Pocket Knives ?

[DIPSLICK]

Aethetically, yes, practically no - and they are not cheap. NOT NOT NOT.... I have a little titanium and steel carry knife - weighs about nothing - will put up a pic and a weight..... it was a really cool gift...

hope you gave back a coin

[V12man]

hope you gave back a coin

Nope - a painting..... lets just say that has not been put up on the wall yet.... :)

[DIPSLICK]

Nope - a painting..... lets just say that has not been put up on the wall yet.... :)

bad luck(if you that way) to get a blade and not give a coin, bad for the friendship,,,,,,i some how doubt a man of science will see it that way

[V12man]

bad luck(if you that way) to get a blade and not give a coin, bad for the friendship,,,,,,i some how doubt a man of science will see it that way

Are you friends with your siblings?

[DIPSLICK]

Are you friends with your siblings?

good point, i too would have not given a COIN

[DIPSLICK]

THEN AGAIN THE ONLY WAY MY SIBLINGS WOULD GIVE ME A KNIFE i would rather go buy one

[Letum911]

Sorry for the long post but here goes:

 

Reviving an old thread.

Does anybody have any experience with a Damascus

stell bladed knofe?

Keen to get one but want to know if it is worth the extra

money over a normal steel knife?

 

As a show piece or a working knife? Damascus tends to stain easier than most other metals and is quite a bit softer, so doesn't keep an edge that well. But have a look at Dama-steal, it's stainless damascus. A bit of a harder metal and also stain resistant. But in the end also more expensive, on and average damascus hand made knife you're looking at around R3k, where a damasteal would put you back for the same knife and workmanship around R4500.

 

Personally I love my custom knives, my collection is probably worth around R20k by now (I inherited a most of this knives). But I bought myself a Titanium handle with a stainless blade folding knife about 2years back from the knife maker "Carel". She put me back R4k but money well spent!! Holds an edge like no other knife I own.

 

But whatever you do, before paying over R2k for any handmade knife, make sure they are registered with the "Knife makers guild". In theory this is the best gaurentee of quality you'll get.

 

If you're looking at something cheaper, keep in mind 3 things. Build quality, steal quality and feel. I also own a CRKT folding knife (smooth blade, it's a knife not a damn saw! I hate serated knifes!!), they retail for around R700 for a decent size, these knifes have a long lifetime, after every few washes just put some silicone spray on the hinge, it pivots on a teflon (of some sort) O-ring. The bigger knives also have a double locking mechanism to keep the blade open! This is my knife of choice when working on the farm, its tough as nails and gets the job done.

Then there's Opinel, which is a French knife, if I remember the story correctly it was designed for the harvesting of grapes (cutting the soft vines). These knives are a simple yet effective design. The blade is pretty soft, so gets sharp as hell but also blunts quickly (similar to butchers knives).

Then of course you get Gerber, Gerber feels heavy in your hand. I don'l like that so I own one for my collection but it has never worked so I cannot comment on the sharpness or quality of the blade

[Letum911]

I can go on for hours when it comes to knives. I was brought up around guns and knives. So if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I just don't want to waste people's time with my ranting and raving. I have some sort of experience with most knives on the market

[Paul Ruinaard]

Also something that always arises with Knives is sharpeners. I have all of these at home including Lanskey's and the handhelds which all work but are cumbersome.

 

Then I came across the warthog sharpener. This is the business and it is actually quite a funky device o it is standing on the counter in the kitchen available for use when needed.

 

Now all my knives are sharper than they ahve ever been.

 

And i don"t get plagued by the wife to sharpen everything as she can do it.

[Letum911]

The Warthog is very effective indeed. My biggest worry is it scratching the blade of the more expensive knives. It's fine for kitchen and cheap'ish knives but scratching does make me nervous. I found that the knives with a "hollow"-grind blade design does have enough clearance but I still prefer spending 5mins on a knife and just honing it with the Lanskey when needed

[Letum911]

Here's a pic of my Ti and stainless knife, made by "Carel". The build quality is really good, some room for improvements but definitely a beauty! And awesome as a general carry along knife. And at 62HRC hardness of the blade it gets sharp as hell and keeps it for prettylong

[Cois]

Have a Leatherman (not sure which one) and a Swiss Army knife (small white one)

[Johan Bornman]

 

Then there's Opinel, which is a French knife, if I remember the story correctly it was designed for the harvesting of grapes (cutting the soft vines). These knives are a simple yet effective design. The blade is pretty soft, so gets sharp as hell but also blunts quickly (similar to butchers knives).

Opinel is all lore and no substance. It is made from very hard steel, carbon steel, and the entire blade is uniformly hardened, which means the tip breaks off easily. It is very difficult to get an edge on these and in my experience an edge doesn't keep on it either. It's a bit of a French thing, either you like their stuff and put up with the quirks, or you hate it. Me, I'll rather not have a Citroen, thank you.

[Grebel]

I have a few. A Swiss Army Ranger and a smaller two blade Swiss , a Leatherman Wave which stays in my work bag for just in case. (Too big for the pocket and I'm not a pouch on the belt guy...) as well as a few really old Barlow knives with almost no blade left and a few no name brand wooden handle lock knives. I used to carry a Gerber serrated blade copy as an EDC knife but recently went shopping again and settled on an Enlan Coqui. Straight ground blade with no serrations. Great for everyday use. One day when I'm big I'll own a Spyderco. For now though the Enlan is made from the same steel (8CR13MOV) as some of the Spydercos and it is surprisingly tough. Holds an edge for a long time and if it grows legs, it isn't a huge loss. I could go through 3 Enlans for the price of one Spyderco of similar size. Mine gets used everyday.

 

Not a huge fan of big blades TBH. Was recently at a braai and a guy pulled out a cammo knife with about a 6" blade to check if his steak was done. First thought into my head was "Knob..."

[Letum911]

Whahahaha!!! So size doesn't matter? All my knives are around 4 inches. It's big enough to get the job done but small enough to be nimble.

 

With regards to the Opinel, I got an edge pretty easy. But it really doesn't last

[DirtyFrank]

Makes a very intimidating sound when it opens. In my pocket every day.

Also have a basic 40+ year old 12 function Wenger Swiss army knife which I inherited from my dad.