10 Peanut by Case, Ti-Framelock and a HardEdgedKnives necker at some point has really diminished though.
The knives that I currently possess to me, feel like best in breed for my needs. I can't say that I would swing one way or the other but I have a SERIOUS appreciation for traditionals now.
My problem is that the trapper, peanut and Opinel pattern are SO good at what they are I feel as if I don't need to explore other traditional patterns. What I have is enough. I.E. the Sodbusters are incredible they are like Opinels in their scalpel like thinness. If I had to do it all over if I had picked up a Sodbuster before anything else, it might have been all over with. The sodbuster is tough, narrow, compact and scalpel sharp with its thin blade and easy to maintain.
As far as one hander moderns go by and large Spyderco and Benchmade are really best of breed production knife companies for the masses. Love 'em! And whenever I do yardwork the moderns are what I go for. On hikes it's anyone's game but I usually carry the trapper or peanut. And for normal EDC in the city I carry that little Peanut and Micra. The peanut is just a swell knife all around! Can't say anything bad about the peanut. It's become my favorite traditional of em all.
Happy hunting and holidays everyone!
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It is kind of funny to re-read this thread today. Currently my traditional is almost more modern than my clipped knife! I'm carrying my new sheepsfoot STR-EK electricians knife by GEC in micarta, with saw/screwdriver; while my clipped folder is my WharnKris by Alan Davis- amboyna scales, Damascus blade that takes a different patina through time, and a handle pattern that I adapted from various friction folders and Slipjoints that I found on this forum.
I love both clipped and slipjoint knives, and have no problem carrying both, however I have found that the Slipjoints, in general, carry better in scrubs pockets due to lack of a clip, space saving concern more than anything!
I love both clipped and slipjoint knives, and have no problem carrying both, however I have found that the Slipjoints, in general, carry better in scrubs pockets due to lack of a clip, space saving concern more than anything!
I think it might have a little bit to do with region. Here in the southeast, traditional seems to be carried the most in the most rural parts. When u go into the bigger cities I see a lot of modern knives clipped to pockets. I know about 10 years ago our local feed store got a few spydercos in and advertised them as being the toughest knife out there. It took them four years to get rid of thirty sum odd spydercos. At the end they was giving them away to there best customers; and that's where I got my first and only spyderco. It was a plain jane delica. Great knife I guess but I traded it for two case knives tho. I just like a plain old yellow case. I have nothing against modern knives they just ain't my cup of tea. I don't look at a knife as a weapon. I live in a rural area where everybody carries a gun in their truck and there is always a mean ole cow dog in the back of the truck. Mayb if lived in an urban area I may carry a modern knife. To each their own I say.
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Lots of thought provoking posts in this thread, thank you.
I look at what I have and realize that (as usual) I've taken it too far. But I am a "collector" (my wife would say an accumulator, LOL) of stuff that interests me. It started with hi-fi gear, because I've been a drummer in rock bands since I was a kid. As an electronics tech, I was able to assemble a decent rig because I built a lot of it. But I got to the point where I couldn't make it sound better or play louder without a ten or hundred fold increase in cost. I got the system to where I like it, and it's been that way ever since. Once I got to that point, I listened to the music, not the equipment.
Similarly, I received a Zippo lighter as a grad school graduation gift and it was a Collectible of the Year. Well, then I went out to find all the other COTY's, which led to other Zippos until I put together a fairly nice collection of all the ones I liked. There are a few more, like a mint Mickey Mouse that I hope to find, but once I got to a point where I was satisfied I moved on. I carry a couple of different, battered Zippos, the rest are behind glass. Then, a fogged Zippo watch led to a watch collection and moderator position on another forum. I am about at the point where I have enough watches, and look at them to tell time, not just look at them and not know what time it is.
While looking for information on pocket knives I found this place. Up til then, I was fine with a SAK in a belt pouch, and a Zippo Cut About gents folder. I had a few collectable Case's that went with Zippos but didn't think much about them until I found the BSA series to buy for my sons. Then I landed here just as GEC was really taking off. Uh-oh, a collector, a high quality knife brand made in my home state...I was doomed But at the same time I developed an interest in one-handed openers, though it was a Case Trapperlock that led me that way, so I guess I was always into traditional style knives.
I've managed to collect many nice knives, but the slipjoints remind me of my dad and grandad, and do everything I need a knife to do, to cut stuff. So while I love and use both modern and traditional knives, I prefer the traditionals and will probably pick up a few more before I say, "I have all that I need".
Z
I look at what I have and realize that (as usual) I've taken it too far. But I am a "collector" (my wife would say an accumulator, LOL) of stuff that interests me. It started with hi-fi gear, because I've been a drummer in rock bands since I was a kid. As an electronics tech, I was able to assemble a decent rig because I built a lot of it. But I got to the point where I couldn't make it sound better or play louder without a ten or hundred fold increase in cost. I got the system to where I like it, and it's been that way ever since. Once I got to that point, I listened to the music, not the equipment.
Similarly, I received a Zippo lighter as a grad school graduation gift and it was a Collectible of the Year. Well, then I went out to find all the other COTY's, which led to other Zippos until I put together a fairly nice collection of all the ones I liked. There are a few more, like a mint Mickey Mouse that I hope to find, but once I got to a point where I was satisfied I moved on. I carry a couple of different, battered Zippos, the rest are behind glass. Then, a fogged Zippo watch led to a watch collection and moderator position on another forum. I am about at the point where I have enough watches, and look at them to tell time, not just look at them and not know what time it is.
