Will present day designs be considered traditional in the future?

[Surfingringo]

It is an interesting topic. Thought provoking. Would make a good topic for a debate club, because I feel like I could make a strong argument to support either theory. But just like every time we are trying to speculate what the future will bring, your only sure fire way of learning the truth...is to live long enough.

Good luck to all.

 

[GIRLYmann]

bonky has clearly spelt out the honest truth.
for a start, numbers matters the most,
until such time when a certain something becomes common place.
and when that something remains unchanged for the longest time.
it then becomes traditional in practice or form.
in this world of consumerism, we have long since left the era of the model t-ford.
our choices may not be entirely our own though.
imo, the consumer is spurred into buying with reasoning nearing false pretenses,
delusion even.
we should buy when we need and not because of endless wants or just because.
The tactical fad is a classic example of something churned out of mere speculative needs.
with ton and tons of steel going into defensive implements
which a great majority would probably never be physically utilized for it's supposed task.
It's a fact that we're now buying simply because of styling and pricing.
As it turns out man is never satisfied;
as for buying habits, it's always going to be the
"out with the old, and in with the new" mentality.
so how could any one particular newly created massed produced knife model of today.
hope to stand a chance of ever achieving the time honored traditional status,
without a valid purpose of being for the general mass population?

 

[22-rimfire]

The current "tactical" knives will never be "traditional" knives. WWI and WWII bayonets and combat knives are not traditional knives. They may considered classic or classic tactical knives, but not traditional. You need to take the combat out of the the knife for it to be seen as stictly a tool by the masses. SAKs have gained traditional status.

 

[stabman]

Now that we're in the age of technology, modern inventions have replaced the old. The current tactical-style knives fill a need, and are popular, but to a very limited portion of the population. They aren't commonly carried by politicians, librarians, boy-scouts, mechanics, tailors..... You get the idea, I'm sure.

Well...
I'm working as a lab tech and carry "tactical" knives.
My brother and father are engineers, and carry "tactical" knives.
My step-brother is a jeweller and carries a "tactical" knife.

I've seen nurses, mechanics, and others carrying "tactical" knives...because that's the type of knife you'll find in most stores when you go to buy a knife.

Of yeah, I just remembered; I saw one of the manager women at Chrysler Canada Headquarters use a "tactical" knife...to tactically open a box of brochures from storage. She didn't seem likely to go on any ninja missions, and it came in a kit with a screwdriver and wrench. Those wonky knives are everywhere.

 

[Surfingringo]

The current "tactical" knives will never be "traditional" knives. WWI and WWII bayonets and combat knives are not traditional knives. They may considered classic or classic tactical knives, but not traditional. You need to take the combat out of the the knife for it to be seen as stictly a tool by the masses. SAKs have gained traditional status.

Missing the point I think. Bayonets and combat knives weren't being used as edc's. It seems to me that right now, the "tradition" is to carry single blade locking folders, many of them with a "tactical" design. How that will be viewed in a couple hundred years is anybody's guess. Anyone who says they are sure of the answer to that is full of it. Interesting reading everyone's guesses though. ;-)

 

[ron_m80]

Common usage of a word, does not override tradition.

 

[bonky]

Well...
I'm working as a lab tech and carry "tactical" knives.
My brother and father are engineers, and carry "tactical" knives.
My step-brother is a jeweller and carries a "tactical" knife.

I've seen nurses, mechanics, and others carrying "tactical" knives...because that's the type of knife you'll find in most stores when you go to buy a knife.

Of yeah, I just remembered; I saw one of the manager women at Chrysler Canada Headquarters use a "tactical" knife...to tactically open a box of brochures from storage. She didn't seem likely to go on any ninja missions, and it came in a kit with a screwdriver and wrench. Those wonky knives are everywhere.

I didn't say that none of those people owned them; rather that it isn't common. With the rise of industrialization and the shift from rural to urban culture, knives as a whole became relics. They were no longer necessary for daily life once modern conveniences replaced the need for them in the first place.

Thus the collapse of the foundries at Sheffield, Solingen, and the Northeastern US. The consumer drives the market, and the consumers were no longer buying tools they found they didn't need. This is the main reason that today's tactical knives exist in the first place. The few manufacturers who managed to stay afloat had to come up with a new product that would sell, when what they had been previously producing no longer did.

You mentioned lab-techs, engineers, nurses, mechanics, and a Chrysler manager carrying tactical knives. Of all those people, how many absolutely had to carry them to accomplish their daily tasks?

I'm guessing none.

And that's why I do not believe that today's knives will ever be considered "traditional".

This isn't intended as a jab at tacticals, since I own and treasure several myself.
It's just that society as a whole no longer has the daily need for knives of any kind that it once did.
The few that are sold today are sold to a niche market, be they traditional, tactical, or whatever. I do not see that changing anytime soon, although I reserve the right to be completely and totaly wrong.

In fact, I hope I am.

 

[Moondrop]

It's just that society as a whole no longer has the daily need for knives of any kind that it once did.
The few that are sold today are sold to a niche market, be they traditional, tactical, or whatever. I do not see that changing anytime soon, although I reserve the right to be completely and totaly wrong.

In fact, I hope I am.

I think it's more that society as a whole *thinks* it no longer has a need for knives. Until, that is, they need to open some obnoxious plastic packaging keeping them from their new gadget. Or new DVD. There are now specialized cutting tools designed to make it easier for people to cut that stuff open. Then there's food that's wrapped in that space-age plastic that doesn't tear so they try to chew it open. Or that package that just arrived, so they use a car key.

Or, as in many of the stories that have been posted here, they turn to the person they know carries a knife and ask to borrow that. But otherwise, they have no need for knives in their daily lives...

 

[bonky]

I think it's more that society as a whole *thinks* it no longer has a need for knives. Until, that is, they need to open some obnoxious plastic packaging keeping them from their new gadget. Or new DVD. There are now specialized cutting tools designed to make it easier for people to cut that stuff open. Then there's food that's wrapped in that space-age plastic that doesn't tear so they try to chew it open. Or that package that just arrived, so they use a car key.

Or, as in many of the stories that have been posted here, they turn to the person they know carries a knife and ask to borrow that. But otherwise, they have no need for knives in their daily lives...

Hahaha! Indeed. Which is why I always carry more than one knife.
One "truck-stop special" for loaning is in my pocket at all times

 

[GIRLYmann]

the world has to wait until the first pocket laser edc hits the market;
if knives are to make it's eventual exit from the pockets of the common man on the street
hmm, kinds of reminds me of the humble match stick or the flits way before that,
a product now largely replaced by gas lighters.
And with the tobacco industry facing such a tough hurdle now because of the powers that be and thus the general public perception towards smoking;
it makes one wonder how that would change the life of the disposable pocket lighters.
Anyhow, i digress.
Guess only in time, will we'll finally see the biggest challenge ever for knives to be viewed as still being relevant for the every day man of the future or a mere technologically outdated relics or even a hideous curio called the knife in carrying out the said assigned daily task.

 

[HwangJino]

Happens to music as well.

I think whats old now will be vintage/antique and modern eill evolve to traditional?