Finch 1929

Not that I'm particularly up to date on the latest brands, but I never heard of these guys. The knives look interesting; I'll have to look into them a little more.

I've been diddling around with watches lately, as I'm sure a lot of you have also, and this reminds me of a big segment in the watch world- microbrands. It might be a little different since those are companies that almost anyone with a passion can start by assembling components from any number of established companies, or maybe just outsourcing everything to a Chinese company and then putting a new spin on it. Almost all depend on social media sites such as instagram and kickstarter to get their product up and running and distributed.

Not real sure about Finch's backstory but it kind of feels like the same. Since I don't follow social media I'm kinda out of the loop, and would be interested if anyone could provide a little more background on this company.
 
bobobama said:
Not that I'm particularly up to date on the latest brands, but I never heard of these guys. The knives look interesting; I'll have to look into them a little more.

I've been diddling around with watches lately, as I'm sure a lot of you have also, and this reminds me of a big segment in the watch world- microbrands. It might be a little different since those are companies that almost anyone with a passion can start by assembling components from any number of established companies, or maybe just outsourcing everything to a Chinese company and then putting a new spin on it. Almost all depend on social media sites such as instagram and kickstarter to get their product up and running and distributed.

Not real sure about Finch's backstory but it kind of feels like the same. Since I don't follow social media I'm kinda out of the loop, and would be interested if anyone could provide a little more background on this company.
Click to expand...
Looking at their Facebook, website etc., looks like a couple avid fishermen/ outdoorsmen/ family guys based in Stilwell Kansas who started designing knives in early 2019 or so. Not all of their designs appeal to me on first glance but after trying out their 1929 model I'm hooked and definitely taking a closer look at their other (and upcoming) models.
 
Last edited:
bobobama said:
Not that I'm particularly up to date on the latest brands, but I never heard of these guys. The knives look interesting; I'll have to look into them a little more.

I've been diddling around with watches lately, as I'm sure a lot of you have also, and this reminds me of a big segment in the watch world- microbrands. It might be a little different since those are companies that almost anyone with a passion can start by assembling components from any number of established companies, or maybe just outsourcing everything to a Chinese company and then putting a new spin on it. Almost all depend on social media sites such as instagram and kickstarter to get their product up and running and distributed.

Not real sure about Finch's backstory but it kind of feels like the same. Since I don't follow social media I'm kinda out of the loop, and would be interested if anyone could provide a little more background on this company.
Click to expand...

One of the dudes behind Finch is a veteran of the microbrand watch scene. He owns and operates Raven Watches (which you can now apparently buy through REC along with the knives). You are right, there is a wide variety of brands and the quality and range of capabilities of the work they do in the microbrand watch scene (from my limited time with knives, it seems similar in that regard), but Steve at Raven/Finch has been in the watch game longer than most similar brands and puts out some quality products, though I have not owned one myself.

Via my familiarity with Raven watches, I became aware of Finch Knives and ended up with a Tikuna as my first intro into knives outside of a Swiss Army from Childhood and of course I'm going deeper (My goal is not to go as crazy as I did with watches). It's super fidget friendly and I look forward to adding another Finch in the near future.
 
The 1929 is probably one of my favorite knives - I love the modern/traditional thing, the blade shape, size, and the action of it.

I'll mention that Finch has awesome customer service too - I ordered a cocobolo 1929, a ghost green G10, and a carbon fiber from the original batch (with metal shields, before they switched to the sapphire glass), and the cocobolo and G10 knives had awesome smooth action but the carbon fiber was really hard to flip - seemed like it got stuck and wouldn't flip without a lot of effort. Reached out to Finch over email and had a response a few hours later asking for my address so they could send a new knife to me and no need to return the old one. New one they sent has awesome action like the others.

I also have a few Cimmarons from them which are really nice lightweight knives, and a couple Hollidays. Holliday's are heavier than I expected but very cool as well.

-Mike
 
I keep seeing these called "modern/traditional" and I don't get it. Nothing about these seems particularly traditional to me - the Pena knives and the Lionsteel CK01, etc, all use modern materials and construction methods on traditional patterns, but these Finch knives don't look like any traditional knife I've ever seen. Maybe the jigged bone handle throws a nod to tradition, but the green knife looks like a completely modern flipper / liner lock to me.

What are all of you seeing that I'm not seeing?

-Tyson
 
You're right, these are much closer to a modern knife than a traditional, but to me, the 1929 does take a lot of inspiration from the barlow pattern, with the single bolster at the pivot and the shield in the handle. It's a modern knife that takes inspiration from traditional patterns, without being limited to the pattern.

It's more akin to the Benchmade Crooked River and Proper. The Crooked River is clearly a modern take on "hunter" locking knife, inspired by the likes of the Buck 110. It has completely modern design, materials and tech, but also has throwbacks to the classic styling, with the clip point and wood handles. On the other hand, the proper is a slipjoint that most people would call a "traditional" if they weren't knife nerds like us. The Proper is a clean sheet design, and doesn't fit any single traditional category, while taking design cues from some classic patterns. Neither is a traditional knife, but at the very least, the Proper wouldn't look out of place on the porch next to all the GEC's and Case knives.

I like the way these knives have classic styling, while not being completely limited to the traditional patterns we all know and love.
 
