Educate me on William Henry knives

K

KYCelt

Joined
Apr 5, 2006
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Need to upgrade my dress pocket knife, cannot decide on custom or somethin like WH. Thoughts?
 
If your looking for a dress knife I don't think a Willaim Henry can be beat.

I have a couple of nice ones put up, but can't bring myself to use or carry one. Well when I bought them I knew they would go in safe since they were limited editions.
 
I have several WH's including some of the Old Models in Carbon fiber (T12, T10 etc). They are fantastic gentlemans dress folders. I carry them when I am wearing a suite or an outing that requires a bit of class. My WH Rio is a great looking knife and they are all pretty sheeple friendly. You can get them about as fancy as you like in some of the high end models. They surely arent hard use folders by any means but they arent made for that. They are just really smooth opening elegant pocket knives that IMO cut very well and work great for steaks at weddings;). To add the newer models have ZDP Blades (not sure if all just alot) that are RC'd at like 67 and hold an edge realllly well.
 
William Henry makes extremely nice knives. They're crazy expensive, but you get what you pay for. They're the highest-end production folders on the planet.

For what a William Henry will cost you, you can get some pretty amazing customs. But I don't think you'll find many that are better designed, or put together than a William Henry at the same price.
 
I would be hard pressed to think of another non-custom that makes a better dress knife than a William Henry. They are very high quality, and range from utilitarian to outright blade jewelry.
 
They are good quality, but I personally find them to look a bit tacky...a lot like the common jewlry around these days. Not my style for sure
 
Inline with Thalestin's comments, I also think that the more decorated ones look tacky. It's mainly because they use an overload of embellishment features (like for example a damascus blade AND mokume bolsters AND mammoth ivory AND some inlays for good measure) - that shows that too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing.
The cleaner ones are quite attractive in my opinion, and the two that I once examined in a shop were made without a fault. I do think that an interesting alternative is the "custom limited" Mcusta series: similar refinement and quality, decorated but less heavily. I have the "Kaeru" (frog) one with cocobolo wood.
 
Thoughts on William Henry knives?

I love 'em!

Here's my humble W-H collection:

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Some of their models are indeed "tacky". But I'm sure there's a W-H for everyones taste...

The only other maker I can think of that makes gentlemans folders that are in league with William Henry is Chris Reeve (the Mnandi).

As for customs... well that's a whole other ballgame!

Kind regards,

Jos

PS. @ Dagon: the Mcusta knives are nice, but the quality doesn't even come close to William Henry...
 
I fell in love with these guys on first glance, albeit the less tricked out ones, as mentioned above. After handling numerous models i went with the Spearpoint. I absolutely love that knife. One of my all time favorite EDC folders. It just feels so wonderfully light and smooth in opening. The blade is very nicely thin. It's great. If you are patient and thorough, you can likely find an older version of the Spearpoint with ATS 34 or 154CM for no more than $300. It varies...i have seen them for as much as $600, and i was able to get mine for a little over $200. Beware, however, it has acted like a complete gateway drug for me. I am currently saving up to get a newer Spearpoint with the new lock and ZDP-189 blade. Good luck and enjoy your hunt.
 
Now that I think of it, the more gentlemen-oriented Rockstead are an interesting alternative in the same price range. I examined them a few times and they are indeed made to a very high standard. Plus, their steels are very hard.
 
Must be more knives than I realized. The shop had models starting at $650, nothing in the catalog that looked like the ones here. Where's the best place to shop/look at more samples?
 
I've picked up a half dozen WHs over the last few years. You won't find a nicer gents folder. The action is perfect, lock up is solid and they look real good. They're light weight and thin, you'll forget you have one in your pocket.

The Rio with the san mai ZDP189 on the right is by far the sharpest knife I've ever owned. It's like a scalpel. Sorry the picture isn't better.

WH.jpg
 
KYCelt said:
Just based on what I have seen, I prefer teh WH. If I change up, it will be for a custom. Kinda wish more were posted in makers sales. But thanks for the input

David
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Get a Mnandi in your hand and you're likely to change your mind. It's custom quality and IMO higher quality than WH. Chris Reeve has won the Blade Show Quality in Manufacturing award every year from 2001-2009. I've had a couple less than perfect WH's, granted that was some years ago. I don't know if you're looking at the simpler or silly fancy WH models, so the Mnandi might seem to plain to you in pictures, but it is stunning in person. ;)
 
Jos said:
Thoughts on William Henry knives?

the Mcusta knives are nice, but the quality doesn't even come close to William Henry...
Click to expand...

I would assume that the custom limited ones are a lot different to the regular ones (at least, they should be considering they are almost 3x the price).
 
Personally, I'd say WH is a great gentleman's knife. Elegant and the right size, personally though his Damascus (or any Damascus for that matter) doesn't do anything for me what so ever. Stick with his laminated blades imo at least.

In all honesty if it's too dressy for you, a Sebenza is an excellent choice, the small of course.

There are also a lot of custom makers that have small folders in that price range. Take a look at some of the custom knife retailers, Plaza Cutlery, True North, Knife Art to name a few.
 
I own both a William Henry and a Mnandi. Both are great, and I wouldn't get rid of either.

I own the Gen Tac with ironwood handles. It's a beautiful knife and built tough, as well.

If you can find the all-titanium ones, with ZDP blades, you can get a working knife for a more reasonable price. There's a shop near me that has a few left and I'm sorely tempted to purchase one.

If I remember correctly, a well-know wilderness survival guy uses a WH as his EDC, and puts it through more than most would one of their "tough" knives.

Sure they make some Frou Frou knives that belong in an art gallery, rather than in a pocket, but you can find working knives if you look.

That said, you'd have an easier time finding a Mnandi for the more utilitarian tasks, and for a bit less. Reeve's are very refined, as well, but they just look more usable.

Daniel
 
I can't add much to what's already been said. WH's are excellent knives; the F&F are second to none. You will pay big bucks for the highly embellished ones - too much in my opinion. They are perfect office or church carry knives. They are very sheeple friendly. I would try at least one to see what they're all about.

- Mark
 
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