Worst knife you've ever purchased...

Maxam hunting knife, used it once put it away and a week later was rusted. Then chopped a few 3/4 inch branches and it got loose and couldnt tighten, and blade chipped. Last time, only tried and true stuff from now on for me.
 
While I have known much, much worse (my sister's Maxim knives) the worst knife I can remember in recent history is the Gerber Trendy.

Wikipedia defines "Trendy" as "in accordance with the latest trend, fashion or hype." It also lists synonyms including superficial, shallow, materialistic, and mistakenly fashionable.

ger7167.jpg


So all in all, great name for the knife. Terrible steel, and dangerous fit and finish on a knife designed to be used as a money clip or clipped to a pocket.

After a few uses, the edge of the blade was no longer protected by the handle onlay. It was protruding so far it snagged on my pants pocket, and I felt it start to sink in. If I had been removing my money from the pocket any faster, I could have done some serious damage to my leg or my hand.

Instead of just getting rid of the knife, I exchanged it for a second one. Same exact deal. Cheap blade steel, and poor fit and finish on a cheap knife are A-OK. Dangerous fit and finish is not!
 
panch0 said:
Maxam hunting knife, used it once put it away and a week later was rusted. Then chopped a few 3/4 inch branches and it got loose and couldnt tighten, and blade chipped. Last time, only tried and true stuff from now on for me.
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you could have just said: "i had a MAXAM".


and left it at that. we would have all known it was the crappiest knife you ever bought.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
you could have just said: "i had a MAXAM".


and left it at that. we would have all known it was the crappiest knife you ever bought.
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:D :thumbup:

Stay away if you value your fingers.

Matter of fact, stay away from Maxam even if you don't care about your fingers.
 
carrot said:
Cold Steel xytel Ti-Lite. Good thing my friend wanted it.
It's like they didn't even bother trying to USE it before they started selling them -- the guard is sharp and can easily scrape you up (not to mention rip pockets) and the textured release on the liner lock is as slippery as can be. At least it sharpens up nicely.
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That's because it's a weapon. The quillion that sticks out is designed to be sharp to use as an impact tool. And yes, you have to find a good position in your pocket, or else it's probably going to tear it up over time. I find the liner lock to be just fine.

That said, I've never used this knife to cut anything, and I hope I don't have to (it's not my utility knife by any means).

2brothers said:
Another vote for the Paraframe and all it's versions. Pieces of crap.

Then again, I probably don't know what I'm talking about. :rolleyes:

mike
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What's wrong with it???
 
Last I checked impact weapons did not need to be sharp to be effective... they just need to have a point of some kind, preferably one blunt enough to not penetrate. If the quill-lion were chamfered it would be no less effective. On a good liner lock like the Military, it is difficult to accidentally close and yet still has a very grippy release.
 
I hate to say it, but my sample of the Camillus paratrooper knife was pretty bad. I did not mind the bright orange, but the flimsy opening and lock was pretty pathetic.
Ed T

PS For sale, cheap, 1 paratrooper style button knife...jk.
 
One of those $5 hollow handle Rambo knock-off knives as a kid (maybe 25 years ago.) Wouldn't take or hold an edge for anything. The blade literally fell off within a month of use.
 
S&W Homeland Security folder - too big, too many sharp edges to make it useful. Bought it, and before I even got home, I was thinking about where I'd file edges down, took it back a week later.

It did lock up nice, though.

thx - cpr
 
THG asked:
What was wrong with it? I have a Paraframe II, but I've never even used it. I'm curious to know what's bad about it.
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The knife is pretty cheaply made out of roughly stamped parts, the lock is untrustworthy, and the blade steel seems like it's not even heat treated. It's gummy to sharpen, seems like really low RC, hard to deburr etc.

