Single features that kill a design for you?

[orixa]

A 4" blade that features two different grinds, 1/2" choil and tiger stripes all at the same time!

 

[tennessee226]

I dont like:

Tac folders:
aus 8 steel
part serrated
made in China
tip down only or funky clip
recurves
the knives that are better at prying than cutting
mall ninja lookin"

Fixed blades:
stainless steel
recurves
bad sheath
made in china
double edge
funky design (TOPS comes to mind)
mall ninja lookin'

Slipjoints:
Made in china
too fragile to use
most stainless steels
i usually try to get pinned shields

 

[gwebb]

Chisel grinds, shotty G10 work, overly thick blades (a knife is meant to cut and slice, if you need to hack get a dang hatchet), and tanto blades.

 

[parbajtor]

Pocket clips, coated blades and tacticool embellishments

 

[42Jackbauer23]

Recurve blades and pocket clips that let the knife stick out far. I like deep carry.

 

[bpeezer]

I should have called this thread "list of features my roommate looks for in knives" I'm surprised with all the consistency here, but I guess great minds think alike

 

[dragonsprayer]

this is going to piss off a lot people

but the spiderco deployment - i hate it. makes the knife fat and it is hard to get smaller ones out.

too big of a knife or too hard too open. but the again, i should bought a bigger one, not the small cheap kersaw ones.

so i decided too try another one.


well thought out

I used to love A/O but now with IKBS I find it redundant. These are my list of things that will KILL a purchase for me. If any knife has these features I wont buy them. It really really limits my potentials but in my situation thats probably a good thing

1. Washer construction. I only buy bearing pivot knives these days. The only knives I accept with washers are autos. But again with bearings i find myself only buying OTF autos.

2. A/O - Now that im a bearing addict I have no need for assisted opening. Just more stuff to break.

3. Coated blades - I make exceptions here and there but I mostly despise coated blades

4. Knives without pocket clips. I dont care for sheaths except for storage. If I cant clip it, I usually flip it.

5. Skate tape anything. I dont want sandpaper on my knife.

6. Proprietary hardware- If i need to buy a new wrench or if the hardware will get damaged by adjustments you can keep it.

7. Serrations- If i wanted to tear something apart ill do it with my hands

8. Extreme recurves- I prefer not to spend eternity in sharpening hell.

9. Lock backs, slip joints, and friction folders- I have no use for thes knives. And no quick or witty comment.

10. Customs- Ive had them and as much as I love the look of a good custom I cant bring myself to use them. Then I get guilty for them just collecting dust and I sell them. Though i do regret the sale of a couple of them. They were irreplaceable and I should have known better.

 

[symphonyincminor]

~ Badly over-engineered knives - see the latest crop of folders coming out from new makers. The trend tends to be to add as much material to the knife (overly thick blade stock, thick grinds and edge geometry, thick Ti or laminate handle scales, etc) without actually thinking of smarter, cleverer ways to engineer the knife to be bombproof rather than just add material all over the place. I could get way more in depth but you get the trajectory of where I'm going with this....
~ Thumbstuds
~ Full metal handles (half Ti and half laminate is the best of both worlds)
~ Assisted opening
~ Loooooooooooooooow rider pocket clips. Hey - you can't see the knife in the pocket - and it's equally hard to get it out!
~ S30V :barf:

 

[blame it on god]

Serrations, and knives that are set up for right hand carry only or tip down only.

 

[Kazeryu]

Combo Edge (Full serrations have their place, although I don't buy them)
Obnoxiously Thick Blades (I want to cut things with my knife, not split them with my wedge)
Anything that smacks of tacti-koolaid. (Black coatings, glass breakers, wire cutters, outsized handles, etc.)
Pocket clips which aren't deep-riding. (I wear IWB and don't want something stabbing me in the stomach and announcing itself to everyone I meet)
Mother of Pearl (I am not a geriatric spinster)
Palpable flex in handle scales (This is one of the main reasons I won't ever own an FRN Delica or Endura)
Dual Locks (Your locking system is so unreliable that you need a second one just to keep it closed?)

and I guess "Mystery Metal" although I've never seen a MM knife whose looks interested me, so this is sort of a non-issue. Exception - "Carbon Steel" in historic brands like Opinel and Douk-Douk is fine with me.

