Al Mar - Tell me about 'em.

Comeuppance

Comeuppance

Fixed Blade EDC Emisssary
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
4,765
I have no experience with Al Mar whatsoever outside of these two instances:
- Noticing the Sage 4 is an homage to Al Mar
- Noticing Al Mar is one of the few companies that uses ZDP-189

I've never seen one in person. I've never held one. I've never even come close to buying one. Rarely are they even mentioned here until someone posts a thread asking who makes ZDP knives other than Spyderco.

I very recently read a post here - and you'll forgive me for forgetting the author - discussing how he had discovered Al Mar through a knife he had gotten in a trade, and was very impressed with the quality and craftsmanship.

Are they good quality? Are they good value? How's the warranty? Any information, opinions, and thoughts you have on Al Mar are welcome.
 
Only own one. Fit and finish is excellent. Truly a gentlemans knife with capabities.
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I used to own a SERE 2000 around 7 years ago. It looked and felt great, had amazingly smooth action, a very functional design, and a fantastic deep carry clip, but the liner lock had issues. You could see the leaf spring flex when mild pressure was applied to the spine, and with slightly more pressure the lock would fail (it would flex and then slip off the tang). I didn't feel comfortable using the knife, so I sold it to someone after describing and demonstrating the issue for a very good price.

This was just one knife, however, and I have not heard of many cases similar to mine. I would suspect I got a fairly rare "bad example". In the price range ($100-$200) every production knife company lets some slip past QA. I would be willing to buy another Al Mar knife, but I would do my best to handle it beforehand to make sure I get a good one. I guess I would do the same thing with Benchmade, Spyderco, Kershaw etc... but I am about 8/10 with those companies in terms of "getting a good one", while I am 0/1 for Al Mar. YMMV.
 
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I had a SERE 2000, I traded that one off, I really wish i handn't, I miss that knife! I never noticed a lockbar issue on either of my SERE's. It was smooth and sharpened up nicely. I believe it was VG-10. I have in my possesion a SERE 2000 mini. I actually took this one apart and was super impressed with the construction. It uses steel liners but they go together so solidly that even without tightening the pivot screw, I didn't get any side to side play.
Mine is on teflon washers and with a little Militech-1 flicks open like a dream. I like the detent pressure, and it's centered. I think I paid $110 for it here on the forum... I like it, don't ever think I'll get rid of it. Actually, I'd love to make some Ti bolsters for it and micarta scales for it :D
In my humble opinion, I think it's a very good knife.... It's solid as all hell, the VG-10 is easy to sharpen and has great corrosion resistance and edge retention. ZDP would have better edge retention but can be brittle. You usually don't see too many "thick" blades with ZDP-189. You mostly see thinner "slicer" type blades with the ZDP. (not always but usually) So yeah man, scoop one up if you can. If it's not too thick for your pocket, I think you'll dig it.
 
I finally actually got to hold some Al Mar knives at the OKCA Knife Show yesterday, and my impression was that they were every bit as nice as I had expected. The SERE 2000's are one of the classic tactical knives.
 
I just picked up a SERE 2000 Saturday, and I'm seriously impressed. One of the sharpest out of the box (well out of the case, as this was the last one) as I've ever bought. Smooth and fast action, solid 50% lock up, great fit and finish. This is my first blade in VG-10, and so far I'm impressed.
Yeah it's a bit heavy..but it just feels so solid in my hand..I'm really looking forward to putting some wear, some character :) on this beauty.
 
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Al Mar is an important person for the knife community.
If you search Al Mar and find his name in a famous online -pedia, you will find additional info.
There are those knives made prior his death and those after.
The SERE-series is probably the most known.
Summed up he influenced the industry pretty much.
It's a pitty he left early.
I did carry a small Sere with neopren handle a few years and liked it a lot.
red mag
 
Quality knives with an excellent fit & finish. If I'm not mistaken their knives are made by Moki in Seki-City Japan - A 100 yr. old cutlery company who produce high quality blades.
 
I have 4 Al Mar knives.

