What knives do you find overrated?

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RevDevil said:
What surprised me was that the way the word custom also changed to mean a knife that is 99% CNC'd, but physically touched at some point by the person whose name is on the blade. It is bizarre, but there you have it.
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Seriously, that word "custom" gets thrown around a lot. if a knife wasn't made specifically for a customer, designed specifically to an individual customer's requirements and requests, then it is not a "custom" knife.

It may be a handcrafted production, it may even be one of a kind, it may be great quality, or even a "customized" production knife (new scales, handles, engraving, etc), but none of those things make a true custom knife.
 
Wow, Kershaw's Cryo sure has taken a beating here but, I can understand why. I want to like it but I just can't. To me, it is undersized and under steeled. If I had to buy one, it would have to be the G10 version. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the regular model. At least I think so. But,you still have the steel issue.The plastic handled Kershaw Zing fits my needs much better than any of the Cryo models.

Now for the Benchmade Griptillian. Dollar for dollar, show me a better folding knife for field use than the Griptillian, if you have to wear work gloves. Go ahead. Name one. You can't? I am not surprised.

Go talk with those that have replaced the factory scales for some after market product and you will hear that the change made a good knife into a great knife. Almost every time I ask people what they dislike about the Grip, they say things like, "It feels cheap" or "It makes to much noise."

Between MAP pricing and it's hollow plastic handle there is much to dislike about the full size Grip. I can see why many feel it is over rated. Yet, I never hear any complaints aimed at the Mini Grip. Could it be that it is considered a better knife because it does not make as much noise when opened and closed? I find it interesting that the Grip gets slammed for it's handle material yet Spyderco can use the same material and no one says a word.

My overrated knife? The Spyderco military. Just Spyderco in general really. I like their knives but they take up to much pocket real estate and have weak blade tips.
 
"I don't like the knives I don't like, and no one else should like the knives I don't like.
All the knives I don't like are over-rated, and the people who like them are dupes."

That's how the over-rated talk looks to me. :)
 
stabman said:
"I don't like the knives I don't like, and no one else should like the knives I don't like.
All the knives I don't like are over-rated, and the people who like them are dupes."

That's how the over-rated talk looks to me. :)
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Ding. The bolded especially.
 
Now this is funny, not ha ha funny but funny how we all see things differently. Different strokes for different folks and all that. I always think of spyderco's as inch for inch one of the easiest knives to carry. I find military and police models much easier to carry than some smaller knives by other makers. *I guess that's why they make more than just chocolate and vanilla.

Mike


sabre cat said:
My overrated knife? The Spyderco military. Just Spyderco in general really. I like their knives but they take up to much pocket real estate and have weak blade tips.
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Mike45ACP said:
*I guess that's why they make more than just chocolate and vanilla.
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Amen. We should be thankful for the tremendous variety of knives available to us these days!

And just to clear up any confusion, chocolate is objectively better than vanilla. Vanilla is the elevator music of ice cream: bland and so inoffensive it becomes offensive. Chocolate is exciting, sexy, passionate, deep, rich, and has been proven recently by scientists at the University of Ice Cream in Hamburg superior to vanilla in every measurable way.
So basically if you prefer vanilla to chocolate, you're entitled to your opinion, which is wrong. ;)
 
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Jesse B. said:
Amen. We should be thankful for the tremendous variety of knives available to us these days!

And just to clear up any confusion, chocolate is objectively better than vanilla. Vanilla is the elevator music of ice cream: bland and so inoffensive it becomes offensive. Chocolate is exciting, sexy, passionate, deep, rich, and has been proven recently by scientists at the University of Ice Cream in Hamburg superior to vanilla in every measurable way.
So basically if you prefer vanilla to chocolate, you're entitled to your opinion, which is wrong. ;)
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WoW! I laughed so loud. I am so much an anti-bandwagon personality I should back the vanilla chocolate debate completely. However there are variables that have to be pointed out in every argument, chocolate has a drug like influence that the plain and safe vanilla does not. Vanilla is #1 for a reason.
 
sabre cat said:
Wow, Kershaw's Cryo sure has taken a beating here but, I can understand why. I want to like it but I just can't. To me, it is undersized and under steeled. If I had to buy one, it would have to be the G10 version. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the regular model. At least I think so. But,you still have the steel issue.The plastic handled Kershaw Zing fits my needs much better than any of the Cryo models.

