Hi all,
I recently acquired 3 in my opinion beautiful italian knives and I wanted to share a few first impressions. In Italy, the city of Maniago is what Seki is to Japan, Thiers for France, Solingen for Germany etc. These knives are indeed made with love and care in Maniago. I don't think that they are (or will be) common in the USA.
The knives are all clipless, have dual steel liners and can be bought with different handle materials. They all come with a soft leather pouch. I think that the build quality and finish is very good, esp considering the target usage (I don't think they will be bought to daily cut thick ropes etc).
From top to bottom:
- Maserin Spider 2 (80mm Aus 8 blade, cocobolo wood, liner lock)
- Viper Gent Olive (70mm No690 blade, olive wood, liner lock with button)
- Maserin Gourmet (100mm Aus 8 blade, olive wood, liner lock)
and as size reference at the bottom of the picture another lovely made in Italy knife: the wonderful Spyderco Volpe (framelock and olivewood scales)
I think that the Spider 2 is a modern interpretation of the gentlemen knife concept, and the Viper Gent is more the traditional elegant approach. Anyway I like the looks of both. Perhaps I should have chosen olive wood for the Spider 2 as well. The Maserin Gourmet is something special, it looks a bit like a normal table or kitchen knife and I suspect indeed that it will be wonderful for picnics. Since the blade is rather big and the construction precise, it can handle more tasks of course, and you could see it as a competitor to a big laguiole as well.
Now let's have a look at the top and bottom of these knives.
At the top you can see that the Gourmet (left) is nicely and precisely inlaid with a strip of olive wood between the two steel liners. Lovely! The middle one is the Viper, and isn't its baroque back embellishment irresistible? The Spider 2 continues the modern style with a steel top. A quick look at the liner locks: they are around 1mm thick and well adjusted, the blades don't show play. THE Viper's lock is set a bit deeper in the handle as it is the idea that you unlock using the button on the handle.
All 3 knives can in theory be opened with one hand by pressing on the end of the blade. I say "in theory" as it's not as fast as with a Spyderhole or thumbstud. And I don't think that it's crucial for this kind of knife. They open easily with 2 hands, even while lacking fingernail notches.
The next picture is a closer look at the Viper's button. The top is not flat, and this adds to the nice design. Speaking of design, the one thing that disappoints me on this knife is the far too visible print on the blade. Just pure steel with a small logo would have been much cleaner on this elegant knife.
Final picture shows the Maserin Gourmet in action. It's indeed a lovely and practical thing around food.
As a temporary conclusion: very nice knives that take a different, elegant approach to the craft. Italy's legacy for fine design is apparent in these knives as well. More gentlemen-style than for example most American knives. A convincing build quality. In short: recommended to investigate if you want to widen your collection.
comments, remarks, insults eagerly awaited!
I recently acquired 3 in my opinion beautiful italian knives and I wanted to share a few first impressions. In Italy, the city of Maniago is what Seki is to Japan, Thiers for France, Solingen for Germany etc. These knives are indeed made with love and care in Maniago. I don't think that they are (or will be) common in the USA.
The knives are all clipless, have dual steel liners and can be bought with different handle materials. They all come with a soft leather pouch. I think that the build quality and finish is very good, esp considering the target usage (I don't think they will be bought to daily cut thick ropes etc).
From top to bottom:
- Maserin Spider 2 (80mm Aus 8 blade, cocobolo wood, liner lock)
- Viper Gent Olive (70mm No690 blade, olive wood, liner lock with button)
- Maserin Gourmet (100mm Aus 8 blade, olive wood, liner lock)
and as size reference at the bottom of the picture another lovely made in Italy knife: the wonderful Spyderco Volpe (framelock and olivewood scales)
I think that the Spider 2 is a modern interpretation of the gentlemen knife concept, and the Viper Gent is more the traditional elegant approach. Anyway I like the looks of both. Perhaps I should have chosen olive wood for the Spider 2 as well. The Maserin Gourmet is something special, it looks a bit like a normal table or kitchen knife and I suspect indeed that it will be wonderful for picnics. Since the blade is rather big and the construction precise, it can handle more tasks of course, and you could see it as a competitor to a big laguiole as well.
Now let's have a look at the top and bottom of these knives.
At the top you can see that the Gourmet (left) is nicely and precisely inlaid with a strip of olive wood between the two steel liners. Lovely! The middle one is the Viper, and isn't its baroque back embellishment irresistible? The Spider 2 continues the modern style with a steel top. A quick look at the liner locks: they are around 1mm thick and well adjusted, the blades don't show play. THE Viper's lock is set a bit deeper in the handle as it is the idea that you unlock using the button on the handle.
All 3 knives can in theory be opened with one hand by pressing on the end of the blade. I say "in theory" as it's not as fast as with a Spyderhole or thumbstud. And I don't think that it's crucial for this kind of knife. They open easily with 2 hands, even while lacking fingernail notches.
The next picture is a closer look at the Viper's button. The top is not flat, and this adds to the nice design. Speaking of design, the one thing that disappoints me on this knife is the far too visible print on the blade. Just pure steel with a small logo would have been much cleaner on this elegant knife.
Final picture shows the Maserin Gourmet in action. It's indeed a lovely and practical thing around food.
As a temporary conclusion: very nice knives that take a different, elegant approach to the craft. Italy's legacy for fine design is apparent in these knives as well. More gentlemen-style than for example most American knives. A convincing build quality. In short: recommended to investigate if you want to widen your collection.
comments, remarks, insults eagerly awaited!
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