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

My biggest disappointment had to be a SOG Aegis. I really liked the blade shape and size and the handle actually felt really good in hand. But goodness after some pocket time and some usage the up and down blade play that thing developed irritated the heck out of me not to mention the flexing of the handle. Come to think of it any SOG that is liner less all have disappointed me, and honestly it was a SOG back in the day that got me started in this knife addiction a Mini X-Ray. Being that SOG got me started in knife accumulation I have mistakenly given them more chances than necessary in my collecting. I will never buy another SOG without liners, but I still fancy some of their upper end beefy folders like the Vulcan which I love.

The knife that surprised me the most has to be the Spyderco Manix2 Lightweight. I never really gave it too much thought having seen it over and over never believing it could deliver on a lighter more pocket friendly version of the Manix2 (which I love but it's just kinda heavy). Finally I broke down and bought one and I can't put that thing down. It immediately went into my rotation and has surpassed any misgivings I may have had previously. No way could that translucent handle material be strong, and no way can that BD1 steel be that great I thought. Looking at it just didn't do it for me, but let me tell you looks can definitely be deceiving. It has turned out to be a real winner in my eyes and in my hands, the scales are a lot stiffer and stronger than I imagined and the BD1 steel is far better than I thought. It's every bit as good as a G-10 Manix, in a lighter use kind of way, more practical for EDC without the weight. Obviously it won't handle as much abuse as the G-10 version, but for 99 percent of EDC uses the Lightweight is a real winner and a very pleasant surprise.
 
Disappointment = Buck Vantage Pro because it just wasn't comfortable in my hand and I could never get the flipper to open smoothly even after I gave it a good cleaning and lubed it. I liked the blade shape and steel but the knife as a whole just didn't live up to the hype IMO.

Surprised = ESEE Zancudo because its amazing you can get a knife this good for under $30. It came perfectly centered, razor sharp, even grind lines, rock solid lock up....etc. If a $30 knife can be done this well there is no excuse for $100+ knives to have uneven grinds or uncentered blades.
 
Severe disappointment, CASE/Bose Norfolk, Whole load of build & finish issues and at 300+ USD not so cheap...Lot of background noise/fanfare about these knives but I would not bother again. Totally overspoken.

Surprised, CRKT Ripple, inexpensive and very satisfying 30 USD or less. Queen Cutlery Country Cousin in D2 about 30 USD too and a really fantastic feeling & using knife. Worth a huge amount more.
 
My biggest disappointment was a Sebenza, actually. I got to handle one and... was completely unimpressed. It looks cool, but I can't see paying a dime over $200 on it.

Most surprising? I would have to say ZT 550. I thought I would hate it. I thought the handle looked painful and the blade would suck to sharpen, but both were dead wrong. I would dare say that knife is nearly perfect. I traded it away like a moron but finally got another one, and the second is even better. Centering is off a little, but the blade deploys like it is rocket assisted, and it is smoother than anything I have ever seen. I would dare say as smooth as a Sebenza. It even came from the factory like that, neither me or the original owner have done anything to it.
 
Pleasant surprise:

Buck Vantage Force Pro, hadn't owned a new Buck since I got my 110 as a kid and they didn't have a great name online but the Vantage Force Pro is probably one of the best knives in it's price range. Great pocket clip, good looking knife, good steel.
 
Last edited:
dkb45 said:
My biggest disappointment was a Sebenza, actually. I got to handle one and... was completely unimpressed. It looks cool, but I can't see paying a dime over $200 on it.

Most surprising? I would have to say ZT 550. I thought I would hate it. I thought the handle looked painful and the blade would suck to sharpen, but both were dead wrong. I would dare say that knife is nearly perfect. I traded it away like a moron but finally got another one, and the second is even better. Centering is off a little, but the blade deploys like it is rocket assisted, and it is smoother than anything I have ever seen. I would dare say as smooth as a Sebenza. It even came from the factory like that, neither me or the original owner have done anything to it.
Click to expand...