Now for the Benchmade Griptillian. Dollar for dollar, show me a better folding knife for field use than the Griptillian, if you have to wear work gloves. Go ahead. Name one. You can't? I am not surprised.

Go talk with those that have replaced the factory scales for some after market product and you will hear that the change made a good knife into a great knife. Almost every time I ask people what they dislike about the Grip, they say things like, "It feels cheap" or "It makes to much noise."

Between MAP pricing and it's hollow plastic handle there is much to dislike about the full size Grip. I can see why many feel it is over rated. Yet, I never hear any complaints aimed at the Mini Grip. Could it be that it is considered a better knife because it does not make as much noise when opened and closed? I find it interesting that the Grip gets slammed for it's handle material yet Spyderco can use the same material and no one says a word.

My overrated knife? The Spyderco military. Just Spyderco in general really. I like their knives but they take up to much pocket real estate and have weak blade tips.
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Very interesting...I really like the axis lock and dislike the weird hollow/cheap feel of my basic grip yet agree it has excellent function!At the same time it's pudgy handle is unwelcome in my pocket.My REI limited version feels much nicer but not 175 worth.My Spyderco Police 3 G10 seems much higher bang for the buck to me...as does my Para 2.
I tend to agree on tip fragility however.I really like the grip satin drop point.

My impression is Benchmade knives are too expensive for what you get.I have seen horrible variations in quality in the ones I have handled...so much so I won't buy sight unseen.With the exception of an endura I received which was only OK quality every other spyderco was very good to superb and each completely made me happy in the cost/performance/feel category.I bought every one of them online...so blind.

I am happy overall with my knives and think I will keep and enjoy them all.

The difference in our opinion re S VS B is just that.I personally think B is cranking em out so fast quality is suffering...and at the price point that turns people off.But I am keeping mine...they work for me.My S blades are epic...definitely keeping them!
 
Now that was funny!

Mike

Jesse B. said:
Amen. We should be thankful for the tremendous variety of knives available to us these days!

And just to clear up any confusion, chocolate is objectively better than vanilla. Vanilla is the elevator music of ice cream: bland and so inoffensive it becomes offensive. Chocolate is exciting, sexy, passionate, deep, rich, and has been proven recently by scientists at the University of Ice Cream in Hamburg superior to vanilla in every measurable way.
So basically if you prefer vanilla to chocolate, you're entitled to your opinion, which is wrong. ;)
Click to expand...
 
strategy9 said:
Seriously, that word "custom" gets thrown around a lot. if a knife wasn't made specifically for a customer, designed specifically to an individual customer's requirements and requests, then it is not a "custom" knife.

It may be a handcrafted production, it may even be one of a kind, it may be great quality, or even a "customized" production knife (new scales, handles, engraving, etc), but none of those things make a true custom knife.
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Hate to disagree, but I do. If I go to the Blade Show and I buy a RJ Martin handmade knife, it's a custom regardless of what you say.
 
There is a difference between 'overrated' and 'unappealling.' The first can at least rely on reasonable observation of facts; the second is too prone to being subjective.

How can one call a Reeve knife overrated when it is arguably the best folder out there within reason?

It can, however, be termed 'not my cup of tea" by those who don't feel drawn to it.
 
I'm not going to select any one 'company' or individual.

I find the claims of using the "new and improved super steels" in ANY knife to be overrated.

I also find custom knives, made from common materials, especially in excess of say....$300/$400......to be WAY overrated.

Large companies who employ the use of overseas workers...making "super steel" knives - and their corresponding price points - is ridiculous. These overseas workers aren't making the super steel....they are getting the products sent to them, shaping bulk steel or perhaps fitting pre-shaped parts together...and shipping them back here. IMO, looking at some of the costs of these "everyday/readily available" blades - it's absurd. It's a "fad" that IMO, is just playing to people's bank accounts while promising them bull hockey.

