What knives would you *not* have bought?

I would not have bought those expensive customs I was collecting in the 60's and 70's. The Randalls, Hastings, and such. They did not cut that much better than the good factory stuff to justify the cost. In fact in a couple of cases a few of them did not cut as well in some tests against a Buck fixed blade the same size. Alot of hype!

I regret getting away from the knives I grew up with, and have since gone back to carbon slip joints, and time proven designs.
 
Sebenza. Nothing wrong with it. It is just not worth the money for what you get.

Spyderco, Dodo (yes it is for sale), I don't like the ball bearing lock at all. Who thought of this? What was wrong with the back lock or the compression lock? It is a heck of a lot of knife to carry around for less than 2" of blade. I love Spyderco and have been working on getting most of their models but every company is going to make some designs that not everyone will like. Some people love the Dodo.

CRKT Pointman. Fell apart in my pcoket and hands and I sent it back. Thy gave me a new one which I traded right away. When I did have it, it couldn't hold an edge anyway.

There plenty more but those are some of the ones that come to mind first.

kgriggs8@netzero.net
 
Gerber Paraframe I. It holds an edge about as well as a length of two-by-four. Cute knife, but the quality just wasn't there. I'm gonna get around to replacing it with a Delica one of these days.
 
United Cutlery folder with pachmayr handle. Bought at gun show for $60.00. Didn't know a thing about knives and thought it was a great knife until it got a lot of vertical and horizontal play with no adjustment screws to compensate. :mad:

It wasn't 'til I got computer and internet service that I learned about what makes a quality knife. Bladeforums has been a major player in my education of knives.
 
Gerber EZ out Jr, too! Man does that knife suck! I bought one w/ATS-34 steel years ago, thinking it would be a "quality" small knife, then the lock failed and gouged my finger but good! It was too unsafe to give to anyone so I threw it out. Good riddance.

Gerber Covert (utility grind) - great design, crap production, screws kept falling out & pivot kept loosening, gave it to a friend as a beater. But it really is a great design . . .
 
I've bought quite a few I wish I hadn't, largely because it is not always possible to tell if you are really going to like a knife that you buy over the internet. You can't tell a lot of things from pictures, like weight, balance, feel of the handle, etc.

One knife I regret buying is the Paul Chen New Orleans bowie. The squarish, tapered handle has a terrible feel. Another is the old style Sog Desert Dagger. The Japanese style guard is way too short, and the steel is low grade AUS6.
 
m_calingo said:
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.
Click to expand...

i hate this knife! its neat and fun to play with but it really doesnt cut or sharpen well at all. wasted 20 bucks.
 
My Wenger Swiss Army Knives. I have learned that the Victorinox SAKs are better over all.

Spyderco Vesuvius and Salsa. I just don't like the Compression-lock and I'll never buy another knife with that lock.

Any knife with a fully serrated blade or a combo blade . I prefer fully plain-edged blades these days.

Allen.
 
Here's one you'd likely not expect to see here:

Lone Wolf Valmatic

This was an impulse buy at Blade. I'm a bit of a gadgeteer, and the sliding switch / duel action design of the knife was too good to pass up. I had a mid-size auto in the $200.00 price range on the list of things to get, so I got that one.

What I didn't like about the knife was:
  • They swag back, while not sharp, was not dull enough to comfortable close the knife.
  • The "hidden release" was very novel, and perhaps the main reason I got the knife. Then again, the "hidden release" did not get very comfortable to use. I ended up just opening it manually most of the time.
  • It was too big to tote in my pocket everday.
In then end, I traded it for a Dalton Warcom. The Valmatic was everything that it was advertised to be, and I certainly didn't get cheated. It just turned out to be an expensive knife I'd rather I had not bought
 
I bought a Benchmade NRA 12410 Steigerwalt & did not like the blade play as well as the handle did not have the grooves as in the pictures.

I had been looking forward to this knife for months & was very disapointed to have to send it back.

It is a great design, just needed tighter tolerances.
 
the Benchmade 530s. I payed waaaay too much for it, and its a combo edge which i dont care for. Since its soo lite weight i felt like it could break easily. But i learned a few lessons with it so its all good.
 
Spyderco Paramilitary.

Gritty film washers, wonky lock and pivot, heinous clip.

Almost immediate buyer's remorse.

I love most of the Spyderco line, but I've never had any luck or love for the models unfortunate enough to be saddled with the compression lock. I might have gotten past the awkwardness of the lock, but the action was not good and there was too much blade play for my tastes.

Smaller size Mili is still a good concept though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top