 

[Kazeryu]

~ Loooooooooooooooow rider pocket clips. Hey - you can't see the knife in the pocket

But that's the whole point.

- and it's equally hard to get it out!

I think your pants are too tight!

YMMV

 

[herisson]

The blade written all over... Case , I call you out on this one. I love you, but there is just no way I buy a knife with a blade clusterfucked by text. No. Love your knives, all the same. But, well...

 

[Nic S.]

I don't like blade lengths that are over 3.5 inches. I personally don't see the advantage of EDCing some thing that big IMO.

 

[Johndies]

http://www.baryonyxknife.com/
Damn, anybody who quotes Mervyn Peake is alright with me.

 

[Toxie]

Serrations and liner locks.

 

[recon1s14]

1. Seatbelt Cutters! Why have a blade just to have a razor pinned into the butt? ew...

2. Weight, bigger does not have to mean heavier...Manix LW anyone?

3. Weird pocket clips, maybe I'm just spoiled by Spyderco's wire clip but big obtrusive pocket clips annoy me.

4. No pointy tips, if I needed a butter knife I'd use one, I like pointy as well as sharp

5. Unnecessary holes in the blade, besides a thumb hole which I love, it just means more places for stuff to get stuck in, and to clean out.

 

[nyefmaker]

As far as the knives themselves go, I would have to say serrations and recurves. I have had knives with them and they are just not for me honestly.

As for country of mfg, I am pretty much USA ONLY. I love the look of some of the spyderco's, but when I see Taiwan on it, its a deal killer no matter how cool it is. Puma makes great knives and Victorinox/Wenger are the only TRUE SAK, so gotta go with them.

But probably the biggest is Customer Service from the company. I have dealt with companies that have the best in any business, while others have the worst I have ever experienced.

 

[CBennett]

1.Serations

2.Short stubby thick blades

3.the curved(i call it cats claw) design on some blades,

4.and this will get me in trouble with MANY as MANY dont mind or like this but blades with holes or slots of any kind in and or along the blade(Spyderco,Ontario XM folding series) im sure this is just MY opinion and im sure its a proven design and im probably wrong I just feel holes and slots just weaken the blade at that point ...Id rather have a FULL steel blade no holes or slots to weaken it.

5. Oh and a minor hang up on assisted opening....I only own ONE and thats probably all I will ever own...too hard for me to keep track of all the knife laws in all the places I travel..but in the places that I go the one frequent No-NO is assisted opening blades...Personally I love them I wish they were legal everywhere..but since I HATE keeping track of them I try to normally get only the "regular" type. Like I said id wish they were all assisted and legal everywhere but they aren't and im sick of keeping track.

 

[bld522]

Great thread, guys. The interesting thing in reading through it is how many features I DON'T like that I wasn't consciously aware of before I read it. I also realized that I'll accept certain features in one style of knife that I won't in another. So, for example, my acceptable feature list changes if I'm considering a fixed-blade knife or a folder. And it changes again if I'm considering a "tactical" folder or a traditional folder. And it changes yet again if I'm planning to use the knife or only collect it. But regardless of the category I put it in, any knife I buy has to be visually appealing or it's a no-go right out of the gate. After that, just about anything is acceptable for knives I purchase primarily to collect. But if I'm going to use the knife, then proper ergos is a must no matter what category the knife fits in. Nothing else matters if it isn't comfortable to use. Last but not least, a knife has to be priced fairly in my estimation or I won't consider purchasing it regardless of how popular it is or how much I might like it. Value, not price, is the key determiner for me.

 

[James Y]

Flippers that stick out way too prominently when the knife is closed.

Bead-blasted blades.

Overly thick/obtuse blade grinds.

Overly thick handles.

Overly heavy (folders).

Skateboard tape (or whatever it is) inserts.

Made in China. On this point, I will say that I own a few Chinese knives (a Henckels Santoku kitchen knife; a Byrd hawkbill design, and a Messermeister picnic knife) that work very well. In fact, I use the Henckels as my main cooking knife. But for the most part, I do not like "China" on my knives. And I proudly own many knives from Switzerland, Japan, USA, Taiwan, etc. It's probably illogical on my part, but it is what it is.

Serrations that are overly long/pointy/deep, or too fine. I like most Spyderco serrations, but not the ones by Cold Steel or Emerson. And I have one old combo-edge Kershaw with serrations that are so long, narrow and pointy as to be unusable.

Jim