Knife that didn’t live up to the hype.

:) These days , most common brand knives are fairly well reviewed if you can wait awhile . And do thorough research . So , not many huge surprises in store .

Before the web , all you had basically was hype from advertising , catalogs and magazines .

Back in the 80's , spent way too much for a super shiny Al Mar Pathfinder . Machete , short sword that was supposed to be the ultimate adventure gear . Promised to slash and chop through the Amazon jungle with no problems . :rolleyes:

Didn't take more than a few minutes in the woods , just chopping out some saplings to break it completely apart at the hilt . :( Poor HT .

Al Mar replaced it to me , but never have trusted it or bought anything from them again .

 
For me it was probably the Case peanut, I've always heard how great they are and I thought I'd love it so much.
Then I got one and it's a great little knife but I don't love it as much as I thought I would .
They're a great little knife but I've come to realize I find the aesthetics a bit off.
It's not a real deal breaker, there's just one thing that really bothers me.

Here's the case peanut


And here's the half whittler


The peanut is a great little knife, but the half whittler gives you the same blades in a slightly better package.
It's a little bigger but it's also a little slimmer .

My biggest issue with the peanut is the placement of the nail nick which just makes the blade look like it has an ugly sharp peak on the top of the blade, and makes it feel a bit weird when opening the blade.
Comparing it to the half whittler the main blades really are identical with the exception of the nail nick placement.
If the peanut has the same nail nick placement it would look so much better and everything else about it that I like a little less than the half whittler would not bother me at all.
It's crazy to think that this one detail can make as much of a difference as it does , but I really does make a difference.
 
In some ways ZT is disappointing for me. While they make excellent knives , IMO most of the time they don’t stand up to their marketing and their cutting performance has never really impressed me that much

the xm-18 gen 6 has been disappointing to me too
Half track has been a great surprise but i enjoy the Xm-18 gen 4 over the 6
 
Buck 110. I have bought at least 5 in different configurations (Slim, original, pro, etc) and only one was useable. The rest either suffered from excessive play, way off centering or tight action. I want to like it but I keep getting lemons I guess.

Spyderco Kapara. This is one I really looked forward to and I’m sure it’s a great knife for some but it just did not fit my hand. The handle feels small to me, like the handle does not match the blade.

There are others but these stand out in my mind.
 
IMO swiss Amy knives in general I understand thay are useful and well made inexpensive and when I was younger I had a lot my only remaining one is sentermental and alox soilder 1961 made in 92
but the grips slippy some are pointlessly big the swiss champ for example I don't like the tip or the blade shape really and if you do get one with lots of tools some are useless in ways the size of the handle can get in the way when it comes to doing certain things the just not my thing
 
I got a Buck pocket knife with elk scales a couple of years ago. I think it even had some steel other than 420. It was hyped so over the top, I got two. Both looked like they came from a junk shop. I made do with one, and sent the other back for a rebuild. No more Buck purchases for me.
 
Hickory n steel said:
For me it was probably the Case peanut, I've always heard how great they are and I thought I'd love it so much.
Then I got one and it's a great little knife but I don't love it as much as I thought I would .
They're a great little knife but I've come to realize I find the aesthetics a bit off.
It's not a real deal breaker, there's just one thing that really bothers me.

Here's the case peanut


And here's the half whittler


The peanut is a great little knife, but the half whittler gives you the same blades in a slightly better package.
It's a little bigger but it's also a little slimmer .

My biggest issue with the peanut is the placement of the nail nick which just makes the blade look like it has an ugly sharp peak on the top of the blade, and makes it feel a bit weird when opening the blade.
Comparing it to the half whittler the main blades really are identical with the exception of the nail nick placement.
If the peanut has the same nail nick placement it would look so much better and everything else about it that I like a little less than the half whittler would not bother me at all.
It's crazy to think that this one detail can make as much of a difference as it does , but I really does make a difference.
Click to expand...
I don't see much difference relative to the nail nick. I like Peanuts, but at this point in time they are still a little small for me when the Vic Small Tinker being just a little larger is much more useable and has the extra tools to boot.

The Kabar Becker BK-2 was the biggest hyped knife that I didn't like at all. Survival knife.... get a BK-2. Woods knife... get a BK-2. The knife just doesn't work as a knife for me.
 
I have to echo the Spyderco Paysan mention from above. Those dropped last year and I got to play with one at BLADE and just wasn't impressed at all. Small, thin handle, yet it's $400+. If I had to have an integral that badly, I'd just buy a Lionsteel at half the price with much better handle ergos and call it a day.
 
My biggest gripe with the Peanut was that it was small to the point that I have lost it somewhere in my house or at my mother in law's. I rarely lose a knife, and when I do it doesnt stay lost for more than a week or so. Mine has been MIA for about 3 years. I found it annoyingly small to the point that it even got stuck too far down in my fifth pocket to retrieve easily.

I understand the little knife that cuts like a big knife concept, but I'm just never going to be a big enough fan to gain cult membership;)

I will say my biggest disappointment may be the ZT630. I wanted to like it. I bought it as a tactical knife but it didnt work for me. The nut would either work itself loose or I would get it just a tad too tight that it would be sticky. The wave feature worked too well. I can't fault the knife for behaving how it was designed, but there were plenty of times I would rather just pull the knife out and thumb it open with less theatrics. However, that was nearly impossible as the thumb disc is nearly impossible to use right handed. The frame lock is so tight that any pressure against it as you try to thumb the knife open is too much friction for it to overcome. Finally, it is the only ZT I had that suffered surface rust at the pivot just from pocket carry. I've had some on my 300 and 350 due to working around wet areas and carrying them while sweaty, but my 630 got ugly real quick, like within a week.

I think the 630 was kind of my downhill slide on ZT. It also slips its lock with a light tap to the spine. I'm not a spine whack zealot, but I think of all the folders you want to hold up to shock at all angles it's the one designed primarily for tactical use.
 
Buck Sprint Pro Micarta, I don't think there's anyway to make this knife decent. Poor materials and the chippiest S30 I've ever had.
CRK Zaan, uh huh......nice knife but don't dig the factory 'recurve' or the super late lock-up. Just a knife to me, feels like a bad ROI.
AD10 with a horrible edge grind.
TRM's, I've got an Atom, Atlas and a Neutron. I really do like the Atlas but the other 2 don't really live up to the hype IMO.
 
Any Emerson. I've had a Super CQC-7, a Roadhouse, and a CQC-15 spanning from 2011 to 2019 production dates. Truly abysmal function, fit/finish, and performance. Mediocre slab handle ergonomics. Poor resale value, which is unsurprising because they're not even worth half of what they cost new.

I'll also echo the XM-18 gen 6 models. I've owned 3 and each one had some odd lock movement like the lock geometry wasn't correct. The detents were the same as my older gen 4 model, and the action was only good when using ball bearings, which IMO shouldn't be on a hinderer in the first place. The Tri-Way pivot system just feels like a way to appeal even more to instagram users.
 
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WValtakis said:
I'm sure I'll catch a lot of flack...but Shirogorov, certainly nice but not at the hyped up import prices.
Click to expand...

Thats how I feel about Olamic, granted I've only owned one, the swish. Great knife, but was really disappointed for the $650 price tag.
 
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