When were knives “built to last”?

[Slice-and-dice]

When were knives built to use daily and last a lifetime?

 

[Danke42]

Never.

 

[NeverEnuff]

Has there ever been a time? I mean, what's the standard of use? To anyone who uses a knife hard use, no knife lasts a lifetime. Think about the eras in which you're talking about. Before the last 60 years everyone used a knife for a lot more than we do today and very hard use. I mean I literally never need a knife. Ever!!! So today, a worthless junk SAK or Case could serve me a lifetime. But the best knife from today still couldn't last someone from the early 20th century or before a lifetime.

There are just way too many variables to come to any competent conclusion here.

 

[DocJD]

When were knives built to use daily and last a lifetime?

Back when life was more brutal and generally lots shorter.

 

[catspa]

There are just way too many variables to come to any competent conclusion here.

True, but it’s highly likely that we’ll pontificate on it anyway, incompetently and inconclusively.

When were knife owners and their uses worthy of the knowledge and effort required to make a good knife?

Parker

 

[Arathol]

Remington used to make upwards of 10,000 knives a day when they were in full swing in the years before WW2. They did a study, and the result was that the life expectancy of a typical pocket knife at the time was on the order of 3 years. Things haven't really changed much in the way things are made since then. Whats changed is the way knives are used.

 

[KenHash]

Couldn't vote because there's no option for:
"They've always been built that way".
But how long they actually last in practice depends on multiple reasons, from environment, care, storage, use/abuse, to their effects on the materials,
Knives certainly lasted longer before the internet and batoning a knife to breakage became a fad. And if they didn't we wouldn't have heard about
it anyway.
The less moving parts, the less likely of failure. So fixed blades are in a completely different category from folding knives.

 

[catspa]

Didn’t PAL buy out Remington’s knife tooling when war was declared?

Parker

 

[calm]

Possibly when life expectancy was lower

 

[Bobthebrewer]

As someone said how are you using it. I have a CPK knife that if I used it every day to cut things I could hand it down to my nephews or nieces but if I used it as a lever to pry a 500 lb thing out of the ground who knows how long it would last? Micarta seems to last longer than leather, bone or antler and the modern steels are impressive but anything can be broken if abused. YMMV

 

[dogstar]

Tools lasted as long as you took care of them. That has always been true.

 

[norcalAF]

As someone said how are you using it. I have a CPK knife that if I used it every day to cut things I could hand it down to my nephews or nieces but if I used it as a lever to pry a 500 lb thing out of the ground who knows how long it would last? Micarta seems to last longer than leather, bone or antler and the modern steels are impressive but anything can be broken if abused. YMMV

Exactly, a tool well cared for will provide decades of service

 

[Sticky]

Nostalgia aside, If it is in regard to how well something is made, and Assuming we're not including gas station kiosk throw away garbage, Seems to me modern name brand knives are generally objectively better in every regard to old ones. Better tolerances, better designs, better steels, more scrutiny of a maker's product, better materials and better understanding of heat treatment. Like comparing top MMA fighters of the 90's to the top fighters of 2023. There is no comparison IME.

 

[Drop bear]

The harder knives are to get. The longer they last. So whenever that happened.

 

[DMG]

Any good quality knife should last a lifetime if treated properly. I would bet that 1000x as many knives are lost as are worn out.

 

[GatorFlash1]

I think Spyderco started the "tough-carry knife" business in the late '70's / early '80's with variety of knives, good designs, good steels, and good manufacturing.

And they are still doing it.

Maybe that is why my edc is a plain-jane Spyderco Gayle Bradley #1. Nutten fancy, just does the job around the shop, house, yard, etc. I also still have an old Endura Spyderco with a great serrated edge which comes in handy.

 

[Hammer67]

They still are, if you buy the right ones.

 

[ferider]

Unless you are a (aspiring) Chef, go to your kitchen, check out the knife block, the knife that you use the most, probably a paring knife. How long and how many times has that been used, been in the dishwasher, etc. ? Does it still look good ? The answer is probably yes. How about your oldest SAK or similar ? Mine is 35 years old. The covers don't look shiny anymore, but otherwise it's good to go.

Most knives are built to last under normal use, and if you are OK with a couple of minor marks, it will hold a lifetime.

Exceptions are fancy blade coatings, Ti anodization jobs, etc., and if you keep disassembling a folder for "cleaning purposes".

 

[VorpelSword]

"Built To Last" . . .well, there was a period when blades were made from an advanced (for the time) alloy of copper and a rare material , Tin . . . which was. called, .Bronze. Blades made from this alloy have been found intact after being buried in the ground for thousands of years. The so-called B20ronze Age ended around 1100 BC.

Blades made from an alloy that has superior performance qualities, steel, usually corrodes away in a relatively short time from an archeology point of view. So-called stainless steels still corrode over time but have only been with us since perhaps the 1940s or so. How long a stainless blade will last in the ground, I cannot guess.

Knives with organic component parts such as leather washers or wooden scales won't age well if not maintained. My best guess is that a blade made from an alloy with high corrosion resistance and a handle from cast-on aluminum would last a while longer than something like a WW-II era Ka-Bar if discarded or just neglected.

But I am guessing that this is not actually what the OP is talking about. Blades large and small or long and short have always been made to different standards of practical durability in terms of overall ruggedness and quality of construction. I do not think that there is an era when knives were made to last or were made to wer out (or break).

 

[TC]

If there is no mechanical failure, sharpening (and, necessarily, regrinding) will eventually wear down the blade to a point where it is no longer useful.