What makes a knife cool?

[22-rimfire]

Cool is kind of relative as is beauty in the eyes of the beholder. All the factors named lead to my calling something cool, but I see a lot of knives and the coolness becomes more diffused to a few things that just jump out at me. For example I think C-Tek handles are really cool on a fixed blade (durable, good to look at, and functional). I used to think G-10 handles were cool as well; now along with micarta, the materials are pretty commonplace and the coolness has worn off. I go back to my original assertion, big knives are cool almost regardless of the materials. I think machetes are cool, especially fairly good ones.

 

[Mecha]

Cool is kind of relative as is beauty in the eyes of the beholder. All the factors named lead to my calling something cool, but I see a lot of knives and the coolness becomes more diffused to a few things that just jump out at me. For example I think C-Tek handles are really cool on a fixed blade (durable, good to look at, and functional). I used to think G-10 handles were cool as well; now along with micarta, the materials are pretty commonplace and the coolness has worn off. I go back to my original assertion, big knives are cool almost regardless of the materials. I think machetes are cool, especially fairly good ones.

Coolness is certainly open to interpretation and debate, but it IS a real thing. You're right it does indeed wax and wane. For example, pop-up headlights on cars from the late 80s and early 90s have suddenly become extremely cool again. They were always insanely cool, but now they have become popularly recognized as super cool once again.

Watch as slipjoint knives suddenly become cooler than framelocks. Did the Sebenza people not just release a slipjoint knife at Blade show, to many ooooohs and ahhhhs?

 

[JParanee]

Matt

What makes a knife cool

That’s simple .................ME

 

[Mecha]

Matt

What makes a knife cool

That’s simple .................ME

Then I need to send you a blade so you can make it look cool for me.

 

[JParanee]

Coolness is certainly open to interpretation and debate, but it IS a real thing. You're right it does indeed wax and wane. For example, pop-up headlights on cars from the late 80s and early 90s have suddenly become extremely cool again. They were always insanely cool, but now they have become popularly recognized as super cool once again.

Watch as slipjoint knives suddenly become cooler than framelocks. Did the Sebenza people not just release a slipjoint knife at Blade show, to many ooooohs and ahhhhs?

Did you say pop up lights are cool again ?

Thank god

 

[JParanee]

Then I need to send you a blade so you can make it look cool for me.

Your blades don’t need me to look cool buddy ....... but I would like to cut with one

 

[Mecha]

Did you say pop up lights are cool again ?

Thank god

Oh man, they're probably cooler now than they have ever been before. Speaking of you making swords look cool...I hope you're prepared for what Mirabile is about to do.

 

[BellaBlades]

Who cares. Fits the hand. Great heat treat and a rare classic. I love it.

 

[Basp2005]

For me aesthetics, materials, fit and finish. In that order.

 

[Tommy-Chi]

Coolness is certainly open to interpretation and debate, but it IS a real thing. You're right it does indeed wax and wane. For example, pop-up headlights on cars from the late 80s and early 90s have suddenly become extremely cool again. They were always insanely cool, but now they have become popularly recognized as super cool once again.

Watch as slipjoint knives suddenly become cooler than framelocks. Did the Sebenza people not just release a slipjoint knife at Blade show, to many ooooohs and ahhhhs?

Not to take anything from anyone, because they each know what is cool to them. What is cool to me is if I'm being attacked and it saves my tail, I don't care if it is a 1/2 bade, it's cool!

 

[Hickory n steel]

All that matters is that I think something is cool, it depends and I can't define it but I know it when I see it.
From knives to everything else, I don't care if something is considered cool, something either appeals to me or it doesn't.

For things I happen to like or consider cool.
I can't get enough of patina.
Old and worn but not worn out knives with patina and Rogers jigged bone scales are some of the most beautiful knives I've ever seen.
I also love the look of a swedged clip blade with a real crisp sabre grind.

 

[22-rimfire]

View attachment 961008

Who cares. Fits the hand. Great heat treat and a rare classic. I love it.

Carefully disguised photo to obscure the writing.

 

[22-rimfire]

All that matters is that I think something is cool, it depends and I can't define it but I know it when I see it.
From knives to everything else, I don't care if something is considered cool, something either appeals to me or it doesn't.

For things I happen to like or consider cool.
I can't get enough of patina.
Old and worn but not worn out knives with patina and Rogers jigged bone scales are some of the most beautiful knives I've ever seen.
I also love the look of a swedged clip blade with a real crisp sabre grind.

I personally prefer to keep patina out of my coolness equation. I really like big knives, even Old Hickory or Chicago Cutlery butcher knives are cool.

Of course, I really don't care like you what anyone else thinks of my "coolness" factor.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I personally prefer to keep patina out of my coolness equation. I really like big knives, even Old Hickory or Chicago Cutlery butcher knives are cool.

Of course, I really don't care like you what anyone else thinks of my "coolness" factor.

Old school butchers definately are cool.
One of the coolest knives I've seen in a long time is the Russell Green River fish knife ( I think that's what they call it ) not a big knife or anything but Soo cool and it's blade has roots In the classic broad clip point butcher pattern.

 

[G. Scott H.]

Why is there no skull option in the poll? Skulls make everything 81.3% cooler.

If your homies dis your knives, they're not really your homies.

 

[Lapedog]

Well it appears that most people aren't concerned with whether or not people think their knife is cool.

However, in the event that a knife is cool, it's mainly due to a neat shape and/or design, and good cutting performance is also seen as quite cool.

Rare and/or expensive materials do add to the coolness factor as well, but not as much as the design and performance.

Astonishingly, very few people think that getting a lot of 'likes' on Instagram means a knife is cool.

Try asking on instagram if likes make a knife cool.

Most bladefoums members are savvy enough not to admit that!

 

[BITEME]

I will try using an example,the new Endura with v-toku 2 steel very cool knife imho ,why ?
Spyderco classic
love the way it feels in the hand
excellent slicer
love the patina of the exposed steel
exotic steel
awesome color/unique
great value
hometown knife store buy local
super easy carry
if any knife hits those points or most of them its going to be cool.

 

[22-rimfire]

Here's a cool knife. Why? The yellow bone is cooool and Barlows are cool. I just sold this knife. This will be the first knife I ever sold that I owned.

 

[Dadpool]

I picked shape/performance/who cares, but lately it's been little details that make me go, "Ooh, that's cool!"

For example, I love the way the "forward ramp" and the choil combine to make the Socom Elite's blade look like it's offset; I just think that's cool.

Or the pleasing modularity and symmetry of Hinderer's clip/filler tab slots; I think those are really cool.

 

[Mecha]

Here's a cool knife. Why? The yellow bone is cooool and Barlows are cool. I just sold this knife. This will be the first knife I ever sold that I owned. View attachment 961158

The Barlow brings up an interesting point about coolness: history! The history behind a type of knife can add a lot to the cool factor.

A great example is the kukri. It's not only unique and very functional type of blade, it has an interesting history with the Gurkhas and just in general. It makes it a lot cooler than just some weird banana-shaped machete.