Your Knife "Phases"?

J

JNieporte

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Nov 1, 2004
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I've noticed that when buying knives, my prefernces change quite often. One month I'll be looking for a few great neck knives, and then I'll want a nice gentleman's folder, then the biggest fixed blade I can carry. Maybe I'll decide a month later to buy only slipjoints or the smallest knife practical, or just SAKs. Multi-tools are high on the list as well. What are some of your phases for choosing a knife, and how often do they change?
 
Most of my phases, if you will, center around EDC - folders with 3-3.5" blades to be specific. Since I'm relatively new to the madness, I'm learning about the different styles of locks, steels, etc. My latest phase involves the Axis lock from Benchmade. I really like my Mini Grip, my latest purchase.

Next up for me is probably a higher end folder. I'm really drawn to the Mini Rukus, but we'll see.

Good topic, BTW.
 
>>Junk/BSA/heirlooms/MT/MD, Busse, Strider/CRK, Busse<< would be the main vector, stretching out over 35 years or so, with a bunch of alternates, customs and odds/ends mixed in throughout.
 
since im pretty knew to the scene, im still in the buy as much as i possibly can phase. try out different brands, types of blade steel, different lock styles, so on and so forth. so im really just tryin to sample as much as i possible can right now. as well as experimenting with what i like to edc.
 
80's was "Tacticools". 90's was hunting style and axes. 2000 till now I have tried a little of all manufacturers. Now days I like slipjoints (lg stockmans) and I really have a thing for "Emersons" also. But till I get back to work I am in idle mode for now. I think certain things that are going on in your life at any givin time is what prompts your taste. :D





:)
 
phase 2 starts when I graduate from college and can actually carry a knife more than a few months out of the year.

I suspect greatly that it will be a sebenza phase.
 
I've been away from bfc for quite a while, so this is the first thread I've posted to in months. Right now, I'm into carbon steel fixed blades, and have been for quite a while. For example, I just ordered an olive drab Izula today to replace my CV steel Case Jr. Sodbuster as my "pocket" knife, even though I already carry a Koyote Kustom fixed blade on my belt as an EDC. I'm still keeping the Soddie, but its going into the knife box for the forseeable future.
 
Started with Opinels, moved on for a couple of years to Scandis from the inexpensive Moras to some really nice ones form Finland.
Then the transition to folding knives started with a lot of Rough Riders and a sprinkling of Buck's, SW and Cold Steel.
The real good stuff Started, with a couple Falkniven folders, a few Benchmade's, and then I discovered Spyderco :eek: They are the most cherished and carried folders I have. Recently purchased about 5 different models of Emerson's and really connect to them also,in a different way than the Spydies.
I am satisfied ..finally! Spyderco is my main addiction, with a couple Emerson's
thrown in for Vanity, and coolness :cool:
 
Yep - every 3-6 months for me. No rhyme or reason to my collection - based solely on my mood changes.

Small and lightweight to uber tactical to big and bad and back again.;)
 
First it was anything, I was young and didn't care so long as it cut.

Then it was tacticool, all black blades and a few tantos. :thumbdn:

After I started to learn more about knives I went experimenting with different companies (and still do). Love Kershaw ever since getting the 30th anniversary Blur a few years back. Have a few CRKTs, they're alright for being somewhat inexpensive. Bought an Endura and have yet to get anymore Spydies, because the ones I like are the more expensive ones. Really liking the quality of Benchmade. I fell in love with my Izula when I picked it up a few months ago, and ever since I've been looking at RC (will be getting the RC-4 sometime this summer). Still looking into other companies.

Now I look for knives that I can find useful and look good. Starting (well started a while ago) to get into higher material knives. Higher value knives all around. Have yet to get a Sebbie or a Strider, but have a ZT 0302.

Right now I would have to say I'm liking stonewashed blades, and ever since getting my first high value Benchmade (mini rukus) I'm liking the axis lock. Really liking flat ground and high hollow ground blades. Looking to get an RSK and also looking at more FBs this summer now that I'm done with courses til fall.
 
First it was uber tactical junk. Jaguar and the like. Then United Cutlery. CRKT/Cold Steel etc. Kershaw Onion designs. Later Spyderco and Benchmade. A lot of tactical fixed blades. SOG etc. Always going through a slipjoint phase in between, like Queen, Case etc.

Then, got into mainly woodsy fixed blades. Custom makers, BRKT etc. Woods stuff, not high art collectibles.

