what do you guys use for pocket knives?

[jedy617]

But is it a better knife? I am not sure. 3D countering is only important if sebenza handle is uncomfortable to you, action is only important if you like to fidgit with your folder since sebenza is smooth enough. Slyss Bowie is smoother, but my example of 31 is very smooth too. Blade finish, who cares. Same for internal milling that sebenza lacks, again who cares? I prefer MagnaCut on sebenza and not sure which grind I prefer. Good knives both to be sure, just not sure either is worth the money and better than something like para 2/3, manix 2 not personally a fan, or police, military, etc.

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I am not saying this in a mean way but this is such a boring way of thinking to me...

I care. 3d contouring is harder to do and more machining time and fills the palm better better. Blade finish there, seb is better. I'm talking about the OG Bowie with the mirror wash. I like the Bowie grind better. Internal milling matters to me, I like a full size knife, but to be lighter. And it's a point of pride about your machining prowress. One thing that is hard to debate is the sebenza nipple studs suck donkey balls, even not fidgeting with it, just dig into your thumb. That's why I always replace them.

Have some fun in your life. Enjoy a knife with a fun action and cool finishes. Get some timascus and damasteel man. Live a little

 

[jedy617]

I guess it just comes down to being a big knife nerd. I go crazy over fine finishes, cool milling, and nice actions. I don't get why fidgeting has to be a bad thing. For the record, even if you don't fidget why can't an action on a knife be as nice as possible for one flip? I'm a tactile guy. When you open an 80's Porsche, or turn the bezel on a submariner, bolt action rifle, or a nice detent...it's just nice man. Feels so right.

Shirogorov/sinkevich bio. I mean that's the coolest thing to me..even the lockbar milled out. 2.5 oz for 4 inches of blade?

And they take the care to even change the MRBS to sinkevichs configuration which gives a more dropy action.

If this stuff doesn't get you excited I just feel bad lol. To me it's just the bees knees. I guess different strokes. I mean an opinel or buck will do just fine. But that's why we are here on forums talking about knives right?

 

[AT5760]

My Opinel lives in my desk, not my pocket. Best $20 in knife I’ve spent. To me the simplicity is the appeal. That and no one in my office gets nervy if I pull it out to cut an apple or open a package.

But I get the appeal of a precision tool. Definitely something cool about operating a freshly reassembled M2.

 

[jedy617]

I mean of course you don't have to go off the deep end. Just like no one needs honyaki or wrought iron cladding etc etc

 

[Barmoley]

I mean of course you don't have to go off the deep end. Just like no one needs honyaki or wrought iron cladding etc etc

Totally agree.

 

[jedy617]

but thats what makes life fun

 

[Barmoley]

I am not saying this in a mean way but this is such a boring way of thinking to me...

I care. 3d contouring is harder to do and more machining time and fills the palm better better. Blade finish there, seb is better. I'm talking about the OG Bowie with the mirror wash. I like the Bowie grind better. Internal milling matters to me, I like a full size knife, but to be lighter. And it's a point of pride about your machining prowress. One thing that is hard to debate is the sebenza nipple studs suck donkey balls, even not fidgeting with it, just dig into your thumb. That's why I always replace them.

Have some fun in your life. Enjoy a knife with a fun action and cool finishes. Get some timascus and damasteel man. Live a little

All fair points and to be clear I am not arguing with you. To me these things don’t matter. A few grams you are saving with internal milling don’t matter to me. I had the OG Bowie and it was ok, the new one is better. Interestingly I couldn’t sell the original for $250 in perfect condition for weeks. No one wanted them, the reason spyderco discontinued them. Then they became all the rage and prices went through the roof. 3D contouring if it feels better to you is fine and of course is harder to do so I get why it cost more, but to me I can’t tell the difference since sebenza is as or possibly more comfortable to me, so to me it is useless in these models. The grind I haven’t decided yet. I am just saying none of these things make the knife better for me. The action on the 3 generations of sebenzas I’ve had were fine and even though the latest Bowie is smoother, it is not enough for me to care. Sebenza studs are fine with me, I like them and until you pointed this out I didn’t know they sucked balls. I want to make it clear that your opinion is as valuable as mine and I am not saying these things are not important, but to me they are not. I simply don’t see any value in them when comparing these 2 knives. Because of this I see very little value in knives that are even more expensive, I understand that they go an extra mile to do many of these things and all that cost money, but I don’t play with my folders the way you and many other do, so there is zero value to me. On the other hand I would pay more for an interesting steel, which many others don’t care about. To me para 2 in 15V with BBB heat treat is significantly more valuable and interesting than slysz Bowie. For example I really like spydie chef, but I dislike lc200n in this application. If it came in MagnaCut, I would be all over it.

