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

Surfingringo said:
Hehe, funny, I have the dragonfly in H1 and it is my favorite knife! Even though I completely agree with your assessment. It is extremely soft and has pretty awful edge retention. (At least its super quick and easy to sharpen) Mine however spends everyday in the ocean fishing from a kayak, so it's definitely a specialized purpose knife! I just have to hit it a few licks every evening and its shaving sharp in 30 seconds! I live in the tropics and it never leaves my side! H1 is as good as it gets for me! If I were anywhere else, I would be much happier with the vg10 version I'm sure.
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I follow your folders and fish thread. I think it's cool to see what fish people are catching and what knives they use for them. Did you consider the serrated dragonfly salt?

My brother lived down in Costa Rica For a while, and I was lucky enough to stay down there with him a while. It's a beautiful place. I loved the more rural areas. Guanacaste Especially. Some remote beaches on the Pacific that I either don't remember their names or I was never told them.
 
Biggest letdown, had to be a Sebenza. Now hear me out. I wanted a Sebenza for about 3 years before I finally convinced myself to fork out almost $500.00 for a regular unique. I ordered it and waited for 4 whole days for it to show up. I checked the tracking 4 or maybe 20 times a day. When it finally arrived I was at work. Left a few hours early because I had to see it. I opened the box and expected to hear angles sing, a bright glow like when they open a treasure chest in the movies, I expected to find blade so amazing it would be the be all end all of my knife obsession. And what did I find? A knife that's right a knife, no singing angles, no glow, just a knife. Nowadays I have 4 Chris Reeve knives 3 sebenza's and will probably buy more, but believe me with all the hype, that was my biggest let down.
 
Ar10shooter said:
Biggest letdown, had to be a Sebenza. Now hear me out. I wanted a Sebenza for about 3 years before I finally convinced myself to fork out almost $500.00 for a regular unique. I ordered it and waited for 4 whole days for it to show up. I checked the tracking 4 or maybe 20 times a day. When it finally arrived I was at work. Left a few hours early because I had to see it. I opened the box and expected to hear angles sing, a bright glow like when they open a treasure chest in the movies, I expected to find blade so amazing it would be the be all end all of my knife obsession. And what did I find? A knife that's right a knife, no singing angles, no glow, just a knife. Nowadays I have 4 Chris Reeve knives 3 sebenza's and will probably buy more, but believe me with all the hype, that was my biggest let down.
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There really isn't that much more hype over a Sebenza than there is with a Spyderco. Sebenzas just get a lot more attention because people are much more likely to rave about a blade they spent $350+ on than a knife that costs a third of the price. Don't get me wrong, Sebenza's are awesome; but I can't justify the price. I'd rather have three Native 5's. :D
 
Disappointed in: ZT0550 and 0560, ZT0560 only 1 of 2 knives I ever returned
and some others I don't remember atm
Surprisingly delightful: ER nemesis, Souderco vallotton and maybe more
 
Ar10shooter said:
Biggest letdown, had to be a Sebenza.... I opened the box and expected to hear angles sing, a bright glow like when they open a treasure chest in the movies, I expected to find blade so amazing it would be the be all end all of my knife obsession. And what did I find? A knife that's right a knife, no singing angles, no glow, just a knife. Nowadays I have 4 Chris Reeve knives 3 sebenza's and will probably buy more, but believe me with all the hype, that was my biggest let down.
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I think your knife must be defective, because my small Sebbie sings like an angel every time I open it, and has a halo too. Maybe you got a fake. :D
 
The knife which has disappointed me the most was my Spyderco Tenacious. I loved everything about it, until I discovered that its lock is really weak. I'm sure Spyderco's other offerings have stronger locks, but I just don't want to carry my previously-beloved Tenacious anymore

What knife has surprised me the most? Probably my Kershaw Oso Sweet, for the opposite reason; the lock is a lot stronger than it looks. Either that or my Cold Steel Roach Belly, which I just bought for a giggle since it was cheap, and it has since become my around-the-house do-everything knife.
 