Now, I prefer to carry Sebenzas (two micarta classics, and two regulars, one sm S30V and one lg BG42), and only have a Spyderco Military left, of the tacticool folders. Really struggling on whether or not to keep my Ritter Grips. although M2 models would be nice. When Spyderco puts out their titanium Military, the regular Millie will be let go. A Case jumbo stockman, a few SAKs, and a RAT railsplitter round out the folders. I only have custom fixed blades. Little bit of a woodsy feel. Dozier Wilderness, Gossman Kepharts, Gossman PSK, Gossman WTK, Butch Harner hunter, ML Kephart, an EDC model David Farmer made for me.

I have two more Kepharts from Scott on order, one a big camp knife, the other a necker. I asked J Neilson to create his version of the Kephart for me. I just traded into an ML Kephart that is necker sized, and a Gossman PSK Xtreme.

No safe queens for me, they all get used. I hope to pick up either an Umnumzaan or a desert ironwood classic/21 Seb for Christmas. While I am saving for the Gossmans and Neilson, I will probably get a Tidioute trapper.

I'm looking more at nice slipjoints, both old and new ones, as well as Sebenzas and custom fixed blades. I had an Obenauf sm m2 that I couldn't bring myself to carry, but I am looking for custom slipjoints and folders from Lightfoot, Dozier, Terzuola and others.
 
I gone through a variety of phases of my knife collecting. I am currently, and have been for awhile, only into custom knives. I have a spin off from custom knives, to custom slip joints. I have a deep appreciation of the elegant simplicity of the slip joints. There are some seriously phenomenally talented makers here on BF

I am and foremost a folder knife knut. But there are some custom makers of fixed blades that just speak to me. (Bill Buxton & Sean O'Hare, Charles May & Gene Ingram, off the top of my sleepy little head.) So, I DO have a few fixed blades.

So, I guess the phase I am in is the custom slip joint phase. I am still buying other custom knives; 3 inch or less frame locks. For the most part, I am just sticking with buying the knives that I have on order.
 
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As I'm 20 my phase right now is:

Affordable and usable

I recently ordered a RSK Mini-Grip. I really like the Sebenza's though. I plan on getting one if I ever have the money. Call me crazy, but a Sebenza with G10 either inlayed somehow or on the grip in some other manner would be damn close to my perfect knife. I like how G10 grabs my hand back and since I put my knives through their paces I'd get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
 
Knife phases for me tend to be pretty sporadic, but mostly because it revolves around how much money I can spare at any given time (and its usually pretty rare when one of those times comes along!).
 
I tend to go through manufacturers in cycles. I started with Buck and have now come full circle back to Buck. I have bought a lot of knives through the experience and don't regret any of them, but eventually I come home to Papa. ;)
 
When I learned that I could legally buy and carry autos and balisongs here in AZ, that's about all I bought and carried. These days I rarely carry them even though I can. I can't really explain why, I still like them and play with them, but they just don't find their way into my pockets much anymore.
 
I absolutely go thru phases. I am a Case guy and carried slipjoints exclusively most of my life. Then I bought a the D2 Mini-Grip from Cabela's that started a "Benchmade phase" that delivered a 943 Osborne. Realizing I could do no better, I switched to fixed blades and became obsessed with and financially crippled by, Bark River. I'm well into a "value phase" where I heavily researched the "best under $40" threads and scored a KaBar Dozier Folder, the amazing Drop Point Trance and a Blind Horse Knives Patch. Thru it all, I've continued to add a couple of Case's that catch my eye. I work in an office environment, so my work EDC will always be a small slip. But last night, I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at Frank Beltrame Itallian Stilettos, so....
 
For the past 15 years or so, it has been the "Tactical Folder" for me. I like big, thick, and solid. Maybe I'm a throwback, but the ultra lightweight folders of today, i.e. linerless folders, hold no intrest for me. Along the way I have picked up a few slipjoints, i.e. Case, and a few fixed blades, i.e. Ontario Ranger's, but mainly the TF has been my main intrest, and with all the new ones coming out, will remain so.
 
At the moment, Razels. I've got a custom ringed Razel as well as a CRKT stubby and folder. Like 'em cause they're practical and different.
 
Since the 2 or so years I've gotten into knives, I've gone from big and tacticool(soon realised that it VERY impractical for EDC), then onto smaller edc folders such as the mini-grip.
Now I think I've settled on small slipjoints like the Fällkniven U1. :)
 
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