What knives DON'T work for you?

i always liked the idea of a guthook. but i have never used a knife with one where it didn't get in the way doing ANYTHING with the knife other than using the guthook.
just not for me. i want guthook knives to work for me, but they just haven't.
 
Chisel grinds,recurves,serrations,and tanto tips don't work for me,on an outdoor knife.
 
goatariba said:
i always liked the idea of a guthook. but i have never used a knife with one where it didn't get in the way doing ANYTHING with the knife other than using the guthook.
just not for me. i want guthook knives to work for me, but they just haven't.
Click to expand...

That is funny. I have found the same thing, especially when operating inside the body cavity of a deer or something. The guthook just seems to snag on everything. It was a great idea in theory. ;)

Now I use one of those Gerber hooks, it is supposed to be for cutting seatbelts, etc... but I use it on deer. It works great (and it's pretty cheap).
 
Ankar Sheng said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The Ka-Bar USMC didn't work out for me either, for all the aforementioned reasons, but I just chalked that up to it being designed as a fighter and was simply the wrong tool for the job. I do like the barrel shaped handle, though it is a bit big.
Click to expand...

Yea...you'd think the name would be a hint as to its intended purpose :cool:
I personally have no problem using my Ka-Bar out in the woods. For a long time all owned was a Ka-Bar fighter and a Schrade slip-joint. Worked great.


Back on topic:

For woodsbumming, I think neck knives are pointless. Sure, the knives are great, then you tie a string around it so it can twist and tangle inside your shirt. Or...put it on the outside so it can hang on stuff. I just prefer to take them and run para-cord thru the sheath holes and lash them to my pack. SAK' that have too many widgets is another pet peeve. Some of them are very uncomfortable for pocket carry, but haven't earned enough respect for me to make room on my belt. So they sit in a drawer. Also, saw-back blades. Sure, they were cool when I was 8, but now they are useless. Except my Frost Survival for some reason.
 
I just don't agree with any of you. There aren't too many knives that I'll turn away.....I like most of them!

Okay - I don't really like very hard stainless steels. They are a PITA to sharpen. I like to sharpen. I don't want my life made difficult - I like to keep it simple, simple and razor sharp!
 
Years ago, I bought a Wyoming Knife. It was just a big gut hook. It did work well for it's intended purpose (gutting large game animals), but was just too limited in what it could do and too heavy to pack around.
 
Pretty much anything described as a "chopper" or any large blade knife.
 
Karambits and similar knives. I am not a big fan of knives with a gut hook although I have the SOG Revolver Hunter which has the gut hook. It sort of gets in the way from my perspective and there is always the danger of getting cut thinking the top edge was "safe". I'd much rather have the blade without the hook.
 
I owned quite a few knives from Chris Reeve, Case, Camillus, Kabar, Lone Wolf, frost, Leatherman, and Victorinox. Custom markers like Randall, Martin knives, and Graham bros. Almost every knife was not perfect. Handle does not fit or work for me. Hilt is getting in the way of the function of the knife. Grind need work as does the edge. For an example Graham was nice knife but again handles were too small for me (shame because I love the work they do). Kabar knife cut the upper hilt and it works better. My latest knife is Blackjack Halo which I plan on removing the upper hilt. The edge is fine and believe this mod will make it a better knife for me.
 
comoha said:
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
Click to expand...

I never found a comfortable skeletonized knife until I tried the Rat Cutlery Izula - very very good ergos and just fits my hand so well - its a great EDC and small camp blade... at $45 its hard to beat to just keep in your EDC bag or ruck. I've used mine for over an hour straight once TRYING to make a functional figure 4 trap - no complaints about the comfort, just about how the trap turned out :D

Like a lot of people here, I really dislike chisel grinds - in fact I got rid of all but one Emerson because of this. I kept the Mini CQC-7 for visiting states/countries that aren't fixed blade/3"+ folder friendly.

I also dont like plain/serrated combos on blades smaller than 3.5 inches - they are annoying and get in the way 9/10 times when I'm trying to cut. On smaller blades I prefer to have either full serrations or none. A good example that come to mind is in the BM mini-grip with combo edge. I loved all the BM mini-grips that I owned, but I made the mistake of buying the combo edge once and will never again - just too small a blade for them to...
 
I'll catch heat for this one, neck knives, never got into them. Tantos in general. And finally a big percentage of tacticals.:barf:
 
Hello, my name is bodhi and I'm a choilaholic. Yes, I admit, I like choils even on smaller knives. I also like ResC handles even though they look ugly.

What I don't like:
Tanto: had a CRKT one which I gave away almost unused, it looked cool though but then I don't have a knife display case. Good riddance.

Paracord: on PSK this is fine but on bigger knives it doesn't work, sell it to the ninjas .

Thick spines: it's more a marketing fad than anything else, tons of knives would benefit if they were thinner. I'm currently moving to smaller slicers because those are the knives that get most use.

WSK: it is a great design but screams wannabe. I've been drooling at the one that Dan Koster makes but I've never taken the plunge because I doubt I would ever use it.

F1 Sorry, I know its a beloved design but I dislike the handle.

Edit: Big choppers, I have little use for them. If I need something big I take my machete out of the tool room. It cost a couple of bucks and performs a lot better than all these big oversized steel lumps that seem to procreate in the for sale forum.
 
Last edited:
I love the Kabar below for a beater knife, but for the life of me I can't put a good edge on it. I guess it is more of a love/hate thing.

KB6000.jpg
 
I agree with kgd. Most all knives work for me as long as they are used more or less for their intended purpose, common sense goes a long way.
 
Neck knives. The handles are too small for me to use them. Any ordinary pocket knife works better for me.
 
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...

Varg Lobos said:
I know what you are saying, and I agree with it. You should have used a knife before recommending it to someone else for a specific task.

However, many here (including me) take pictures of our knives when we first get them, before we use them. I think it's these pictures that tend to get used when posting pics about recommending knives.
Click to expand...


Yup, photos are taken when the new kid joins the team.

Neck knives don't work for me.
I tried. It's either in the way or unaccessible when I want it.

Tanto points.
IMHO a marketing hyped fad, no substance.

Chisel grinds.
See tanto points above.
I'm not slicing sushi and if I were, I'm right handed.

So to sum up, no chisel ground, tanto pointed, neck knives please.

And what is up with 3" - 4" blades that are 1/4" thick?
 
tom brown tracker
and yes i hate chisel grind too. sign of a very lazy maker IMO , and they seem to have no point for utility cutting
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top