What knives DON'T work for you?

WalterDavis

WalterDavis

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 23, 2005
Messages
1,837
Hey guys, we hear a lot about the knives that are well liked and good performers out in the woods, but what about those that didn't perform so admirably? Tell us what didn't perform up to your expectations, and why it didn't! I'm NOT looking for a bash fest, just some constructive criticisms of knives that didn't do it for you. I'll even start:D

My first big Busse, a FSH, came with an edge that was safe for a small child:foot: Really, it was sharp, but directly behind the edge it was way too thick for me for any kind of outdoors use. Easy fix, though-I just sold it and bought a HH with a flat-ground blade that had a decent edge and I was happy:D

Another was my Queen Mountain Man. I really want to like this knife. I like lockbacks, the birdseye-maple is beautiful, it's light and it's the right size. I think I could even get over the blade play, but the grind on it is done in such a way that the tip is really thick. I keep sharpening away at it, trying to put a point on it, but I really wish it had come 'right' from the factory:grumpy:

So, how 'bout you? Which knives got the ol' early retirement, even though it hurt your feelings to do so?
 
Sog SEAL 2000. Too small to be a really good chopper, and too big for finer work, in my unskilled hands at least. Got a SEAL Pup instead, and love it to this day. Also the CS Pocket Bushman. Way too big to be a pocket knife, and the handle's not comfortable to me at all. Maybe cause I have small hands, I dunno.
 
Any knife that has a cord wrapped but otherwise bare tang. Paracord doesn't take much use before it gives up the ghost, then you are left with a knife without a decent handle. I bought a cord wrapped knife off of the makers' forum a while back. It was great until I took it camping. About three whacks with a baton on the cord and it all unraveled (so my aim isn't great, oh well). Even wearing a heavy leather glove it was painful to split wood with it after that. I know, take an axe or a hatchet, but I brought this knife camping with splitting wood for the fire in mind.

I'm thinking about sending it back to the maker and having him put sume nice scales on it.
 
Aesthetically I like knives with wide blades but other than kitchen duty, and that's only if they're thin, I find that knives with blades wider than 1 1/2" are a bit unwieldy for me for knife work. Unless we're talking about big choppers.
 
WalterDavis said:
My first big Busse, a FSH, came with an edge that was safe for a small child:foot: Really, it was sharp, but directly behind the edge it was way too thick for me for any kind of outdoors use. Easy fix, though-I just sold it and bought a HH with a flat-ground blade that had a decent edge and I was happy:D
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Why didn't you just sharpen or reprofile it? Better yet send it off to Simon for a wicked convex edge! :thumbup:

I find that most knives work pretty well for me. I have found that many knives have far too blunt of a bevel on the edge (like the OP) and I fix that in no time. The manufacturers grind them that way for edge durability, but you sacrifice cutting ability. IMO... a convex edge gives you both. :thumbup:

The only design I can say that I don't have much use for is the "tanto" style blades. The chisel ground blade is strange to me and i don't sharpen it well. The bigger problem is the lack of a belly for cutting and skinning. I've seen it stabbed through a car door, but I don't really stab car doors... ;):)
 
Marcelo Cantu said:
Aesthetically I like knives with wide blades but other than kitchen duty, and that's only if they're thin, I find that knives with blades wider than 1 1/2" are a bit unwieldy for me for knife work. Unless we're talking about big choppers.
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That's something that I've been kind of evaluating lately, myself. I really like like the look and balance of a wide blade, but if you look at what 'outdoorsmen' carried in the past, the narrow blades have always been pretty common. I don't know if it's a matter of availability, weight, adaptabilty, or just plain usefulness, though. I do know that I've made a some trailing-point knives that were great performers, and I think it's because you get a lot of cutting edge with a minimum of weight, along with an easily controlled point.
 
My Dan Koster Nessmuk, this is an awesome knife but let down by handle scales that are too thin, for the record Dan now uses fatter scales so don't hesitate to jump on any he sells now !!!!

My Scrapyard Dumpster Mutt, amazingly tough knife that can batton and pry forever but didn't quite make the grade for my uses when woodcrafting !

My TOPS Wolf Pup, another great design that's let down by the grind which is too thick, I have thinned mine down and convexd it which has improved it one hell of a lot !

RAT RC 4, another knife that is let down by the handle, being both too short and too thin for my use.
 
kdstrick said:
Why didn't you just sharpen or reprofile it? Better yet send it off to Simon for a wicked convex edge! :thumbup:

I find that most knives work pretty well for me. I have found that many knives have far too blunt of a bevel on the edge (like the OP) and I fix that in no time. The manufacturers grind them that way for edge durability, but you sacrifice cutting ability. IMO... a convex edge gives you both. :thumbup:

The only design I can say that I don't have much use for is the "tanto" style blades. The chisel ground blade is strange to me and i don't sharpen it well. The bigger problem is the lack of a belly for cutting and skinning. I've seen it stabbed through a car door, but I don't really stab car doors... ;):)
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I did consider it, but with the main bevel being convex, it would have needed to be completely reground to perform the way I wanted it to. I'm brave, and more than a little dumb sometimes, but I sure wasn't going to put that expensive of a knife up to a grinder;) (this was long ago that there weren't many people modifying their Busse's )

I do agree, tanto blades aren't much use outdoors. I do find them useful as EDCs, though. The front works well as a scraper, and the secondary point where the two angles come together is great for dragging down material to cut it.
 
