Misconceptions: (1) Knives are scary and bad (2) You need to pay $500 for a good knife (3) A knife has to be huge to be a good knife (4) Knife steel does not matter (5) It's hard to sharpen a knife.
Re: Damascus steel, worth adding: old-school Damascus steel (like, in the Middle Ages) had an excellent reputation compared to other steels of that era. In particular, the steel that bladesmiths in Damascus, Syria used (Wootz steel) had vanadium impurities, and their processing method not only brought out nice patterns in the steel, but also developed vanadium carbides, which made the steel much stronger. This was before we even knew what vanadium was. Today, modern metallurgy makes that all obsolete. If we want vanadium carbides in our steel, now we just add vanadium - think 80CrV2 or S30V. We can also distribute the vanadium carbides much more evenly throughout the steel, so we don't get the patterns that classic Damascus steel has. Modern Damascus steel is NOT made using the Syrian technique, which is obsolete due to modern metallurgy. It's simply forge welded for the sake of making a pretty pattern. Usually, one of the steels used isn't great - like 15N20, or PMC27 in Damasteel. You'd get better performance using just the better of the two steels, rather than welding them together.
Well said👊 Still ... sometimes it can be quite attractive (I personally really like the pattern on the Civivi Asticus and also on the Praxis😍 whereas that on the McKenna I find ugly as $#it)🤷♂️
@@esoteric5277 The Copper McKenna with the black washed handle and blade is strangely compelling even though i'll probably get the brass one . Usually i'm not a fan of Civivi's "Damascus" and prefer the satin blades .
@@kerryrwac I would generally avoid a coated blade, but a blackwash does look very attractive somehow🥴 I also love the look of copper or bronze on hardware or scales, and it's antimicrobial to boot😷 But coated blades tend to not cut as smoothly. Also heavy metals like bronze and copper add useless weight😫 And then with the price also being higher ... I find the temptation thankfully easy to resist😑
I got into this hobby earlier this year, and I absolutely agree that a newbie could be easily obsessed with high end steels and pays too much attention on steel types. I remember at the beginning I wanted a knife with 8cr steel, then I realized it had a version with D2 steel as well. Diving deeper, I started to see more and more fancy steels with much higher price tags. Naturally I talked to myself: “Wow, I want the baddest and most expensive knife steel I can afford!” Which now I know is quite a naive thought. As I learn more, I realized it’s not all about the steel types, and 8cr has its place in the knife world even though it holds an edge for shorter time; it sharpens easier than a super steel with crazy edge retention. That’s just one example I came up to remind myself not to be obsessed with anything just because it’s “better” and more expensive.
With the modest collection I've accumulated over the years, my hard use, work knife is still my Benchmade 750 Pinnacle, with it's "lowly" ATS-34 blade steel. It holds its edge just fine, it's fairly easy to sharpen and has a rock solid lockup from the titanium framelock. My edc is a small, plain Sebenza 21, it's all the knife I really need during an average day. For outdoors use (in the woods or fishing mostly), I carry my 750 along with one of my ESEE fixed blades with its 1095 steel. ESEE and Rowan are experts at heat treating 1095.
Since I have a decent knife collection, 8Cr13MoV or Aus 8 is a good steel for me. I can tune it up quickly on my Lansky Turnbox and I don't have to worry as much about chipping. I do have some other steels in the collection like 440c and D2, but softer is easier for me to quickly get extremely sharp.
That if Batman calls it a gem then you got to have it. That you need a lot of different style knifes, that you need really expensive knifes. For me I have found I have knives from 3 companies all have a hole or a flipper tab, and I prefer the cost between 100 - 150 dollars as that’s a comfortable spot to carry and use.
Nick's points about not relying on a singular reviewer remind me of reading books on philosophy: none have ticked absolutely all the boxes for me, but one can synthesize the good from multiple sources. Also, the process of finding those points of difference are an opportunity to examine what it is you're seeking.
