The Fett Effect

Nutnfancy has mentioned this before in some of his videos, but I think it bear some repeating--the closer your gear looks to that of the famed bounty hunter Boba Fett, the cooler it is.  Sure, there is something nice about a pristine blade or a gleaming flashlight, but these are tools not trophies and so keeping them in their pristine state, especially with some of the more high end gear, is akin to caging a snow leopard.  It seems cruel to imprison a creature that can leap 50 feet.  Similarly, it seems cruel to keep your Steve Ku 40DD locked up in a drawer or on display.  Drop that tiny sucker in a pocket and enjoy it whenever you need a quick shot of surprisingly bright light from a package the size of a bullet.  Ku's light, if I am not mistaken came with a finished designed to show wear and I think it is a gorgeous light, once broken in.  Take a peek:

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But sometimes gear that isn't supposed to have that battle worn look looks cool with a few scars.  Nutnfancy loves to bust out those trail tested fixed blades and now that I have one I know why.  Nothing is as cool as well used fixed blade.  Right?

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Even my pricier gear has some real wear marks on it.  Check out the swirls and scratches on my Sebenza's handle in this video:

 

Manufacturers are starting to take notice of this trend.  CRKT's first Ken Onion folder, the Ripple has "hand buffed" scales so that it looks pocket worn, right out of the box.

There is just something authentic and inviting about a tool that has wear on it.  Willie Nelson's guitar, Trigger, is probably the most famous example of this:


Nelson commented how the guitar had become of a part of him and his musical style and that without it, his solos would sound like copies of the originals or bad karaoke.  For a lot of folks, like my Grandfather, his pocket knife was the same way.  He whittled with this Mini Trapper for over six decades before it became mine:

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So the next time you reach for your knife and then put it away because you don't want it to get damaged, think again.  No one, not a single smuggler that could make the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs (yes, I am a dork), would have been afraid of Boba Fett if his armor was NIB or even LNIB.