Anyone who has ever had to choose a folding pocket knife knows how difficult it is. Even with an experienced knife-handler friend who can give some useful advice, it isn’t easy. It is even more difficult for an inexperienced user to choose alone.
When setting the goal of choosing a folding knife on knifegeek.io, you need to remember that knives, like many other things, have specialization and are divided into several main classes.
Therefore, you first need to understand the purpose of purchasing the knife. Even simply carrying a knife in your pocket as a stylish accessory is also an option. In this article, we will talk about the most common options and give some recommendations for selection.
Knife Types
A reasonably large number of traditional knives and models with bright and original designs and structures are divided into several knife niches, each covering a specific range of tasks that a knife from a given niche can most effectively solve.
Efficient Cutting
The first stone knife was created for cutting. Due to the fragility of the blade material, it was impossible to expect any other functionality from it. The greatest masters of our time still claim that a knife must be cut, and this is its main functionality!
The greatest masters of our time still claim that a knife must be cut, and this is its main functionality! When it comes to choosing the perfect hunting knife, enthusiasts within the global knife community also prioritize a blade’s cutting efficiency.
Most members of the global knife community share this opinion, and they use knives whose primary purpose is to provide the most efficient and easy cut. Such knives are leaders in numerous tests for cutting ropes and other similar materials.
Universal Folders for Every Day
The second knife niche, which many knife lovers talk about with delight, is universal folding knives for every day. Everyone will probably immediately remember the famous statement that everything universal is worse than highly specialized.
We will not argue with this, but we want to draw your attention to the fact that a slight deterioration in one of the components of the knife’s functionality will allow you to carry only one knife with you and not several special ones.
It will quickly solve a much more comprehensive range of tasks, including punching a hole in plywood or working with a small lever when squeezing something that a more delicate cutter blade cannot handle.
Universal blades have a thicker blade that allows you to perform cutting work with lateral curves, an increased thickness of the blade that can withstand greater lateral loads, and a more robust tip that allows you to pierce packaging materials.
Tactical Folding Knives
The next knife niche has fewer fans, although many great knife makers prefer these particular knives. It is an intermediate link between urban station wagons and heavy-duty “crowbars,” discussed below in the niche of tactical folding knives.
Tactics are “conducting reasonable, planned actions aimed at achieving certain goals,” and the definition of “tactical knife” implies the only knife with which you can solve all problems that arise in the process, from combat to technical.
Reinforced Folding Knives
The last knife niche, to which we will devote an article with recommendations for selection, will be the niche of “crowbars” – folding mastodons, capable of not only piercing, chopping, and chiseling but also working with powerful levers, entrenching tools, and even a chisel, on which they deliver the strongest blows for application by the blade (tip or cutting edge) of maximum impact.
Such knives can pierce steel sheets of considerable thickness and split wooden elements without damage. Such knives are usually used by people whose work involves frequent misuse of a knife and are also in the equipment of knife lovers as a mobile survival tool.
Gentleman Folders
In addition to the listed knife niches, one can name the gentleman-folder segment, which includes premium small-sized knives, the historical roots of which go back to knives for sharpening pens and pencils and knives for cutting cigars and opening correspondence.
Such knives are mostly cutters; their choice comes down to personal preferences regarding specific designs, artistic solutions, and materials. We will not dwell on the choice of such knives based on different tastes and preferences.
Premium Knives-Accessories
In addition, some people buy knives as stylish premium accessories produced by a high-profile brand or a famous craftsman.
Such purchases usually serve to shape the image of the owner, and their main advantages are belonging to a high-profile brand or the authorship of a famous master, brutal or creative appearance, and the presence of good mechanics that allow you to effectively throw away a blade surrounded by friends or engage in knife meditation in moments of relaxation.
Depending on the image of their owners, such knives may belong to different knife niches, and here, as in the case of gentleman folders, you need to start from personal preferences.
What to Consider
The challenging and responsible task of choosing the right pocket assistant is determining how much you are willing to spend. The question is complex and should depend not so much on your budget but on understanding how often you plan to use the knife, to what extent it will be your tool or accessory, and whether you are willing to edit or sharpen the blade frequently.
Of course, a novice user, as a rule, is not ready to pay a lot of money for his first knife, so you can make an entirely reasonable and justified compromise by choosing a more pragmatic knife (while maintaining its good utilitarian functionality) from a reputable brand known for the quality of its products. And, of course, for a beginning knife addict, the moral satisfaction of owning a knife of a famous brand is essential.
Conclusion
What conclusion can you draw from all the complex and sometimes contradictory information that bombarded you when trying to choose a knife? First, decide on the purpose of your purchase and narrow your search to one category. Then, pay attention to the price.
First, you need to determine what price niche knife you need. The second is to understand that expensive knives, as a rule, have a justifiable cost, but not so much because of the “expensive” brand, but because of better performance.