Why are traditionals different?

Yeah, get a Rough Rider or a Vic or for a bit more money a Case. Or maybe find an older USA Schrade. You won't worry about damaging them and you'll quickly find out how much you enjoy having them with you. That might help you get over your concerns and you'll start carrying your more expensive knives.
 
If you already have it, go ahead and use it. Just use it for what it was made to do. Use your other tools the same way. Screwdrivers for screws, hammers for nails, pry bars for prying, axes for chopping, knives for cutting. I have yet to wear one out through years of proper use.

It is a lot like getting the first scratch on your truck, or breaking in a good pair of boots. Once it isn't perfect, it isn't new but it gets easier to use it for work without worrying about that first scratch.
 
@Hickory n steel and @22-rimfire got the right idea. I like the old Providence Rhode Island blades. Imperial and Colonial carbon steel can be had for a couple bucks, have carbon steel, and look classic. I have loads of them and there's no fear in using them. If I get a GEC I'd keep it as a safe Queen because I have that same mental resistance as the OP is trying to get over. Hit the Exchange and buy used ones so there is some imperfection to help you feel better about using it! I buy almost everything used, so that I will actually use them! I even get my SAK's used! Hard to beat a SAK Super Tinker IMHO ;)
 
I have approximately 200+ traditional folders and most of them are in great shape for knives averagin' 50 years older and more. Older traditional patterns can be had for reasonable prices.

Here's a small portion of the different patterns I'll carry throughout the weeks.

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Oh and it's not scratches, dings and chips, it's character and pocket worn with a knice patina. :)
 
Although I'd happily second a SAK, I would mention that there is a super modern knife about to hit the market which would satisfy the steel that you have been used to and with its Ti bolster and CF scales, be pretty much impervious to anything but intentional damage while still preserving the advantages of a traditional. Namely the Lionsteel 'Euro' Barlow. I believe there are still a few left.

I'd have to say though, a good traditional is a lot tougher than you might think. A wood or micarta handle will handle drops well though bone *might* crack. The pins are strong and the bolsters don't dent that easily. I've been carrying a traditional for a while. I'm clumsy and it's all stone floors around here. I've yet to begin to properly damage a traditional. Never mind ones made as well as a GEC (for example) with tight tolerances. You would have simply have to be trying quite hard to damage them. Worst I ever managed was drop an Opinel point down onto a stone floor and its incredibly thin tip bent slightly. I straightened it out with my leatherman and went back to cutting my apple. :) Honestly, just start carrying and using the thing. I believe you will soon discover why there are so many century old traditionals still in great condition and fully able to slip back into a pocket should the need arise.
 
Thanks for all the input folks, just to add some clarification - my reluctance to carry some of my traditional folders is not related to a perception that they are fragile or brittle in some sort of way - it's more of wondering whether or not I'm equipped to handle putting that first imperfection on it. Something I will soon have to get over.

Pomsbz Pomsbz - thanks for the Lionsteel Euro Barlow recommendation - after doing some research and reading a 21 page thread it does appear that this might just be the knife that gets me over the hump. A traditionally styled knife with modern materials. After reading the thread I headed over to the CK website to see if there were any available as you mentioned and as luck would have it......

7-18-2017 1-08-38 PM.jpg
 
We have the same problem. It's hard for me to put the first scratch or ding on any thing. I've learned to like used items for their character. My grandfather had an 60's era craftsman carpenters knife. He used it to cut off a plug off tobacco to chew and scrape grass from under his lawn mower. I would never part with it.
 
The first scratch is the hardest to stomach. If you are afraid of using a prestine knife, go buy some used ones and carry/use them all you want.
 
Squidman24 said:
Thanks for all the input folks, just to add some clarification - my reluctance to carry some of my traditional folders is not related to a perception that they are fragile or brittle in some sort of way - it's more of wondering whether or not I'm equipped to handle putting that first imperfection on it. Something I will soon have to get over.

Pomsbz Pomsbz - thanks for the Lionsteel Euro Barlow recommendation - after doing some research and reading a 21 page thread it does appear that this might just be the knife that gets me over the hump. A traditionally styled knife with modern materials. After reading the thread I headed over to the CK website to see if there were any available as you mentioned and as luck would have it......

View attachment 736448
Click to expand...
Glad to have helped a fellow knife enthusiast spend more money. :D
 
Bigbobg said:
We have the same problem. It's hard for me to put the first scratch or ding on any thing. I've learned to like used items for their character. My grandfather had an 60's era craftsman carpenters knife. He used it to cut off a plug off tobacco to chew and scrape grass from under his lawn mower. I would never part with it.
Click to expand...
I think you have hit the nail on the head here. I guess I actually kind of like having knives that I have put my mark on with a bit of honest use, don't really like to buy them just to put up without using them. My father (a true child of the Depression) used to laugh at the whole notion of collecting knives before he passed, telling me I might just as well collect hammers!
It is a bit of a different world now, perhaps more people are becoming more used to acquiring things to have them rather than to use them, in the way people collect baseball cards and suchlike. Maybe this would cause one to think that value is in the having not the using of an object.
 
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