Your actual use vs review talking points

[RBid]

I’m a knife nerd. I watch a lot of review videos, for entertainment. Everything from collectible coverage (Jim Skelton) to the more practical (theapostlep) to the occasionally painful (nutnfancy). I’m sure that many of you who do the same have come to realize that there are certain things reviewers touch on that you either don’t care about at all, or place very little value on.

This thread is about what your actual use and experience has done to shape how you evaluate a knife.

Format:

1. My use

2. My high value points

3. What I care less about

Kicking things off...

1. My use:

I work in retail management, live in the suburbs of Portland, OR, enjoy hiking, and campsite camp one week/year. My reality these days is that blade use is a lot of package breakdown and taking down ridiculously constructed merch shippers to get them into an undersized compactor. Zip tie cutting is also common. I’m also surprised at how often I find myself making cuts of zip ties while on ladders.

2. My value points:

Humidity is a Thing here, and the climate control in my building is so comically bad, it seems intentional. That is to say that we sweat like crazy in the summers, and are rained on during carry outs about 7 months/year. Corrosion resistance is a hot button for me. I prefer to not have to think about rust.

Single hand access. Open/close, and pocket clip design. It seems like I always have a hand dedicated to a ladder, box, shipper, etc while cutting. Thankfully, this category is a gimme.

Grip comfort in hammer, saber, and draw cut grips. Just those three, and hammer is far and away the one I use most.

Over the past two years, I’ve also come to favor less chunky blade stock. I love the ZT 0562. It’s my second favorite blade. But, I’ll be completely honest and say that my Griptilian, 0609, and 0566 are each noticeably better when I’m having to break down a lot of merch shippers around big quarterly sets. Currently, I find myself actively turned up by .12” stock, which I find to be very efficient for everything I do, and plenty strong.

3. What I care less about:

Weight (within a reasonable range). It seems like weight is usually presented in two common ways. It’s either “for what it is”, or “too heavy/kind of heavy for EDC”, occasionally with some variation of “it’s not the knife you have, it’s the knife you have on you” thrown in. You’d think a 0566 was an actual brick, so heavy that you would suffer for carrying it. Yet, the heavier 0562, with its thicker blade stock and larger size, rides comfortably in many, many pockets every day.

There has literally never been a time when I’ve thought or cared about the weight of a folder I’ve carried.

Grip comfort in blade down grips. Irrelevant for my use.

Your turns. Be blunt. Be real. Have fun.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Nice and lightweight for loose in pocket

Rides well in pocket

Preferably very thin and slicy with a few exceptions

Touches up in no time at all

Need a sharpening choil but can add it

Neutral enough to hold however



I don't care one bit about speed or lock strength.

 

[Lapedog]

Nice and lightweight for loose in pocket

Rides well in pocket

Preferably very thin and slicy with a few exceptions

Touches up in no time at all

Need a sharpening choil but can add it

Neutral enough to hold however



I don't care one bit about speed or lock strength.

Try a Boker Exskelibur 1 framelock. It is like the ultimate edc knife matching exactly what you describe.

For most my uses my criteria are similar to yours. I mostly carry an EDC knife around the city and have come to really value a slim lightweght knife. My knife spends most its life in my pocket after all.

Look how thin it is next to a large sebenza 21. Also one of the sliciest thinnest ground knives I’ve ever owned.

The only real point I have that is different is I like, when possible, a thicker tip. For example PM2s tip is pretty much too thin for my liking. I’m willing to drop that though if everything else is perfect. I’m not prying after all.

 

[jackknife]

My use for a pocket knife is just a cutting tool. Or in the words of my old man when I was a kid and asked him why he carries the pocket knife he did, he said all he needs is to cut something.

I'm a retired machinist and enjoy a lot of fishing in my leisure time. Even when I was working, I used any excuse to go fish. Canoe camping, hiking, backpacking all had some excuse to get me out in the woods or on the water. I used a pocket knife a lot. What mattered to me was easy carry and compact with light weight. I liked multiple blades for versatility. I liked steel that I could touch up in the field with a small pocket stone or smooth river rock. I never cared about one hand opening or a lock on the blade, and any defense use of the knife is not even on the table. There's other ways and means to deal with that.

