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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Cheapskate Heroes
- Thread starter oldmanwilly
- Start date
oldmanwilly
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Messages
- 3,906
Great Dye job! I never thought of putting it in a can, not a bad idea.
oldmanwilly
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Messages
- 3,906
In case anyone hasn't noticed - and I don't know why anyone would have - I've become a big fan of the newly released Okapi knives. I had always been curious of the brand but found it hard to find a genuine one and was concerned about the quality (I'd heard some pretty mixed reviews). Evidently the company was recently purchased by some new owners who are fellow knife enthusiasts and decided to update the classic designs. I don't have an old model to compare against, but i think the changes were well chosen. These are absolutely great cheapskate knives:
I got one classic locking knife in 1075 and two of the slip-joints in N690, one each with wood and FRN handles.
I was pleasantly surprised at how authoritative and tight the lock is, even still after a few months of use and fiddling. It has less vertical and horizontal play than several of my more expensive lockback folders. The knife is easy to open and close one-handed after a little practice: opening is like pinching open a 110, just with less inertia due to the light weight. The Scagel-style cutouts make one-hand manipulation much easier, I'm glad they didn't use a nail-nick. Closing is actually quite easy once you figure out the leverage:
The slipjoints are equally easy to open one-handed and, of course, easier to close. Don't slam it shut though, there's serious blade-rap built into the design:
All 3 have it. Only the FRN models seems to be affected, I reckon because the FRN is more abrasive. This is the feature I like least about these knives, but it's forgivable given the price and relatively minimal effects.
I'm also not wild about the chisel grind, but it's thin enough that the blades still slice very well. Perhaps they skew a bit to one side when cutting thick stuff like apples, carrots, etc but it's manageable. The flat side is also slightly concave on all 3 of mine; I imagine using these is a little similar to using a Yakut knife. I've decided to reprofile them into double-bevels, but I'll take my time and do a little bit each time I sharpen them.
Touchups are easy on all 3 and edge retention is quite good for the price, no complaints from me.
Carrying in the pocket was tough at first: they're just so long and tend to turn sideways in my pocket, which is a pet peeve of mine. As you can see, I've added a bail and clip which makes them so easy to carry now. Stays perfectly vertical in the pocket. They're great to carry in exercise shorts too: clip into my waistband and they basically disappear until needed.
Out of all 3, I prefer to carry the wooden slipjoint. I like the locking one best, but the ring and locking tab protrusion tend to get hung up with my keys and aren't comfortable to carry in the back pocket (at least, not when I sit down...).
I'm glad I got all 3 and really enjoy carrying them. I've even taken to carrying them more than several of my favorite modern folders. At about $30 each, they're definitely cheapskate fodder and are great for actual use. I've ordered a couple more as gifts for friends and clients.
#10
I got one classic locking knife in 1075 and two of the slip-joints in N690, one each with wood and FRN handles.
I was pleasantly surprised at how authoritative and tight the lock is, even still after a few months of use and fiddling. It has less vertical and horizontal play than several of my more expensive lockback folders. The knife is easy to open and close one-handed after a little practice: opening is like pinching open a 110, just with less inertia due to the light weight. The Scagel-style cutouts make one-hand manipulation much easier, I'm glad they didn't use a nail-nick. Closing is actually quite easy once you figure out the leverage:
The slipjoints are equally easy to open one-handed and, of course, easier to close. Don't slam it shut though, there's serious blade-rap built into the design:
All 3 have it. Only the FRN models seems to be affected, I reckon because the FRN is more abrasive. This is the feature I like least about these knives, but it's forgivable given the price and relatively minimal effects.
I'm also not wild about the chisel grind, but it's thin enough that the blades still slice very well. Perhaps they skew a bit to one side when cutting thick stuff like apples, carrots, etc but it's manageable. The flat side is also slightly concave on all 3 of mine; I imagine using these is a little similar to using a Yakut knife. I've decided to reprofile them into double-bevels, but I'll take my time and do a little bit each time I sharpen them.
Touchups are easy on all 3 and edge retention is quite good for the price, no complaints from me.
Carrying in the pocket was tough at first: they're just so long and tend to turn sideways in my pocket, which is a pet peeve of mine. As you can see, I've added a bail and clip which makes them so easy to carry now. Stays perfectly vertical in the pocket. They're great to carry in exercise shorts too: clip into my waistband and they basically disappear until needed.
Out of all 3, I prefer to carry the wooden slipjoint. I like the locking one best, but the ring and locking tab protrusion tend to get hung up with my keys and aren't comfortable to carry in the back pocket (at least, not when I sit down...).
I'm glad I got all 3 and really enjoy carrying them. I've even taken to carrying them more than several of my favorite modern folders. At about $30 each, they're definitely cheapskate fodder and are great for actual use. I've ordered a couple more as gifts for friends and clients.
#10
Last edited:
oldmanwilly
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2014
- Messages
- 3,906
A little follow up here since I hit the photo limit in my last post. Here's a Pic that kinda shows the concave feature on flat ground side of the blade (in this case, the right side).
The tip even veers a bit to the right. No big deal. It's actually kind of uniquely useful to take consistently thin shavings of thick vegetables like carrots. But it can bind up a bit if you're just trying to chop them up for the pot. It slices meat and other soft materials very well.
The long handles and blades are nice too, they help keep my hands clean and safe.
Also, in case anyone cares, the blade profiles differ slightly. You'll notice the N690 blades have a bit more belly and taller tip while the 1075 blades have a shorter belly and more abrupt tip (almost like a broken back seax).
The cutouts are also different: one diamond shaped and the other oval shaped. These differences don't bother me at all in use, just details I find interesting. Perhaps they differ to help the maker tell the blades apart during manufacturing.
The tip even veers a bit to the right. No big deal. It's actually kind of uniquely useful to take consistently thin shavings of thick vegetables like carrots. But it can bind up a bit if you're just trying to chop them up for the pot. It slices meat and other soft materials very well.
The long handles and blades are nice too, they help keep my hands clean and safe.
Also, in case anyone cares, the blade profiles differ slightly. You'll notice the N690 blades have a bit more belly and taller tip while the 1075 blades have a shorter belly and more abrupt tip (almost like a broken back seax).
The cutouts are also different: one diamond shaped and the other oval shaped. These differences don't bother me at all in use, just details I find interesting. Perhaps they differ to help the maker tell the blades apart during manufacturing.