You could also add: *local laws* to the list of things under "availability" as just because you might be able to buy it, using/carrying the knife might be a different thing altogether! Here in Germany a knife that has a one handed opening mechanism AND locks is not something you can carry around with you everywhere... I ended up getting a CRKT CEO in a british edition (Heinnie Haynes) because that one is a two handed opener but is otherwise identical to the regular one. I liked the style but wanted to carry it with me and actually use it instead of merely having it in a drawer at home so that was the only alternative available.
We have the opposite problem in America. For some reason, as lenient as our knife and gun laws are in most states, everybody seems to think that everything is illegal. It's baffling
Alex Gentry yeah that’s true. There was a cashier at the grocery store I used to work at who took a knife out of her purse to cut a coupon out for a customer, wasn’t even an auto or anything just a traditional slip joint large stockman, the largest blade was probably about three inches. Then the customer said “you’d better not let them find that if you get pulled over” and all I was thinking was 🤯 this woman does not need to be walking around alone. I live in Kentucky and we can carry any blade we want to here. There was one customer who was in that same store almost on a daily basis and he always had a 7” or so Buck fixed blade on his hip, he was a nice guy and there was no problems.
I must admit I found it hard at first to determine from reviews whether a knife was actually good for regular use, or mediocre with good looks and features. Especially the focus on stuff like 4-way clips, handle looks (not ergonomics), made in [blabla], screw choices and whatnot affects review judgement so much, while it really doesn't matter if you want to use the damn thing as a tool (t6/t8 choice notwithstanding). Not that I don't care about looks, convenience and uniqueness (on the contrary), but I feel like the distinction between a user perspective and a enthusiast perspective is lost in reviews more often than not.
RU-vid randomly suggested this. Very good information and thank you for your knowledge. But when the guy showing the knives has a bandaid on his finger it made me chuckle a bit
The biggest “misconception” I had coming into the knife world was underestimating its sheer magnitude. In my mind, it was “spyderco, opinel, buck and a few dozen others that nobody cares about”. NOPE, WRONG...like guitars (my main hobby/profession), it’s basically endless...
I'm surprised that you didn't mention that people tend to associate weight with quality. You know, like when someone used to Mtechs made out of mystery pot metal with weight of a neutron star handles Manix LW and says: 'Wow, this feels like a cheap piece of garbage.' while it's actually much more durable and higher quality.
@@bigsean2473 I haven't had any problems with them, it's comfortable and the action is smooth. It's not meant to be a heavy use knife, I use it when I need a sharp one and carry my kershaw as a beater.
I appreciate your info thank you. I have " collected " fairly basic or crappy knives for 30 years. Got to spyderco value line and started liking higher quality stuff. Bought a lionsteel / nutnfancy knife a year ago. Just bought a montery bay large carry today. Like the build design and like the clean look. The one knife i have wanted more than a year is the slyce bowie.. sorry about my spelling. It just seems like knife that would fit my style a lot. I am not worried about blade steel .. or custom makers.. just interested in some higher quality that makes me happy. 300 dollars is my most expensive knife so far. Dont need 20 of them. Just a few .
I have a Holt Specter V1 and I want a new one. Unfortunately Holt is doing something that I see as UGLY... You cannot buy from them if you don't have a verified Facebook account. You can't even get in the list to maybe be lucky enough to get into the drawing with a FB account. I don't have, nor will I ever have a FB account in my name. That means that Holt doesn't want my or any other person that refuses to give FB their personal, private informations business. Holt has their own web site. I don't know why they can't utilize it to make sure the knives they sell end up in the hands of customers that want them.
For me the main misconception I see is the "best knife". I'll see in knife groups people often ask what's the best knife you can buy for under $500. There's never a x fits all case. It's part of the reason real knife owners become collectors, different knives for different occasions. A knife brand I haven't seen covered on this channel is qsp. I subscribe to going gears edc club box and this month was a qsp Damascus hawk folder. One of the smoothest and probably one of my new favorite sub $100 knives I own. Worth looking in to.