I think the ZT 0550 Gen II is one of the easiest recommendations to make...what a great knife, it replaced my SnG as one of my most often carried EDC's and you're right, its smooth a silk.
 
Barman1 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I'll take that if you don't want it! I always accept donations!

I will add another disappointment: Ontario XM-1. The blade got scary sharp in no effort and cut like a laser, and the lock was perfect, and the blade rocketed open, but the handles were so damn thick! The knife almost felt round in my hand!

Another surprise: Spyderco Delica 4. The knife fully lived up to the hype. The blade came incredibly sharp, and even though I hated lockbacks I loved everything about that knife. I have wound up getting a total of 5 Delicas or Enduras since then because they are awesome. They are also great trading items, very hot ticket items.
 
My biggest disappointment was a Lionspy SR-1 damascus, which was just too hard to open with one hand, and much bigger than I thought. I returned it.

My biggest surprise was the Hinderer XM-18 3" slicer. It lives up to the hype and then some. Worth every penny of the secondary market price.

IMG_0225_zpsdf771d8c.jpg


And my latest pleasant surprise is the new basket weave damascus Box Elder Mnandi. They are grinding (or polishing) the tang area on the lockface side to eliminate the gritty feel of the damascus when opening, but an unexpected advantage is that they now can be easily opened one-handed. Lockface side not shown in photo. Note that the polished tang part shows a bit and bothers some collectors.

IMG_0122_zps9d99650f.jpg
 
Biggest disappointments:

Emerson CQC-7 - chisel grind that had an edge on it like a hockey stick, couldn't slice through a simple piece of chord. Blade wobble/play. I had to constantly noodle with the pivot screw and could never get the tension just right. I bought mine new, sold it and never looked back. I will say that Ernie's custom knives are a whole different story. Very well made knives.

Strider PT & SnG - loved the design and just about everything else except for the bladeplay. Unacceptable for any knife, regardless of price.

Most pleasantly surprised:

Byrd Cara Cara - I couldn't believe how well made these are and how they compare favorably to the Spyderco line in fit, finish, and design. I don't now of a better $30 knife on the market.

Kershaw Scallion - Design, ease of opening, lock-up, comfort, sharpness...all in a sub $40 knife. Plus their customer service is legendary.

Boker Krein Pocket Bowie - I love this little knife. I've added it to my EDC pack and use it for small tasks. It is razor sharp, small, and has a nice clean finish. I got mine with the leather sheath since I'm not a fan of kydex.
 
really nothing to be disappointed with but i'm surprised with the buck vantage select and it's ability as a user, and it's not an expensive buy. holds a good edge, love the shape of the blade, holds well, and although it's not a flippers wet dream, i'm not the flipping type so it works out for me.
 
Last edited:
Disappointment - Buck Vantage Force Pro. Weak liner, uncomfortable grip due to the protruding liner, and a laundry list of quality control biffs.

Surprised - Ontario Utilitac II. Fell in love the moment I opened it and that love has surprisingly continued when I usually tire of cheap knives pretty quick.
 
Disappointed? My Ka-bar next generation. Handle broke while baton-splitting a 1.5" diameter piece of firewood. Looked into it (mechanical engineering student). Just a terrible design. The crack occurred along a really tight interior angle (where the blade transferred to a tang at the front guard), almost no filleting. Kabar's design engineers should know better; I lost a lot of faith in that company. To be fair, I since bought a Kabar MULE folder that works just great; toughest little folder I've got. It goes with me out to the field quite a bit.

Surprised? ESEE Izula. I bought it alongside an ESEE-6, thinking I'd be using the 6 quite a bit more and that the Izula would be too small to be very useful. The six is now at home, the Izula's in my pocket (and the Izula does just fine batoning that kindling, even with a 2.5" blade).
 
mcrow said:
Just curious, what didn't you like about the Vantage Force Pro?
Click to expand...