Most my life, the most common pocket knife for me to carry has been a Buck 301 or 303 stockman pattern, or a SAK. Those two patterns knives have been 85-90 percent of what I've carried mistimes. I've never felt under knifed. But then I've carried a Case peanut and been fine with that. All I need is to cut something, and any small sharp blade will really do.

 

[b00n]

1. Packages/Cardboard, Foil, Plastic Bags, Rubber Tubing, Food
2. Ergos, Size, Design, Comfort of Locking/Unlocking
3. Self Defense Aspects

 

[sXePhenomenal]

I love this thread great post.

Uses : Opening packages and containers. Cutting food general utility things and outdoors use being from the Appalachia region.

Looking at and enjoyment of owning and flipping/playing with.

Last line of self defense. Could go in to a big spill about guns knives and the such but too lazy.

VAULE POINTS:
Quality construction and materials
Looks
Ergos
all tied for #1. A knife that’s extremely ergo in all grips is a big one for me. One reason why the XM-18 is my favorite.

Nice action bc it’s enjoyable and a nice sign of quality

Blade design can’t be a wonky blade shape.
Like good pocket clips the XM series clips are perfect to me.

Manufacture reputation and Warrenty/services.

High grip g10 and jimping for certain applications.

COULD CARE LESS ABOUT :
I agree weight pocket knife weight matters none to me don’t feel it hardly at all in my pocket. The ZT emerson 0620 is the heaviest folder I have and it carries as well as any other. There’s no difference between a 3-4oz knife and a 5-6oz to me.

Lock strength it’s a folding knife unless it’s crap any locking mechanism will serve just fine.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Try a Boker Exskelibur 1 framelock. It is like the ultimate edc knife matching exactly what you describe.

For most my uses my criteria are similar to yours. I mostly carry an EDC knife around the city and have come to really value a slim lightweght knife. My knife spends most its life in my pocket after all.

Look how thin it is next to a large sebenza 21. Also one of the sliciest thinnest ground knives I’ve ever owned.

The only real point I have that is different is I like, when possible, a thicker tip. For example PM2s tip is pretty much too thin for my liking. I’m willing to drop that though if everything else is perfect. I’m not prying after all.

I'm a lefty, so lockbacks and slipjoints are for me.

 

[Lapedog]

1. Packages/Cardboard, Foil, Plastic Bags, Rubber Tubing, Food
2. Ergos, Size, Design, Comfort of Locking/Unlocking
3. Self Defense Aspects

An edc knife that has some self defense ability built in is a major plus for me. So knives that have a wave like the waved Endura are outstanding imho. I personally believe the only way a folder will barely make the cut for self defense is if it has a wave and the person carrying it has practiced waving until second nature.

The Spyderco Street Beat is pretty much the ultimate EDC/SD fixed blade I have found so far.

 

[jeffsenpai]

USE: I am a knife buyer, collector, and carrier, but I do not really actually use knives all that much. Modern life and everything.

VALUE: Most of the time, what matters to me is just looks and uniqueness. I like variety in style and unique designs.

COULD CARE LESS ABOUT: Blade steel is meaningless to me, as I will likely never dull a blade through my own everyday use. It only really comes into play with the uniqueness value, in that a particular sprint run of a knife may be rare, and the scarcity of a particular knife model adds value to me.

 

[Dangerously]

I'm a lefty, so lockbacks and slipjoints are for me.

Or left handed modern knives?

 

[Lapedog]

Or left handed modern knives?

I’m pretty ambidextrous with knives and often carry a folder with my left hand. I’ve never had any issue unlocking a right ha des frame/linerlock with my left hand.

Apparently some people have trouble though. I’m not judging them, everyone is different.