That's not quite true. The best knife is the one you're looking at purchasing, rather than the one you just purchased or the one you took out of the cart.
The assumption that the more expensive the knife, the better the quality. I love how my co-workers compare their Hinderer to my native 5 maxamet. Just leaves a grin on my face
Determine what you are using a knife for. Use them. Don't break the bank" until you've experimented with blade steels, shapes, opening mechanisms, or handle materials until you realize your preference. Then upgrade. My wife has high end chef's knives whereas I have low budget beater experiment tools. We use knives differently. Take advantage of people that know more than you and adapt it to fit your preferences.
This is a great video and very helpful for new collectors. That being said, the Damascus thing is a problem. Paying way more for something that is fancy and pretty, but functions worse, is exactly like buying a Mercedes for your commuter car. If you have one “EDC” knife and it is Damascus, then you may be missing the point.
Nick, Great Video! I purchased a good number of knives with "Poor Slicing Geometry" early on in my knife journey. A good design in D2 is really all I need. That said the appetite for ZDP189, LC200N, M4, and M390 is strong in this one... Your point of view is much appreciated. Thanks again. : )
All valid points but I tend to start with the handle. If it does not fit my hand for the intended purpose it’s useless to me. Everyday use has to be easy to sharpen. How hard you intend to use the knife determines folder or fixed blade. Convenience of carry shows me how practical a purchase this will be. Blade shape and grind lets me fine tune my decision. The type of blade steel and temper is left to how well you trust the maker cuz you don’t know until you use it and only then you may suspect you do not have what you paid for. Gems like Nick attempt to guide you in the right direction but you will never really know until it is in your hand and you are using it for its intended purpose. All that being said, Nick did guide me to the Rat 1 with D2 steel and it is still my favourite everyday folder although I do now realize that I prefer fixed blades for durability and handle comfort for long term use. A Mora Companion HD will take you a long way for $20-$30 CAD. A Terava Jaakarripukko will last you a lifetime for under $100 CAD. I did not get into watches cuz Nick, a wise man, said so.
When I first started collecting Knives I didn't care about the Steel on it, I just bought any knife that looked cool. When I started learning more about steals, I realized I bought a lot of knife with just "stainless steel" that was my noobi mistake lol. But I don't regret buying them. In my opinion, it's a good idea to buy a cheap knife now and then, so you can really understand the quality and the reason why you buy higher end knives. Great video by the way. ^w^
Very valuable video, Nick. Class act on your part to take the time to help folks new(ish) to the hobby. I could have used it in 1990(+-) when I fell headlong into knife lust myself. Hope all is well with you & the missus. Y'all stay safe! & thanks for the high quality content!
I am not really in the knife world, I started using knives in a world very different to the one you inhabit. My mum was a cook, and knives were her trade, there was nothing special about the steel, they were carbon steel and sharpened until they wore out. That is the way my dad used knives too. I broke the tip off his old army knife using it to pry. I am a gardener and I use vintage carbon steel, made by long dead blacksmiths, none of this fetishism about unobtanium alloys. For everyday use Opinels are as good as anything, I have a Martinii Puuko I have had for years, so long there are nicks on the blade cos it has had a hard life. So far as folders are concerned, I do not think there is better quality than a Victorinox SAK, they are just so well made, yeah even compared to a Spyderco or fancy knife. I have owned enough bad knives to know what works for me. It is rare that anything happens in the knife world that really impresses me, but the new Victorinox Farmer X has, it has got everything I want for an everyday knife.
What a treat! Visually, information-wise and on the one-liner front. Thanks Nick! #dontfeedtheparasites Have you been leftie spiderflicking? Your index...
Good thing I'll never be able to afford any of those hard to get knifes I'll be happy with the standard off the shelf stuff like Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and so forth
Alot of the misconceptions, especially about blade steel, come from knife youtubers. Blade HQ does it, Nick does it, literally every knife review show does it. They put alot of emphasis on blade steel during their reviews and the novice knife owners/collectors assumes that blade steel is hyper-important. Especially if you're just buying a knife for the utility, and you have no attachment to or interest in collecting knives, the steels like D2, Aus-8, 8Cr13MoV, whatever, will work just fine.
