"Beater Knife" - I don't get it...

[Evil D]

I am not a fan, the handles are so **** short you can barely get a 3 finger hold on it

Yeah it's a little small, but the guy I was recommending that to was talking about his girlfriend so I assumed she didn't have gorilla fingers lol.

[JAfromMN]

I carry a work knife. "A nice zdp endura I use for all the rough tasks I bump into working "

I also edc a bunch of different knives and use them . I try keep nice

And I believe in useing the right tool for the right job . I wouldn't cut shingals working I'd use a utility knife :)

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Most of the time anyway :spyder:

[Donut]

If I had to cut up some roofing shingles... that contain stones, I wouldn't want to use a knife that I value and get it all scratched up.

I have actually cut roofing shingles with both my s110v Manix 2 LW and my K390 urban in the past two weeks. My daughter needed them cut into specific dimensions for a science fair project and I just used what I was carrying.

How dare you?!@ You should be carrying a crappy Sebenza or fake Sebenza for that kind of stuff. :p

[Doc Dan]

I get the whole concept of a beater knife. We have an old knife made from a steel pipe. It is thick and does not hold an edge, but we use it to open coconuts and other rough tasks I would never put a good knife through. A short parang is a beater knife by design. I would not put my Millie through some of the things that knife is called upon to do.

[Mora2013]

Not exactly sure I have a beater knife ... but I do have different categories of knives:


My idea of the Loaner knife is the harbor freight gordon folding knife I have. It cost $3. Sharp enough to do one task before sharpening, dull enough for people not to hurt themselves. It's what I loan out to folks who don't know what sharp means.

My idea of a dirty worker knife is my Mora robust. This is what I'd take out to the yard gardening and cutting off tree roots (when bigger tools won't fit in the hole, or power tools would spray mud and dirt everywhere). It's what I would use to cut shingles. It's also what I take camping for lighter wood processing. Also what I use when carving for woodworking. It's my most abused knife. It's the knife I keep the sharpest. It suffers more edge chips other than my hatchet and cold chisels.

My indoor worker knife - opinel 8 - cardboard breakdown, carpet cutting, trimming blinds etc. Sometimes my case sodbuster, or sodbuster jr does these duties.

There are of course dedicated knives for other categories such as: water sports (scuba/snorkel), camping, and edc.

[yablanowitz]

So first, yes I understand what people mean when they reference a beater knife.

Second, the obligatory but sincere disclaimer of to each their own and all of that.

That said, I just truly don't get this whole "beater knife" idea. Why? What tasks would one want to perform with a knife, especially a folder, that would fall into the beater knife category? If the word abuse comes into play doesn't that by definition mean you shouldn't be using your knife for that task?

But if we're talking hard use or maybe negligent care, then wouldn't you want the BEST knife suited for those conditions? It's like the golden age of knives right now. Steels, handle material, locks, styles, and more have just about everything covered.

If there's some task that you're looking at and thinking, not with this knife (whatever is in your pocket) cuz it's too nice or expensive, then do you have the right knife? Or is a knife even right for whatever task you're looking at?

A quality knife is meant to replace a "beater" knife in my mind. I don't want "beater" knives if that is defined as cheap knives I don't mind abusing. I want knives that will handle the tasks and conditions I need them to handle and I want to and do, throw away crap knives people give to me.

I'm not trying to be pretentious in anyway. I'm all about bang-for-your buck value and even hard using knives but I seek out knives that will fill needed roles rather than have some cheap crap that will only fluster me or fail.

I'm not going to be prying, or scraping, or driving screws, etc. with a knife. Cheap or not. That's just knot the job they were meant for.

So what say you all about this term, beater knife?

For several years, my beater knife was a Sprint Run Military in CF/S90V. Currently, my beater knife is a Blurple Military S110V and/or a Maxamet Manix. Whichever I happen to grab will get used for whatever nasty job comes along. So maybe I don't get it either.

[Water Bug]

Basically for any crappy task I wouldn't use an expensive knife for. Sometimes it's nice to literally not give a crap if your knife gets damaged or scratched up, etc.

+1

The way I look at it, a knife is a tool to be used. Even something expensive such as a Chris Reeve Sebenza is meant to be used for any task that you should face, whether it's opening packages or use around the camp site. It's one of the reasons he provides refurbishing service to return his customers' knives to optimal condition.

[Evil D]

For all those who don't get it..

Do you mow your grass in dress shoes? No, you probably have boots or some old wore out sneakers for mowing because they get green otherwise right? Same logic behind a beater knife. Even my everyday wear shoes that I buy to use everyday don't get used to mow or go hiking or hunting with. There are EDC knives and there are dirty job knives, and those are beaters.

[yablanowitz]

What can I say, I mow my lawn wearing the same shoes I wear to work. Of course, sometimes I'm mowing the lawn at work, but I digress. I buy expensive knives to use, not to look at. If they get scratched, so what? They still cut. If they get chipped, so what? I can fix them. If they get dull, so what? I can sharpen them. If all you want your knife to do is look good, the blade might as well be aluminum. Those premium steels are a total waste of money if you aren't going to push them.

I've told several people over the years, "I don't spend $300 on a knife just to baby it. I spend that much so I don't have to."

[paladin]

What can I say, I mow my lawn wearing the same shoes I wear to work.

Hey me too...I have a lawn care service...

[ZrowsN1s]

No beaters for me in many years, but I used to EDC many $5 and $10 knives in my youth. Sometimes you need a thin pointy metal object more than you need a cutting edge. Let me tell you an interesting/horrifying true story; Recently I helped an acquaintance pick out his first spyderco, I tried to steer him to the delica, but he gravitated towards the all black tenacious, he really likes liner locks and DLC. Anyways I ask him how he's liking his new knife.... he tells me it was too sharp. "I could cut paper with it, so I used a stone on the edge until it was dull enough that it couldn't cut paper anymore." :eek: (Apparently he had an unfortunate previous experience with a very bad cut.)
Anyways my point is he wants a thin pointy metal object not a "cutting edge".
I carry a tiny prybar/screwdriver/bottle opener (the Shard) for all of the things that I would have previously used a "beater" for, and would never use a proper cutting tool for now. My work knives are what most people I think would consider expensive $100-300 range.

[Bloke]

My favourite Beater Knife is an Aussie Navy issue 'Boom Knife' it's a full tang slab of 2" x 1/4" God knows what stainless flat ground warnie with a 7" blade and a 5" hardwood handle that I sharpened with a file, brick or on concrete. :cool:

The spine doubles as a hammer and it's a fairly handy prybar! :) :rolleyes:

I don't mind pushing a quality knife toward it's limit and I do it regularly enough say turning blunt clean sticks pointy for fun and cutting hard fish bones or similar out of necessity but I don't see any value in attacking dirty gritty stuff with a $50 knife let alone a $200+ folder.