Knife trends you just don't understand?

[Cricket Bite]

Not really a tend but Lanyard holes. Not sure why most knives need them and on Spyderco's they are just a hole drilled in the handle. Sometimes at the expense of egros.

[vivi]

Not really a tend but Lanyard holes. Not sure why most knives need them and on Spyderco's they are just a hole drilled in the handle. Sometimes at the expense of egros.

I've never used them myself and wouldn't miss them if they stopped using them, but I suppose they could be handy for using knives on water, while rock climbing, etc.

[Skar]

I don’t understand perfect unused knives or obsession over a scratch or blemish on the knife.
(Other than complete safequeens I suppose )

[Bolster]

I don’t understand perfect unused knives or obsession over a scratch or blemish on the knife.
(Other than complete safequeens I suppose )

Is this a trend?

[aicolainen]

Not really a tend but Lanyard holes. Not sure why most knives need them and on Spyderco's they are just a hole drilled in the handle. Sometimes at the expense of egros.

I’m a bit torn on this one.
In a previous position as a field engineer, I did a lot of working at height, where you can’t bring any tool that isn’t secured to your harness with a lanyard. Back then I wasn’t familiar with Spyderco, but if I did - a lanyard hole would have been a mandatory feature.

These days I mostly wish they weren’t there, especially when I feel that other aspects of the knife, e.g. clip position, are compromised in order to fit a lanyard hole/tube. The only exceptions are small knives, Dragonfly or smaller, that I like to carry clipless.

[Sanpaku]

Things mentioned above that I understand:

• Fidgeting, at least in home environments. Humans aren't well adapted to the modern environment and we suffer an epidemic of anxiety spectrum disorders. Fidget objects, whether cigarettes, vaping, knitting, spinning pens around one's fingers, spinner toys, or fidgety knives (if they aren't too unsafe) can be calming. That said, I'd worry about a co-worker that fidgeted with knives during working hours: I'll stick to pens.

• Lanyards. I don't have any with beads, but on many non-dressy knives I've attached short simple coil lanyards in retroreflective paracord. The combination of headlamps and retroreflective lanyards or SOLA tape is pretty great for quickly finding smaller items at night, in the back yard, at campsites, and under car hoods. It marks them as clearly mine. Supposedly they can double as shoelaces.

• Front flippers. They're a solution for folding culinary or other knives for cutting against surfaces, where a typical flipper's front finger guard would interfere with most of the edge. There are some elegant designs which make good use, though I think thumb studs/spydieholes work better.

Past trends I don't understand:

• Over built pocket knives. Overbuilt is fine for fixed blade machetes/kukris for chopping, or bushcraft knives for batoning, but 8+ oz pocket knives with 0.3+"/7 mm+ thick blade stock have awful cutting geometry and aren't practical tools. If you need a chisel, get a chisel. If you need a prybar, get a prybar.

• Assisted opening. Perhaps there was a real benefit in 2000, before smoother operating pivots became common. But now, they don't offer any deployment benefit.

• Karambits and Bali-songs. Not great for utility, threatening to non-knife people, and very few are trained to use these effectively in a self-defense situation.

• Coated stainless blades that aren't for murdery purposes. If you're a professional commando, fine. If its a very rust prone carbon steel, fine. But if you as a civilian were to use your knife to deter aggression, wouldn't you prefer it be visible and make the aggressor think twice?

Current trends I don't understand:

• Tranparent Ultem. Poor grip, shatters on impact, often looks like frozen urine. The benefits for aviation (strength to weight for a simple polymer, doesn't emit toxic fumes when burning) just aren't very applicable to hand tools. Fiberglass reinforced nylon is a more resilient material.

• M390/20CV as a standard high-end steel. Only slightly higher wear resistance vs other PM stainless steels (S30V, S35VN, S45VN, XHP, Elmax), at the cost a big loss in toughness. Chipping is worse in practice and to resharpen than uniform dulling. At least with S90V you're getting a huge wear resistance benefit.

[Cricket Bite]

Not really a tend but Lanyard holes. Not sure why most knives need them and on Spyderco's they are just a hole drilled in the handle. Sometimes at the expense of egros.

I’m a bit torn on this one.
In a previous position as a field engineer, I did a lot of working at height, where you can’t bring any tool that isn’t secured to your harness with a lanyard. Back then I wasn’t familiar with Spyderco, but if I did - a lanyard hole would have been a mandatory feature.

These days I mostly wish they weren’t there, especially when I feel that other aspects of the knife, e.g. clip position, are compromised in order to fit a lanyard hole/tube. The only exceptions are small knives, Dragonfly or smaller, that I like to carry clipless.