 

[jedy617]

Fair enough, you're not into anything besides cutting performance and ergos I assume. I would like the Bowie even more if it was in some more interesting steel.

I enjoy having different knives for different reasons. Polar opposites here. Aluminum handled "cheap" protech Malibu with a regrind which is a beater, and a fancy andre thorburn which is pretty dressed up. Both make me happy for different reasons

 

[jedy617]

One of my favorite users today with the helium

 

[pitted_soul]

Fair enough, you're not into anything besides cutting performance and ergos I assume. I would like the Bowie even more if it was in some more interesting steel.

I enjoy having different knives for different reasons. Polar opposites here. Aluminum handled "cheap" protech Malibu with a regrind which is a beater, and a fancy andre thorburn which is pretty dressed up. Both make me happy for different reasons

Ohhh, I had a Thorburn, really sweet blades. The S. Africans F&F is stellar, along with their tolerances. Their whole knifemaking community is impressive. I've wanted to try a protech for a while but never got around to it.

Yeah, like kitchen knives and virtually any other thing in the world. we all have different want and criteria. Some have a knife as an expensive fidget toy and some have one for a work tool. They're both right, it can be what they want it to be. It doesn't have to be a zero sum hobby.

CRK used to stand head and shoulders above other factory knives, but the world, especially China, has mostly caught up. Their prices have risen too, matching CRKs many times. Your ROI went out the door long before you get to the CRK level of knives. I'd be curious to see what that ROI threshold is in todays market. 10-20 years ago, after about $3-400, it was all diminising returns. Now, I think that number is lower, maybe $2-250? The value proposition has definitely changed.

I have 1 high end knife left of my EDC knives. My unicorn TAD capricorn. I distilled it to my most used. I will eventually do that with my Kitchen knives too. It will be interesting to see what stays and goes. There's a couple I miss, but I think I'll survive.

Anyways, on to today's carry. This is a Stout/Chaves Megalodon. This was a mid-tech collab between JB stout (who I will never want to pay that money for his knives) who did the blade and chaves who did the handle. I've always liked Stout's grinds and this was a well executed collab. The one thing I didn't like is that it was hard to deploy with the thumb because there was no frame chamfering at the thumb hole. So I sent it to Smock Knives, before he blew up, and got him to match the chamfering on the frame at the thumb hole and a bronze anodizing the whole frame. It's been rock solid.

 

[Heckel7302]

I guess it just comes down to being a big knife nerd. I go crazy over fine finishes, cool milling, and nice actions. I don't get why fidgeting has to be a bad thing. For the record, even if you don't fidget why can't an action on a knife be as nice as possible for one flip? I'm a tactile guy. When you open an 80's Porsche, or turn the bezel on a submariner, bolt action rifle, or a nice detent...it's just nice man. Feels so right.

View attachment 322984
View attachment 322983


Shirogorov/sinkevich bio. I mean that's the coolest thing to me..even the lockbar milled out. 2.5 oz for 4 inches of blade?

And they take the care to even change the MRBS to sinkevichs configuration which gives a more dropy action.

View attachment 322985

View attachment 322986

If this stuff doesn't get you excited I just feel bad lol. To me it's just the bees knees. I guess different strokes. I mean an opinel or buck will do just fine. But that's why we are here on forums talking about knives right?

Reminds me that I really need to do a proper tear down clean and oil on my Spyderco. Been about a year in my pocket and that super smooth action is definitely more dampened that it was.

 

[pitted_soul]

Pena X-series Dogleg

I had one of his TAD Caballero and was deeply disappointed. I think it was a total cash grab as it was as vanilla as they come and the F&F wasn't on the level of his x-series. This is deinitely 'imo' because I sold the Caballero and all the buyer could talk about was how it was a step up. Sounds like a win/win. The front flipper works much better than the Caballero (their the same size and I got them the same time, hence the comparison). Anyways, really well executed product from Reate/Pena.