I was talking about the regular Vantage Pro in my post not the newer Force version. The Vantage Pro was uncomfortable in my hand, didn't flip smoothly, blade was way off center...etc just had a lot of quality control issues. I bought it when they first came out so its possible the newer ones don't have the same problems.
 
Biggest surprise: Ontario Rat 1 folder. For $30, just a great knife. Solid lock-up, tight tolerances, nice design. Plus I actually use it hard, and I don't worry about losing or breaking it because it cost the same as a couple t-shirts. The only thing I don't like are the plastic scales, but shoot - it's a $30 knife. I think they're crazy not to sell another version with nicer scales (rather than the plastic) and price it for $50.
Every Spyderco I've ever owned has been solid, tight, and well-designed. They just don't seem to turn out bad stuff, as far as I can tell. I don't think I can say that about many other brands, no matter what they make (gear, tools, etc).

Biggest disappointment: All the Buck folders I've owned. I live pretty close to the Buck factory, and the company has a great reputation in the area, I think mostly because Chuck Buck seems like a genuinely good guy. Their folders are probably OK, but when comparing them to other similarly-priced folders, they just come up short, especially in fit and finish. I had a Buck/Strider and it was like holding a brick, only more uncomforatable in the hand and not as sharp. :) On the flip side, their fixed knives seem great, and I have a friend who has hunted with the same Buck 119 for 30 years and during that time beat it up pretty good. He recently brought it in to Buck, and they tuned it up for him, no charge. It looked literally brand new when they handed it back.
 
Last edited:
fsatsil said:
I was talking about the regular Vantage Pro in my post not the newer Force version. The Vantage Pro was uncomfortable in my hand, didn't flip smoothly, blade was way off center...etc just had a lot of quality control issues.
Click to expand...

yep..what he said LOL. after tinkering it for awhile I gave mine away to a friend who was willing to take the time to send it back to Buck.
 
theoriginalspaceman said:
Biggest surprise: Ontario Rat 1 folder. For $30, just a great knife. Solid lock-up, tight tolerances, nice design. Plus I actually use it hard, and I don't worry about losing or breaking it because it cost the same as a couple t-shirts. The only thing I don't like are the plastic scales, but shoot - it's a $30 knife. I think they're crazy not to sell another version with nicer scales (rather than the plastic) and price it for $50.
Every Spyderco I've ever owned has been solid, tight, and well-designed. They just don't seem to turn out bad stuff, as far as I can tell. I don't think I can say that about many other brands, no matter what they make (gear, tools, etc).

Biggest disappointment: All the Buck folders I've owned. I live pretty close to the Buck factory, and the company has a great reputation in the area, I think mostly because Chuck Buck seems like a genuinely good guy. Their folders are probably OK, but when comparing them to other similarly-priced folders, they just come up short, especially in fit and finish. I had a Buck/Strider and it was like holding a brick, only more uncomforatable in the hand and not as sharp. :) On the flip side, their fixed knives seem great, and I have a friend who has hunted with the same Buck 119 for 30 years and during that time beat it up pretty good. He recently brought it in to Buck, and they tuned it up for him, no charge. It looked literally brand new when they handed it back.
Click to expand...

I think the Vantage Force Pros are good quality knives. At least the newest versions of the Vantage Force Pro line are. The classic folders are still great knives as well but the Bantams and other folders are not great knives.
 
didn't know we live in a flipping mad society. :p i usually just use two hands to open my knife if it's not built to flip like crazy. i just want it to cut.
 
Surprised -
U2 - I just love that little knife.
Mini-Grip - I thought I would like it, but it dominates my EDC. Easy to open and close. Fun to flip around. Razor sharp. My plan is to get the full-size and retire.
Queen Country Cousin - Love D2.
Mora - I've gotta get me some more. And I need a Robust.

Disappointed -
Emerson Commander - I wish I hadn't sold it, but it just didn't flip my switch.
Boker barlow - Fit and finish just didn't do it for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top