Strange title for a post on a knife review website, but I’m mostly serious. I really do think we should take everything with a grain of salt when we’re listening to knife reviewers or our knife buddies. Not because the reviewer is being disingenuous or our knife friend doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but because we’re all so very different.
Some of us have similar tastes so in some areas we can be sure that we’ll agree. One of my mates has a love of big crazy Cold Steel knives that make you feel like a kid again when you’re holding them. I share that love of big ridiculous knives from Cold Steel. So when he tells me I should buy the new Kris XL Voyager with the wavy fire looking blade then I listen. I know we like similar things when it comes to big folders so I trust his big knife advice.
In other areas I’ll ignore his advice as we’re all over the place. For example, my favorite small EDC flipper is the Zero Tolerance 0450CF and he hates it. Says the lock bar gets in the way and he can’t flip it open. But I think it’s one of the easiest little folders to flip open and it’s one of my all time top folding knives, ever.
I used to have a small knife shop online and customers would often get back to me with their opinions on the knives that they bought. People have no filters on the internet so they wouldn’t hold back. So often they would be praising a knife that I absolutely hated or criticizing a knife that I loved.
I think the best a knife reviewer or knife buddy can do is point out any major structural flaws, observations on quality control and offer general thoughts on the knife. As the best way to know if you’ll like a knife or not is to hold it in your hands. Even better if you can carry it for a couple of weeks as not all knives are love at first sight.
I never used to like the Spyderco Manix 2 until I started carrying one myself. I sold plenty of them and the buyers would always rave about how much they loved them. I thought they were an average knife at best until I kept one for myself and started carrying it. Now I think they’re easily one of the top 10 best Spyderco knives.
A knife reviewer can describe their experience with a knife but they can’t know your experience as they’re not you. So unless you’re being told that the knife falls apart when you butter bread or the knife company is using Chinese mystery steel instead M390 then you should probably find out for yourself whether you like the knife or not by picking one up.
Even knife reviewers that I have watched on Youtube for years will sometimes come out with odd knife recommendations. I think I know them and start to fully trust their advice and then BAM! They’ll rave about a knife that I don’t like at all.
We’re all different. And to complicate matters even more, our tastes change over time with this wonderful knife hobby. This year might be our titanium flipper period and next year might be the year for thumb stud opening carbon fiber folders.
So when I’m doing knife reviews I’m firstly trying to objectively explain what the knife is. Materials, build quality, shapes, sizes, etc. I’ll then try to talk about the knife in relationship to others in the category that the knife is.
If I’m talking about a titanium flipper I’ll let you know whether I’m biased for or against them, but then I’ll try to compare them with all of the other titanium flippers that I have owned or handled. So it allows me to have an opinion, share my biases, and also be as objective as possible.
I don’t particularly like front flippers but I know what a good one is or isn’t as I’ve handled quite a few, so I think I can review one without just saying they’re all crap because I never keep the ones I buy. I can appreciate them and I can see why people like them but I would prefer a hole in the blade or flipper tab to open my knives.
So, in conclusion, don’t listen to most of what we knife reviewers say, ignore most of what our knife nut buddies say, and run from advice on knife forums and social media. None of us know what you really like when it comes to knives, only you do. Buy the knife yourself, live with it, then go tell everybody about it on social media and knife forums so we can ignore your advice too.. lol 😉
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