I am not against lanyard holes totally. I think it is a bit over the top why sooo many models have them. I get having them on salt knives and general purpose knives like he Endure/Delica but why knives like the Kapara? This was a food inspired knife with beautiful carbon fiber scales and this obnoxious hole in the handle placed in a weird spot to placate the 1% that might put one on this particular model. Why? It still a great knife though. I just feel having a lanyard hole is a default design for most knives and a select few may not have it (Chaparral). It should be opposite IMHO.

[Naperville]

One trend that I'd like to see is Spyderco having runs of 4.5 inch to 5 inch knives.

I'd love to buy a 5 inch (4.75 to 5 inch bladed) Native Chief. S30V or better cutting performance.

[vivi]

One trend that I'd like to see is Spyderco having runs of 4.5 inch to 5 inch knives.

I'd love to buy a 5 inch (4.75 to 5 inch bladed) Native Chief. S30V or better cutting performance.

I'll second that.


Tons of options in the 2.5-3.5" cutting edge range, but beyond that it can be slim pickings at times.

[aicolainen]

Not really a tend but Lanyard holes. Not sure why most knives need them and on Spyderco's they are just a hole drilled in the handle. Sometimes at the expense of egros.

I’m a bit torn on this one.
In a previous position as a field engineer, I did a lot of working at height, where you can’t bring any tool that isn’t secured to your harness with a lanyard. Back then I wasn’t familiar with Spyderco, but if I did - a lanyard hole would have been a mandatory feature.

These days I mostly wish they weren’t there, especially when I feel that other aspects of the knife, e.g. clip position, are compromised in order to fit a lanyard hole/tube. The only exceptions are small knives, Dragonfly or smaller, that I like to carry clipless.

I am not against lanyard holes totally. I think it is a bit over the top why sooo many models have them. I get having them on salt knives and general purpose knives like he Endure/Delica but why knives like the Kapara? This was a food inspired knife with beautiful carbon fiber scales and this obnoxious hole in the handle placed in a weird spot to placate the 1% that might put one on this particular model. Why? It still a great knife though. I just feel having a lanyard hole is a default design for most knives and a select few may not have it (Chaparral). It should be opposite IMHO.

Well summarized. Absolutely agree.

[DavidNM]

Disregard.

[Spyderfreek]

1. Fidgeting with a knife. I grew out of my fidget phase in middle school. I don't understand the appeal of opening and closing a knife repeatedly unless you're trying to break in a new knife.

2. Sharpening choils. The reason they seem utterly nonsensical to me is simple. If you measure the heel of the blade on a knife without one, the area that might not be sharpened as well is smaller than the sharpening choil. Plus they snag on stuff easily. It's so weird to me how popular they are, because it's so much worse than having 1-3mm of edge not as sharp as the rest.



Make it make sense to me, lol.

3. Cleaver style blades on folders. Can't see any advantage vs a wharncliffe.

4. Bead blasted blades. Why? It makes perfectly corrosion resistant steels rust like they're O1. I'll never buy another one for the rest of my life after having bead blasted bladed folders rust within a few hours of carry time.

What are some knife trends you don't get at all?

100% agree on the cleaver shape, I need a point, even a sheepsfoot.

[Scandi Grind]

100% agree on the cleaver shape, I need a point, even a sheepsfoot.

OK, I actually do get the potential appreciation for cleaver shapes. My brother has a pocket sized cleaver fixed blade that works quite well and has a safer feel in use as a result of it's shape. I get that it has less overall utility, but for my brother who doesn't need a tip is served well by it. I like it a bit too.

[Rival22]

I don't get the Ultem knife scales. It looks like yellowed cheap plastic from the 80's.

[cabfrank]

I miss that though.

[RugerNurse]

Tranparent Ultem Poor grip, shatters on impact, often looks like frozen urine.

Probably the best thing I’ve read today

[ImHereForTheMilitary2]

Lanyards. Definitely lanyards

[vivi]

Lanyards. Definitely lanyards

If you're not on a boat or working high above the ground, I don't get it either.

[JRinFL]

It’s interesting to me how many people will expend so much time trying to talk someone out of buying or doing something just because they themselves do not like it. Expressing your opinion is good and encouraged, but some put in a lot extra effort in talking something down. More amazing is that many don’t even own the item they’re talking down. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[kobold]

- Tanto blades. Why would I want one? It's a mystery.
- Having a "show side". I don't like janus-faced people,nor knives..
- Designs aimed at fidgeting.
- The Dessert Warrior craze - probably the most disturbing of all. It's kitsch.