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So a while back I decided to buy a knife. Not a huge deal. I have plenty of knives. I have, for example, not one, not two, but THREE different sets of butcher block knives, plus two santoku knives, and a others for kitchen use. That's in addition to my dagger and my butterfly knife.
Not one of which would be any use at work, which is what I wanted a knife for. Well work, and just to have; rule #9, after all, is never go anywhere without a knife. But staying specific for work, I open a lot of boxes (beer, liquor, wine, other stuff) and have various uses for a knife at work. And while the knife that comes on a wine key can get most of these accomplished pretty well, it's not always the best.
So I went about getting a knife. And did so rather stupidly. Rather than ask anyone who knew anything about knives (like my Amazon manager that ALWAYS has a knife, which is not surprising as she is also a firefighter), I just figured I'd find one.
And find one I did. After a lovely dinner out with friends, we wandered into one of the downtown tourist-type shops that had t-shirts, sunglasses, and knives. Perfect place to buy a knife, right? After all, it's not like their ninja sword sets that they have are always in terrible condition. Oh, wait....they are. And I knew this.
And yet I still plunked down $37 on this lock blade pocket knife there. An MTech, which is supposed to be a good brand. And I don't know if it was the brand or the shop that had stocked it, but this knife was NOT good. It quickly got very loose, and actually briefly came apart, and I found myself tightening the one screw back in on a weekly or biweekly basis. And then one day when I didn't do that soon enough, the thing fell apart again....and this time I somehow managed to lose the screw. Well, crap. Hey, it could have been worse...the first knife in that shop that had caught my eye had been $180, which I thought a bit steep for a knife that I was going to use primarily to open boxes. Good thing I didn't buy that knife there, as who knows what would have happened. (I still don't know if it was the manufacturer or the shop, though, as MTech does have a good reputation, but my friend bought a knife that same night at that same shop and has had no problems with it.)
But by this point I HAD asked my manager about knives, and she had pointed me in the direction of a brand she likes that she has had no problem with. And I did a bit of research online, but didn't get around to buying one before the MTech decided to retire itself by falling apart. So for a couple weeks I used my butterfly knife at work, but that was a bit unwieldy, especially when it came open in my pocket unexpectedly.
And then a few weeks ago when I was in the local Advanced Auto buying a new sun blocker for my truck's windshield, on a whim I asked them if they had knives. They did. And I picked up a Northwest Trail lock blade pocket knife (same basic idea and function as the MTech, down to virtually identical belt clips) for about 10 bucks. And haven't had a problem with it yet. It's sharp, it works well, it doesn't fall apart, no bits have come loose, and overall, I am pretty happy.
Moral of the story? I guess it's to buy something at a place where they sell to people who are looking to do a job rather than a place that sells to people who are looking for a souvenir or a toy.
A more important lesson is to perhaps do some more research. You may have noticed, as I did, that the MTech knife I paid $37 for at a crappy little Duval Street tourist shop would have cost me only six bucks online. And yes, that's the very same knife. Which still isn't worth six bucks. At least, not the one I had.
Not one of which would be any use at work, which is what I wanted a knife for. Well work, and just to have; rule #9, after all, is never go anywhere without a knife. But staying specific for work, I open a lot of boxes (beer, liquor, wine, other stuff) and have various uses for a knife at work. And while the knife that comes on a wine key can get most of these accomplished pretty well, it's not always the best.
So I went about getting a knife. And did so rather stupidly. Rather than ask anyone who knew anything about knives (like my Amazon manager that ALWAYS has a knife, which is not surprising as she is also a firefighter), I just figured I'd find one.
And find one I did. After a lovely dinner out with friends, we wandered into one of the downtown tourist-type shops that had t-shirts, sunglasses, and knives. Perfect place to buy a knife, right? After all, it's not like their ninja sword sets that they have are always in terrible condition. Oh, wait....they are. And I knew this.
And yet I still plunked down $37 on this lock blade pocket knife there. An MTech, which is supposed to be a good brand. And I don't know if it was the brand or the shop that had stocked it, but this knife was NOT good. It quickly got very loose, and actually briefly came apart, and I found myself tightening the one screw back in on a weekly or biweekly basis. And then one day when I didn't do that soon enough, the thing fell apart again....and this time I somehow managed to lose the screw. Well, crap. Hey, it could have been worse...the first knife in that shop that had caught my eye had been $180, which I thought a bit steep for a knife that I was going to use primarily to open boxes. Good thing I didn't buy that knife there, as who knows what would have happened. (I still don't know if it was the manufacturer or the shop, though, as MTech does have a good reputation, but my friend bought a knife that same night at that same shop and has had no problems with it.)
But by this point I HAD asked my manager about knives, and she had pointed me in the direction of a brand she likes that she has had no problem with. And I did a bit of research online, but didn't get around to buying one before the MTech decided to retire itself by falling apart. So for a couple weeks I used my butterfly knife at work, but that was a bit unwieldy, especially when it came open in my pocket unexpectedly.
And then a few weeks ago when I was in the local Advanced Auto buying a new sun blocker for my truck's windshield, on a whim I asked them if they had knives. They did. And I picked up a Northwest Trail lock blade pocket knife (same basic idea and function as the MTech, down to virtually identical belt clips) for about 10 bucks. And haven't had a problem with it yet. It's sharp, it works well, it doesn't fall apart, no bits have come loose, and overall, I am pretty happy.
Moral of the story? I guess it's to buy something at a place where they sell to people who are looking to do a job rather than a place that sells to people who are looking for a souvenir or a toy.
A more important lesson is to perhaps do some more research. You may have noticed, as I did, that the MTech knife I paid $37 for at a crappy little Duval Street tourist shop would have cost me only six bucks online. And yes, that's the very same knife. Which still isn't worth six bucks. At least, not the one I had.
I AM the evil bastard!
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