What sells a knife for you?

Kamoe

Kamoe

Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
183
You're on the internet, browsing around for your next knife. After passing by a few without interest, your eyes finally light up. "That's the one" you say as you click the 'purchase' button. What's something you always look for when looking for a new knife? What makes you want it?

Personally I like gimmicks. Fun opening mechanisms, different locks, super smooth opening, if it looks fun then I'll get it. I'll also gravitate towards knives with awesome blade shapes. My next big purchase is going to be a John Grimsmo Norseman, the shape of that blade is just so awesome, plus it's a flipper and it'd be my first knife with a ball bearing pivot.
 
I am very choosy now. After going through literally hundreds of knives, I know exactly the features that I want and don't want. At the start of my knife collecting days, I wantd to try anything that I did not have. I had a variety of locks, handle materials, and steels. I also got a bunch of different blade shapes.
So now...... I want a blade that is easy to sharpen for me. (That means no serrations or recurves) I also want a solid lock up or snap. That narrows it down a lot right there. From there, I want something different than what I have now.
 
I don't quite shop that way. I always know what I want before I start looking for it. Only then do I start looking for that knife.
I'm also not much on gimmicks. I tend to like simple the best. Framelock(RIL), linerlock, lockback, and slipjoints are my favorite folders, and I like simple blade shapes. With fixed blades I mainly want micarta on steel.
 
Quality, I really like it if my knives have something unique (for instance, my Spyderco native has a very pronounced swedge which I love)

handle material/color is a factor, g10 would be at the top next to FRN (I tend to go for darker colors like black, dark blue, British racing green, ect)

and lastly price lol, unless I'm deeply in love the price stays under $140.....

also brand affects my choice to a degree, I don't like buying from random company's with no review...still do occasionally.

All the best!

-niner
 
I go quality over looks if I buy a knife nowadays that isn't a Bali, I am buying an EDC or a user doesn't need to be pretty but it does have to take a beating here and there.
 
I go with really reliable, older, more classic knives. I love them with a deep passion.
Like for example, a Mercator K55K.
Or a Camillus TL-29.
It's these kinds of knives that I love, and finding and buying them is a blast.
 
What sells a knife to me is a good wearing steel with good edge geometry and a ergonomic design.
 
Any one or more of the following criteria could initiate the "Add to Shopping Cart" response:

A unique lock or mechanism.
Value. Materials / price ratio. I might buy a lower-grade knife from time to time, but I'm not going to pay a premium price for it.
Aesthetics. Largely determined by 'flow' of design and material choice.
Collecting. Does the knife fall into one of the categories I specifically collect?
Brand / maker reputation.
Curiosity. A new brand perhaps.
Variety. Something completely unlike anything else already in the collection.
 
i usually look at the overall shape and lines of the knife. i hate ugly shapes. then i look at steel (i'm a bit of a steel snob), grind (i'm very picky about my grinds, usually going for scandi, full flat, or convex. there's only a few hollow grinds i'll go for.), handle material, and lastly, price.
 
Here's a list of attributes that I like:
+wharncliffe
+spearpoint
+sheepsfoot
+pink
+liner lock
+slipjoints
+axis lock
+friction folder
+lightweight (>3oz for folders)
+3" blade or less
+low price
+lefty friendly
+stonewash finish
+spyderhole

Things that I don't like:
-right hand carry only
-framelocks
-titanium lock bars
-true lockbacks (where the button is at the back of the knife a la Buck 110)
-blood grooves
-serrations
-chisel grinds
-assisted
-auto
-metal handles
-bead blasting
-holes everywhere (see trypophobia)
-sawbacks
-gaudy pocket clips
-gaudy text and images on knife blades
-gaudy design features in general
-rainbow anodizing
-blade coatings

Should be enough for now. Can't think of any others. Also, things like construction quality and what-not should go without saying.
 
Usually I know what I want before I go looking which varies because I don't like getting knives that are similar to 1 another
I pretty much always do customs now so I get almost exactly what I want.
Most of the time it's simple like setting 1 thing that a knife must have and I can narrow it down from there

For example I simply was looking for a button lock flipper which very quickly was answered w/ Brian tighe
Another is I wanted to have a custom knife with a digicam bolster and a green g10 handle which I think mikkel willumsen can do for me (waiting for blade to really decide and talk to him more bout it)
A big ikbs flipper in lscf (3.5+ blade) went with pohan there

Other than that I usually like something a lil unique Brian tighes fluted handle/just like mikkel designs
Scot matsuoka handle shapes gareth bull shamwari w/e deployment u call that with the radiused spine is just killer
Basically everything about yuna knives to something basic like the compression lock on the pm2
 
I'm very diverse in what I purchase, even though I really only look at Mid-Techs & Customs nowadays.

But if I do see a production knife that I really digg than I will add it to the collection.

The biggest thing I look for though is QUALITY, I can't say it enough.

I have a very large list of "must have" knives and every one on it is a Custom with top tolerances.

So for me its spending my money on knives I already know are built like beasts.

What really sets me off to a knife though is the materials used and overall flow of the knife, from handle through to the blade.

If I like a knife, more than likely I will own it eventually(obviously within reason and price).

For anyone who's looking for their next knife, save that money and use it towards a custom that's truly worth every penny.

Just my .02
 
#1: Function (including shape/profile/etc)
#2: Steel
#3: How good its factory edge is (this may be a coincidence, but ive found that with most of the knives i have, the good ones came sharper than the less favorable ones)
#4: Length (specific to the function. i mean i can use a 3 inch knife to prepare food but id rather not)
 
Price
Must have a thumb hole
Decent to great steel
solid lock
reputable company
 
1 steel
2 lock
3 size
4 materials
5 blade steel hardness
6 tang if fixed blade
7 grind & beginning and final thickness
8 long term durability and strength
9 ergonomics
 
Generally speaking? Looks, and functionality. I want the knife to look good(to me), and I want it to be functional in case I do use it for anything(so no fantasy pieces/replicas/etc). The fact of the matter is that pretty much any cutting you will need to do in your lifetime can be accomplished by a handful of blades. You'll likely want an EDC knife of some sort, suited to your environment, your local laws, and your likely usage. You might want a smaller secondary EDC or SAK, something as a backup to your primary. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, going camping, learning wilderness survival, hunting, etc you might want something suited for "bushcraft", a decent hunting knife, and a large camp knife or machete. Maybe you want a "dressier" knife for formal attire, maybe you'll want a big "tactical/fighting" knife because you work in a bad part of town and can't carry a gun. But generally speaking, you should be able to cover pretty much any situation you'll encounter with fewer than 10 knives, anything beyond that is just for fun. So that is how I treat it-since I already have knives that are just fine for my specific needs, anything else I buy I buy cause I like the looks, the feel in hand, and the overall aesthetics of a knife. Like, for example-my Spyderco Native is perfectly capable of filling all the needs I have from an EDC knife. Unless this one breaks or something, I won't NEED another EDC folder...but that's not stopping me from eyeing a Griptilian from the Benchmade custom shop, and it's not stopping me from ordering a custom Buck 110 when I get paid this week.
 
I also gravitate toward the crazy designs. Someone waved a Spyderco Zulu in my face yesterday and now I have to get it!

I am fond of full flat grinds..quality build....and materials used. But I am NOT picky, yet.
 
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