Anza File Knives?

C

Colt

Joined
Nov 15, 1999
Messages
73
Has anyone had any experience with these knives? What is there quality like?

Thanks,
Colt
 
I bought the smallest one I could find for my daughter several years ago. My impression at the time was that it was a very good knife for the price, good steel, comfortable in the hand, good over all quality, lots of variations, you can find almost any shape you could want. The sheaths were nothing to write home about, and from what I have seen the sheaths haven't gotten any better.


Mike
 
MNH, What are your impressions of the knife now since the date of purchase? Has it held up to the task that you have put it through?

Thanks,
Colt
 
I have a 3in, the #4 I think it's called, which I like a lot. It's a basic knife with a simple sheath, made from decent steel and is nicely ground. In my opinion they're a better buy than the typical knives made from low end stainless. The ones at a local sporting goods store sat for little while and then sold pretty quickly.
 
Colt,


I have had very little to do with the knife, however, my daughter just got home from school, and I have sent her up to her room to get it for me. . .

There, I have it in my hand. The date I wrote on the back of the sheath when I gave it to her is 18 February, 1995. Kate says she uses it to open mail, cut thread & string, and similar applications that would be found by a teenage girl who isn't particularly "into" knives. She has taken it with her to summer camp several times, and on more than one canoe trip. This was her second knife, her first was a SAK soldier which I think she uses more.

The edge of the knife is almost non-existent and needs more than a little work, I will sharpen it for her tonight on the sharpmaker, see how much work it takes to get a good edge back. The blade is a little discolored, not rusted, just darkened. The knife is even smaller than I remembered it the blade is about 2 3/4" with a 3 1/4" handle.

I can't tell you much else as I haven't really used the knife. I'll let you know if it proves to be unusually easy of difficult to sharpen.

I know there are others here who will know a lot more about using these than I do. I'm sure one or several of them will be along shortly.

Mike
 
Thanks for the info MNH! I also would be interested in how the blade sharpens up.

Colt
 
I have two. I think they are a four inch and a seven inch. Have had them both for approx. eight years or so. At first I wondered if the handles would fall off, since they are not pinned or screwed. So far they haven't, and now I don't think they will. Since I don't worry much about how many this or that a knife will skin/cut, I think they are fine using knifes. Handles are big enough for my bigger than average hands, and they take a sharp edge. I would never carry one with the supplied sheath though. They are a little crude by custom standards, but for the price they are hard to beat.
 
Kate's little knife sharpened up very well the other night. It took very little work to get a good usable edge on it with the Sharpmaker. The blade needs a little more work near the tip to really clean it up, but that is a project for another time.


Mike

[This message has been edited by MNH (edited 02 December 1999).]
 
I've had an Anza mini skinner for so long I can't remember where I got it, but it's a nice little knife, takes an edge quickly and holds it for quite awhile. I use mine for whittling and carving and it works well in this mode. The handles on these knives are usually fomed from multiple synthetic materials and are often very handsome, nicer than the stabilized wood models(IMO).
I doubt you can find a better value for the money.

------------------
A dedicated ELU
Buck Collectors Club Member
Knifeknut(just ask my wife)


 
They do take a good edge. When I was in the checkout line with mine about three people asked about the knife, and I shaved a nice little patch of hair on the arm each time. The store owner finally told me to stop showing off :^) Not bad for an inexpensive factory knife, although some describe Anzas as kind of semi-custom knives. I guess it also deflates the 'carbon steel gets dull just sitting around' concerns a bit.
 
I purchased a small 2 1/4 inch one
about 3 years ago for $20. It is comfortable
in the hand, but wasn't particularly
sharp.

I used it to trim sod for a couple of days,
and got rust spotted pretty quickly, which
was to be expected. When I went to resharpen
I found the edge angle pretty steep, about 30
degrees. With such a small blade and thick stock, should be no surprise.

I re-profiled it to about 25 and it cuts much better. Decent enough value, but once you
get into the $40 or $50 range, You have
a lot more choices.

DaveH
 
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