Pocket knives.

[Auk1124]

Stainless steel pocket knives suck. At least I think so. I don't want to have to spend half a day trying to sharpen one. I can deal with a little rust and staining if I can keep a blade sharp enough to actually cut something.

I have a little cheap Opinel pocket knife from France (yeah, I know) that cost less than ten bucks, and the more I think about it the more I believe this is my favorite pocket knife of all time. Light as a feather, and I swear I believe you could almost get the thing shaving sharp on the leg of your blue jeans. I wish an American company made a cheap-arse knife this good.

Case still makes some chrome vanadium knives, and Opinel cranks out carbon steel knives, but does any other company still make a knife you can actually sharpen?

[AteUp]

I carry a knife everywhere and have NEVER sharpened one.:eek: The key for me, is to buy a cheap one and retire it if it becomes dull (if you haven't lost it before then.):D

[KYBOY]

Most stainless does suck for knives. Some stainless is just fine but it has to be the right stainless. ATS-34, 416,440C,154CM,S30V etc..Problem is you wont get that kind of stainless in a pocket knife...

[DearDoctor]

Pocket knives don't have to be to sharp to open up christmas presents:D

[Killroy]

Buck knives are one of the hardest to sharpen that I can think of. When I sharpen mine I use a really coarse stone to put a rough edge on it and then a fine one to hone it. Some just will not get sharp. I have an old boker that I cannot sharpen. That old thing wouldn't cut butter....:D

[chadwimc]

If you can't sharpen a stainless knife, you're doing it wrong. I use a diamond hone to get an edge. Then I use a Lansky series of stones to finish it. It takes about a half hour to do a good job(scapel sharp). My friend says I get knives "scary sharp".

Trouble is, people find out you can sharpen stainless knives, everybody wants you to sharpen theirs...

[lonesomepine]

Most Schrade/Old Timer knives sharpen fairly easy and keep an edge decent time,Case knives sharpen easy but never seem to hold an edge long,Bucks are tougher to sharpen but seem to keep sharp a good spell,Boker Tree Brands are okay,I can't remember the brand name but there used to be a knife made in Germany with Soligen Steel that would sharpen up like a surgical knife and keep it's edge,but I haven't seen one in years.I used to have a fair sized collection of knives I bought over the years,but gave them to my sons.

[MsgMills]

I got a small stainless steel pocket knife like a Swiss Army knife. It does everything I need it to do, when it's dull I swipe it thru one of those knife sharpeners that attaches to a work bench and it's sharp enough to cut you. Never have any problems getting an edge on it or sharpening it good enough to cut paper, cardboard, open letters, cut electric wire or whatever else I need it for.:)

[Tom Threetoes]

KYBOY, Benchmade offers pocket knives in nearly all those alloys.

[KYBOY]

Really, a knife only needs to do what we ask of it..Most folks dont need a pocketknife that will shave you. Just one that takes a good edge and holds it for a reasonable ammount of time. Sadly those are getting harder to find for a decent price :confused: ...I will say I cant stand a dull knife, they irritate me:mad: You know a lot of folks have those little hang ups, well mines knives..My knives anyway..I can hardly sleep at night knowing my knifes dull :p

[KYBOY]

KYBOY, Benchmade offers pocket knives in nearly all those alloys.
Your right, I should have clarified..Most over the counter knives;)

[WhiteRubi]

Your right, I should have clarified..Most over the counter knives;)

Benchmade, Spyderco, Emerson, and Kershaw to name a few make blades in virtually all listed materials. Most of those can be bought at the Warehouse in Lexington as well as MANY other places.

I am personally a fan of Spyderco with a S30V blade. It is relatively easy to sharpen to the point it is scary. A good size Spyderco with S30V blade will run you nearly $100. If you buy a Benchmade, you should really try to stick to the blue or black boxes, as the red boxes are made in Taiwan or something. The blue and black are made in the USA. Black designates police/military use, but that is only by design. They are available to civilians as well.

[grouser68]

I like old timers, seem they keep an edge better. I don't want to sharpen a knife so it's like a scalpel, I want it to tear. A fillet knife for fish I want to shave, but I sharpen my pocket knives with a coarse stone, works excellent for skinnin' bushytails.

[Cornpile]

I use a Frost 4 blade and keep it sharp with a stone.I use a pocket knife alot at work ,so I dont spend much money on them.

[lonesomepine]

Really, a knife only needs to do what we ask of it..Most folks dont need a pocketknife that will shave you. Just one that takes a good edge and holds it for a reasonable ammount of time. Sadly those are getting harder to find for a decent price :confused: ...I will say I cant stand a dull knife, they irritate me:mad: You know a lot of folks have those little hang ups, well mines knives..My knives anyway..I can hardly sleep at night knowing my knifes dull :p
You sound like I used to,I worked in a packing house for a couple years when I was 18-20 years old,we killed between 100-200 cows a day so we had to keep our knives sharp.I was fanatical about keeping my pocket knives that way too,I have scars to prove it.:D

[killinmammals]

My case knife is great and sharpens easy, the hardest knife I have to sharpen is my SOG knife...tough tough blade to dull, but really really tough to get sharp again!!!

[trust me]

I found out as a young boy the way to keep a knife sharp is to never let it get dull. It's a lot easier to touch it up frequently than it is to bring it back to sharp from dull-as-a-froe status.

I'm with Auk. I've lost more knives than I can count and I'd rather lose a 10 dollar knife. The Old Timers were my favorites, but they went under a year or two ago. I've got an Uncle Henry in my pocket right now that is living on borrowed time. When it disappears, I don't know what brand I'll go with.

I just need a pocket knife to be sharp and available. It doesn't have to be stainless or look pretty. I just need it to be there. I wish somebody would make a pocket knife without legs so they would quit walking off.:(

[newshooter05]

i go to smkw on the net and order a sodbuster with carbon blade. the last one i got was 7.00$ and it holds a great edge. don't remember who makes em but they usually have some sods with carbon steel. give smokey mountain knife works a call.
i dislike stainless also.
david

[lonesomepine]

I found out as a young boy the way to keep a knife sharp is to never let it get dull. It's a lot easier to touch it up frequently than it is to bring it back to sharp from dull-as-a-froe status.

I'm with Auk. I've lost more knives than I can count and I'd rather lose a 10 dollar knife. The Old Timers were my favorites, but they went under a year or two ago. I've got an Uncle Henry in my pocket right now that is living on borrowed time. When it disappears, I don't know what brand I'll go with.

I just need a pocket knife to be sharp and available. It doesn't have to be stainless or look pretty. I just need it to be there. I wish somebody would make a pocket knife without legs so they would quit walking off.:(

That's why Metal Detectors were created,don't know how many I've found laying on the bank around fishin' holes.

[AteUp]

I like a pocket clip on my carry knives. I hate them flopping around in my pocket.