What's up with folders?

J

JohnnyBlades

Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
62
So I have been casually observing these forums for a few months now. One thing I can't fully understand is the obsession with folding knives. Now I like folders, I have 5 of them(admittedly, several mtech/tac force models), but I just can't imagine spending more than 50$ on one. It boggles my mind people spend 200$ plus on them. I get it, some people just have enough funds to spend and want something, but for me there are so many vastly superior fixed blades in the>100$ price range that I would be very hard pressed to ever consider one of the premium folders that so many members on here boast. Just a thought...
 
Get one and see if your opinion changes. You can always sell it if it doesn't.
 
Fit, finish, precision in locking mechanisms all come together in a handmade product, then ad some of the more complicated engravings etc. If you cant see yourself spending that money then dont. I would rather spend $500 on a folder than on a fixed blade because I like mechanisms.

On a side note. You get $700-$1000 plus fixed blades as well.

There are more than enough knives to suites everyones taste and preferences. So enjoy what ever you chase.
 
Yep, you will never know what you are missing until you buy a folder that you never have to adjust a screw, never have to center the blade and only sharpen it once or twice a year.
 
I bought a $200 folder and thought it was perfection and flawless. Then I bought a $400 one and ignored the $200 one. Now I'm buying multiple $1,000 folders and find the $200 knives to be straight garbage. This has all taken place in the last 30 days.
 
JohnnyBlades--do yourself a favor and run... log out of this site, read no more... just run. Otherwise in a month's time $400 or so will sound reasonable for (pick your soon to be favorite)... and there will be no cure for the sickness.
 
Puddlemonkey do you have a wife? If you do she's a saint.


I guess I'm just not that into the mechanics so much. I tend to use my knives most in camping/fishing situations and therefore I usually favor big choppers/camp knives for my money. For everything I would use a folder for, which is 90% opening boxes/packaging, a 30$ Kershaw blade does the job just fine. And if it breaks, I can buy 6 more for less than $200. Hell, for that I can buy 16 amazon cheapies that will shred cardboard and tape...

I guess it's just personal preference. I am just drawn to sturdy 1 tool option type knives, with a slight fetish for big, monster, s***-hits-the-fan type blades.
 
PuddleMonkey said:
I bought a $200 folder and thought it was perfection and flawless. Then I bought a $400 one and ignored the $200 one. Now I'm buying multiple $1,000 folders and find the $200 knives to be straight garbage. This has all taken place in the last 30 days.
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I'll take that straight garbage. Christmas is coming. ;)

But I'm in the same boat except I sold all of my high zoot folders and hung on to the 2-300 dollar pieces and they suit me just fine.
I do have a couple of sub $100 knives and they're really exceptional for the price but I just don't carry them anymore. Have them all stuffed in vehicle consoles and tool boxes.
 
JohnnyBlades said:
Puddlemonkey do you have a wife? If you do she's a saint.


I guess I'm just not that into the mechanics so much. I tend to use my knives most in camping/fishing situations and therefore I usually favor big choppers/camp knives for my money. For everything I would use a folder for, which is 90% opening boxes/packaging, a 30$ Kershaw blade does the job just fine. And if it breaks, I can buy 6 more for less than $200. Hell, for that I can buy 16 amazon cheapies that will shred cardboard and tape...

I guess it's just personal preference. I am just drawn to sturdy 1 tool option type knives, with a slight fetish for big, monster, s***-hits-the-fan type blades.
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I can appreciate that... but how much do you think is reasonable for a high-end, your favorite steel, fixed blade? I do lots of the same, hike, camp, and fish... just curious what your ideal knife/knives are for such stuff.
 
I can definitely understand not wanting to spend high dollars on a folder ( I don't think I'd spend more than 100$ on one , and I'd only go up to 100$ if I finally get a GEC ) since I think that at some point essential function and basic quality for folders could not be improved on.
As long as there's no blade play + good walk & talk ( for a traditional ), the steel isn't complete garbage, and there's no major gaps where there shouldn't be then it's a great cutting tool.
I don't care if it has any fancy features, modern super steels / handle materials , or extreme lock strength . it's just a casually used daily cutting tool and that's all it needs to be.
Nicer things are great, but not necessarily always better where function is concerned.
I don't see how anyone could really think that a 500$ folder is really a better cutting tool, but they are nice and there's a high level of craftsmanship to be appreciated.