Both BladeHQ and Nick pretty much just give the steel on knives they review. Two of the worst examples of people who supposedly overly focus on just knife steel.
Well, all aspects of the blade itself are very important since the purpose of a knife is to cut. The way I see it, the different factors of a knife edge are part of it performance potential (maximum possible performance/cap). Everything needs to go right in making and maintaining a blade to get full use out of it. Steel chemistry is perhaps the first factor to worry about since the formulas are more standardized between brands and models. Aside from the steel chemistry itself, bevel geometry, heat treatment, blade shape/type, blade finish, grind type, and stock thickness will determine how well a steel can perform, but they will be less consistent between brands and/or factories. Essentially, steel type is an easy way to identify most of the time how good a blade is potentially capable of performing when first examining the knife. The other factors will determine if it can live up to that potential with proper maintenance and use. There is also the element that the type of steel often plays the biggest part in factors such as toughness, ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance.
For me, design is the most important thing, together with function. I look for outstanding lines and masses, that work well together. What does that mean? Hard to explain, but when you have it, you tend to exclaim “nice!” If that impression holds up under analysis, it might be a masterpiece!
I agree 💯% about the flippers. The world would be a better place without those leeches. They hold knives hostage and demand too much money😂 thanks for sharing, brother 👊
I see many of your knives are plain edged. Can you tell me why you prefer plain edged over combo blades? Thank you, in advance, for your answer, Sir. Be well and thank you for your awesome channel.
A lot of non knife people think that if you carry a pocket knife you're looking to stab someone. I usually have to explain that a non-locking knife would more than likely close up on the wielder's fingers, and go on to demonstrate the effect.
I stick at no lower then aus 8 and I prefer it to not be hi Rockwell . Do to the fact that my guns and Knifes are tools . And as I buy good tools I do not treat them like China . I own some knifes I only carry when in a suit and tie and that is not that often . Now as anyone how collects guns well know their is stuff out their you don't buy . I well never own a hi point .380 . I be better off with a rock and stick . Same go's for knifes if you can pick it up at a Connor store then do you want that to be the tool you put your life on ? Then would you tack puts complete custom 1911 to defend your family ? I depend on the info out their if theirs moor then one person saying this is good and way. Then I go look at it and if I can beat on it I go for it. But you never beat moor then your welling to lose . So put it throw it's paces . If it works out then I buy another if not it hits the cabinet or goes to a friend. And you can buy whatever you want but price and demand price go's up . You have to remember it's only worth what someone well pay. And also if their is a hi demand their always knock offs . And not always bad I have gotten some knock offs knowing that and they where just as good of not better. But that's 1 in 1000000
One youtuber mentioned a knife for dining or a knife for weddings?? As if there is an EDC for formal occasions. I can’t see myself pulling a knife at a wedding unless at the reception a box needed to be opened.
I really appreciate how much time he puts into his videos, had this been around years ago when I first got into the knife world I would have saved myself so much money
Or you could just buy a full custom made by one of Europe's many amazing makers for like 10-20% more than you'd pay for a decent production knife. I'm in the US, btw.. there's nothing inherintly wrong with the decent production knives coming out of USA, I just don't see any reason to pay $250 for a Spyderco when I can pay $300 for a knife that I chose every option on, and has been custom heat treated to a guaranteed HRC
@@CNYKnifeNerd oh i agree and am lucky in that restropective having some great european knife makers, larger companies and more independant knife makers i have a couple of giant mouse knives which i love, though equally some USA made knives i crave too lol
What I like about Damascus is that it doesn't take fingerprints and it hides dings & corrosion. I think the reason "surgical steel" tends to be soft is because you'd want scalpels and retractors to come to an acute edge and not need to reuse it before it's maintained. Makes sense for a scalpel, not for a knife.
