What are the worst quality knives you had priviledge to experience?

[Smiling]

There have been many threads where we mention just terrible knives. And we all had them. This is just a thread dedicated to those low quality or poorly designed knives. We all had a few.

I just found the old Microtech 325 knife that kinda resembles karambit. It belonged to my sibling, and the tip of it was bent by my mother long time ago, the blade is wobbly and this thing is just incredibly dull.

Then I remember small unbranded knife that my grandpa gave to me years ago. It was small bowie styled folding blade. It was incredibly hard to close once you opened it, and blade started to dance after first use.

Then there is first knife I ever bought myself, the S&W small fixed blade. I was a teen back then. It looked decent, and was full tang. But the spine was kinda asymetrical. And the blade was just... it would go dull almoust instantly. It took long time to sharpen and would go dull straight away. It was 3mm thick and still got bent when I accidentally sat on it. I just threw it to trash. It cost me 2€ in case someone is wondering.

Then there was "Harry" knife I got as a gift from my friend. It was just full tang knife without handle on the tang, it had good edge retention but was rather uncomfortable so I used electrical tape to make a handle. And that knife just snapped on me on a winter day, and yes, steel did look like sand on the place where it snapped. I guess it cost him just few €.

 

[miso2]

Bear&Son sod buster slip joint.
The spring tension was like zero to one.
Sloppy.

 

[trevitrace]

Yes.

 

[palonej]

No

 

[Smiling]

Maybe?

 

[RealVendetta]

Frost Cutlery. Found one in a parking lot. If someone spent more than $1.50 on it they got ripped off.

 

[craytab]

All of the knives I don't like are horrible.

 

[cbach8tw]

The obvious lesson is there are bad knives out there and we used them and learned (hopefully), much to our disappointment, and do not use such knives, but what skills did such failures help you learn to do better with better knives? The result being a step on the learning curve, as each failure helps one learn.

 

[marcinek]

Cold Steel Recon Tanto. Utter junk.

 

[herisson]

[but what skills did such failures help you learn to do better with better knives? The result being a step on the learning curve, as each failure helps one learn.]
Good question, really. The answer is : I learned to research quality instead of just good looks and low price. Quality meaning, to begin with, a reputable brand or maker. Also looking deeper into finish and materials. And learning / reading on the subject and, of course, buying knives, using them and comparing them. Somewhere, down the road, I got to eventually know what works best for me. The rest (higher quality, exquisite materials, gorgeous finish) is added candy.

 

[Velitrius]

M marcinek you have to try the Recon Tanto in different steels until you find the one you like.

That baby comes in a whole bunch of steels, ya know. Each can destroy a boot stuffed with pork chops.

And you'd best hope Lynn didn't hear you say that.

 

[not2sharp]

.....

That baby comes in a whole bunch of steels, ya know. Each can destroy a boot stuffed with pork chops.

…...

Yeah, ok, but can it stab through a car hood or door?

n2s

 

[abcdef]

2008 BladeForums traditional knife by Northwoods - POS.

There were a lot of complaints about the edition from Buck that came out recently. Some had absolutely startling gaps in the back springs. One of the two I ordered had to be sent back. But compared to that 2008 Northwoods, it was a real peach.

 

[22-rimfire]

Frost Cutlery slip joints for me.

 

[razorburn]

The most recents were the Meyerco EDC and Maxx-Q.Knives were either severely off center blades or poorly finished.

 

[marchone]

Real Steel S571 Pro

A screw head sheared off the pocket clip while tightening. The vendor directed me to Real Steel. No contact from the maker was available. Multiples emails were sent with no response. I have lost all faith in Real Steel as a result. They do not stand behind their products.

 

[Quiet]

I just bought a Buck 110 LW this weekend and it's complete trash. As in, brand new, out of the package, the sharpening job was so poor, the tip is actually rounded. LOL

 

[Grandmaster]

My wife gave me a DPX Hest, it came with the worst sharpening and its pocket brick, I tried to like it, but its not worth it at all

 

[marrenmiller]

Idk, I was impressed with my Recon Tanto in SK-5 steel for the money. I used it as a wrecking tool to tear down a couch that I couldn't manage to give away. It cut fabric, chopped wood, and pried staples and boards into neat little piles for more than an hour without any significant damage, and made the job significantly easier than it would have been otherwise. Obviously it went dull early on in the task but that was fixed in minutes on a coarse diamond stone, and it was still usable for some tasks even before sharpening. Maybe that level of durability isn't necessary for something that's ostensibly intended as be a cutting tool, but as a wrecking tool it was fantastic.

 

[Mikarta]

Buck 110 Slim Pro. I was very excited to check out the brown micarta with S30V blade. When I got it in hand I was very disappointed by how much blade play it had in all directions, not centered at all. Worst part of all about it was all of the hardware (aside from the clip) is non-removable. So you can't even try to make adjustments to try and dial it in.