Which Knife Has Disappointed You The Most, Which Has Pleasantly Surprised You?

Most surprise = buck lite 440c blade steel, hold a good edge, easy to sharpen, and i don't care if i beat the heck out of it because it was $10

Most disappointed = my grail was BM mini skirmish, there was nothing wrong with the fit and finish, it just didn't feel good in hand, and was difficult to deploy (tapered thumb holes), I so wanted to like it because of the looks but ended up trading it for a shot-show griptillian (love that knife).
 
Dissappointed: ZT 0300 Blackwash. Lockbar locks up nice and early but simply holding it in your hand moves the lockbar to a 95% sticky lock up. Annoys the crap out of me.

Pleasant Surprise: Kershaw Blur. Got it as a gift and isn't a knife I would have concidered myself but it finds a surprising amount of pocket time. Just an overall pleasant feel to it.
 
I was disappointed with the CRK Umnumzaan. There was nothing wrong with it, fit and finish was perfect, action was smooth, I just didn't "feel it". I really wanted to love it but it just wasn't for me, I ended up trading it off.
 
Biggest Dissapointment: DPX H.E.S.T Triple Black (T3). Grip was great the blade was too thick and was hard to slice or cut things. DPX was trying to hard to make it a fixed blade folder thing? Anywho the framelock wore out too quickly, there was blade play (up-down). It wasnt really worth the money I paid for ($350). But I like the Ti skull tool. It rocks on my maxpedition Sitka everyday.

Surprise: Benchmade 810 contego. Amazing knife, smooth smooth opening, handles great, (but I had to gently sand down the aggressive G10 and steel jimping [please dont yell at me]). I'm hoping I can use the carbide tip one day.
 
Biggest surprises: Ontario Rat 2 and Spyderco Gayle Bradley.
The Rat 2 came with a more even grind, better centering, and sharper than most Benchmades I've received. I whittled a hair in the first 5 minutes I had it out of the box. It's extremely ergonomic, buttery smooth, and it cuts and slices almost better than anything I own due to the thin stock and FFG. It almost makes you think with a few improvements you could sell off everything else you have and just keep a couple Rats around. However, mine came at 100% lockup from the factory, and it's not easy to deploy slowly. It's a knife that needs to be flicked or you risk slicing your thumb, but it's a sub $30 knife so flick the hell out of it.
The Gayle Bradley was my first Taiwan Spydie and I was and still am very impressed. The f/f is remarkable, and M4 is amazing at thin edges. It wasn't on my must have list, I just found a great deal on a barely used one and thought I'd give it a shot. If I only kept one Spyderco it would be this one. It's definitely a workhorse and looks good doing it. I do find the Texas logo and the Taichung stamp right there next to each other a little odd, but I do think if it were made in Golden it'd be just a bit cooler and a true classic in my book. I mean Mr. Bradley is about as American as they come.

Biggest disappointment: Spyderco Manix 2 and Southard.
This was during my phase of thinking I needed one of everything. The Manix was one of those. I thought it looked cool in pictures, but cue nutnfancy..DUDE, JIMPING! I thought it was a little overdone, and I thought it was very wide in pocket. I knew in about 5 minutes of getting it I'd never choose it over my PM2 if they were side by side so I sold it the next day.
The Southard was a combo of reading all the hype combined with seeing all the beautiful aftermarket scales for them on here combined with getting to try one and buy if I wanted it. I knew fairly quick it wasn't for me. I'm just not a fan of flippers. The G10 was too aggressive though I would've changed that if I'd bought it anyway, and it didn't seem to cut well for my taste. I couldn't find a role for this one. And though I have no problem with the Taichung made knives (I've owned the Sage 1 and 2 which I think are fantastic) I do have a limit on what I'll invest in one. I couldn't see myself wrapping up over $250 to $300 in one, and it was more relief that I didn't buy it than disappointment in the knife.
 
Big Disappointment: SOG Aegis (total crapola!)

Pleasant Surprise: Mora Companion (extreme high value!)
 
Most disappointing? Benchmade Emissary. Nice knife, thought it would be my ideal office-dress pants knife, but it just doesn't fit my hand.

Most surprising? Either my Sebenza 21 Micarta or my ZT0560. The Sebbie I resisted for so long on, and now it is clear to me why most everyone likes them.

And the 0560? I read about all the negatives with this particular knife (sticky locks, non-centered blades, Elmax steel) but really loved the way it looked. Sure enough, the local knife store had one and we could not close the blade. So he sent it back and got another one in.

It was perfect in every way, I grabbed it and it is one of my favorites to this day. None of the above issues at all and I don't see the controversy with Elmax, seems fine to me!
 