@@roberts1770 These days much Damascus is not "a premium", it's just an option. My small Centauri in Damascus & carbon fiber goes for about $180. Besides, acid & stone washes are nice but I no longer care for *coated* blades.
david marshall I see your point, but mine refers to %greater you pay for a Centauri with Damascus versus the same knife with S30v and G-10 (if they made such a thing). Also, Chinese Damascus will always be less expensive. You can get some for $25 on Amazon.
Hi Nick, you often mention being "Made in the USA" as a valid justification for a knife being expensive, which seems to imply somehow that the extra cost is justified, since a knife made in America is better than one made elsewhere. The TL:DR is that I think this is an unfair and incorrect assumption to make. Producing things in the USA is not necessarily synonymous with more expensive and definitely not an effective proxy for good quality. There is just as much garbage made in the US as there is made anywhere else. I don't really need to provide examples, you are an intelligent man and you must have noticed this by yourself. You would not say that US made watches are better or pricier than European watches for example, or cars, or furniture, or camera lenses, or any number of other things. Specifically to the knife world, for every Benchmade and Chris Reeve there is a more expensive Klotzli or Rockstead or Shirogorov. Prices of good quality knives made in the US and anywhere else in the world are substantially the same. So continuously justifying a piece being more expensive because made in the US is inexplicable. From a US point of view, if anything, a knife coming from abroad should cost more, everything else being the same, as it is subject to custom duty. And in fact this is true of many high quality non-US made knives. A simple list by price on a well-stocked knife shop's website can prove my point. I have a great respect for your reviews but I think this is not just a preference, or an opinion. It is just factually incorrect. I have been noticing this for a long time, but I thought that if there was an appropriate occasion for voicing my concern, it was on a video about misconceptions. Perpetrating a misconception in a video about misconceptions might, after all, trigger some recursive comic-book-like loop that will eventually devour the universe. Perhaps you haven't noticed that you do that, after all you are famous, and loved, for your interjections and patterns of speech :) . Or perhaps there is some wholly sensible reason for constantly justifying cost with "Made in the USA", that you haven't explained. I know that - as someone not from the US, with a decent collection of US and non US knives of good quality - I find such assumptions untrue and mildly irritating. And I am sure you will agree that in our days there is enough misguided jingoistic sentiment already, and we don't need to encourage it in this wonderful little world that is our hobby ;) With great admiration. G
I'm afraid you're hearing something different than what I'm saying, and equating my stance with a *very* different one. I've said for years that quality is about effort, not geography, and there are amazing shops making great gear all over the world. Similarly, I'm absolutely not saying that US-made knives are inherently better in quality simply because they're made in the USA. There are certainly folks doing low-quality work in the states 🤣 What I'm actually saying is that paying a group of people in the USA running a knife shop will cost more than paying a group of people of equivalent size in China. Here in the US, and particularly in smaller industries, cost of living, skilled labor, healthcare, and more are very expensive, and so staffing a shop with people and paying them enough to take pride in their work isn't cheap. So, the fact is, an American-made knife of equivalent quality to a piece made in a place with lower cost of living and poorer working conditions is going to be pricier. And at this cultural moment, a plurality of my viewers are feeling strongly that they'd rather pay a bit more for equivalent quality in order to have it made in the US, and I think everybody, no matter the political landscape nor their home country, would rather support a more local maker if they've got the chance. So, for a bunch of folks, to whom I'm speaking, made-in-the-USA *is* a feature, and is something they're willing to pay for. And I present it as such. So, I hope you understand that saying that it costs more to make a knife in the US, and acknowledging that as a perk for the majority of my (mostly American) audience is a very different thing, and can coexist with a large number of sociopolitical worldviews. :)
