What makes a knife good?

[BEER_IS_COOL]

What makes a knife good in your eyes? What do you look for? What is important to you?

For me, it comes down to three points of criteria:
1. How well the knife performs (cutting, deploying/closing, how easy it is to manipulate in the hand, etc.).
2. How easy it is to maintain the knife (sharpening, disassembly, etc.).
3. What it looks like.

[Mushroom]

I just look for a logo laser engraved on the blade.

[JoviAl]

I generally look for (in order of importance to me):

1.Size - either ~4inch or ~2 inches of cutting edge.

2.Blade shape - Wharncliffe, Tanto or Leaf (although I’m a sucker for a harpoon tanto).

3.Corrosion resistance of steel (more being advantageous unless I can treat it with something).

4.Handle forward design.

Not a frame or liner lock.


A larger Rockjumper in Magnacut would be my ideal larger work knife really. One in PE and one in SE would pretty much tick all of my boxes. The DF2 is already pretty much perfect to me.

[Naperville]

* Everything starts with a design, an idea that encapsulates the best current attributes or maybe an entirely new approach to what a/the knife is expected to do. If the design is off, then no matter what you make the knife out of, it will be a dodo. Anyone can put pen to paper and come up with a design, but if there is an intended use there exists attributes for that knife that should be incorporated in the design.

* Steel is important for every idea has an intended audience. If the attributes of the design are correct, then the steel will be easier to choose.

[standy99]

To me it’s all about a good steel.
Spyderco is a company that is well known for the best steel selection

H1 was what mostly brought me to Spyderco in the early days.

The GB1 and M4 is the one that had me hooked on the brand.

[kobold]

For me,
a knife must be built well, with tight tolerances, good ergonomics and blade geometry, so it's safe and comfortable to use.
The steel must have good heat treat, edge stability and hold its edge well.
Finer aspects:
It's made with materials and in style I prefer, one hand opening, with locks I prefer, it's easy to maintain (disassembly), and it's easy to carry (good sheath, optimal size, weight, and blade to handle ratio).

[apollo]

For me its also a number off things.
First like everyone here how it cuts. But more in bladeshape side. I find the normal kind of blades with a little belly the best like for example the Manix family. And eventough i like the Yojimbo 2 very much aswel the wharncliff has it limits for me just like the Chinook with its huge belly and upswept point has. (While love my Chinooks them is more the looks then the performance)

Second the size i don’t like 99% of small knives really. The few i have i do like and use but special reasons. Like going somewhere where a big knife is inappropriate.

Thirdly a few things combined The sturdiness weight and comfort in hand. I am the kind of person that wants to feel his knife while using or even feel just while carrying it. And when i am using it i want it to fill my hand to the brim without any discomfort. That is why i am in love with my g10 Manixes , the old chinooks and shamans. They weigh enough to give me the safe feeling of carrying a trusty edc. (Not a safety feel as in self defence per say but more as in i can get to work when needed)
Besides that feeling they also give me the insurance they will never fail because they’re locks are vaults.
And there blades sturdy.
All while giving a handle that feels as comfortable in light cutting then while cutting with force for big amounts of time. And sure some say wearing gloves could help. But i hate really hate wearing gloves. They limit my hand feeling stuff and that makes me feel unsafe. Even in the ice cold i still prefer my bare hands. Guess i am kinda an neanderthal that way.

[elena86]

First and foremost how it cuts. I hate thick behind the edge blades. Second close is the blade and edge shape. I prefer modified wharnies like the Watu, pure wharnies and reverse tantos with a slight belly like the Smock or the Yojimbo. The way the blade is ground is also important, my ideal grind would be a very high hollow one. I would love to see more high hollow grinds in the Spyderco line of new models. Can’t wait for the high performance Delica.

[Steeltoez83]

Starts with the maker/manufacturer and their code of ethics. How they handle criticism or how much they stand behind their products for me is a big clue. Theres so many things spyderco does over other companies, I appreciate the platform for the discussions. Now Ive had to tone down my usage over the last few years, last 4 months in particular. My last 6 grand went to buying my wife a wheelchair from the car wreck so I dont forsee any newer blades anytime soon. However spyderco offers in my view the best heat treated steels for the money hands down. And they cover all the sizes/legalitites imaginable. I may disagree with a few of the delusional input providers here and there but having a diverse library is a great place to start looking at. My personal tastes lead towards super steels without index finger choils or handle lengths long enough to overcome that. The sabre grip and fillipino grip are probably 95% of my own cutting style. I usually categorized knives in 3 categories: sidekick carry, main folder, or purpose driven fixed blade. I put my hatchets/axes in that category along with my mules. If the knife is too small to be a main carry blade such as the native 5 for me, but too wide to be a sidekick carry, it falls under the not for me category. I prefer a leaf/clip point style blades to compliment my cutting style so i gravitate towards those more often than not. Spyderco offers one handed operation on every folding knife as far as im aware, and thats helpful bcuz my other hand is usually holding or clamping something in place. I prefer having a texture to the scales to assist with grip so g10 and the bi directional FRN scales work very well for me. And i dont see how thats detrimental to anyone else. I intend to put atleast 15 edges on every knife I own to get my moneys worth so thats ample time to define where hot spots are located. Great knives have minimal to zero hot spots but that takes a period of time to determine. And obviously theres sentimental knives that hold significant meaning to the owner. I could get away with carrying vg10 nowadays but there was a time when vg10 was not enough to get thru a workday for me.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

Steel
Heat treat
Geometry
Ergos
Blade shape
Aesthetics
Tolerances

Don’t care if they’re large, medium or small as long as they feel good in hand, perform well and get the job done

[twinboysdad]

The desire to use it when there are other options

[shunsui]

^^^ That's a great answer.

[aicolainen]

If I only knew.
On a superficial level I’d say when design, materials and quality comes together in a package that is fit for purpose.
What those are, I still often don’t know until I’ve tried the right knife in the particular use case I need it for. It’s easier to identify what doesn’t make a good knife - but even there I sometimes find myself having to reevaluate my position.
Sorry for adding nothing, but that’s as specific as I can be. Having an open mind is a good strategy to discover knives that are good for you and your type of use.

[akapennypincher]

Good is term between person ears, good one person, is not good to another. Think of it a favorite Color, mine is not yours, and visa versa.

Even element that put something in good category are not same in each person mind.

[ladybug93]

for me, a knife is good if it gets the job done. the rest of the stuff others have mentioned is what makes a knife great.

spyderco has a lot of really great knives, but over the last few years, value is making a lot of them fall from great to good, and a few even lower than that.

[Flash]

For me its all about suitable blade design, how well it’s constructed and handle ergonomics.

Those three trump everything. If it can cut what I need it to efficiently without it falling apart and it fits in my hand comfortably, then we onto a good thing.

When it comes to blade steel, I’d rather have a well heat treated AUS8 than a poorly executed and badly heat treated CPM Magnacut blade.

[Bolster]

The above are interesting individual responses. If you want to see aggregate responses from 381 aficionados, have a look at the 2023 Folder Survey:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=94119

[Deadboxhero]

I'm a simple guy.

Good design with function over appearance.

Quality steel and heat treatment with good geometry for the given task it's designed/intended for.