 

[22-rimfire]

My common knife uses are fairly mundane and don't require a "super steel". That doesn't mean I don't buy knives with higher end steels. I just like knives and I use knives pretty much every single day. Already today, I've used my regular carry knife about a dozen times. Some other points...

• I want a knife that will stay usable for the day from a sharpness point of view. I doesn't have to shave hair. I still like a sharp knife.
• Defensive use of a knife never enters my mind when I choose a knife.
• Size matters with an edc a lot to me and to some degree weight. Pocket bricks don't ride well in a pocket. No pocket swords.
• I don't watch knife videos or very seldomly do.
• I want a knife in the woods that has some built in flexiblity for multiple purposes beyond simple cutting even if I seldom need such. Size matters and weight matters less. It is about functionality.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

My use:

I'm a regional electro-mechanical technician. I open a lot of packages and cut up packing foam... that's about it. I have an entire garage worth of tools in my van. Zip ties get cut with snips. Stickers get scraped with utility blades. Wires get stripped with wire strippers.

My Value Points:

Interesting. Odd, I know, but I like knives that are kind of funky without sacrificing efficacy. They need to be interesting.

Refinement. I can afford more expensive tools. There was a point where I would deal with less than ideal fit and finish, but not anymore. I'm not a stickler for blade centering, but I wont deal with blade play or ill fitting scales, fasteners, etc.

Comfort both in hand and in pocket. Unlike the OP weight bothers me. I carry a lot of crap in my pockets, despite my best efforts, and really notice a heavy blade. I don't like super grippy grips either. No peel-ply here. I've got pretty good grip strength and don't often stab car hoods so I don't care about traction.

Blade geometry. I like thinner blades for slicing. .125 and below is where I'd like them to sit. It needs to be consistent too. If the primary grind is a bit wonky; if the plunge is too gradual; if the thickness behind the edge isn't even across the length then my sharpened bevel won't look right. This bothers me.

T8 and up. STOP USING T6 SCREWS! They're unnecessarily small and far more likely to strip out than a T8.

What I Care Less About:

Tactical Prowess. I'm overweight, slow and not skilled in knife fighting. Why scare the old ladies at the post office with a knife that I'm ill-equipped to use?

Lock Strength. I can effectively use a slip joint... so what's the point?

Pocket Clip Orientation. I may not be Stephen Hawking, but my brain can deal with rotating a knife 180 degrees on occasion.

Traction. As mentioned above, my grip strength is greater than that of an eight year old so I can hang onto my knife just fine. I don't need jimping or peel-ply g10. I'd rather it not tear up my pockets.

 

[b00n]

An edc knife that has some self defense ability built in is a major plus for me. So knives that have a wave like the waved Endura are outstanding imho. I personally believe the only way a folder will barely make the cut for self defense is if it has a wave and the person carrying it has practiced waving until second nature.

The Spyderco Street Beat is pretty much the ultimate EDC/SD fixed blade I have found so far.

I don't knock anybody who carries for self defense or likes a folder to have that added bonus. It's just not something I care about for a number of reasons (I don't frequent dangerous areas, our local police station has an officer once a week from 9 to 5 for paperwork, that's it. I am not trained in knife fighting. You're pretty much effed if you use a knife to defend yourself when it comes to court. Carrying knives in public is gonna get you hassled. So carrying for self defense just seems more trouble than it's worth to me personally. So considering the SD aspects of a knife in a purchase barely registers.)

 

[NicoColt1911]

1. USE: Mostly light use. I work in an office, I need a knife, not a prybar but I also don't need a piece of manly jewlery that won't survive some semi-hard cutting tasks. I have some gentlemen knives that I enjoy as a piece of craftsmanship but I won't buy a knife that I don't use. So even the sexiest hand made folder has to cut something.

