Comeuppance
Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 4,765
They all seem to have their own personalities. For example:
Spyderco: Performance-oriented quality cutting tools. Purpose-built and always trying to make innovative designs and materials affordable. From the original Worker to now, always focused on providing the best cutting tool they can.
Kershaw: Usually more experimental in design than materials, but not afraid to try new things. Like an old cherished American tradition now being lovingly re-imagined by a new generation of Knifemakers. Affordable, friendly, practical, and well-made. An idealized American company given to us by courtesy of Japans KAI.
Benchmade: Gentleman's tactical knives. Like a refined and more extravagant Emerson. Befitted to cubicle farm special op tactical daydreamer types but also to people who want interesting and well-designed knives. They look good and they work well. You could use them in combat but you never will.
Emerson: Built for war. They don't pretend to be box cutters and make no concessions to elegance or utility. The handle is simple and grippy. The hardware is simple and easy to adjust. They open literally as fast as you take them out of the pocket. They might not always be perfect , but they will not fail you. Their designs dont fit my daily life, but I would want nothing else if I was to take a folder into a wilderness or combat situation. I always feel like Emerson begrudginly acknowledges this finicky minoritys complaints about machining tolerances, and would rather we shut up because he designed a war weapon and not an action figure to play with. Not a criticism or a defense, just an perception.
Zero Tolerance: Mission knives. Not letter openers, not something you put in a toolbox, but something you strap to your vest. Confidence and sturdiness. Reliable mechanics. It'll break down a box, but it would rather cut a climbing rope while you freefall into a forest below into a terrorist camp.
Ka-Bar, SOG: Military knives that became cool to the general public. The companies sacrificed quality and materials for prices and market appeasement - like a hardened general that decided to become marketable. Heck, SOGs frequent endorser, R. Lee Ermey, seems to reflect the same spirit. Once intense and inspiring of respect and awe, now much harder to take seriously but still appreciated and enjoyed.
Svord, Mora, Opinel: Companies that make knives that should replace the market Gerber currently has. Cheap, performance-built and very basic knives with good warranties and prices that make them more than just a reasonable choice. They dont make flippers, but youll never hesitate to scratch them. They dont use amazing steel, but they use good steel. You buy it and use it. If you try to collect them, you wont end up with a knife display but you will end up with a toolbox.
Gerber: Really, just stop already.
CRKT: Ambitious to be a star of the knife world. Caught somewhere in between being well-known enough to do well with the general public and having the quality and designs that enthrall the enthusiast market. Not doing extremely well in either market, but always trying new and often radical things whether there was demand or not. Theyre like MTech, but respectable and with good quality, but also with seemingly entirely arbitrary pricing structure.
Boker: Covering all angles with their tiered quality structure. Cheap crap at a pawn shop (Magnum) you pick up when youre twelve, good cutting tools with lots of custom influence but always with the same materials - as if youre getting the same knife in different flavors (Plus), and mid-tech level production knives with prices to match the quality but not always the materials (Tree). Like a profit-oriented company kept in check by a stern but wise craftsman.
Cold Steel: Designed for hunters, woodsmen, collectors, and mall ninjas. Theyre fantasy knives that you can use, theyre no-nonsense bushcraft tools, theyre ridiculous conversation pieces, theyre reliable tools at a price point that reflects the large amounts of refinement and imagination but also the low tier of materials used. Like a Rolex made from FRN, itll look good and seem ridiculous, but will also work very well and not break the bank.
Spyderco: Performance-oriented quality cutting tools. Purpose-built and always trying to make innovative designs and materials affordable. From the original Worker to now, always focused on providing the best cutting tool they can.
Kershaw: Usually more experimental in design than materials, but not afraid to try new things. Like an old cherished American tradition now being lovingly re-imagined by a new generation of Knifemakers. Affordable, friendly, practical, and well-made. An idealized American company given to us by courtesy of Japans KAI.
Benchmade: Gentleman's tactical knives. Like a refined and more extravagant Emerson. Befitted to cubicle farm special op tactical daydreamer types but also to people who want interesting and well-designed knives. They look good and they work well. You could use them in combat but you never will.
Emerson: Built for war. They don't pretend to be box cutters and make no concessions to elegance or utility. The handle is simple and grippy. The hardware is simple and easy to adjust. They open literally as fast as you take them out of the pocket. They might not always be perfect , but they will not fail you. Their designs dont fit my daily life, but I would want nothing else if I was to take a folder into a wilderness or combat situation. I always feel like Emerson begrudginly acknowledges this finicky minoritys complaints about machining tolerances, and would rather we shut up because he designed a war weapon and not an action figure to play with. Not a criticism or a defense, just an perception.
Zero Tolerance: Mission knives. Not letter openers, not something you put in a toolbox, but something you strap to your vest. Confidence and sturdiness. Reliable mechanics. It'll break down a box, but it would rather cut a climbing rope while you freefall into a forest below into a terrorist camp.
Ka-Bar, SOG: Military knives that became cool to the general public. The companies sacrificed quality and materials for prices and market appeasement - like a hardened general that decided to become marketable. Heck, SOGs frequent endorser, R. Lee Ermey, seems to reflect the same spirit. Once intense and inspiring of respect and awe, now much harder to take seriously but still appreciated and enjoyed.
Svord, Mora, Opinel: Companies that make knives that should replace the market Gerber currently has. Cheap, performance-built and very basic knives with good warranties and prices that make them more than just a reasonable choice. They dont make flippers, but youll never hesitate to scratch them. They dont use amazing steel, but they use good steel. You buy it and use it. If you try to collect them, you wont end up with a knife display but you will end up with a toolbox.
Gerber: Really, just stop already.
CRKT: Ambitious to be a star of the knife world. Caught somewhere in between being well-known enough to do well with the general public and having the quality and designs that enthrall the enthusiast market. Not doing extremely well in either market, but always trying new and often radical things whether there was demand or not. Theyre like MTech, but respectable and with good quality, but also with seemingly entirely arbitrary pricing structure.
Boker: Covering all angles with their tiered quality structure. Cheap crap at a pawn shop (Magnum) you pick up when youre twelve, good cutting tools with lots of custom influence but always with the same materials - as if youre getting the same knife in different flavors (Plus), and mid-tech level production knives with prices to match the quality but not always the materials (Tree). Like a profit-oriented company kept in check by a stern but wise craftsman.
Cold Steel: Designed for hunters, woodsmen, collectors, and mall ninjas. Theyre fantasy knives that you can use, theyre no-nonsense bushcraft tools, theyre ridiculous conversation pieces, theyre reliable tools at a price point that reflects the large amounts of refinement and imagination but also the low tier of materials used. Like a Rolex made from FRN, itll look good and seem ridiculous, but will also work very well and not break the bank.
) Because sometimes you want to be able to stop a rocket with your knife and have the maker replace it afterwards.