SLB
Ultralight Hawk
Ultralight Falcon
Osprey

All have excellent fit and finish and good ergonomics. The cutting geometry for the Ultralights make them great slicers. One of the things that initially attracted me to the Al Mars was they seemed to be well thought out in the design process. They look pleasing to my eye both open and closed, but very functional.

The Hawk usually is my knife of choice when I have to wear a suit and tie.

Ric
 
I had a Payara. It's a Rexroat design, as are the Nomad and Shrike. Fit & Finish were flat out awesome. Action was and is the smoothest I've handled. Quality was very apparent.

My issue was that the knife was a gift. I had a weird mental block that kept me from using it. Not a gift from a family member or anyone super close, but I just couldn't bring myself to use it, so I traded out of it. Great knife, though.
 
Al mar the brand looks to have passed its prime.
If only they could pull a few newer tricks up their sleeves.
Like maybe actually do some reruns on the vintage hot picks
with updated choice materials of today?
All these years past and they seem to have melted into the background.
The brand seems pretty distant from the lips of consumers now.
Or maybe they are indeed silent professionals just waiting patiently to spring into action?
 
I've owned a few over the years and was always impressed with F&F. Custom quality in a production model. Down to just a sere 2k modded to d/a by VALLOTIN. Worth every penny IMO and you rarely see anything negative posted on them, their customer service or their product.
 
I own and carry a couple that do NOT have serrated edges [ no use for them ].

And I LOVE the fit and finish and the edge that they take [ like a razor ].

They are some of THE lightest and sharpest blades I carry,and I use them for eating a steak out at a restaurant as I DESPISE the serrated edges they have on their "steak" knives.

Any steak that needs "sawing" to eat is not for me.

I still own about 5 or 6 of the AM's and I am lucky to own the older models,so no idea how the newer stuff is.
 
Comeuppance said:
I very recently read a post here - and you'll forgive me for forgetting the author - discussing how he had discovered Al Mar through a knife he had gotten in a trade, and was very impressed with the quality and craftsmanship.

Are they good quality? Are they good value? How's the warranty? Any information, opinions, and thoughts you have on Al Mar are welcome.
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I think that might've been me? Their quality is excellent. The fit and finish is on par with much more expensive knives. Good value? Depends on what you consider a good value. When the Sere 2K first came out they were $100 new. They went for $80 all day long here on the exchange. I don't know what the hell happened, but they are MUCH more expensive now. That being said if I lost or broke mine, I'd buy another with zero hesitation.
You guys have got to be getting tired of seeing this thing:


 
I bought my Al Mar SERE 2000 over ten years ago. And despite the fact that I've hardly used it, it's one of my favorite knives. Although it's perfectly suited as a "user", I've always regarded it as more of a "treasure", and I have plenty of other users. I've just recently started carrying it on a semi-regular basis. I regard it as a high-quality knife. It has a very solid feel that I like in a folder, no "flex" whatsoever in the handle or during opening. Very smooth opening. Perfect lock-up with no blade-play when properly adjusted. Perfectly centered blade. The inside edges of the liners were a little sharp when I bought it, and they would bite into my hand, but a little light sanding fixed that.

I modded mine a little to better suit my liking. I ground off the "hump" at the top/front-end of the handle, replaced the double-sided thumbstud with a single sided, and I filed a larger opening-notch in the handle for better access to the thumbstud. I'm also planning on replacing the nylon pivot washers with bronze-phosforus ones.

I ditched the pocket clip in favor of a belt sheath (made myself).


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Sosa said:
That's an interesting point of view. The way I see it is an Al mar is comparible to an Al mar. I havnt handled any taiwan spydercos so maybe I'm missing something:
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my al mar sere 2000 has a japenese vg10 blade, just like many spydercos do. the fit and finish is similar in my opinion.
 
One of my favorite companies. Moki fit and finish is amazing. You pay the price for good design and fantastic construction, not necessarily the finest materials. The Eagle in laminated ZDP, the SERE 2K, and the Ultralite knives are my top picks.
 
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