Disillusioned with bigger name “Reviewers”

I'll watch them for entertainment, visuals, etc.

I never trust their reviews though as it seems they've never met a knife they didn't like by a knife company that has any market status.

But they do provide good shots, etc that can help with size, action, sometimes disassembly.

Just like with any pro reviewer that gets free product and likes clicks and not starting internet wars between fanboy clans.
 
Gideons Tactical is pretty good. He doesn’t baby his knives. He’s also pretty honest about the limitations of the product. Though I’d like to see more long term usage reviews from him.

But yeah, take reviews with a grain of salt. You may very well enjoy an unpopular knife or hate “everybody’s favorite.”
 
co556guy said:
I'll watch them for entertainment, visuals, etc.

I never trust their reviews though as it seems they've never met a knife they didn't like by a knife company that has any market status.

But they do provide good shots, etc that can help with size, action, sometimes disassembly.

Just like with any pro reviewer that gets free product and likes clicks and not starting internet wars between fanboy clans.
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I find “in the hand” shots of the knife fairly useful, as it lets you eyeball the ergos of the handle. Might also make hotspots more visible. Useful for online purchases, hahaha.
 
DangerZone98 said:
I find “in the hand” shots of the knife fairly useful, as it lets you eyeball the ergos of the handle. Might also make hotspots more visible. Useful for online purchases, hahaha.
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Totally agree.
 
More like Marketers.

Very few make nice informative videos with an actual critical oppinion. Most great videos about knives are about technical aspects, not about shilling for a specific model of a specific brand.
 
Some of them just don't post reviews of knives they're going to end up trashing, so there's a bit of a screening process happening. I believe Shabazz and Bryan (aka Slicey Dicey) have said something to the effect of they will just turn down opportunities to review knives they know will be bad, although Shabazz does stealth reviews to provide feedback to makers without killing them publicly. Nick, given his Good-Great-Bad-Ugly format, almost always finds some negative things to say about the knives he reviews, although the truly bad knives don't get posted. Tony Sculimbrene (Everyday Commentary) got sued by Marfione and Microtech for calling them out regarding the whole ZT ripoff thing.

Another thing is how closely your own tastes match up with the reviewer's tastes (which is somewhat tied to the "screening" issue). Personally, I have pretty similar taste to Shabazz and Tony, favoring knives on the smaller, more "gentlemanly" side (I'm a corporate attorney and wear a suit most days). Meanwhile, Dan at BladeReviews.com (who was a law school classmate of mine) has radically different taste from me, but I still read everything he posts. If you know your own preferences and what the reviewers do or don't like, you'll get more out of the reviews.
 
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i like shabazz for folders, though i admittedly have more of a tactical interest than he does. For fixed blades, i like gideon's tactical and preparedmind101.

Though, all of these reviewers have some coals in the fire with respect to wanting to get free stuff and/or maintain good relations with various brands.

For me, i like to see the knives in various grips, see how they handle various bushcraft or common edc tasks...and i also quite like Shabazz's take-apart-videos. YMMV

If there is a specific model that i want to see in detail, i like Kevin Cleary, Metal Complex, or the bladegallery youtube channel (360' views)
 
BMCGear said:
Many reviewers have somewhat become influencers. They create content to drive their add revenue and to get free things. I'm just not interested in a corporate shill these days.
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I agree with you on this. Me, in my personal opinion, feel like a lot have guys have gotten too cool for us normal, non knife reviewer guys. Slicey Dicey and Metal Complex come to mind. I don't need name dropping or how many contacts they have at different knife companies, etc.. I'll still watch MC from time to time, but not the other. I just want to see the dang thing open and closed a couple times and some size comparisons....
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
Some of them just don't post reviews of knives they're going to end up trashing, so there's a bit of a screening process happening. I believe Shabazz and Bryan (aka Slicey Dicey) have said something to the effect of they will just turn down opportunities to review knives they know will be bad, although Shabazz does stealth reviews to provide feedback to makers without killing them publicly. Nick, given his Good-Great-Bad-Ugly format, almost always finds some negative things to say about the knives he reviews, although the truly bad knives don't get posted. Tony Sculimbrene (Everyday Commentary) got sued by Marfione and Microtech for calling them out regarding the whole

Another thing is how closely your own tastes match up with the reviewer's tastes (which is somewhat tied to the "screening" issue). Personally, I have pretty similar taste to Shabazz and , favoring knives on the smaller, more "gentlemanly" side (I'm a corporate attorney and wear a suit most days). Meanwhile, Dan at BladeReviews.com (who was a law school classmate of mine) has radically different taste from me, but I still read everything he posts. If you know your own preferences and what the reviewers do or don't like, you'll get more out of the reviews.
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It looks like your post is truncated.
 
OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
Some of them just don't post reviews of knives they're going to end up trashing, so there's a bit of a screening process happening. I believe Shabazz and Bryan (aka Slicey Dicey) have said something to the effect of they will just turn down opportunities to review knives they know will be bad, although Shabazz does stealth reviews to provide feedback to makers without killing them publicly. Nick, given his Good-Great-Bad-Ugly format, almost always finds some negative things to say about the knives he reviews, although the truly bad knives don't get posted. Tony Sculimbrene (Everyday Commentary) got sued by Marfione and Microtech for calling them out regarding the whole

Another thing is how closely your own tastes match up with the reviewer's tastes (which is somewhat tied to the "screening" issue). Personally, I have pretty similar taste to Shabazz and , favoring knives on the smaller, more "gentlemanly" side (I'm a corporate attorney and wear a suit most days). Meanwhile, Dan at BladeReviews.com (who was a law school classmate of mine) has radically different taste from me, but I still read everything he posts. If you know your own preferences and what the reviewers do or don't like, you'll get more out of the reviews.
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What did Tony from Everyday Commentary get sued for? Defamation?

Also, could you share any interesting lawsuits Marfione/Microtech engaged in over the years?
 
eveled said:
I guess we all reach that point. I don’t even seek out knife content or reviews.

If you have a question about a specific knife. Ask here you will get far better advice here than from a reviewer.
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I've been trying to wrap my head around how I interact with the current knife pop culture and this is the perfect summary. Most of the personalities that are currently popular are reviewing knives as products you buy or totems of masculinity - not as functional tools. I ran through the big youtube guys about 6 months ago and came away with the impression that they're mainly there to talk out of their butts and shill for whatever.

I liked Outpost76 but other than that I can't think of a single reviewer that made a positive impression on me.
 
There's sometimes a herd mentality that gets some pretty average product onto the hype train (not naming names). But I also think the main guys work hard to create entertaining content so they have my support. Metal Complex is my fave currently - he cracks me up.
 
It's like panning for gold . I scan through user reviews videos that show performing appropriate tasks for the type of knife .

Expert , fair , long term , actual use reviews are pure pay dirt .

I fast forward and watch with the sound muted until I find something promising .

Scan through tons of written reviews also , especially for a brand I'm not familiar with .

I like a review to be balanced , with both pros and cons . Try to avoid both sales hype or haters with an axe to grind .
 
A lot of them are useful just to see close ups of what the knife looks like and how it fits the hand. It's way more useful than any amount of marketing photos. But yeah it seems most of them keep the knives pristine and never use them for anything.
 
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