Your Most Regretable Knife Purchase

jumpmonkey

jumpmonkey

Joined
Oct 16, 2006
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970
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I think we learn and grow as we use different knives. Some of them shine like the sun (my ESEE-4 and Izula do that) and some stink like rotten potatoes. Some of the most poignant lessons come from the knives that failed us. I thought it'd be interesting to share some of those experiences here.

The knife that failed me was a Kershaw Blackout. By the way, this is an excellent knife, I don't want to bad mouth Kershaw or the Blackout. The reason the blade failed me was because of my faulty desires and expectations of a knife. First off the blackout was tacticool, and second it was assisted open. I didn't have the knife long before my constant handling broke the Assisted Open mechanism (and I used it some time like that.) Then while doing some work one day the bugger closed on my hand. I had torked the knife side to side while prying (trying to loosen a nasty knot on a sandbag) and I completely disengaged the line lock. The result, I won't carry a line-lock anymore unless perhaps it is a CRKT style LAWKS safety. I don't buy tacticool knives, I don't know what I was thinking, oh, no wait, I wasn't thinking. Flat black is not a reason to buy a knife (for most people.) Lastly, assisted open is over rated. It's an unnecessary fail point and doesn't really help a whole ton in the opening process for day to day work. If I were using it as a LEO or Soldier my view on assisted may well change. But I'm not.

Look forward to hearing from ya'll about the knives that let you down and the lessons they taught you.

God bless,
Adam
 
As a young teenager in the mid-80s I fell under the steroid musclebound spell of John Rambo and bought a Buckmaster 184, which I still have to this day. Every once in awhile I ponder cleaning it up and selling it to a collector, but I just haven't gotten around to it.
 
I bought a Buck Strider SBMF when they first came out. What a POS. It took me about 2 seconds flat to determine that it was a waste of my $60 (or whatever I paid for it). I immediately boxed it back up and mailed it back for a refund.

I was really disappointed because I have several Buck knives that I enjoy, and I have had one Strider that was very nice too. But together, it just didn't work for some reason.
 
Gerber guardian backup....It was one of the first knives I bought back when I went for cool factor not functionality. It really is designed for two purposes, as a backup to your service/selfdefense weapon, or as a concelable sd weapon in areas where guns are not allowed. That being said I'm sure it does that job great, but when I bought it in my younger dumber days I didnt realize how limited it's use could really be.
 
In an attempt to "think outside the box" and everything, I procured a couple of Protech autos - a TR4 and Hawkins DA. Great quality but definitely a square peg in a round hole. I think I had them less than 24 hours.

That's the last time I order off the menu.
 
ontario rat 7. Though it is a great knife, only after purchasing it i realized that esee existed and had such an amazing warranty. I knew i couldn't afford both the rat 7 and esee 5 at the time, so i sent the rat 7 back after a few days and bought the esee 5, then the izula, then the 3mil...
 
Mine is a falkinven f13g it's a amazing knife it's just too nice I'm afraid to use it every time I look at it I wonder what was I thinking buying a 300 dollar knife
 
mine was a Falkinven S1 , just did not like the feel of the handle or the sheath or the VG10 but it is mainly personal reasons not the knife fault
 
CS black bear classic -- didn't realize the entire top side was sharpened and I'm not fond of daggers.

On the flip side, I still kick myself for selling my Blackjack 1-7. I would never use it, but it was just sexy-pretty.
 
The knife I have had the greatest amount of 'buyer's remorse" with has been a Busse CABS.
It is sharp, looks great, and has a lot of class, but the handle is too thin and too short. I can barely hold it, and do not feel it is usable as it is.
I have made arrangements to have the handle replaced with one more like the Spyderco Bushcraft knife. Wood, thick, round.
After I get it back, I am sure I will like it more.
 
My most regrettable knife purchases were all of the cheap made junk that I got, a whole helluva lot of it too.
 
Funny you mention the Blackout as your worst knife. Ha ha! I own one and love it. I would never try and pry anything with it. It's strictly a really sharp cutting tool that's it. The blade is just too thin for anything considered hard use. The speedsafe design is fun in my opinion and I find myself flicking it open just for the fun factor sometimes too. If it broke I sure would be using the warranty to get it fixed. Over all I'm a fan of Ken Onion designs and Kershaw. I don't really consider the Blackout a tacticool design just because it's black. It's just too small and the blade is too thin. The Blur is more of a tacticool design in my opinion.

At least you admit it was abuse and your high expectations as to what caused the failure. Ha ha!

Anyway, I had plenty of crappy knives when I was a kid. I liked knives but just was not into or understood what a really good knife was. As long as it looked cool and cut stuff.

I'd have to say that my worst recent knife purchase in past couple years was the SOG Hunter Revolver. I don't really regret purchasing it. But I wish I had done more homework on knives before I bought it. It's never been used as it's strictly a hunting knife and I haven't really been hunting in a long time.
 
AKC75 said:
At least you admit it was abuse and your high expectations as to what caused the failure. Ha ha!
Click to expand...

I wasn't really doing hard prying with it, just trying to loosen a knot. But yeah, totally my bad. Excellent knife when you buy it with the right thing in mind. Kershaw is a great company with great service.

God bless,
Adam
 
jumpmonkey said:
I wasn't really doing hard prying with it, just trying to loosen a knot. But yeah, totally my bad. Excellent knife when you buy it with the right thing in mind. Kershaw is a great company with great service.

God bless,
Adam
Click to expand...

Must have been a serious knot. I would have sent the thing back to Kershaw. If it was light prying it shouldn't have broken and I would be upset about it myself. Especially if it closed on my hand! That thing will cut a finger off.
 
I got the bug after I saw "The Hunted", so naturally, I went to the Mall. Soon I owned a CS Outdoorsman, cause it looked cool, samurai sword-ish. Yes, I paid Mall price. I also got myself a SOG Seal and Tomcat.
I regret paying what I did for those knives, compared to online store prices. And, I regret my lack of knowledge.
None of these knives are "bad". I've never really used the Outdoorsman much. I can't say I ever really will. If I hunt, I'd use something shorter.
Live and learn. Learn first, live better.
 
My biggest regret was buying a Busse Steel Heart. I couldn't figure out why I bought it. So big that you couldn't ever carry it unless you were going to the woods and if I was going to the woods, I'd carry something bigger to chop with.

Luckily I ended up selling it for more than I paid for it. Guess I should have bought two.

That was the last Busse I owned.

(Yeah, yeah, I know. That's blasphemy. Busse is the greatest knife on earth. I know all that. Flame me.)
 
i'd have to go with the smith wesson HRT flipper, the liner lock let me down.
 
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