Saleen63 said:
Disappointment- Benchmade 810 Contego. The jimping was very extreme and made the knife uncomfortable to use. I wish they had a version with out the jimping. If they did I would get it again.

Biggest surprise has been my 561 with rival scales and 561cbcf. They fit my hand perfect and are really solid knives.
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thwy have a version without aggressive jimping. It's called the one you use 2 k sandpaper on.
 
haven't really had any big disappointments, but an inexpensive knife that i've always been suprised with is the crkt m16 13z. it's an aus4 zytel version of the m16. always had a good lock up until recently from beating on a broken spigot with it... hey, it's a $35 knife, so i don't feel too bad in testing its integrity. of course it's easy to sharpen being aus4, and really holds an edge pretty well considering how ill most people speak of aus4. i also just plain love the feel of the knife. it has a partially serrated blade with what i think is an excellent shape to the serrations, and they're not that bad to sharpen. it's gone through 8 years of abuse, and so far just has a little front to back blade play, which lots of use in general probably added to it from the liner lock losing some of its starch.

i guess i've had a disappointment in an aspect of a knife, but it's still a good knife... i wish the griptilian had a more solid feel by having full liners.
 
PharaohX3 said:
Biggest surprise: SOG Seal Pup Elite! SOG is always kind of hit or miss for me (usually a miss) but the Pup Elite is a winner. Tough. Pretty easy to sharpen. Good edge retention. Great sheath(the nylon). Comfortable to work with. Cuts very well. Good asthetics even though I usually shy away from the "tactical" look. Affordable at around $65. I recommend the Pup to anyone who is looking for a good stainless utility knife built to last but doesnt want to spend alot. The steel is mediocre but the HT is very solid. My only complaint is that its made in Taiwan, but I can get over it. I gave just mine to my 12 year old nephew this weekend on a camping trip actually. He's starting to get into knives and the Pup seems like a great entry level blade. I'll get another at some point I'm sure.


I'm contemplating on a purchase of a Bark River. Could you please tell me what defects I should be on the lookout for: design, steel, ergos, etc.? Thanks.
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apsheron said:
I'm contemplating on a purchase of a Bark River. Could you please tell me what defects I should be on the lookout for: design, steel, ergos, etc.? Thanks.
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With dozens of models and literally hundreds and hundreds of blade/handle combos making BR knives almost custom, you would be better served to start out with a design you like and research that design. BF is an encyclopedia of info on just about any knife made.

Then of course, there is Google...

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
With dozens of models and literally hundreds and hundreds of blade/handle combos making BR knives almost custom, you would be better served to start out with a design you like and research that design. BF is an encyclopedia of info on just about any knife made.

Then of course, there is Google...

Robert
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? That made no sense.

Anyway, I was asking the quoted poster, not you.
 
Buck Nighthawk and its cheapness of construction. This was couple of decades ago.

Kabar TDI suprised me with fit and sharpness. Good stuff.
 
Ar10shooter said:
Biggest letdown, had to be a Sebenza. Now hear me out. I wanted a Sebenza for about 3 years before I finally convinced myself to fork out almost $500.00 for a regular unique. I ordered it and waited for 4 whole days for it to show up. I checked the tracking 4 or maybe 20 times a day. When it finally arrived I was at work. Left a few hours early because I had to see it. I opened the box and expected to hear angles sing, a bright glow like when they open a treasure chest in the movies, I expected to find blade so amazing it would be the be all end all of my knife obsession. And what did I find? A knife that's right a knife, no singing angles, no glow, just a knife. Nowadays I have 4 Chris Reeve knives 3 sebenza's and will probably buy more, but believe me with all the hype, that was my biggest let down.
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If you were expecting the Sebenza to end your knife obsession and be the end all knife, then you were expecting too much. I knew what I was getting into with my Sebenza, and I bought it because it's a knife I've always appreciated and wanted. Once I got it in my hand, what everyone said about them made sense. It's a very well built knife. Sure, some of my other knives probably cut better, ride better in my pocket, so on and so forth, but my Sebenza still sees my pocket more than just about anything else in my collection.
 
