Are generic gas station Chinese slip folders “working man” knives?

pinnah said:
You're not alone and they aren't for everybody but that's true for a lot of knives like, say, a Buck 110 or SAK. IMO, most "things" exist inside of cultural lore that's almost invisible and that makes up what we call common sense. Many knives are simply outside of the bubble of cultural common sense in America. The weird grind on a Mora. The strange operation of an Opinel. I would contend that large slipjoints like a large Sodbuster have drifted out of the American consciousness as most younger guys would consider them unsafe due to their lack of lock.

Getting back to my original point, here is a recent Nutnfancy review of a $15 knife he likes. His videos generally drive me bonkers but the knife is an example of what I was getting at. Knife designs become universally available after patents run out and fine blankable stainless with decent heat treat can be mass produced for low costs. The result is $15 that don't suck.


$20 at Walmart will get you something workable so along as you pick wisely.

Flipping this the other way around, just because a knife costs more than $100 doesn't mean it has a good design.
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My WalMart has a large display of many lower priced name brand knives, you don't see any really high prices knives but you do find many from around $15 to $75 dollar.
 
I think if you understand what you're doing most of the time, a slip joint works just fine. I own a AG Russell large Sowbelly Trapper which I thought in the pictures looked pretty nifty. I bought it and honestly it has a VERY weak spring, no half stop, and you can close it on your fingers simply by leaning a little in the closing direction. That knife hit my knife box, never to be used. The result of that purchase is that I will not buy an AG Russell slip joint that his brand.

I understand folks liking a locking knife. It does add an element of safety.

Snapshot, I agree that the small Case Peanut works very well for most of us if you are willing to go that small. Most folks would consider the price fairly high for a small knife however. I bought one this year for the first time and later purchased a Rough Rider peanut. I am satisfied with both and the Rough Riders are pretty good knives for "cheap".
 
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I find some knife Mfg.s have a cult following of their knives, for example Spyderco, have many of the same type knives that they change handle color and Material they change the blade Material, they make a "sprint Run" and the prices go from the $140 to $225 as an example.
And people are begging for new sprint runs of the same knives, it seems to be working well i feel.
 
I honestly can't remember the last time I went inside a gas station. Paying at the pump has definitely changed things.
 
Last time I was at the nearest Wal-Mart (I only go there if I'm in that area), every knife I saw was pretty much a 'budget' knife. Spyderco Tenacious and Resilience(?); Ontario Rat folder; several Kershaws, Gerbers and Bucks; some Winchester, and a Victorinox Classic. For a while a year ago, they carried the large Case yellow trapper in SS, but apparently that wasn't selling, because they aren't carrying them anymore. IIRC, it had been selling for $32.

I'm pretty sure if given the choice, the vast majority of younger people who would even buy a knife would choose one of the modern designs like the budget Kershaws. I'm pretty sure that, to most people today, they would have a much higher 'cool factor'.

I'm fairly certain that none of the knives in the display case were even $60, and most were noticeably below that.

I do frequent a Target store regularly due to its proximity to me. Sadly, in the outdoor/sporting goods section, they seem to have stopped selling SAKs and multi-tools altogether.

Jim
 
Once I was laying peel and stick tile at home and bought a $1 Buck 110 knock off at Ace. Hollow plastic handle scales, cheap thin blade, riveted together. I originally got it so my good knives wouldn't have glue all over them when I trimmed to fit( I know, I could have used a utility knife, but that's no fun). I expected it to break before I finished the job. Surprisingly I still have it, ha ha. Takes a decent edge, but hard use would probably break it. "Disposable" knives can be handy and I got my dollars worth.
 
Definitely sounds like you got your money's worth out of that one. I don't think I ever saw a $1 knife in ACE Hardware and I visit regularly as it is just down the road from me.
 
AP2018 said:
I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago where I was talking to a firefighter, he does a lot of instruction with police and law enforcement and is, as far as I can judge, is pretty knowledgeable.

He had some kind of slung bag, like a maxpedition kind of, with what I think was some generic no name folder.

I thought about how he might actually need to depend on his knife while I was headed off to lunch and back to the office carrying a dpx folder.

I just watched a bladehq video talking about how Spyderco is a blue collar economic knife. I love Spydercos and they are great values, but I almost never see knives like Spyderco or Benchmade outside of gun/knife gear guys. Almost all the pocket clip knives I see are unknown generics.

I suspect even my dirt cheap wal mart Chinese Kershaws stay sharp longer, but I guess no one is cutting 8 hours straight with a gas station folder.

Are “good” knives now a hobbyist thing? In the 70s and 80s regular guy knives were decent American made knives in hardware and tractor supply stores. Now the average guy seems to have whatever Chinese folder he ran across at a minimart.
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Well when I hear the "junk" reference a certain memory comes to mind...the Zytel era of the late 80's/early 90's.I remember the Apex Series by Imperial having a much smaller fanbase and even loathed by some even though they were made in Ireland and for three reasons...

*You could find the Apex Series in a flea market or an occasional gas station right beside other Zytel bodied folding knives made in Taiwan by United Cutlery and Bushmaster back in the late 80's/early 90's.

*Because they were cheap people saw them as junk

*Some didn't like the feel of injection molded material for the handle...they didn't like or understand the plastic concept.Lots of upsides though like not denting your bolster if you drop it on a rock or shattering a bone scale.Zytel was weather resistant and didn't shrink like Delrin did.Just a knife you drop and not worry anything about and nothing to polish or raise the cost.

Steel quality back then I think is redundant as most people describe the steel as soft from Taiwan.On the folders I'd say they were using AUS-4 (420HC) on blades marked 'Surgical Steel'.Back then USA made was using 440A mostly so Taiwan's steel was a softer grade and sharpened up faster.We switched to 420HC in USA by the mid 90's and even Case uses the name 'Surgical Steel' so people shouldn't be so appalled these days on that topic.

Did we make great knives?
Our edgework didn't get better until modern knives got more known in the late 90's.We had thin bevels and wide edges back in the 70's and 80's.Taiwan,Japan,and Pakistan seemed a little better in the bevel department and that softer 420 Series steel was easier to reprofile.I've bought around several new old stock of the USA made Bucklite Series 482 Max and those old 442's (two-handed version).The 482's all have variable blanking quality...none of the blades look the same.The 442's I have one with great snap while the other two model's blades seem to 'rub' against one of the scales indicating zero snap until it gets closed 75-80% of the way. My question for you is why does a $20-$30 knife like this with flaws coast by as 'superior quality' but see it on a $15 Taiwan knife or something more minor you consider it 'junk'?

I'm not saying run out and buy a gas station folder.But I think back in that 90's era Japan and Taiwan were doing nicer modern lockbacks than we were due to different manufacturing methods.The change to liner lock knives back then led to rougher fit and finish on the budget brands found in flea markets.Kind of like people bashing MTech though I'm not a fan...I was felt the very noticeable crap was under the Maxam brand.
 
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I was at walmart the other day and saw kershaw blur, gerber strongarm, spyderco tenacious, buck 110. As well as a couple others any of which would be a good buy of on need of a quick blade.
 
A firefighter or law enforcement officer is not the average working man. As a first responder I would not trust an unbranded knife.

More generally while I have seen a Case or Buck at interstate truck stops many more were unbranded and dull. Interestingly I've not seen any better quality Chinese knives such as Rough Riders which I would consider the modern everyman knife and a good candidate for a 'truck stop knife'.
 
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