If you don't want to own a midtech folder, that's fine but you might want to think about ditching your mtech's and at the very least getting a Victorinox Swiss army knife like the recruit or tinker for 20$ and less

The reason so many people like high end folders is because folders are convenient to carry , they appreciate nice things, and because fixed blades can be illegal to carry sometimes.
 
I can have one $200+ folder of higher quality that will most likely outlast 7 cheaper $30 one-hand opening folders that probably won't hold up the same. Then which money is better spent? 'Buy quality and cry only once' and all that.

And I get it, not every knife needs to be high-dollar. Some of my favorite knives are Victorinox SAKs, most of which cost me below $30. But SAKs are higher quality and far more useful than their prices would indicate.

I would never suggest to someone to buy something they don't like or care about. So let's just say that other people have different tastes than you do. Not everyone is into big SHTF fixed blades. By the same token, I can't for the life of me understand so many people's fanatical obsession with football. But I can accept that other people's interests/obsessions are different than my own.

Jim
 
I like good knives.
That means my folders and fixed blades are generally in the range of what some people call expensive.
I also have some less expensive folders and fixed blades that are good, but most of the ones I like are not exactly cheap.
 
I could get by with a Victorinox Swiss army knife. It's not about utility it's about fun and enjoying the hobby.
 
Fanglekai said:
I could get by with a Victorinox Swiss army knife. It's not about utility it's about fun and enjoying the hobby.
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Unless you have to do a lot of work with the knife blade...
I like Swiss Army Knives, but I reach for a knife with better ergonomics and blade for when much blade work needs to be done.

Now for little bits of cutting, the Swiss Army Knife blade works great, and as an overall utility item, they are a great value. :thumbup:
 
Folders are much more practical than fixed blades for many of us. True, a fixed blade may work better than a folder but there is a convenience factor that folders bring with concealment and portability that fixed blades lack.

For example, I am an eye care professional and it would be unwise (and impractical) for me carry a Ka-Bar or a machete to the office. A small light duty folder is all I need at work. On top of that, I need to be concerned about how patients could react to a knife. Because of this I try to pick very conservative knives for use in the work place. No auto or assisted blades for work. Even something tame like a Spyderco PM2 is taboo. You never know how a patient is going to react to something out of their comfort zone.

Oh, about the cost of a folder, go up in price, you gain better design ergonomics, steel, etc. The same holds true for knives, eye wear or any other consumer product. You get what you pay for. Every product you buy boils down to four things, design, materials, craftsmanship and customer service. You want a lower price, you give up something in one (or more) of these four areas.
 
sabre cat said:
Oh, about the cost of a folder, go up in price, you gain better design ergonomics, steel, etc. The same holds true for knives, eye wear or any other consumer product. You get what you pay for. Every product you buy boils down to four things, design, materials, craftsmanship and customer service. You want a lower price, you give up something in one (or more) of these four areas.
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I find this to be quite true of fixed blades, not folders...

I have $500 folders by Al Mar that are 30 years old, made in Japan etc, the best of the time, and they are held together by pins, when a $30 Kershaw of recent vintage has full hardened screw construction throughout: The $30 Kershaw is objectively much, much better made...

Both were equally dull from the box...

As far as ergos are concerned, my Kershaw is an assisted flipper, and has close to the best ergos I've ever experienced in a folder, plus steel on steel liner locking rather than Titanium on steel.

I have a $300 SOG Fatcat, my only expensive recent vintage folder, and that is fancier and stouter, but only about even in ergonomic design with the RJ Martin designed Kershaw, just much fancier looking, and slower to deploy...

With fixed blades the differences in quality with increased price appear larger and more consistent over a larger range of prices (I find the interaction with the sheath -not putting in friction marks on the blade for instance- to be often a more complex and dodgy issue than a folder's mechanism). Folder mechanisms now seem quite generic across a wide range of prices, the SOG Fatcat being one of the rare ones to offer something different than a liner or frame lock...

Gaston
 
Folders are more convenient and for guys can be like man-jewelry. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the value of a CRK Sebenza. I almost got one myself. When you factor in the premium steels and the engineering for a knife that can hold up to a lifetime of hard use (minus batoning) then spending hundreds of dollars on a life long tool makes plenty of sense.
As for me, my experience with a premium steel turned me away. I'm very good at free handing a razor edge on my knives except the one over hundred dollar knife I have. Instead of spending a wad on a sharpening setup, I put it away. I like that I can get my blades sharp in just a few seconds a week. A lot can be said for not having to sharpen a knife but once or twice a year, but when you can free hand as easy as I can, sharpening isn't a problem, so I'll probably stick with the lower end of the knife market.
 
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