r/knives before you buy

Credit to r/Flashlight and henry82 for creating the guide

Credit to ShuManChu for rewriting their guide for knives

Knife Requirements

I want to buy a knife!..

...what should I ask for?

Well, you’ve come to the right place, welcome to r/knives!

We’ve compiled a list of questions for you to ask yourself, before asking the community for their opinions. It’s not required, but it gives us a fairly good understanding of what you’re looking for in a knife. Remember, in general more “features” equals more expensive.

    Purpose - What is its intended purpose? What are you going to be using it for?
    Size - Does it need to be under a certain size or are you flexible in a general size?
    Knife Type - Do you want a folding knife or a fixed blade? Or maybe something exotic like a Karambit or a Balisong.
    Price Range - How much are you willing to pay? Even ballpark numbers are useful.
    Type/Style - Do you want a gentleman's knife, or a hard use camping knife? Other types are fillet knives, cooking knives, underwater knives, throwing knives (try r//throwing).
    Blade Type - Would you like a plain edge, or a serrated edge, or maybe a combination? Remember, serrations are generally harder to sharpen and maintain than a plain edge. Here is a list of common Blade Profiles (patterns.)
    Blade Steel - This will determine the durability, ability to hold an edge (aka edge retention), and the ability to take an edge (how easy it is to sharpen). High end steels like M4, M390, S90V, and ELMAX will raise the price of a knife considerably, but they will have huge benefits as well. If you are unfamiliar with steels, you can leave this part blank or familiarize yourself a bit with this popular guide.
    Anything Else? - Anything else you’re looking for in your knife that is not included above?

SEE PAGE 2 FOR SUBMISSION POSTING HELP

Copy & Paste for Posting: (after highlighting - use “CTRL-C” to copy and “CTRL-V” to paste into Reddit):

    Purpose:

    Size:

    Knife type:

    Price Range:

    Type/Style:

    Blade Type:

    Blade Steel: (OPTIONAL)

    Anything else:

Click here to submit a post. reddit.com/r/knives