I seek advice from the adventurers of /eco/. I am looking for some decent knife-buying ideas. After years of putting up with everything from terrible knives with metal that holds an edge like cheese to outright dangerous folding knives that dream of tasting human flesh I've decided to buy one or two decent well made or good value ones.
I'm not looking for combat ones or giant Rambo ones for carving my way through Vietnam. More the practical everyday knives, hunting, camping or carving types.
My thoughts were perhaps an Opinel No. 7 or 8 - incredibly cheap and seems to be well throught of and a neat package. The benefit of it being so cheap is I won't be afraid to use and abuse it whenever, while it is still good enough to do the job properly. Shame that they don't fall within the 'legal carry' because of the locking ring or else I'd keep one as my new handy pen knife all the time. A Buck Vantage (also good value and seems well made) is a tempting option for me. The value for money seems to be high with this (although more expensive than the previous option it does have more features and I was considering this one could be my better one that is abused less than the cheaper Opinel and I could keep it handy in the house or shed.
Any info on knives you find particularly useful or suitable for whittling/carving and such would also be useful, as well as general use as a tool (possibly sheath knives too). I would like to have one handy for these things, as well as some light touching up of the occasional shed project.
Obviously the ridiculous laws in this country mean that basically anything safe and useful as a tool is illegal, so I'm not even bothering to make it a certain length to suit the law (just whatever is most practical, whether that is two inches or four) and non-locking (much prefer locking knives for safety) and just getting the right tools and only carry it when I need it, in the countryside/woods or within my own boundaries and therefore can be excused for that reason.
So any favourites or experience with good tools you can share?
>>1142 Spyderco make some neat and practical knives. They're not the cheapest, but generally produce decent quality output; if in doubt, they are also mainstream enough to find ample reviews online for any particular model you develop an interest in.
The downside is that they, too, have locking blades and, worse yet, have one-hand opening mechanisms, which (as I understand it) makes them double-plus ungood from a legal perspective.
Having had non-locking knives close on my hand in the past and knowing others that have had it I am just going to ignore that part of the law as safety comes first for me. Cheers for the suggestion.
You can bring knives on the hold luggage still when travelling. Just not carry on. UK legal knives only, unless you wish to run the risk of being stung. It seems that some travellers and collectors recommend phoning ahead if you're bringing in a lot of knives, but I've no idea if that means a suitcase full or a half dozen. For postage from abroad, I know that the customs units are being inconsistent with their application of the law and some are seizing knives that others will let through (such as the buck knife pictured above being confiscated while coming in from abroad despite being legally and openly on sale in UK shops).
You can probably still do it without much trouble. Those are legal. The suggestion to phone ahead was simply to reduce the chances of anyone freaking out when they find a suitcase with lots of metal stuffed in it.
In fact I recall photographers doing similar, but mostly so they can get their bags properly checked the old-fashioned way and not have to worry about potential damage or sticky fingers. A call plenty time ahead to arrange it sorts out a lot of problems before they happen.
Personally I like an Opinel - they're cheap but seriously well built, and hold an edge well. I like them because they're so replaceable, though - It's all very well having a blade tempered in the fires at the heart of a volcano and a handle made from unicorn tusk, but if you drop it in the sea you'd be gutted. Drop an Opinel, you have three more in your bag and you can get another six when you get back home. They also look really cool.
This has pretty much swung it for me to get one of these. I can easily get one for about six or seven pounds. So cheap I can use it and not worry at all and I've not heard anyone say the steel was rubbish so far. Easily replacable too.
I'll still be looking for others, but that can be my cheapie handy one. Maybe a middle ground one (fixed or locking folder) and eventually a heavier sheath one (the Sami one sounds impressive, actually).
In a surprising show of differences in culture and how far we have fallen I saw that Opinel market a "children's knife" that despite the safety features of it is still not possible for a kid to carry or buy here. Seems that France haven't fallen for the safety-obessed madness the UK has. When I think how the police and other authorities here would weep and wail at the very idea of a child or anyone else carrying such a thing...oh for the good old days when children had their prized pocket knife and scouts and similar would use sheath knives from an early age.
I know I make it a point that any kids that will be near my tools, etc. will know the basics on how they work and how they can be safely handled, instead of locking them away and then letting them stumble into them in igorance at some point. I know I learned quickly as a kid from using tools and getting the odd little scrape.
Come on, UK. Don't let France show us up as fearful pansies. Britain needs more /eco/ types willing to get their hands dirty and muck around with tools.
>>1153 My father bought me a opinel knife when i was a child, which i used for every meal, i only cut myself once when i used a different knife.
Their is now a flood of nostalgia.
My Opinel arrived today! That was quick. Nice little knife. Good shape of handle, very light in the hand, the locking mechanism works well and locks it closed or open. The blade is a nice shape for me and it works well for cleaning up wood and a little whittling, would work nice for eating or other camping work too, likely. I always liked eating apples with a knife.
Blade comes with a ground edge but needs to be properly sharpened on a stone to get that razor edge. Point is very sharp out of the box though. Value for money would make this a 10/10. I'm already thinking of buying a second one so I can customise the handle, maybe replace the wood, do some engraving, etc. without worry.
I plan on testing it out some more later today for general use and likely some whittling. I can see this getting a lot of use in the shed and home.
Latest update. sharpened the blade and I was able to shave the hair off my arm with it. Nice one, France.
Not a bad little knife. Used it for dressing up some tricky corners on a wooden item too. Cleaned it up a treat. Nice to see that Europe can still make cheap items that are good value.
Amazon have a large range of them on the cheap. eBay used to have a good range of knives and swords but media hysteria and Mothers Against Fun scuppered that.
Amazon also have the blades in carbon steel or stainless and with oak or beech handles, as well as the "children's knife" safety model (ideal if you've got a sprog you want to teach to be handy or use a knife by giving them one of their own).
Knife already has come in handy for shed work and loaned out briefly to people who also thought it handy. Spreading the love.
That hefty knife mentioned above looks very desirable though. It might not be "pretty" but to me the sheer funcionality of it makes it so very desirable for me.
>>1194 I was more interested in the specific place the person ordered theirs from, but thanks for the advice none the less. Speaking of swords, by the way, if you intend to purchase such a thing I can recommend "Armour Class". They're primarily re-enactment oriented, but do offer the option of semi-sharp blades which, with some honing skill, can be made to be actually sharp. Stick to their slash-oriented weapons (the rapiers they produce are off-balance) and you're golden. The only downside is the waiting list of 6-9 months.
This looks to be more collector's stuff for putting on the walls and shelves rather than things like that Sami knife for chopping wood and being abused.
But I don't want to pay a collector's or artist price for a tool that will be used daily. It's not for display in a gallery. I'd rather the money went towards getting something purely practical.
I love my Opinels, but I had a mini disaster today... I dropped my No. 6 which defied physics by landing point down on a concrete floor, snapping the blade in half.