Any Tough Gents Knives?

mnblade said:
I'm confused. Are you guys seriously calling the Buck 112 and 500 a gent's knife!?
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I don't think the ranger would come close to a gent's knife. However, the 500 has a classy look to it. And like other bucks, a solid tough knife.
 
Id say the spyderco cricket, the spyderco dragonfly, the benchmade 960 in red or silver.

Of course theres always william henry for those with money to burn.
 
I have 2 William Henry knives, both G10 and ATS-34, a Monarch and a Wharncliff. I have been carrying the Monarch for a month or so, it is a tought little knife. Very light, solid lockup, razor sharp right out of the box, and at $130, affordable.
 
Chris Reeve Sebenza makes a wonderful gent's knife, the small standard configuration especially.

Do yourself a favor and take it apart, and run emory cloth or a palm sander along the handle edges and the clip, nothing will cut up your dress slacks when you are done with this.
 
One of the toughest gentlemen's knives you will find is the Tom Brown William Henry model. Tom Brown and his staff use them in the woods, and HARD, and they recommend them.
 
jim n said:
I have 2 William Henry knives, both G10 and ATS-34, a Monarch and a Wharncliff. I have been carrying the Monarch for a month or so, it is a tought little knife. Very light, solid lockup, razor sharp right out of the box, and at $130, affordable.
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That is on the very light side of the WH line. Last I checked WH knives in the new blade material went for $350 and up with only a handful of the older blade material left. WH knives are also MAP listed, so finding one for a deal is hard.
 
I would say the Reeve Mandi but if the price is to high I've always liked the small BM axis locks I think there Pardue 770 series.

Jesse
 
The only knife I have that I consider to be a gent's knife is a BM-211 snody activator. It is the only knife that stays constent as a EDC, the rest get swapped from day to day, if that means anything.
 
My definition of a tough gent's knife is a Large LE Sebenza.

Small and cute and tough, but not really gentle: SS SE Cricket.
Exquisite but less tough: Briarwood Al Mar Hawk.
Rugged and tough: Pacific Salt.
Tougher and elegant: Benchmade 710HS that I use gently and manly.

For me personally it is my 2003 large Sebenza with redwood burl inlays.

That said, a good balisong is tough and when presented well is perfectly gentlemanly.
 
If you are willing to spend a little more than I would recommend the CRK mnandi or any of the William Henrys. If you are not willing to spend that much money, the Spyderco Kopa is a very nice alternative.
 
What about the Fallkniven U2? Maybe not the prettiest knife but it's small and non-threatening. But it is tough compared to something like a Mnandi or some of the other knives listed here.

I just mention the Mnandi again as comparison because I have played with a couple of them and am familiar with them. I am otherwise largely unfamiliar with small gents-style knives.
 
It's pushing the gentleman's title a bit, but pretty much any high end production titanium framelock. Of course, I'm currently biased torwards the blue bump.
 
I second the Spyderco Kiwi. I've got one in amber bone. Despite it's elegant looks, it's very solid.

Another one is the "Little Buddy" lockback by Weidmannsheil. These are made in the Olbertz factory in Solingen Germany, same factory that makes Bulldog, Eye Brand, Fight'n Rooster and some others.

The Little Buddy lockbacks come in handle materials such as buffalo horn, genuine stag, elephant ivory, mammoth ivory, etc. It is however a very stout little knive at 3" closed with a 2 1/2" high carbon spear blade that is 1/8" (3 mm) thick. As I'm sure you are aware, that is quite thick for such a small blade, especially a dressy gents knife. They go for anywhere from about $50 to $100 on e-bay, new in box.

I've got two, one in buffalo horn and one in sambar stag. I paid about $50 apiece for them. VERY nice knife for that kind of money.
 
How small is small? The Buck 500 is a wonderful choice, but maybe a little big for a "gent's" knife. When I think "gent's" knife I think smaller than the 500, more like 501 or 503.

7.jpg

501

baby2.jpg

55 and 503

Those Bucks are small, but tough as nails.

Or you could find someone to make some custom wood scales for something like a Benchmade 707, that would look very classy and be very, very sturdy.
 
The U2 is an EXCELLENT little knife. It is solid, sharp, and very sheeple friendly. I love mine!! I highlly recomend it. I don't consider it a gentleman's knife, simply for aethestic reasons.
 
Second that William Henry Tom Brown Tracker model, see this thread I posted in the Gallery

Excellent, smooth, sharp, and pretty sheeple friendly but highly versatile!
G2
 
My brief comments on U2 and some photos with WHK & CRK.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3951567#post3951567

I started with William Henry, but I love my CRK just because I can take it apart to clean it. So I do not need to feel restricted in how I will use my knife (including cutting a steak with my Sebenza when my plastic take-out fork broke).

WHK is slim, light, very gentle-man/woman. Classy and very nice design & action. They are my first knives as a newbie. I did not feel intimidated with them at all. To me, the initial impression was WOW!! Pretty & nice knife.

But then I discovered CRK Small Sebenza Micarta.
A little heavier, but definitely a work knife.
Then the Mnandi came and it's a whole new ball game.

To me, the Mnandi is the nice subtle well-made knife.
It is the ultimate knife marrying the sleek-factor of WHK with the work-ethics of CRK.

It is not as glamorous as WHK but I am confident to use it any way I like it with no inhibitions.
The wood on CRK is thicker than WHK.

CRK is inlay and WHK is onlay for scales.

My $0.02.

U2 is nice but definitely in a different class. But I think for the quality of U2, you are really getting a lot for the $$ on the nice sharp blade if it is all that matters. I do not care for the zytel handle too much.
 
For a formal day carry on a budget, it's really hard to beat a dressed up Victorinox classic. I think a classic in sterling silver barleycorn is a real eye-catcher out of a suit pocket.

For me though, I agree KCkc --the CRK is the right choice. My FDC is here:
giraffebone_mnandi.jpg

It's a CRK mnandi with giraffe bone inlays.
 
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