2. VALUE POINTS: Funny that the OP mentioned single hand access. Because I usually only buy knives that are legal to carry in Germany and our laws limit us to either two hand opening locking knives or one hand opening slipjoints when it comes to folders. I prefer the first type. So two hand opening actually is a plus for me and a top priority. I am okay with unscrewing a thumb stud though. That gives me a decent range of possible choices. But ofc a lot of US made knives are a problem: Spydercos have holes that you cannot unscrew, Benchmade usually uses the AXIS lock that enables one to open a knife with one hand and Kershaw / Zero Tolerance often either use their thumb studs as stop pins or are flippers.

The next important feature is the clip. I usually wear dress pants so deep carry pocket clips are my favorite. Sadly a lot designers / knife companies seem to follow an inconvenient "two hand opening means no clip" policy. I hate it.

Then we come to steel. I am open for a lot of steels. I love M390 but am fine with a lot of the cheaper choices like VG10, N690, D2, 14C28, Sleipner. But I draw the line at good 440C. That's as low as I go.

Last but not least comes the appearance / technical design of the knife (order not reflecting their importance):

Size
That one is weird. I have the tendency to fall in love with small knives (less than 7 Inch) from looking at them on the internet but I somehow always forget how big my hands are. I am still learning this lesson but I have decided to only buy knives bigger than 7 inch from now on. My EDC (Lionsteel Big Daghetta) is 8.58 inch.

Weight
As mentioned earlier I wear dress pants and my favorite knives weight less than ~150g. E.g. I have a Lionsteel Big Daghetta in both the G10 and the Titanium version and I much prefer the G10's 128g to the Titaniums 169g.


3. COULD CARE LESS ABOUT: Funny enough these points also regard the appearance / technical design:

Washers
Not a huge issue for me. Right now it seems that people in the US totally dig bearings whereas a lot of people in Germany hate them. I only have a rough tendency: I like bronze washers better than teflon washers and good bearings.

Blade Design
I have a lot of knives with different blade styles. But I really don't like coatings. Stonewash and satin both is fine though. I also don't like tanto blades or chisel grinds that much. Sheepfoots also don't appeal. I have a tendency to fall in love with spear point designs but right now I think my favorite blade style is drop point with flat grind. Maybe add a little swedge.

Lock
I have knives with different locks. It always depends on the knives and I can live with a lot of different design choices. However, I have my preferences:
My favorite Lock is the Lionsteel Tactical Operation Lock (TOL). It's basically the lovechild of an Axis lock and a slipjoint and IMO the optimal lock for two hand opening knives. 100% legal in Germany. Best "Germany-legal" replacement for the Benchmade Axis-Lock.
The next best thing for me is a liner lock. I somehow don't like frame locks that much. To some degree I really dislike frame locks without a lockbar insert.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Or left handed modern knives?

I have a few modern lockbacks.

 

[RBid]

I’m enjoying all of the replies. It’s interesting to see the similarities and differences.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I’m pretty ambidextrous with knives and often carry a folder with my left hand. I’ve never had any issue unlocking a right ha des frame/linerlock with my left hand.

Apparently some people have trouble though. I’m not judging them, everyone is different.

I have no trouble, lockbacks and slipjoints just work best for me.

 

[22-rimfire]

I have no trouble, lockbacks and slipjoints just work best for me.

Me too..... my regular carry is a 111mm SAK.

I really don't need a clip, but if the knife has one, I usually use it that way. I seldom take them off. More likely to just toss it in a drawer if I don't care for the clip on a particular knife.
One hand opening is not a necessity or requirement.

 

[Hickory n steel]

One big thing I forgot about with reviews that I don't really care about is specific blade steels.

For me it's the brand / maker that matters.
I don't care about or go for fancy steels because my needs don't require them, so I really don't need to know what a steel is at all.
Most of my knives are from companies who basically do one steel for most of their knives and it's found on any I'm likely to buy.

Basically I'm buying knives with Buck steel, Victorinox steel, and Case true sharp or CV...ect.
I know what steel many of my knives have but I don't seek out this information.

Another thing is that I really only watch a knife review if at all to see footage of the knife, as pictures aren't always enough.
I don't care what they think of the knife because I'll form my own opinions if I but it, and I don't really need to know the specs if they're on the website.