I am seeing a trend here that are also my pet peeves with knives. Uncomfortable handles and edges that don't cut just plain boggle my mind. I mean, why bother having the knife then?! I am also morally opposed to having to send out an expensive knife to have the edge reprofiled. Spending $300 on the knife and then having to pay more to get it to cut like it should in the first place really chaps my hide!
 
Some guy mailed me four knives to make pants for last week. Those are crap. I currently am using them for doorstops around my house. ;)

TF
 
I don't want this to turn into a thread typical of whine and cheese but another thing that bugs me is when someone says how great their knife is and when you see the pics you can tell straight away that it's never been used !!!!!

Please go out and use these knives before coming on here and recommending them !

If it's a filleting knife make sure it visits a fish and see if it's really any use at filleting !
If it's a skinner does it zip through the skin like a laser or does it just look good when your holding it in front of the bathroom mirror ?
If it's a survival knife then it must be able to perform many tasks from cutting foodstuffs, woodcrafting yet still be tough enough to be used to truncate or split wood !
 
tknife said:
I am seeing a trend here that are also my pet peeves with knives. Uncomfortable handles and edges that don't cut just plain boggle my mind. I mean, why bother having the knife then?! I am also morally opposed to having to send out an expensive knife to have the edge reprofiled. Spending $300 on the knife and then having to pay more to get it to cut like it should in the first place really chaps my hide!
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I feel the same. The problem really is that one size NEVER fits all. Most of the things that bother us depend on our uses for a blade or the size/shape of our hands. I don't see a resolution for that, although in the past several years pistol manufacturers have been making pistol handles with interchangeable backstraps that can make the grip different sizes for different sized hands. Its a good idea, but I don't know if that will work for knives.

With regard to blade profile I think manufacturers are a bit paranoid over edge failure and tend to make the egde a bit thick. I can't think of any knife I've had in the past 15 years that I didn't re-profile. It doesn't annoy me though. I guess I'm weird, but I enjoy tinkering with my knives. :)
 
Talfuchre said:
Some guy mailed me four knives to make pants for last week. Those are crap. I currently am using them for doorstops around my house. ;)

TF
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OUCH! Well, I sure hope that they at least work well for that:thumbup: The edge on that FSH was probably too thick to even do that right:foot:J/K, Jerry, if you see this, it wasn't quite that bad;)
 
The Americanized Tanto does not work for me, though I have no problem with the traditional Tanto shape.

Strange shaped blades, forget it.

Blocky handles, or ones with poorly placed contours; comfortable handle rule.

On that note, I hate textured handles, for long term use I might as well be holding a cheese grater.

Choils or huge ricasso, I keep my hand on the handle, just like God intended; if I need more tip control I use a smaller knife.

And last but not least, nice knives with bad sheaths, a poor fitting or cheaply made sheath is a major bummer; it’s a sure way to turn me off to a knife maker.





"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike

Forest & Stream
 
just imo, ymmv, etc etc.

I am not a fan of knives that fall short on fit and finish right from manufacturers. I dont need a knife to look like jewelry, but it should look as if it isnt finished either.

I also get turned off by cheap sheaths - or sheaths that dont operate as intended (ride too high, dont secure knife, scratch blade or handle when sheathed etc).

Personally, I dont like how blades have gotten rather 'thick' - I blame manufacturers who are attempting to cater to batoning
 
Chisel grinds. I just don't get them, and have owned and played with many. They will work but not to an optimal level for what I use a knife for. I have stopped carrying tanto tipped knives (usually chisel too), but that is more me changing tastes than anything wrong with the design to me.

My biggest disappointment was with the folding Warthog from KaBar. Great blade shape and bevels, disgusting handle.
 
Skelotonized handled blades. Seems like a great idea, looks cool, obvious wieght savings. But ergos are miserable.
Yet I'm still drawn to them. What the heck? :o
 
pitdog said:
i don't want this to turn into a thread typical of whine and cheese but another thing that bugs me is when someone says how great their knife is and when you see the pics you can tell straight away that it's never been used !!!!!

Please go out and use these knives before coming on here and recommending them !

If it's a filleting knife make sure it visits a fish and see if it's really any use at filleting !
If it's a skinner does it zip through the skin like a laser or does it just look good when your holding it in front of the bathroom mirror ?
If it's a survival knife then it must be able to perform many tasks from cutting foodstuffs, woodcrafting yet still be tough enough to be used to truncate or split wood !
Click to expand...

what he said

:)
 
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