Likewise, a custom maker who uses 1095, 5160 or 01/D2 steels - commonly available in every aspect - charge a price like their knives were hammered by Hephaestus himself. Yes, I agree they spend countless hours in a shop burning through sanding belts, spent $3500 for a tempering oven and $1500 for a leather sewing machine and need to recoup that costs.....but damn......

Then there's this fuss over "G-10 handles." The difference between G-10 and Micarta is that G-10 is woven fiberglass + Epoxy.......where Micarta is "anything else" + Epoxy....paper...cloth...burlap...twine...whatever the customer wants. Big deal. I can get sheets of 5/8" thick Micarta that are 6" x 11" , made from my choice of material for about $30 a plate. Cheaper if I buy in bulk...and it's just as waterproof, shrink proof and as easily shaped as G-10. Wood? Eh...depending on the type can be expensive....but anyone "putting out" blades [in quantity/on regular basis] is smarter buying it in bulk to lessen the cost.

Now....let me be clear to the custom makers you see on this forum. Your blades are absolutely the finest looking items I have ever seen. I myself, could NEVER hope to produce the fantastic pieces of art you put out. In all honesty, I can absolutely concede that your blades might well be worth their price tags....it does not mean that I don't think it's not ludicrous. I [personally] can't see spending [let's say] up to $1000 on a custom blade that is either:

1. going to sit under a plate of glass to be simply admired, or;
2. get the shit beat out of it by anything and everything it's meant to take.

....but that's me. I know there are people who are going to lay into me for saying that and trust me - I don't mean any disrespect in what I said. I just cannot justify spending up to a thousand dollars on a knife that is either going to do 'nothing' or get so abused it's risking severe damage or failure. To me, it's like buying a VW Beetle and spending 10 grand putting a Maserati engine and drive train in it. Yeah it's got a great motor and trans in it but it's still just a Beetle....

{sigh}.....now waiting for the hateful responses........:(
 
RevDevil said:
It's been thrown around alright, to no end. What surprised me was that the way the word custom also changed to mean a knife that is 99% CNC'd, but physically touched at some point by the person whose name is on the blade. It is bizarre, but there you have it.
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Yeah, thats kinda why I wish the guild and akti could come up with some standardized terminology. In regards to the word "custom" I can totally relate to what you are saying. But at the same time its hard for me to look at R.J. Martins work and call it production. Who knows maybe because of the way he makes them they are production knives. Albeit very very high end superlative productions. If It were up to me (yeah I know) Id lay it out like this.

Production- factory made knives made in runs over 50 pieces employing CNC machining for the majority of the build

Custom- knives produced by individual makers employing no more than 50% CNC materials. Runs should be limited to 25 pieces or less and each knife should have some amount of unique aesthetic qualities so each piece is unique within reason. Waterjet is allowed as long as the other criteria is met. Knives should be made by no more than 5 skilled knifemakers utilizing no unskilled laborers for assembly

Handmade- Knives must be made using 100% hand guided tools. Mills and lathes are allowed to be used as long as they are manually manipulated by the hands of the maker. Multiple individuals may be involved as long as no CNC or robotic manufacturing is utilized.

Sole authorship Custom & or handmade - Any custom or handmade knife that is made completely by a single individual. Absolutely no outsourcing in part or whole may be utilized including but not limited to CNC, water jet or oussourcing.

I know its a long shot and that those definitions are far from perfect but I think some definitions should be established and adhered to. Im a dreamer I know.
 
Gravy said:
For me it's the Kershaw Cryo. It's too heavy for what you get, the speed safe breaks too often for me and mine has blade play that I can't for the life of me get rid of.

Also lets remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinions ;)
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Another Cryo vote. I loved the profile, action, and weight. Unfortunately it was so far off center that blade rubbed against the frame. I took it apart numerous times to center it but never quite got it. Then, the spacers started to fray, mucking up the action.
Went with a rat 2 and never looked back.
 
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