I have to say I'm completely bummed. Someone mentioned them in another thread and I went and checked them out. I really love the design. The pricing is good. Okay! I'm going to order one of these things. Then I see it. Country of origin... "China." Bummer. I'm out. Fortunately in this thread I saw that Lionsteel knife. I guess I'll go check that out. Still bummed about it though. It's like getting the AG Russel catalog and thinking "hmm neat design" quickly followed by "made in China? Forget about it..."
 
Triton said:
I have to say I'm completely bummed. Someone mentioned them in another thread and I went and checked them out. I really love the design. The pricing is good. Okay! I'm going to order one of these things. Then I see it. Country of origin... "China." Bummer. I'm out. Fortunately in this thread I saw that Lionsteel knife. I guess I'll go check that out. Still bummed about it though. It's like getting the AG Russel catalog and thinking "hmm neat design" quickly followed by "made in China? Forget about it..."
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that. Better throw out that iPhone and apple laptop too ;)
 
barleywino said:
Sorry to hear that. Better throw out that iPhone and apple laptop too ;)
Click to expand...

The difference is discretionary vs non-discretionary spending. If there were an all American computer and phone I would purchase those too. So far as I know there is not. I need those things to move through daily life. I don't need a finch knife to move through daily life it is purely a discretionary luxury purchase and I will spend those dollars elsewhere.
 
Triton said:
The difference is discretionary vs non-discretionary spending. If there were an all American computer and phone I would purchase those too. So far as I know there is not. I need those things to move through daily life. I don't need a finch knife to move through daily life it is purely a discretionary luxury purchase and I will spend those dollars elsewhere.
Click to expand...
It’s unfortunate that you feel that way, although I support your right to exercise your right to vote with your wallet.

Quality Chinese knives won’t go away, regardless of your actions. They are here to stay and are changing the knife industry every day.

Try to consider that a Finch knife supports a home grown designer and uses US made materials. It’s not optimal, but it’s one of the better scenarios of an inevitable future.

Best wishes to you and your Knife Life!
 
Hackenslash said:
It’s unfortunate that you feel that way, although I support your right to exercise your right to vote with your wallet.

Quality Chinese knives won’t go away, regardless of your actions. They are here to stay and are changing the knife industry every day.

Try to consider that a Finch knife supports a home grown designer and uses US made materials. It’s not optimal, but it’s one of the better scenarios of an inevitable future.

Best wishes to you and your Knife Life!
Click to expand...
It's OK. I love that some are put off by the appellation "Made in China" for this knife. It means I can order more Finches at my leisure, unlike say GEC's which sell out immediately and then can only be bought at 3x the price on the secondary market. In fact I just ordered another Finch 1929, green micarta this time ;). Soon they will be gone.
 
Last edited:
Hackenslash said:
It’s unfortunate that you feel that way, although I support your right to exercise your right to vote with your wallet.

Quality Chinese knives won’t go away, regardless of your actions. They are here to stay and are changing the knife industry every day.

Try to consider that a Finch knife supports a home grown designer and uses US made materials. It’s not optimal, but it’s one of the better scenarios of an inevitable future.

Best wishes to you and your Knife Life!
Click to expand...

I don't see what's unfortunate about not spending discretionary dollars to support a country that has proven to be an enemy of the United States. I would suggest that it's more unfortunate that we don't have more America made options in both discretionary and non-discretionary spending. I am under no delusions that my paltry few dollars will be missed by Finch or anyone else, there are far too many people that are more than happy to take my place because at the end of the day they have different priorities. I know that what I did however.

Yes, I also know that the political forum is that away, back to our regular programming.
 
barleywino said:
This raises an interesting question. Is China (or India, Poland or other countries we outsource to) really our enemy if the US government allows businesses such as Finch (or Apple, Nike, Walmart, IBM) to outsource manufacturing to them, so that products designed by Americans can be made cheaply enough for other Americans to buy? This helps American consumers stretch their spending power, small and large American business owners stay in business and American investors make a profit. That's free market capitalism, the American system. It's a complicated world...
Click to expand...

Drat, drew me in again... :) First let me say I don't think that India or Poland are our adversaries quite the opposite. Will they act in their own self interest? Of course! So should we. However in the main I think that they have common goals and interests with the United States and in the main subscribe to allowing their people more freedom rather than less. I think if we had the sense that God gave apples we should be working very hard to help India because India has the capability to be a real counterbalance to China in Asia and can match them in population at least more so than anybody else.

I also don't think that we should think that just because our government allows something it is in the best interests of the United States. If our politicritters on both sides of the aisle have demonstrated anything with consistency over the last couple of decades it's that they can be bought and paid for by foreign dollars quite handily. I'm a huge supporter of capitalism, I think it's absolutely the best economic system (not perfect but the best) that humanity has devised to date and it has driven more progress then any other system ever. That said for capitalism to work the playing field has to be level and crony capitalism or something like the Chinese government's putting its finger on the scale by doing things like pegging the Yuan to be cheaper than the dollar is NOT a level playing field. As for cheap goods for the American consumer that's certainly true but to my mind it's debatable as to whether supporting a system that appear to be using slave labor and / or participating in genocide to do it is a positive thing. It does help our politicritters keep the American public lethargic however. Bread and circuses is nothing new. When is the bachelorette on tonight?
 
Last edited:
I never thought I would fully embrace a knife manufactured in China for a US company, but Finch is the exception. F&F is equal to any production knife made here in my opinion. The primary difference is it would cost twice as much if made here. Sad but true. I have the Holliday and 1929 in a couple of materials. I was really surprised at the quality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top