Good or bad, biggest surprise of 2014?

[wrdwrght]

Biggest surprise? No pun intended, but the Tatanka. I have large hands and can almost get a baseball-bat grip on the handle. Used this knife to put my gardens to bed. Took down my large and tough ornamental grasses with relative ease after just a few passes on the Sharpmaker before taking on the next plant. Love to turn that thick VG-10 blade in the light and see its multiple facets shine, and open and close the blade to hear and feel the click of that smooth Powerlock. Paladin likens it to a Zen thing; I agree.

Good surprise? Got two S110V Spydies (CF Native5 and Manix2 Lightweight) and have now satisfied my curiosity about this steel. I think I like knives with a little less wear resistance. I know I prefer Manix2s in the heavier configuration (and in the standard size, having gotten an XL version to get some S90V).

Bad surprise? The entitled behavior of many here during the lead-up and drop of the Forum Knife. Really quite shameful. Glad I don't have that knife.

[tvenuto]

Bad surprise? The entitled behavior of many here during the lead-up and drop of the Forum Knife. Really quite shameful. Glad I don't have that knife.

This was in 2013. I'm most certainly glad to have mine.

Biggest surprise for me was certainly circumstances aligning to allow me to attend the Amsterdam Meet. Until that I would have said biggest surprise was winning a spot in the catalog among so many other awesome entries. Also surprised how much I ended up loving the Sage 3!

[Liquid Cobra]

Bad surprise? The entitled behavior of many here during the lead-up and drop of the Forum Knife. Really quite shameful. Glad I don't have that knife.

This was in 2013. I'm most certainly glad to have mine.

Biggest surprise for me was certainly circumstances aligning to allow me to attend the Amsterdam Meet. Until that I would have said biggest surprise was winning a spot in the catalog among so many other awesome entries. Also surprised how much I ended up loving the Sage 3!

Making it to the Amsterdam meet would be at the top of my list too. As would have attending the factory seconds sale. Europe is pretty far away, but I won't miss the next seconds sale. No way.

[bearfacedkiller]

Liking the Southard.

I wasn't really even remotely interested in this knife and then I picked one up at the seconds sale because the price was right.

I have really fallen for it and if it just had thinner blade stock it would be near perfect. Awesome knife.

[wrdwrght]

Bad surprise? The entitled behavior of many here during the lead-up and drop of the Forum Knife. Really quite shameful. Glad I don't have that knife.

This was in 2013. I'm most certainly glad to have mine.

You're quite right. Thanks. No bad surprises for 2014, then...

[tvenuto]

Liking the Southard.

I wasn't really even remotely interested in this knife and then I picked one up at the seconds sale because the price was right.

I have really fallen for it and if it just had thinner blade stock it would be near perfect. Awesome knife.

I agree that the blade stock is strangely thick on the Southard, but a phenomenal design for sure.

[nirvanero]

Unfortunately, the biggest surprise for me was the Caly 3.5 being discontinued. I still don't understand it... In the other hand, there were another nice surprises as getting a Para2 S90V/CPM-154, the release of the Manix2 LW CPM-S110V and the price of the K2.

[Brock O Lee]

A few surprises:

I discovered 2 models that always looked a bit odd in photos:
- Manix 2 (M4 and Cruwear), and also the LW. Was quite surprised to find how solid and light the LW was.
- Stretch, probably the most ergonomic knife I now own. I also love the FRN and laminated Superblue, which I did not really expect! I even bought a backup recently, my first exact backup of any knife...

Biggest surprise of the year, and a defining moment for me happened when I thinned out my first primary grind by hand. The flat convex grind rules! I reground most of my popular EDC's like this. They now cut effortlessly, seem to stay sharp longer and is quicker to sharpen. Love it. I also discovered that I like the coarse 400 grit finish straight off the diamond rods for micro bevels.

I have posted this pic before, it sums up the above rambling perfectly:

[The Deacon]

The best surprise is Memory. My preferences were always: tip up carry, finger choil, no metal scales. The knife doesn't offer any of these. I also hate glass fiber. It is too shiny for me. Still my buddy Ken was talking highly about the knife and I pulled trigger. I love it. Tonight I will carry it the first time. May be I will have to change my preferences :)

I hear you Roman. The Memory was a knife that was so totally "wrong" for me that I'd never have considered buying one. Yet, ever since Sal sent me one back in 2012 it just keeps finding its way into my pocket. I think perhaps it's the classic "drop point hunter" look when it's open. Wound up liking it so much I went out an bought a second, with the idea of replacing the flashy glass fiber with ivory, bone, or wood and adding an identical scale to the side I look at most often. Have gotten around to doing it yet, but it should be a fairly easy job as the GF is only held on by the screws.

[demoncase]

The Yojimbo 2- I don't like wharncliffe blades, not a massive fan of compression locks, wasn't convinced the ergos we're going to be useful for general work.

It's turning into my new favourite go-to knife...now that's a suprise

[Evil D]

The Yojimbo 2- I don't like wharncliffe blades, not a massive fan of compression locks, wasn't convinced the ergos we're going to be useful for general work.

It's turning into my new favourite go-to knife...now that's a suprise

I'm not surprised