Accent knives

They have been on and off the net for about 3 years now.

Imre Polyak is one of the few, and definitely the most famous Hungarian knifemakers.

I have a few of his knives, mainly the type Accentknives calls the "Vlad".

Mines dont have shields on the scales and the scales are made of deer stag.

Overall the fit and finish of my knives were on par as the better German slipjoints, here and there with some minor blemishes.

The blade steel was, and I think is still the German equivalent of 420HC.
The backsprings are VERY strong and are made of carbon steel, and not of stainless.

The price of my knives were about US$30-40, but that was about 10 years ago when I visited Budapest.

The fit and finish of the knives the photos from Accentknives shows seems to be better than the f&f of mine knives. That might justify the higher price, I don't know.

I was told that this particular pattern of knives was used in Hungary traditionally by coachmen. Bernard Levine shows the photo of a similar, but much cruder Hungarian clasp knife (made by an unidentified maker) in his book.

I think the fantasy name referring to Dracula (Vlad Tepes) is just a marketing trick to sell better the knives. I don't think that this pattern is older than 150-200 years, and I am not sure at all it was typical in Transylvania either.

Still, the knife is very comfortable to hold, the rounded bolster acts as a natural guard, and the long clip point blade is really nice too.
I find it more comfortable than the famous Laguiole, especially that the Vlad is not so extremely thick in the cross section as most of the Laguioles are.
It is also much safer than the American toothpick/tickler pattern which has no guards whatsoever.

One warning: THESE KNIVES DONT HAVE TOO BIG KICKS!
Combined with the very strong backsprings it means that you have to hold on the blade while closing it and prevent the edge from hitting the inside of the spring.
But to be honest, I have never handled the knives from Accentknives, so it could be that they are different.

If I had the money, I would probably buy one of the Vlads from Accentknives too. As it is, I am happy with my earlier ones.
 
Westflorida,

You are welcome.
I have just looked through my notes about this knife.
The seller I bought my Polyak knives from told me, that the Hungarian name of this pattern is "kerek fejes bicska", which means 'round headed folding knife'. This supposed to refer to the rounded front bolsters.
He also told me that most makers used to make this pattern with more pronounced curve of the handle and with more pointy blade, as it is shown in Bernard Levine's book too.

I wonder if this pattern is a local, Hungarian one, or it is influenced by other European or Asian patterns.

If you get this knife, please post your impressions.

littleknife
 
HI!
This is a special Hungarian knife. It's history goes back to the XVIII. century. The shape of the handle comes from the traditional turkish sabres' handles. It has no lock, its a slipjoint, but the backspring is so strong, that a 6 year old child can't even open it!
It always has a thin blade with a full flat grind, so it's kind of sharp It cuts like an Opinel, and is also used for about the same tasks. I can only recommend one! Buy it and use it!

A Hungarian
 
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