A little disappointed: Leatherman OHT

I had been waiting for this multitool/knife for a long time, and finally did get one at Cabella's when I was travelling to US.

I owned more than a handful of LM tools for 20+ years and as much as I like LM products, the tolerance and the thoughfulness of this tool is simply not what I expected it to be. Maybe my expectation was set a little high from owning a few TTi, but

1) All cutting tools are much smaller than the past(I understand it's tough to design everything accessible by one-hand, but I'd much rather have a larger blade than to have a one-hand-open can opener...just can't understand what's the emergency for opening a can while the priority of having a larger blade could be important)

2) Tolerance and thoughtfulness
The centerpiece pliers have so much play in the middle that, I can see the looseness and make noise when I am just holding one handle and wiggle the tool. This could be more annoying when you have use a screwdriver, and the whole tool just kept wiggling in your hand due to play.

Also, comparing to TTi, I am not too sure whether everything is as well thought out. If you are a righty, a quick way to identify a serrated blade vs plain blade on TTi is to feel whether there is jimping on the opening handle. Now on OHT, the only difference between a blade and a safety-belt-cutter is a larger opening on the handle of the safety-belt cutter. Assuming this OHT is intended for military use, it might be difficult for anyone to tell that difference when wearing gloves. If it means anything, I tried to identify the blade vs safety-belt-cutter with various gloves, and I can't tell. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth of rant. :o



Pleasantly surprised: Mora bushcraft survival
It's rather beefy on hand, and I beated the crap out of this knife for batoning many firewood when I first got it. The edge was a little dull at the end, but everything still held together well, and a little maintenance brought it back to life in no time. Also, the firesteel included was of good quality, the back of the coated carbon steel blade could easily make sparks with it. :thumbup:
 
Biggest disappointment: HTM AXD 5.5 Assisted... Yeah, I know it's a movie prop but figured HTM would put out a better product. :(
I received the knife and first time opened the frame lock well... locked up so tight I needed to pry it open. I did the graphite treatment on it a nd worked it a few hundred times and still no change, just locked up tight. Seemed to me the blade and pivot were flexing (??) enough to allow the lock to really settle in behind the blade so the more I worked it the worse it got. Sent it to HTM for adjustment.
Got it back and within 4-5 blade cycles it locked up tight again. Depressed, I sent it back to the vendor that sold it to me for a replacement.
The new one operated OK for a few dozen cycles then got loose. Loose enough to have up and down blade play and a rattle when shaking it up and down with the blade open. Not exactly confidence inspiring when the lock and blade aren't mating. I removed the clip to do some pivot adjustment and found that the pivot isn't notched so it will spin while turning the screw. Not a bad thing necessarily just another lack of detail item. I left the clip off for a while to make hassle free pivot adjustments (very finicky pivot) and when I reinstalled the clip one of the screws wouldn't seat. Yup, stripped from one time unscrewing. Being a machinist of sorts previously by trade I know that this trait is usually caused by cross threading and as I only removed the screw once I'll allow you to make the call on this one.
Needless to say I'm a bit miffed. A knife of this MSRP (I didn't pay that) should be near flawless. I was going to try to sell it with all of its issues disclosed for really cheap rather than facing another disappointment with repair but I think I'll do an in depth video review at some point which culminates with my catapulting the piece into the drink rather than subjecting another to its problems.
Rant over.

My pleasant surprises:
My Spyderco collection. Just got into it again and can't stop. Just a good solid performing line.
 
Biggest dissapointment: Mora Companion.
I had read tons of reviews about what a good bushcraft knife it is. It wasn't for me. I chipped the heck out of the blade and I wasn't even using it that hard. My son's held up a little better but they just don't work for what we do. I see video's of people chopping and batoning with them. I don't see how.

Biggest Surprise. Ganzo G704.
I didn't have it more than a couple days because I bought it to give to a friend. For $15 it seemed like a hell of a knife to me. I may pick up another one for me someday even though I am not a huge fan of knives made outside the USA but this one was such a bargain I may make an exception.
 
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