What's the knife that has disappointed you the most?

Knife using D2 steel
- hard but not tough
- always chip-off
- easily rust.... difficult to maintain this D2 steel knife.
 
Last September found me getting my first SS retirement deposit. I elected to celebrate it with a top-line folder - a Wilson Combat/CRK 'StarTac' Umnumzaan. It briefly satiated my knife wants... then, the devil-knife made me want more high end knifes. No one warned me of this! Having one fine folder just set the bar higher for all of the rest... not fair!

Stainz

PS I do like that 'zaan, of course.
 
For me it was also the cold steel ti-lite 4". Not useful as a working knife due to blade geometrics, so it is just a weapon/intimidation blade. And for that it is too difficult to open quickly, the thumbstud is hidden. Training to use the wave-like feature will quickly expose your underpants.
 
Habbekuk i find your post funny....idk i have already pretty much mastered the quilion thing...ive got no problems with my ti lite...hmmmmm mine...prolly the first knife i bought....one of those cheap smith and wesson knives...love their handguns..not a big fan of the knives
 
My Kershaw Outcast. The damn thing came about as sharp as a brick and is nearly impossible to sharpen; a 10" D2 recurve? For a chopper? I'd be better off with Tom Hanks' ice-skate.
 
I bought a cold steel candaian belt knife .. it sucked , soft blade , uncomfortable handle I gave it to an 80 yr old lady who lived up the road who thought it would be nice to use for cutting her vegetables .

I bought a stainless steel one from a maker on the forums , it was nicely made , but I should have listened to that voice in my head saying " its stainless , do not do it ".. after repeatedly blunting it , I put an edge back on it and gave it to one of the girls in my family , she shows it off and is happy as anything It turned out OK but I had hoped for more .

I bought a hollow handled survival knife from the back of a comic book in 79 the blade was soo soft it was a joke , the nut holding it to the handle kept coming undone and eventually after I sharpened it ( kinda ) and was cutting a bun to make a hamburger , the blade seperated from the handle leaving a couple curlies of stainless whisker that used to be thread sticking up off the bolt part of the blade that held it all together . My dad near wet himself laughing .
 
tirod3 said:
The Buck Strider Tarani in FRN and 420. Too many cooks spoiled this pottage, it's a mess. I honestly thought it was made in China until I looked at some others I had and realized they were better.

The only thing Strider about this knife is the silhoutte, and shows just how far a design can be abused when a marketing department decides to maximize value engineering. The FRN scales were so sharply checkered they had the ability to rasp wood, and would slot a jeans pocket in a matter of a few short weeks. Held together with rivets, the effect is lowest bottom dollar construction. FRN not having sufficient stiffeness in this size means adding liners, and the excuse to let one of them be the liner lock. The liners are about 1/3 the thickness of the blade, and stainless, with the shortest leaf cutout possible.

With a thin and short stainless liner, the recipe for failing to lock is guaranteed. I could pressure the blade by hand and unlock it. I sent it back and got another just as bad. It makes no difference if Buck Customer Service is one of the best when they can't ship a knife back in working order.

Tarani did no favors modifying what is regarded as a classic design. The SnG doesn't need the operator's enhancement of a stippled blade surface for handle down gravity opening. A gimmick blade deployment if ever, you're left holding the blade, duh, not the handle. That is not high speed low drag, much less being so enfeebled that your opponent obviously could disarm every other means of defense you had to leave you with a cheap knife.

The hollow grind and gripping surface also makes deep cuts like taking down cardboard boxes a challenge at best. The blade wedges in the cut because of the pronounced swedge, and the stippling creates even more friction to hang things up, exactly what a user does not need - especially in stressful use.

The Buck Tarani deserves a lawsuit for intellectual property abuse, but unfortunately, it was done under cover of a license - to steal, I guess, and I was my money. At $65, I could have had a Vex and $20 change, but what I got was Buck laughing at all the parties to this joke and making bank.

My only solace was that I immediately bought a real SnG - the differences were exponential. I even bought a Buck Mayo - and that proved Buck could mostly get it right, when they have the character to do it. Too bad the ball detent doesn't work, but the price was right, as another knife lover dumped it for the poor workmanship.

Paul Bos did ok on the 420, tho, it's the sharpest 420 I've ever owned. Almost as good as real knife steel, but that's not his fault. The Mayo in S30V shows what that can be. At least that one gets his mark.

Lots of owners of the G10/ATS34 knives have good opinions of their versions, and those don't seem to be a problem. Step down to the FRN level tho, and you'll find a company that can either show what they can do - Gerber with the legendary LST, or what they can't - the Tarani.
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I have one of the G10/ATS34 Buck Tarani knives and it suffers from all the faults you describe, all made worse because it costs more. I got it as a Christmas present so I don't know
its exact purchase price but I know it was more than the $65 you paid. The G10 actually makes things worse as it in grippy enough to shred your pocket and your skin as well. The
blade is sharp enough, but the stippling on the sides near the top makes it impossible to cut through anything cleanly. The blade is deliberately off-center when closed due to a
thicker washer on one side of the pivot; when opening the blade wobbles into position until the scrawny liner grabs hold. I have always been afraid to use it after reading the many
reports here of lock failure.