My usual carry knives are Spyderco ZDP, VG10, and Kershaw SG2. I guess I'm used to knives withfitting, steel, and costs (!) of a different order. The funny thing is the nearly same priced kershaw ( forget the name, but it's under $20 at wal mart) made in china with aus6a knife is a nicely made cutter whose blade takes a nice edge and framelock locks up tight. Joe
 
carrot said:
Last I checked impact weapons did not need to be sharp to be effective... they just need to have a point of some kind, preferably one blunt enough to not penetrate. If the quill-lion were chamfered it would be no less effective. On a good liner lock like the Military, it is difficult to accidentally close and yet still has a very grippy release.
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Well, I suppose you could use that part of the quillion to put some non-lethal cuts in someone. It could cut, but it wouldn't be anything life-threatening. I guess it just depends on what you want. But I agree that for the most part, they don't need to be that rough. It's a poor copy of the wave overall (that's its primary purpose). If you use it often, it will tear the hell out of your pocket seam. The Spyderco implementation of the Wave is much, much smoother, and much easier on the pockets.

How do you accidentally close a liner lock? I've not yet run into this problem on any knife...
 
THG said:
Well, I suppose you could use that part of the quillion to put some non-lethal cuts in someone. It could cut, but it wouldn't be anything life-threatening. I guess it just depends on what you want. But I agree that for the most part, they don't need to be that rough. It's a poor copy of the wave overall (that's its primary purpose). If you use it often, it will tear the hell out of your pocket seam. The Spyderco implementation of the Wave is much, much smoother, and much easier on the pockets.

How do you accidentally close a liner lock? I've not yet run into this problem on any knife...
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Nor me, but there are videos, if you twist the knife in a certain way.

But the point is it is much easier to get a grip on the lock release of the Military. My finger just slips right off on the CS Ti-lite
 
carrot said:
Nor me, but there are videos, if you twist the knife in a certain way.

But the point is it is much easier to get a grip on the lock release of the Military. My finger just slips right off on the CS Ti-lite
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I guess I have no comment. I don't use mine for utility work at all, so I have nothing to say about it for that function.
 
Two Bokers. Orion model w/ titanium blade. I was impressed with the fact that the ti blade could get shaving sharp. I like the ti blade & carbon fiber handle (still somewhat exotic at the time) but it seemed poorly made. I think I paid over $250 for it, lost it, and didn't even care.

Also the small Boker with cera-titan blade. That one cost me about $100 and was incredibly cheaply made. The thumb stud is a piece of rubber/plastic that is snapped into a hole in the blade. The handle is cheap injection molded plastic. It was supposed to have 30% better edge-holding than S30V, and indeed it did cut very well when new. But after it dulled, I couldn't get it re-sharpened, even w/ diamond hones. Someone later told me you were supposed to send it to the factory for resharpening. It's in my bathroom now where I use it to clean the sink & shower drain screens. The cera-titan blade does not rust, even when left in the bathroom 24/7, lol.
 
The lowest quality knife I've ever owned was my first one as a kid so I loved it.

I own/owned (I have no idea where it is and don't really care) a gerber paraframe. It's not worth crap as a cutter but that's not what I used it for. It was my tool for stabbing and ripping thick metal cans open (I didn't own a can opener at the time). I also used it as a bottle opener but I don't remember how. An incomparably better buy would have been a sak. If I didn't need a can opener the best alternative would have been a buck slippie.
 
Some old CRKT model I can't remember the name of ("dog" something?). It had some heavy-ass metal handle with a Kit Carson style skeletonization. Linerlock with extreme vertical play. The linerlock went all the way to the other handle without engaging the blade. It failed one me and cut my index finger, requiring 3 stitches and causing permanent nerve damage. Now they have the LAWKs system, which I think is the most ridiculous thing in the world (a lock that requires another lock to be "safe"? Just get it right the first time!).
 
Any 400 series stainless knife.
Buck knives (I think the blades are aluminum)
CKRT AUS 6 (poor heat treat)
Anything that says 'Pakistan'

There are a lot of knives out there that are hyped as good,not too many I would call good. In general I like Spyderco,Fallkniven and some Victorinox.
 
About three years ago. Applegate-Fairbairn® Mini Covert.
Became dull right away, never hold the edge.
 
A little meyerco copy of the Gerber LST,back lock completely folded under pressure. I have seen chinese SAK knockoffs that abolutely will not take an edge.
 
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