Your Traditional knife turn-off's

[Travman]

You would HATE several of my more useful work knives then. I have two Cold Steel Ti Lites (one a six and one a four) that I can't even show here . . . I have been tossed out in the traditionals forum for attempting to post pics of such alien hardware. Picture in your mind a Ti Lite VI with a three and a half inch razel blade. Frightening huh ?

Hopefully I can get away with posting these. I often say the little gold colored box knife is all many people need for cutting threads and opening packages.
The craft scalpels are more bad ass than you would think . . . they are "one hand openable" . . . ha, ha, ha.
The Opinel is made from a #12 . . . a pretty useful tool.View attachment 797892View attachment 797893View attachment 797894

None of your knives offend my sense of aesthetics. Actually they are all attractive to me. Maybe I just have it out for the Case Teardrop.

 

[Spencergarden]

Spencergarden I did this WIP on processing sheds. Its got some info ya might find interesting:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/processing-elk-sheds-a-wip.1467821/

Thanks for this, Dave, and thanks again @BigJim2x for bringing it up. It's still not for me, but the use of shed antlers does relieve some concerns of mine, and gives me a different perspective on stag handles.

 

[jec88]

Springs that are too strong. The only Gec knife I ever owned, I could not open the thing, at all. I had to open it with needle nosed pliers and got rid of it. (i'd like to try another gec someday because I've heard they're better, but there is no place I can look at them in person and they are usually hard to find). I also don't like serrated blades at all on traditionals like I have seen Case doing more of and I don't like black coated blades on traditional knives with one exception, the Buck 110 Alaskan Guide looks pretty good to me with a black blade, looks like blueing on a gun, and looks nice against the rosewood scales.

 

[Will Power]

Faux wood. It looks crap in cars too

High riding Sheepfoot that interferes with your grip when using the Master blade. Then you file it down and mess up the flush springs

Can't frankly get keen on 4 blade Congress knives, they just don't feel comfortable in the hand, too often blade duplication as well. Half Congress completely different though

Bolster etching, coined liners - usually look overdone.

Barlows with engraved bolster, they MUST be stamped or plain!

Brass could be made extinct in my view....but it's an unavoidable evil very often. Unnecessary one though It reeks

Anaemic spotty bone dyes, CASE is the leading light here

Sink hole pins, usually the centre one which accumulates grease, dirt and verdigris GEC being the bellwether here Eyesores.

Bails Clumsy add on

Pocket-knives that need a belt sheath, total contradiction in terms

I'm beginning to harbour doubts about punches....they seem weirdly flimsy

Knives with 3 springs, three thick. Too thick usually.

That'll do for now

 

[Horsewright]

Ya bet Spencergarden .

 

[Hickory n steel]

Faux wood. It looks crap in cars too

High riding Sheepfoot that interferes with your grip when using the Master blade. Then you file it down and mess up the flush springs

Can't frankly get keen on 4 blade Congress knives, they just don't feel comfortable in the hand, too often blade duplication as well. Half Congress completely different though

Bolster etching, coined liners - usually look overdone.

Barlows with engraved bolster, they MUST be stamped or plain!

Brass could be made extinct in my view....but it's an unavoidable evil very often. Unnecessary one though It reeks

Anaemic spotty bone dyes, CASE is the leading light here

Sink hole pins, usually the centre one which accumulates grease, dirt and verdigris GEC being the bellwether here Eyesores.

Bails Clumsy add on

Pocket-knives that need a belt sheath, total contradiction in terms

I'm beginning to harbour doubts about punches....they seem weirdly flimsy

Knives with 3 springs, three thick. Too thick usually.

That'll do for now

It sounds to me like you're calling out the Buck 110 with 2 of those statements, and that there's just a itchin' for a bit a fist swingin' if ya ask me

 

[Will Power]

You are not wrong

But seriously, it's an innovative knife and much copied but all that brass and then it lead to a lot of the Modern Horrors we have today Icons can sometimes become relics of superstition...

 

[Buzzbait]

Brass could be made extinct in my view....but it's an unavoidable evil very often. Unnecessary one though It reeks

Bails Clumsy add on

Knives with 3 springs, three thick. Too thick usually.

