What knives would you *not* have bought?

M

MacTech

Joined
Jan 7, 2006
Messages
611
i posted a very similar thread over on Candlepowerforums, asking "if you knew what you know now, what flashlights would you *not* have bought, it was a reasonably popular thread, and i figured a similar, but knife-related thread might be fun to do here....

so, the question is....

knowing what you know now, what knives would you *not* have purchased?

thanks to the info here on Bladeforums, i've been able to *avoid* a lot of the real stinkers, so *most* of my knives i'd end up keeping, but the ones i wouldn't have any problems parting with would be.....

Buck 110; yes, it's a very nice knife, don't get me wrong, a knife with a rich history and a proven, reliable design and i'm glad i own one, but having used it, it's just a good, solid, basic knife, i wouldn't miss it if i never bought it....
Buck Metro; a good, basic keyring knife, rather unique design, but due to lack of usable blade length, it's not much good for anything beyond opening boxes/blisterpack packages, etc...
Gerber Truss 2.0; bought as an experiment knife, to see how sharp i could get a cheap beater knife (quite sharp, actually), this one i didn't "need", and will only hold onto it as a beater/loaner, this knife i really don't care about either way, if i lose it or it breaks, i won't shed a tear, nor will i replace it, it was an impulse buy, to test an experiment, pure and simple

technically, i could also include the old Gerber EZ-Out, but i had this one before i became a BF member, so i really can't include it in the list, when it dies, it dies, and i won't give it a second thought

what knives would you *not* have purchased, knowing what you do now?
 
Large Buck/Strider spear point: it has the ergonomics of a brick, the lock is questionable at best, the liner gives liner locks a bad name, and the blade is not nicely ground.
 
The crappiest of my crap knives would have to be a discontinued CRKT that isn't worth its weight in dirt.
 
Benchmade Mini-Ambush - the lock is rough and doesn't work well.

Spyderco Yojimbo - detent not wanting to keep blade closed very well. Seen this on 2 different models.

Buck Strider 880 - Too big and bulky to be anything but a Rambo knife. I guess if you want to chop wood it could be used instead of a hatchet.
 
Flea market Pakistan,Taiwan & China fixed-blades that "copy" good designs.
420 steel sucks in my opinion.
Cheap folders are dangerous too, buy quality & be safe!
 
kershaw LFK. I'm assuming this was just a QC issue, but I nearly couldn't give it away as a christmas present as planned.
 
NONE! I would have bought whatever it is I bought because it teaches me the importance of quality. You can't have Paradise without a little Hell.
 
Buck 172 Mayo. Shoulda just bought the Sebenza, which I ended up doing (again). I was able to sell the Mayo (at a loss), but it got me back into a Sebenza. (Large Regular LH, this time :))
 
My all black Smith & Wesson S.W.A.T. CE that I bought maybe 8 years ago before I got into knives.
 
I wouldnt have bought :

-Bear mountain Daascus steel tanto balisong
-CRKT M-16
-SS spyderco delica (Forgot to look at what steel it had and just assumed VG-10...)
 
Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops. Big-o heavy brick of a knife. Don't like the quality. IMHO the knife line messes up the great brand name associated with revolvers.
 
Gerber EZ-Out Jr. ---- Man do I hate that knife, and that has given me a disgust for Gerber in general. If a bad experience ever "ruined the deal" for someone... that one did.

Although a decent and well-loved EDC... my CRKT M16-13M just won't hold a good enough edge.

Cleary

P.S. Cool thread...
 
These are definitely not junk, and are undoubtedly fine knives, but I would not buy them again. These were bought just before I realized that all of my collector interest was in fixed blades, and that a couple of good folders, large and small, were all I needed for EDC.

Camillus Dominator
Sebenza
DDR Custom Madd Maxx Bowie

I am going to have to put them up for sale one of these days.
 
CRKT K.I.S.S. Tanto folder--once you get beyond the "gee whiz" factor of the design.

The thick blade grind makes it next to impossible to get a sharp edge on the knife once the factory edge wears out. If you do manage to get a working edge on the AUS6 blade, it doesn't hold it for long.

The lock isn't the most reliable as well, but if you treat it as a slip joint, you're less likely to injure yourself.
 
I had a couple of Buck linerlocks fail on me, an Alpha Folding Hunter which I trusted and an Alpha Crosslock which never seemed to be very strong.

There's a Kershaw Vapour that I could never get sharp enough.
 
My first real blade, the original buck crosslock, I wouldn't have bought. But I didn't buy it so it doesn't count.

the cqc-11, it's wicked cool. but what the hell am I going to do with this thing. It's not like I spend my time going around F#@king people up.
 
Well you know, I look at it this way, all the knives have been a lesson. Yes, I have bought some crap, but they taught me about quality, so there are no regrets.
 
Spyderco Dodo. Great knife out of the box but I could not sharpen it to save my life. I took it to a knife shop to get professionally sharpened and it lost its edge after slicing a few bundle straps. I tried my Lansky but didn't really get the edge I wanted. I bought a Sharpmaker with diamond rods specifically for the Dodo but that odd recurve S30V will not sharpen for me. Others have had great success with sharpening a Dodo but for me it's Doodoo. Now it just sits in a drawer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top