@@NickShabazz Thank you for taking the time to answer, Nick! I suspected that much of it boiled down to you speaking directly to Americans. I am not sure of what fraction of your audience we 'foreigners' are. I think you may be selling yourself short. In any case, please do not forget about us watching from Europe and everywhere else. Hearing that you are intentionally speaking to the preferences of Americans risks alienating everyone else (and may unintentionally help reinforcing someone's delusions of exceptionalism). On a more technical note, when you say "What I'm actually saying is that paying a group of people in the USA running a knife shop will cost more than paying a group of people of equivalent size in China" it seems to assume that US and China are the two only countries making knives. Aside from artificially magnified adversaries, useful to polarise, and beyond the rampant misconceptions and propaganda (I am sure you know what I mean ;) ), there are actual data and official measures of the cost of labour in different countries, and the US is *far* from the most expensive place in the world. As you can see from the OCSE statistics: stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ULC_ANN there are 27 countries with higher labour cost. They include not only most of Europe, including of course, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Sweden, the UK, and - perhaps unexpectedly to some Americans - Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland ... but also places like South Korea. Then there is a long list of countries with fundamentally similar costs to the US, including Japan and Australia. On the whole the cost of labour in America is at the lower end of developed countries, and only really higher than emerging and developing countries. There are only three countries with a knife production of notice where labour is cheaper than in the US: China (significantly lower), Taiwan and Russia (marginally lower). China of course has a huge production, so it has considerable weight, but it's still just one country. That there are a handful of places cheaper than the US does not mean that there aren't a lot of places (the majority, in fact) more expensive than it. Quite plainly, everything you say about labour in China, any European can say about the US: in a very real sense, you are our China, with those chlorinated chickens and lack of social security :) I hear you. When you say "made in the US" what you really, really, mean is "not made in some specific place, that I don't want to mention explicitly, where labour is cheaper than here". I get the "shorthand", but will Joe Cowboy? Thanks again for your wonderful reviews and sharing your passion and knowledge, and a wish for your channel to become increasingly global
@@randomthoughts28 i see both side of the coin. but the fact remains that china make the majority of the knives that are on the market and the rest of the world has a small slice from many different places. go on any knife site and pick 10 random knives and 6+ will be from china or the likes of. why is that? why do so many countries use china to make goods? it much cheaper to have it done there. nicks point with the knives is we cant make the same knife for the same money china can so if its made in the usa it will be more expansive to make and buy
I've been into knives for over 20 years, and I really like 440a steel, provided it's well heat-treated. People laugh at 440a, but it's always served me well. You just have to touch it up for 30 seconds when it starts dragging.
One of my most disappointing misunderstandings when a newbie was expecting knives to come in perfect. Most have small dings or scratches upon arrival. Some have more serious issues, such as blade play, for which you def should return the knife. But once I kinda lowered my expectations for production knives, I was a lot more content.
Here's a newbie misunderstanding. What are you cutting that takes a $200, $300, $400 pocket knife? Not putting you down if that's what you want to spend but Holy Moley! I can buy guns for these prices. Maybe if you're a safari guide and are constantly field dressing big game.... but most people are cutting twine, sharpening pencils, opening an Amazon box. I used to carry Swiss Army knives but I had to own 3 of them to keep one on me. Two stayed lost most of the time. While one was hiding in the couch I would find the one I lost in the laundry. It was a constant rotation. I can't imagine dropping a $200 knife out of a boat. But that's collecting I guess. I saw a beer can that brought $10k once. I even paid $20 for a Conan comic when I was a kid and now its worth 10 times that.
Nick Shabazz, I really enjoy your content, but I’m going to pose you the same question I posed Metal Complex. A person, having a good eye and sharp financial intellect purchases some property. Later, when the timing is beneficial, the person decides to sell this property and makes a very healthy profit. Why is this behavior applauded and worth emulating with property and then derided and discouraged with knives? It seems to me, this is merely a case of, “hey man, that’s not fair, I deserve to buy one too”. I get what you are saying, but smart is smart and as long as no body is be deceived, what’s really the issue?