UPDATE: the knife that actually surprised me the most now that I really think about it is my Benchmade 710. I saw them in the catalog for some time, thought "no big deal." Had no idea they were somewhat Benchmade's "flagship" model.

Then somehow my local knife shop got a M390 version in (must have been a trade; they were an exclusive, I believe, from Knifeworks) and I thought it was pretty cool. I had to have it, and paid $175 for it.

Two years later and I still feel that way. Put silver arrow clips on both sides, and it looks and performs great! You can have it in a front pocket and still get your hand in there past it, it is so narrow.
 
Biggest surprise- My $20.00 CS Trail Master copy made by MTech (MT151). After returning two pieces of warped scrap metal I told them to either send me a straight blade or a refund.
3rd time was the charm. It's the best knife I own. After stripping and acid washing the blade it sharpens to a razor edge with no effort and keeps it after heavy chopping. Balanced beautifully, it outchops its weight and heavier knives. If I had to bugout, this would be my SHTF knife.

Biggest disappointment - ESEE 4. A thick, heavy, hard to sharpen dead weight piece of metal not worth carrying if I had to bugout.

ETA- I'm not use to 1095 and need to learn how to sharpen it.
 
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Most disappointing-mini griptilian 555hg. To me felt cheap in the hand. Didnt feel too durable. Didnt like the valox handle scales. Just feels cheaply made to me. Especially for $90.00. If it was maybe a $50.00 knife it wouldnt be as disappointing to me.

Most surprising-manix 2 lightweight. I bought the manix 2 g10 prior to the lightweight and i loved the g10 version. Was perfect to me in every way except that it was a little too heavy. Bought the lightweight and was kind of iffy about it at first kept putting it off for a while. Finally bought it and i love it. The weight is perfect. I wasnt to impressed about the wire clip (before i bought the lightweight) it looked cheap to me and looked like it might break easy. But now the manix 2 lightweight has turned into number 2 on out of my favorite knives. Behind the native 5 of course. The wire clip is my new favorite clip i wish they made more spydercos with the wire clip. I just couldnt see the lightweight being better than the g10 version but in my opionion it is alot better. Was very surprised. Awsome knife!
 
Greatest disappointment? XM-18's, a 3.5" slicer got it had a weird what looked defect on the lock bar sent it back and Hinderer would not warrantee it or even repair it! didn't even used the knife had it for less than a week when I noticed the issue. Total BS anything that would bend a lock bar would of left another mark on the knife unless there lock bars are that crappy and they should do a little replaceable insert like other company's. Also fit and finish is medium at best. Basically a utility knife and not good at that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9azP60oCEQo&feature=youtu.be


I agree with the other comment as well, 3.5" Spanto. Couldn't find any trees to cut down or car doors to pry open. I'm a casual user to fat to cut anything gracefully. Good for prying but I don't use my knifes for that.


Best William Henry every knife is a masterpiece. Great designs nice attention to detail. I have gotten one I didn't like but I just didn't like the carbon piece other than that it was still a great knife and I would buy any of his knives unseen.
 
Biggest Suprise - Byrd knives. For less than $30, you get a very well made knife, G10 scales and decent steel.

Biggest Disappointment - BM mini-grip. Just does not feel like a quality knife. After adding a set of micarta scales, it is much better. But, I have close to $200 in it and it is no $200 knife.
 
This is a great thread.
My only disappointment was a SOG Jungle Warrior. Bought it as a cheap camp knife. It was dull to start. Uneven grinds and difficult to sharpen. It didn't hold an edge for crap. It was cheap though.
I wasn't impressed by the edge retention on my ZT 0560, but that is only after using a Spyderco with plain VG10
I've been impressed by every Spyderco I've purchased.
 
I wanted to add here Hinder never made good horrible service and warrantee, however
STONE RIVER! awesome I purchased a SRG2CFB at a knife show for the fun of it wand it was cheap $80 and looked and felt great. It is a Ceramic Folding Knife with Carbon Fiber Handle. WOW I have been carrying this for a month cut cardboard with it every day and it is still sharp. Also because the blade is so hard where the little bearing rides to cause friction is like glass and so smooth, one of the best actions and for $80 I can't believer the fit and finish. Anyhow a little plastic dot popped out of one of the thumb studs. I called stone river seeing if I could acquire another the guy looked at my order I bought a bunch of stuff and just sent me another one FREE! Great customer service and very friendly people was nit expecting that.
 
Most disappointed: CRK My Tighe. After having it for a while, I really, really hate the serrations.

Most surprised: Benchmade 530. The first time I handled it, I hated the way it because it felt too light and sounded hollow when deploying. About four years later, I bought one, and it's in my regular rotation with my mini grip, and it does everything the mini grip does, but hides in the pocket better.
 
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