Arno Bernard iMamba praise

oldrifleman said:
My first, an Iron Wood inlay flipper on bearings, should ship towards the end of the month. would have been sooner but I requested a skeletonized blade after the fact and they were happy to satisfy the request, but is was a couple of extra weeks.
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Ooh lala. Fabulous. Please post pic when in. I prefer an aperture (a la Spyderco or Strider) to nail nicks or thumb studs.
 
smithkzn said:
Thanks for the information. I can alleviate your shame and take one off your hands ;-). I'm South African so I really really should have one. Nay, deserve one. I've met both Arno and Chris Reeve in the 80s at the local knife shows in South Africa – truly SA knife makers are among the best in the world. The genetics makes for incredible engineers (e.g. we invented heart transplants, the biggest canon in the world, the biggest hospital in the world, the world's first ever 1 oz gold bullion coin, the deepest mines in the world, the world's first oil-from-gas company, the CAT scan, the world's first computerized ticketing system, the first military attack helicopter capable of making a 360 degree loop, and on and on it goes ). I wish I could have bought their knives then, but I was a kid and even then it was very expensive.
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Yea man, I've always loved what I've seen of South Africa (in pictures). There's a guy here who's been here for yearrrs, and when I was here for years a decade ago, I used to love seeing his pictures of him using his Sebenza and other South African made knives all through South Africa. Ever since then I've always had a major draw to the place and it's knife makers. I agree with you that the place has some of the very best makers in the world. If I see two knives that I REALLY like and one of them is made in South Africa, and one's made anywhere else, I'll almost definitely choose the South African one.
 
Sharp & Fiery said:
The first 100 or so are very hard to spydie flip. But the newer iMamba’s have the detent nailed, so if you love the Spydie flick, newer is the way to go.
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Ok, thanks for the intel! I do really love me a nice spydie flick here and there haha. But I don't know if I could let go of my precious #33. Only time will tell I guess.
 
LimpCroissant said:
Yea man, I've always loved what I've seen of South Africa (in pictures). There's a guy here who's been here for yearrrs, and when I was here for years a decade ago, I used to love seeing his pictures of him using his Sebenza and other South African made knives all through South Africa. Ever since then I've always had a major draw to the place and it's knife makers. I agree with you that the place has some of the very best makers in the world. If I see two knives that I REALLY like and one of them is made in South Africa, and one's made anywhere else, I'll almost definitely choose the South African one.
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Good man! (I assume you’re a dude). When I was a kid I bought a book African Blade by Owen Wood with the current knife makers of the time back then (Owen Wood was incredible) - I might still have it. It’s was remarkable even then in the 80s or 90s.
 
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Yup, I'm a dude. Nice, I'd like to check that book out or a book like it. There's one guy I follow on instagram @africantime_flies who shows a lot of South African made knives, you'd probably enjoy it. I'd like to find a cool up and coming awesome knifemaker from over there to keep an eye on and buy a knife from eventually if you have any lesser known suggestions.

https://www.instagram.com/africantime_flies/#​

 
LimpCroissant said:
Yup, I'm a dude. Nice, I'd like to check that book out or a book like it. There's one guy I follow on instagram @africantime_flies who shows a lot of South African made knives, you'd probably enjoy it. I'd like to find a cool up and coming awesome knifemaker from over there to keep an eye on and buy a knife from eventually if you have any lesser known suggestions.

https://www.instagram.com/africantime_flies/​

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Groovy. Thanks. Funnily enough I lived in the same suburb as Chris Reeve. Small world.
 
smithkzn said:
Thanks for the information. I can alleviate your shame and take one off your hands ;-). I'm South African so I really really should have one. Nay, deserve one. I've met both Arno and Chris Reeve in the 80s at the local knife shows in South Africa – truly SA knife makers are among the best in the world. The genetics makes for incredible engineers (e.g. we invented heart transplants, the biggest canon in the world, the biggest hospital in the world, the world's first ever 1 oz gold bullion coin, the deepest mines in the world, the world's first oil-from-gas company, the CAT scan, the world's first computerized ticketing system, the first military attack helicopter capable of making a 360 degree loop, and on and on it goes ). I wish I could have bought their knives then, but I was a kid and even then it was very expensive.
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Don't forget y'all invented Elon musk 🤪
 
The wait begins! After much inner turmoil on the scale selection I went with the Snakeskin CF flipper. I don't think I could have picked wrong judging by all the beautiful scale options. Mid September hopefully.
 
geowolves said:
The wait begins! After much inner turmoil on the scale selection I went with the Snakeskin CF flipper. I don't think I could have picked wrong judging by all the beautiful scale options. Mid September hopefully.
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You made the right choice with the snake skin, a little wider with the scales proud of the body with a little less weight than the plain Jane version. Have to ask did you go flipper or non, washers or bearings. Little things that make these beauties yours, kind of wish I would have gone washers on one to maintain the KISS principle 🤭
https://imgur.com/a/MykTttt
 
woodysone said:
You made the right choice with the snake skin, a little wider with the scales proud of the body with a little less weight than the plain Jane version. Have to ask did you go flipper or non, washers or bearings. Little things that make these beauties yours, kind of wish I would have gone washers on one to maintain the KISS principle 🤭
https://imgur.com/a/MykTttt
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Flipper with bearings. Your Snakeskin pics were definitely one of the ones that helped influence my choice along with a video review by Lefty EDC. I'm guessing it looks even better in hand.
 
geowolves said:
The wait begins! After much inner turmoil on the scale selection I went with the Snakeskin CF flipper. I don't think I could have picked wrong judging by all the beautiful scale options. Mid September hopefully.
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I agree, a superb choice (although you couldn’t have gone wrong with any). Those snake skins look really, really nice. I have gone for a simple Ti iMamba on washers, non-flipper. I think I’d like a Rinkhals in the future and then it’s a very difficult choice as I’d like scales there. Snake or warthog.
 
I finally have a reason to be back in this thread. I have an iMamba on they way that is NIB from a fantastic member who was willing to let it go. I'm super stoked to get it in hand. It seems like fate as I share the initials of the maker mark 😁. It's a carbon fiber inlay and the pictures look fantastic!
 
The Arno Bernard brothers seem to be very receptive to input from us so you might want to email them in regard to a smaller version. I sure love my iMambas. I've got two now. I got the flipper back a bit before I made this thread and it's been an exceptional tool in the arsenal! This one here is a non-flipper on washers and I love it a lot too. It's also numbered #33 which is my lucky number. I tend to carry this one more because of it's simplicity and... Well no major reason at all honestly, I just have been. 😂 These pics are from when I first got it.

imamba pj.jpg
imamba pj1.jpg
 
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