I noticed you only have stainless steel and not non reflecting black blades. Is it just a preference or is there something to it? I'm new to the knife world and you opinions are welcome 🙏
Great video as always. The other misconception today (especially about folders) is that they must without any shadow of a doubt be able to be whacked on their spine by a big lump of wood or bashed into something as u would an axe; and not collapse LOL! In fact there is (as you already know) a great lot of Social Media "definitions" building to support this myth.
Common Knife misconceptions 1. Knives are weapons. Not necessarily. Most knives are tools that are misused as weapons. Some knives are designed as weapons. 2. Switchblades are scary and bad. Side autos and OTFs are extremely useful for utility. And no, Dual action OTFs are not instant stabbing machines. The springs are not strong enough for that. Also no, OTFs don't misfire in your pocket, you have to work AGAINST the springs in an OTF to open it. 3. You need to pay hundreds for a good knife There are plenty of $50 knives that will last a lifetime for most people. Rat 2 and Civivi Elementum to name some. 4. Knife steel doesn't matter It matters, but not as much as you would think. Bladehq has a great steel guide here: www.bladehq.com/cat--Best-Knife-Steel-Guide--3368 5. It's hard to sharpen knives. Anyone with a turnbox can put a razor edge on anything.
@daAnder71 They can be, but OTFs are extremely useful and safe. I know 1 armed people or people with disabilities also carry OTFs because of their ease of use
Right on every count,especially the turnbox,it changed my life,(in regards to knives),in fact,it's a big part of why I have about thirty mid to high end knives now-I can keep them sharp EASILY
The one issue I have is your crusade about thicker blade stock. If ground correctly, thicker knives will still absolutely sail through cardboard and 90% of whatever else I cut. I don't use my pocket knife to cut apples, so that kind of thing never is an issue. I just bite directly into apples. Using a knife like the TRM Atom feels flimsy and almost overly thin with not a significant amount of actual cutting power over my Medford Praetorian T in S90V at .19 stock thickness. The Medford is just as thin behind the edge due to the aggressive hollow grind and actually feels sturdy rather than flimsy. You can literally fix the blade centering on an Atom by bending the entire knife. That's not very reassuring.
Hi Joe: it's true, for just putting a cut into something, a thin edge on a thick blade is fine. But for many kinds of cutting tasks, thick stock is an active impediment. The nice thing, though, is that there's a variety, and there's no shortage of makers who love thick and overbuilt blades like Medford, so if that appeals to you, you can find a piece you love.
I used to think that “the type of steel is the only thing that matters!” Then I got the paragon Phoenix in s30v. They completely did a terrible job with the heat treatment. I have a spyderco pm2 in s30v. And it was soooo much better. The Phoenix lost its edge after a week carrying. It wouldn’t even cut paper. That’s crazy for s30v.
john soble yes and no. Soyderco doesn’t have as good of quality control in terms of heat treatment. So, if you get a bad heat treated knife (in s30v) that’s why. But, I prefer spydercos designs and the signature “spydiehole”. The only design I like from benchmade is the barrage. But I haven’t had a chance to check one out bc they aren’t at any stores that I’ve been too. And I like to try a knife out before I buy it. Bc, as we all know... you get the honeymoon period and then realize how much this knife sucks and is overpriced haha.
Mate, I just bought a Böker Magnum blue dot in 440a for £12 because I liked the simple design AND it slices like you wouldn't believe AND that's what it will be mostly doing. If I want to use a knife as a trowel then I will get out my heavily (naturally) patinated £11 Mora Robust which constantly has dirt in the plastic sheath. Such is the subjective nature of the tools you have and what you want them to do for you.
Great video! Glad I watched, came looking for answers and leaving with even more questions:) HA! But many of my questions were answered. Thanks for sharing...
I often don’t agree with some of the stuff you say, Nick. Especially about Benchmade, but I love watching your videos because you’re a straight shooter. In fact, you’re review of the PM2 was why I went out and bought one despite having the hands of a 12 year old lol.
