All this talk of "Gentleman's Folders", what about a "Lady's Folder"?

I once gave my wife a choice of taking one of my collectible knives. She picked this one.

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My 8 year old daughter has a pink victorinox.

I'm constantly trying to get my lady to find a knife she likes. She doesn't have much interest. :rolleyes:
 
When I had a knife store my best seller was the Victorinox Classic with translucent pink scales, women bought it all the time. And if Victorinox had made a translucent pink Compact, I'd have sold a ton of those two (they made a Cadet, which had no scissors or nail file, two features my female customer liked). So, based on my limited experience, suggesting pink knives isn't that bad an idea.

I also had female customers who ordered some pretty nasty looking blades (like a Spyderco Civilian) and were very knowledgeable. One of them introduced me to Mcusta knices and ordered a couple of their damascus/vg-10 folders with wood scales.

For a woman with no particular interest in knives, I'd recommend the same thing I would for a man with no particular interest in knives: a SAK or Leatherman. Another thing to take into account is that women's clothes don't always have very functional pockets, so some knives might not be comfortable for them to EDC.

If the knife is not going to be a surprise gift, just let her handle a few at a store or look at them on-line and make her choice.
 
Although mine keeps a Benchmade 940 in her purse, I can't think of a reason why any lady wouldn't want a Gentleman Jim.
 
I looked at the pix of the Dragonfly tattoo and then searched online. While doing so, I came across the Ladybug. The wife may find herself with one of those.

I didn't start this thread for recommendations for my wife, I was curious to see what the ladies were carrying.
 
When being a lady, a purple Ladybug. When being a woman, a Skyline fixed blade in a custom leather sheath.
 
My ex favoured the CRKT Ripple. I think they also have a smaller version now called the Ripple II. It's a rather pretty knife overall and the blue version especially so.
 
browsing the forum today I was reminded of a company that adds stone scales to Spyderco knives, those might be good knives for a lady.
 
philllll said:
My wife likes slip joints since she doesn't want to have to fiddle with a lock. And to be fair she does like the pink ones.
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My wife HATES slip joints, she doesn't like the way they snap closed and have to be opened with a grip. My wife likes the ladybug on her keys and her classic SAK. On the larger side, she loves my Emerson 7 spear point.
If your wife is a teacher, I would recommend something like a delica.
 
The concept of a "Lady's Folder" is outdated and painfully stereotypical. Certain types of women in certain area of the country embrace gender stereotypes (aka: pink folder, sparkles, kittens, small blade, etc). These stereotypes, however, are becoming increasingly rare, especially among younger women and outside of the south.

Among the women I know (Pacific Northwest), most select knives based primarily on intended use, quality, and price (much like men do). Most would be offended if they were gifted knives that cater to outdated stereotypes.

Ultimately, a folder reflects a person's individual tastes and conforms to an intended use. One woman may need an extra-large cold steel voyager to perform outdoor chopping and camping tasks. A man might need a cheap, discrete DLC-coated minigrip to perform EDC tasks in an urban environment. It depends entirely on the individual.
 
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My girlfriend EDCs a small variety of knives. When I first met her, she carried a waved Delica4 (still does most days). She also got a waved Matriarch2 for cutting rope and whatnot. That thing is pretty sharp! For her birthday, she got a sprint run titanium framed Damascus Delica. A month or so ago, I gave her a Case Equestrian knife; it has a nice big clip blade that sharpens up quite nicely (once you reprofile the factory edge) and the incredibly useful hoof pick. She works at a horse hospital, so that's not snark, that's objective truth, right there. She may switch out her front pocket knife, but that Equestrian is always in her back pocket. The amber bone covers are sweet.

Speaking of pockets, someone else mentioned this earlier. Whoever is responsible for designing the pockets on women's pants should be sent to China. Wait. Maybe that's where they are. Her pants usually have these short little pockets I wouldn't trust to hold a change purse, not that either of us has a change purse, but if we did.... So, be careful when you take her clothes shopping. It's not all about the plunging neckline, I've found. Disappointing, but true.

Her original Delica is a major part of how we got together. We were sitting in a Denny's talking knives (yeah, I know, I'm incredibly lucky) and she showed me her Delica. It had all the cutting qualities I associate with sticks. It would have made a poor cheese knife. Worse, she's been prying/cutting zip ties with it, so the edge was chipped up pretty good. I made another trip down to turn her knife back into a cutting tool, and the rest is history.

Apropos of all that, those Delicas will sharpen up like nobody's business! Hair popping sharp, and no kidding!
 
Oakengroves said:
The concept of a "Lady's Folder" is outdated and painfully stereotypical. Certain types of women in certain area of the country embrace gender stereotypes (aka: pink folder, sparkles, kittens, small blade, etc). These stereotypes, however, are becoming increasingly rare, especially among younger women and outside of the south.

Among the women I know (Pacific Northwest), most select knives based primarily on intended use, quality, and price (much like men do). Most would be offended if they were gifted knives that cater to outdated stereotypes.

Ultimately, a folder reflects a person's individual tastes and conforms to an intended use. One woman may need an extra-large cold steel voyager to perform outdoor chopping and camping tasks. A man might need a cheap, discrete DLC-coated minigrip to perform EDC tasks in an urban environment. It depends entirely on the individual.
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While many of the women in the PacNW may be offended if given a knife as you describe, you are also stereotyping them. Believe it or not, outside of the PacNW, many women love feminine things and I know women up there as well who would enjoy them as well. To further your stereotype of the PacNW, women from other areas don't all hug trees and eat granola and braid arm pit hair.

While my wife loves the outdoors and camping, for her day to day use, she would love a pink SAK Classic (but she has a red one). Many knives are far more masculine in appearance and design and would not appeal to many women.

I didn't start this thread to get into an argument over gender stereotypes with someone promoting a regional one. I wanted to find out if there were knives w/designs, features, and intent were for women or would appeal more to women.

Going by what you've stated, the concept of a "Gentlemen's folder" is an outdated concept as well. I bet you'll make a lot of friends w/that stance.
 
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