On Biased Blogger Reviews & Scribbling Opinions as If They’re Gospel
Re-reading my past scribbles is always interesting to me, not because I am obsessed with my own written word, but rather because bloggers, by virtue of being given a platform to be highly opinionated, tend to ignore uncomfortable realities when it’s much easier to outright declare this is the best knife or this is the best option.
The reality is far more nuanced. I started off being obsessed with Spyderco; I shan’t go into details as to why I loved the little fuckers so much, but ultimately, I was a collector/aficionado first, and user of knives second. Then I moved to the frozen wasteland that is Canada and began wrecking havoc on various trees (God bless you Ontario Raider Bowie). I should mention that I had good reason to go to war with the blasted invaders before the eco warriors add me to some sort of list.
Then I moved with the girl to the UK. I was forced against my will to cater to my inner lover of slipjoints and less scary bladed options… and now?
This is five minutes from my house.
I have my own little piece of heaven in Portugal and two things happened.
- I slacked off big time on MTJS, as a consequence, I don’t obsess over having an EDC rotation, I just use what I want even if that means I use the same tool for 3 months straight.
- Because I am in a less extreme environment, both in terms of legality and natural surroundings, I focus almost exclusively on practicality without much thought towards the perception of performance.
I realized what should have been obvious from the start. My opinions are so biased to my own needs and wants that frankly, I recommend you take everything I write with a bucket of salt.
It’s so subjective because we all have different prerequisites. I wager that if I lived in Texas, I would have different biases. Likewise if I worked on a farm.
Since moving to Portugal, I have had 2 steadfast friends: what I consider to be the best multi-tool ever created – the Leatherman Rebar, and my trusted sidekick, the yet to be reviewed and still totally beaten up – the Fallkniven F1. It’s a bloody travesty that I have yet to review that blade. I am truly, truly sorry.
The best boring tools for a normal everyday quasi-boring life.
We are all well aware that the majority of opinions are worthless, subjectively, even my own. The bulk of bloggers are little more than shills trying to convince you to drop some franklins on titanium clad garbage, but realistically, this is an interesting (albeit, obvious) conversation to have with all of you. Your environment will dictate more or less the bulk of your biases.
I am unsure about how to proceed with my scribbles.
Ultimately, I am always going to be a loud mouth and will keep ranting and raving at everything I damn well please, at the same time I do frequently feel a certain degree of duty to be as honest about MTJS, its biases, and why I scribble what I scribble.
Ontario SP10 Marine Raider Bowie – Amazon / Blade HQ
As for the direction the blog will take, frankly, I miss many of you. BDC, Bob Ocean, Broadwing, OldOutdoorsGuy, Danjo, Dan and so many more. I won’t ever really change and ultimately I do feel a degree of contempt towards the blade and outdoor industry (I was going to write community, but let’s not kid ourselves – it’s a fucking industry). I don’t want to play ball, but I do want to shit on all the bad products out there and continue to scribble opinions as if they are gospel to a following of millions.
I think, as long as we keep in mind that a knife is nothing more than a sharpened slab of steel, that survival is about perseverance – not gimmicks, and finally that common sense can’t be bought on Amazon, we will be alright.
Naturally, you should also agree with everything I say. 😉
I won’t make any promises about regular updates, but I am “back” for all intents and purposes. It’s important (I think) for an independent voice to exist in this void, even if it’s really really bad at maintaining a schedule.