Them’s fightin’ words!!!

LOL.

 

[22-rimfire]

Learned a few things in this thread; had no idea what a California clip or Turkish blade was. Don't care for it.
Don't care for blade etches in general. I prefer them unmarked.
Generally don't care for speciality blades other than on SAKs and scout knives.
Generally don't like acrylic handles. I broke down and bought a #48 Improved Trapper in acrylic and keep asking myself why I spent the money?
Not a fan of patinas.
Like a good snap, but not excessively heavy springs.

 

[A.L.]

Also I have to add how GEC does not sink their blades (especially their clip blades). I don’t know if they intend their knives for actual use but every single knife I’ve ever had from them had to be modified eventually with lower tips.
Also those sharp tang cornerd look good but everything that isn’t smooth in the hand for me is less fun.

 

[Laurelbb]

Aside from some typical things that people don't like in traditional pocket knives, like noticeable gaps between materials, blade rub, blade rap, and too soft or overly tough springs, the number one thing I avoid is bone/stag/any sort of animal product handle covers. To explain, without getting into too much detail (because I don't think the Porch is the best place for that conversation), I don't eat animal products and I don't want to have them in my pockets either. Luckily it's easy to avoid, unlike those other issues I mentioned where I'd need the knife in hand to see if it passes my own QC scrutiny. I just don't buy knives unless they're made of materials I don't have ethical issues with.

I know this can't be a popular position in this community, but this is an exceedingly friendly message board, so I don't mind sharing my opinion. I bet there are dozens of us vegan traditional knife fans out there. Dozens!

I feel the same way, though I love the look of horn, just can’t bring myself to carry such a thing. I’m always looking for great stag and or nice micarta.

 

[knarfeng]

Also I have to add how GEC does not sink their blades (especially their clip blades). I don’t know if they intend their knives for actual use but every single knife I’ve ever had from them had to be modified eventually with lower tips.
Also those sharp tang cornerd look good but everything that isn’t smooth in the hand for me is less fun.

I would have mentioned that in my list also, except I use a honing stone to round those corners, and not just on GEC knives. Takes about 10 minutes to reduce the "pokiness". So, while I don't care for sharp corners, they aren't much bother to adjust.

 

[mykel m]

Spear points.
Blade etches.
GEC's jigging.

 

[Camillus]

My turn offs and dislikes are:

Uneven stag handles where one side of the knife is thicker than the other. GEC makes a lot of these and I have learned to look carefully.

Scalloped bone handles where the middle part of the handle is thinner than the two ends.

Wonky bone handles like GEC's oily creek bone handles - where the handle faces are not on the same plane as the liners.

Exposed white bone at the ends of jigged bone handles - there should always be a trace of the dye.

Badly mismatched handles

Cheesy or gaudy blade etches - a knife must always be cool never lame

Filework

Nail nicks located inside the blade swedge - and anything that hinders or slows blade opening

Faux rustic finishes (like Svord's)

Horizontal blade play

But I LOVE my Californian clip blades. Perfect for hunting and game processing - no good for battoning - and that suits me just fine.

 

[TheChunk91]

One thing I can't stand is buffed knives, bleh. Too many old and rare knives have been jacked up by buffing.

 

[Hickory n steel]

One thing I can't stand is buffed used knives, bleh.

Oooooh, when someone buffs and shines up a vintage slipjont to " make it look new " well it's theirs and they're free to do with it what they wish, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

 

[Emspop]

The Case jigged Brown delrin thread reminded me i dislike jigged brown delrin as much as Turkish clips!

 

[willard0341]

Shallow nail Nick's

Blades that rub liners

Main blade that could be longer in handle (blade to handle ratio)

Poorly fitted covers

 

[marsturm]

I would never buy a knife with acrylic covers. No excuse for blade wobble on a relatively expensive knife, my 3 Buck 110's. the oldest bought in 1965 lock up like bank vaults. I prefer satin finish over etched polished blades. Lack of half-stops should only be found on inexpensive slip joints.