Total POS and a real black eye for Buck. They clearly decided to disguise a junker in Strider wrappings in order to cash in on strictly visual appeal.
 
The Benchmade 530, is a very lightweight edc. I really wanted to like this knife, but the shape of the handle poke's into my palm, making it uncomfortable to use.
 
I won't say dissapoointed but I just can get myself to like my Hogue ex01 4" dp gmascus. I don't like the button lock. It sounds great in theory tho.

A big part of the problem is I have other knives that I like soooo much better that the ex-01 doesn't get carried much.
 
Got disappointed with Spyderco Military. With so much hype have purchased two of them four of five years ago. They were CF with s90v and the green one with D2. Did not like one a bit - was shoked how ridiculous if felt for me, that big handle-short blade, strange blade angle.... Not my knife. The same story repeated then with Police - odd knife. Did not like that SS handle, but the blade was the worst. Traded it for something else - just to get rid of it.
 
For me it has to be a toss up between my Sog aegis and trident both preformed excellent right out of the box however after about a month or so of use each developed a great deal of blade play and the Trident for some reason was a real rust magnent also IMO the aus-8 was a tad on the soft side and didn't seem to have a great deal of edge retention I'm not a brand hater or anything but SOG has really left a sour taste in my mouth with their folders:grumpy: however I feel that they make a decent fixed blade and my older Seki-City Japan Seal Pup has been a fine general use field knife even if it is made out of AUS-6 it has proven to be a very tough knife:thumbup:.
 
Benchmade 755MPR - the knife is everything I do not lock for in a knife (smallish, thick blade, heavy), but I loved the concept of a small heavy-duty folder so I bought one anyway.

It has absolutely the weakest framelock I have ever seen. The cutout at the back of the framelock is the thinnest I have ever seen. 4mm titanium, and they reduce it to barely a millimeter at the back. Even my smallest folder, a Boker Trance, has a stronger framelock.

It ruined the concept of that folder for me, so I sold it again, which was very diasappointing, because the overall fit and finish of that knife were good.
If only they had made that framelock stronger, like the old 750 Pinnacle...
 
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Benchmade Mini Griptilian. Yes the Axis lock is cool, but other than that I'm just not impressed. The handle is well... totally unimpressive. I own the Cabela's D2 version. For the $$, I would have been better served buying a Spyderco _______.
 
I mentioned the Benchmade 635 on page 1 of this thread, but seeing it pop back up on the first page made me think of a couple of others:

Emerson CQC-12. First time I ever paid more than $200 for a knife. I was expecting it to be magical. It wasn't even particularly well fitted and not even remotely smooth. Big letdown.

KaBar FIN. Really had high hopes for a hole opener framelock (this was before Spyderco had released the Sage 2 or Ti Millie) and was massively disappointed. This was the first knife I ever encountered that was uncomfortable to even HOLD, much less grip tightly and cut stuff with. It remains the only knife I've ever sent back to an online seller for a refund.
 
Kershaw Leek. TBH I can't complain about how it came, came very sharp with good fit and finish. Just ergonomically not what I was hoping for. Steel handle is too slippery, thumbstud is hard to get to and don't like the flipper. Love the blade profile and blade:handle ratio, and overall appearance, just not a good user for me.

Also, the Spyderco Military in CPM M4 steel.
Wait, just kidding. The Military has to be the best 4" blade working knife out there. And this steel is straight up redonkulous.
 
My new, brown handled Delica 4 FFG. Very notchy action right out of the box that failed to smooth out no matter how much I cycled it. I've actually sent it back to Spyderco along with a $5.00 check so that they can repair or replace. I also traded for a gray handled Delica 4 FFG while waiting for mine and it's action -- though nowhere near as smooth as my circa 2000 Delica 1 -- is definitely better than the one I sent back. I do, however, have total faith in Spyderco as a company and I'm sure my D4 will be returned with a much improved action.
 
goodeyesniper said:
Kershaw Leek. TBH I can't complain about how it came, came very sharp with good fit and finish. Just ergonomically not what I was hoping for. Steel handle is too slippery, thumbstud is hard to get to and don't like the flipper. Love the blade profile and blade:handle ratio, and overall appearance, just not a good user for me.

Also, the Spyderco Military in CPM M4 steel.
Wait, just kidding. The Military has to be the best 4" blade working knife out there. And this steel is straight up redonkulous.
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Had the steel handle Leek, lost it, then got the G10 version and it was like night and day. Nice and grippy and enmjoyed that knife to the fullest. 'Til I lost that too :-(
 
Pro-Tech Tantilla...the blade is so small and thick it can't cut through a banana without making a mess. Don't know what I was thinking when I shelled out $135 for a small EDC blade.
 
Foilist said:
My Kershaw Outcast. The damn thing came about as sharp as a brick and is nearly impossible to sharpen; a 10" D2 recurve? For a chopper? I'd be better off with Tom Hanks' ice-skate.
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I still dont know what they were thinking with that one.
 
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