The Swap community has been friendly to me, throw in some Facebook buys, some raffle wins and here we are. Plus the Edgar Cole Chimera in my pocket when I took this pic (whoops)

*spelling error* Knifejoyautos.shop

Found a few things on there I'm interested in but the prices are pretty discounted and it feels like a "too good to be true" situation so I'm hoping to see if anyone knows about them or if they're a legit/scam site.
Thanks in advanced!

When I got my first PM2 I would never have thought I'd like it this much, but here we are.

I would like to see anyone with battle black and battle bronze themed XM18s and Eklipse, I want to use these colors for mine and would like to see how it looks like a battle bronze lock side with black show side and bronze hardware, then a black lock side with bronze show side and black hardware, IDK

https://preview.redd.it/thb1327th60d1.jpg?width=3544&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8b595ed0f69913cf13f020daa22c6c3015d3d66

I want to first start off by saying sorry and I am sure this is a redundant post. I don’t know a whole lot about knifes and what makes a quality knife. I would love to learn more but as of now I want to get into knifes by getting a good quality edc knife with a 3ish inch blade. I looked at kershaw knifes and liked the prices. If anyone has a recommendation that’s under $70 ish it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

I started getting into knife collecting at the beginning of 2024. It's been really fun, considering the wide variety of offerings with different features at different price points. There's a lot to learn and a lot to experience, so I've spent lots of time watching various YT videos to help me make informed and deliberate decisions on my knife purchases.

Any gear-related hobby YT channel will be susceptible to heavy influence from gear manufacturers. Knives are relatively cheap and have a wide range of marketable attributes, so this particular market seems especially flooded with shill channels.

Very few, if any, ever have a negative thing to say. In the case of pocket knives, the general format seems to be to open the box, deploy the knife, cut some paper, state you like it, and beg for comments, likes, and subscribes. I get that this is outlined in the sponsoring knife company's agreement they signed, but damn. I don't need a ten minute commercial where you waffle on with marketing buzzwords. Usually I just want to see the knife in a human hand for size reference and then an honest, meaningful comparison with similar products.

So which YT channels are not just slinging sponsored commercials? Which are sufficiently amusing AND educational enough that you don't care? I get that they gotta make a buck, but sometimes the bull crap is too thick to want to ignore. Some I like are listed below

DBK is great. Love their videos. So entertaining and informative. They seem more willing than most to give their honest opinions. Their weird, arbitrary 10 point scale for cutting tasks doesn't make sense, but I don't care because they stand out.

JoeX is awesome if you skip through the long, repetitive parts of his videos. I also love how he pisses some people off with his knife antics.

I've used several other channels to find out info about knives I want to learn about. If it's just a closeup of the knife while they monologue off screen I skip through and move on. I've had some that come up enough that I recognize the names of the channels and generally like their content. Off the top of my head, peterbuiltknifeguy, Jacob B Peterson, and Cedric and Ada are decent enough. Larrin's channel is great too.

Speaking of waffling on unnecessarily, this post got long and ranty. I guess I just want suggestions for YT channels where they don't seem to be trying to con me hard.

I was flipping my mini arius today while watching TV in my bed. I got up to do something and moved my sheets and it fell on the hardwood floor. The action afterwards can only be called "lumpy". There are distinctive points in the action that seem to catch and slow the blade. I took it apart and cleaned it but still no use. Only way I've been able to get it back to normal is to untighten the pivot a bit more. Anyone know what happened? I'm guessing it knocked something out of line.

This Gersh guy doesn’t mess around.

Ruike is my house knife, it's too big to carry around with me.

I've had that Gerber forever.

One of my friends gave me that ducks unlimited one. It's so charming, I tend to only use this one at home.

That utility blade knife is great.

Just wondering what others preferences are. EXO, non-locking or the EXO-M locking models?

I have an old case double X knife from the 70s that belongs to my grandfather. I’ve sharpened the knife, but the blades are quite old and tarnished. They aren’t pitted or anything. They simply appear fairly dark and I’m guessing it’s from the age or simply being locked away in a case for so very long. How can I polish them to get them back to a mirror shine or close to it as possible? Suggestions for products and/or tools are appreciated.

Does anyone here make a living off anything knife related? If so, what do you do? Where’s the money at in this industry?

I'm very keen to get into the knife marker (I'm so tired of being a mechanic)

Picked up some shweet new scales from Smokey Mountain, Chinese Titanium for less then $45. Really turns the entire package from a Kershaw to a real tank of a knife