While looking for information on pocket knives I found this place. Up til then, I was fine with a SAK in a belt pouch, and a Zippo Cut About gents folder. I had a few collectable Case's that went with Zippos but didn't think much about them until I found the BSA series to buy for my sons. Then I landed here just as GEC was really taking off. Uh-oh, a collector, a high quality knife brand made in my home state...I was doomed
But at the same time I developed an interest in one-handed openers, though it was a Case Trapperlock that led me that way, so I guess I was always into traditional style knives.I've managed to collect many nice knives, but the slipjoints remind me of my dad and grandad, and do everything I need a knife to do, to cut stuff. So while I love and use both modern and traditional knives, I prefer the traditionals and will probably pick up a few more before I say, "I have all that I need".
Z
AND our Grandpas didn't know just how under-knifed they were.
My grandfather was a lot of things but under-knifed was not one them. Just sayin'.
Grandpas Knife by Pinnah, on Flickr
One other advantage of the traditional slip joint pocket is, that it is what it is. A knife. A basic cutting tool. It's carried to cut stuff with. There's no lock on most of them, so you won't be tempted to use it for night infiltration missions, zombi killing, or any other video game inspired fantasy. It's just a cutting tool like our fathers and grandfathers used for real work in the real world. I don't recall granddad doing spine whack testing, battoning logs, of fighting off crazed bikers. He just cut stuff.
Reading some of the stuff that goes on in another forum, I can only wonder how many of the one hand wonders are sold to teenaged or young men with over active imaginations that think of their knife as a weapon of some sort. So many times I've seen the use phrased in such a way of "in case someone gets on me" kind of thing. There seems to be a large case of mass insecurity going on with many young men these days. With 40 of the 50 states having some sort of CCW available, a knife makes a pretty poor weapon. Growing up in the era I did, a knife was not even considered if one needed a weapon. A knife was something every man carried to open a box, cut a string, sharpen a pencil, and a hundred other mundane uses a sharp piece of steel can be used for. Looking back over my life, to include some time in a little fracas in southeast Asia, I don't think I have ever came close to a situation that I would have needed a knife for hostile use. Even in my younger and single days when I was in a large amount of bars in questionable parts of town, I never needed or knew anyone who needed a knife for social use. There always seemed to be a bar stool, beer pitcher, pool stick, ash tray, fire extinguisher close at hand.
To me, the traditional pocket knife like a barlow, stockman, or even my little humble peanut, is a simple cutting tool for simple jobs that come up. They look just like the ones my granddad and dad used, and I'm using them for the same jobs. I don't need something to survive a spine whack to slice a piece of chicken liver for baiting that fat catfish I want to fry up for dinner. Not do I need to baton large pieces of firewood with a folding knife if I get stuck back in the boonies. If I'm stuck back in the boonies with just a folder, I'm dumb enough that I deserve to cash it in.
So when it is all boiled down and we look at what's left in the bottom of the pot, the traditional pocket knife is a cutting tool that doesn't come with any baggage. It is what it is. A simlpe cutting tool with no illusions or aspirations of anything else. The fact that they look pleasing to the eye is just gravy on the potatoes.
Carl.
Reading some of the stuff that goes on in another forum, I can only wonder how many of the one hand wonders are sold to teenaged or young men with over active imaginations that think of their knife as a weapon of some sort. So many times I've seen the use phrased in such a way of "in case someone gets on me" kind of thing. There seems to be a large case of mass insecurity going on with many young men these days. With 40 of the 50 states having some sort of CCW available, a knife makes a pretty poor weapon. Growing up in the era I did, a knife was not even considered if one needed a weapon. A knife was something every man carried to open a box, cut a string, sharpen a pencil, and a hundred other mundane uses a sharp piece of steel can be used for. Looking back over my life, to include some time in a little fracas in southeast Asia, I don't think I have ever came close to a situation that I would have needed a knife for hostile use. Even in my younger and single days when I was in a large amount of bars in questionable parts of town, I never needed or knew anyone who needed a knife for social use. There always seemed to be a bar stool, beer pitcher, pool stick, ash tray, fire extinguisher close at hand.
To me, the traditional pocket knife like a barlow, stockman, or even my little humble peanut, is a simple cutting tool for simple jobs that come up. They look just like the ones my granddad and dad used, and I'm using them for the same jobs. I don't need something to survive a spine whack to slice a piece of chicken liver for baiting that fat catfish I want to fry up for dinner. Not do I need to baton large pieces of firewood with a folding knife if I get stuck back in the boonies. If I'm stuck back in the boonies with just a folder, I'm dumb enough that I deserve to cash it in.
So when it is all boiled down and we look at what's left in the bottom of the pot, the traditional pocket knife is a cutting tool that doesn't come with any baggage. It is what it is. A simlpe cutting tool with no illusions or aspirations of anything else. The fact that they look pleasing to the eye is just gravy on the potatoes.
Carl.
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I remember my grandfather(pop) making wine but not much with the knives and cutting part.
My grandfather was a lot of things but under-knifed was not one them. Just sayin'.
Grandpas Knife by Pinnah, on Flickr
Don't be so sure.
Tell me it ain't so!
My black ops infiltratin' zombie killer. Gotta subdue that shine again.
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I've refined my thoughts on this.
Traditional knives are just cooler.
Yep, cooler than Fonzie in a meat locker. :thumbup:
-- Mark
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Zombies rock! You're telling me you all don't love walking dead? I do at least, it's one of my favorite shows.
I'm pretty sure I would be fubar'd though with the peanut in hand if the zombie apocalypse came to be. Maybe I could cut a hole in a cardboard refrigerator box with the peanut and hide out?
I'm pretty sure I would be fubar'd though with the peanut in hand if the zombie apocalypse came to be. Maybe I could cut a hole in a cardboard refrigerator box with the peanut and hide out?
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I have moderns and traditionals with locks.
I don't go on any night infiltration missions.
I won't watch any show or movie with zombies in it.
I've never played a video game.
I've never met a person that would be tempted to do any of the things you speak of.