French knives

[John_B]

Look out the Mounties will be coming for you now! Or should I say the Gendarmes!

 

[DMG]

Well then, your path is very clear; stick with your American whiz bang tacticools and leave the French cutlery to folks who appreciate the beauty and history traditional cutlery. You most likely won't like single action revolvers and leaver action rifles, so save yourself the time and don't investigate cowboy action shooting. Having to manually cock the gun is right up there with having to open a knife with two hands.

Are you unable to shoot a single action with one hand? I am sure the French would appreciate one handed knives, if their government allowed them to.

 

[Laurent57]

Hi, as i said All knives of any kinds are not allowed.
There are some knives maker who makes great flip knives but these knives maker certainly never sale thru a shop.

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Personnaly, the opening system is not the most important parameter when purchasing a knife.
I am more sensible to the knife maker, the knife maker philosophy, the line, the use and... the price, i prefer i knife i will no hesitate to use instead of a highly beautiful expensive one that i will take a lot care.
And i prefer a unique piece instead of industrial knives, even with flip flop fast clic with nuclear steel.

Here are my one-hand opening knives.
Far to be hi-tech :

Richard Ciachera.
A great EDC, one of my "no care" knife.

Bruno Duffort.
A great knife maker.

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[stabman]

Hi, as i said All knives of any kinds are not allowed.

When I went, the law I read had a length of blade for non-locking folders that was fine to carry.
Now, it says something about a non-locking folder of "reasonable length".
I really don't want to be in a foreign country having their police determining if it's a reasonable length...guess I'll probably be staying here in Canada.

Which is fine, as I am far too broke to be traveling anyway!

 

[Laurent57]

Yeah ! There was a lot of urban legends regarding length and blocking systems.
Many people said : you are right if "the blade is smaller than your closed hand" or if "there is not lock".
But it is not the case for very long time (i think there was some catégories to now how deep it was illégal). It's more clear and writen since few years : "nothing".
But the policeman can determine if you looks like a nice daddy during a picnic party or a dangereous football supporter (but you maybe found policemen who prefer football than picnic ), just remember : it's illégal to cary a knife in France.

But we are lucky to have so many good knives makers.
I have only few but i will maybe show some of them (fixed or folding). In this thread ? (i only found traditionnal or regional french threads...)

 

[Aaron880]

Did I miss it or did no one mention Fred Perrin knives, especially his signature Le Griffe?

 

[Knives-of-France]

Unfortunately Laurent is right.
The text law isn't very specific but it's illegal to carry a knife. Now, as said, as long as you are not carrying a machete at your belt and not doing anything wrong, you won't have any issues, just keep something reasonable and concealed.
Also, with all the recent terrorism issues, you might not be allowed to enter some public places, like museums for instance, with a knife, but it's the same here in the US.

As for knifemakers, there are lots and yes, we favor the traditional styles and slipjoints, but Fred Perrin is a good example of a more modern take.

 

[LimpCroissant]

My absolute French maker is David Lespect. His designs just speak to me like crazy. Most his folders are one handed also. However they're definitely not cheap.

 

[KenHash]

I've been looking at a few European knife sites, Berthier Nouveautés couteaux in particular just to see what they offer. What's obvious is that many of the knifes sold there are very different in style from what's found on most American sites. One thing that puzzles me is how many of these knives, maybe most of them, open. Many are liner locks but very few are flippers, front flippers, or automatics and almost none have thumb studs, holes, or even pins in the blades. So what are you supposed to do, grip the exposed part of the blade with your fingers and pull it open? There are one or two I might consider buying but first I really need to know how they work. Anyone got any idea???

Thanks

I'm not surprised at your findings.
In my opinion, when it comes to folding knives, most of the world everywhere outside of North America;
1) Are not as into opening systems like thumbstuds, holes, flippers
2) Are not as fixated on "steel type"

 

[greater]

Yeah ! There was a lot of urban legends regarding length and blocking systems.
Many people said : you are right if "the blade is smaller than your closed hand" or if "there is not lock".
But it is not the case for very long time (i think there was some catégories to now how deep it was illégal). It's more clear and writen since few years : "nothing".
But the policeman can determine if you looks like a nice daddy during a picnic party or a dangereous football supporter (but you maybe found policemen who prefer football than picnic ), just remember : it's illégal to cary a knife in France.

But we are lucky to have so many good knives makers.
I have only few but i will maybe show some of them (fixed or folding). In this thread ? (i only found traditionnal or regional french threads...)

Is there any way I can talk my way out of this to a policeman in France ? Maybe I use it to cut pumpkins. The curved handle is a little French like I think. I have a few interesting french knives they are nice. That is not a picture of me with the espada though. I got it from the internet.

I really do like French knives and I do agree they useful tools and their marketing often honestly represents their intended function. They are unique and have class. They are knives where beautiful art and function merge.

I think Navajas may be as much French as they are Spanish. My impression is the French made their fair share of Navajas as well. It looks a little like a giant Laguiole

 

[Laurent57]

Here is a knife made by Pierre-Henri Monnet.
His knives are mainly "roots" but strong and the steal is well treated.

Here is a piémontais, very light and useful.

His tang stamp looks like a fox print with vevy small "p" and "h".

And his pictures galery :

https://www.instagram.com/pierre_henri_monnet_coutelier

 

[Greggy]

I bought this knife when I went to France for 26 hours:

Non-locking knives of this blade length (or very slightly more) can be carried around, even on trains in France. Made sure to look up the current laws before I went.

Took no pictures of it in France, as I didn't want to talk to police if people got weird...I don't speak ANY French (which made trying to find a bathroom to use in Dieppe quite interesting ).

Rather heavy spring, and will bash into the backspacer if it gets away from you while opening or closing, which seems to be a feature of every French folder I have encountered so far. One Laguiole I got had such a strong spring it was dangerous; was able to weaken the tension by wedging the spring over-extended, which was tricky to accomplish. Now it is a useful knife.

Beautiful knife. And Dieppe is my ancestral homeland.

 

[John A. Larsen]

I have a nice fixed blade made by Geoffrey Gautier, Cryo'ed 14C28 with a Wenger scale handle that strangely I first saw on You Tube, a Dane using it on "Survival Russia". He also makes quite a few very reasonable folders. Not sure if that is what you are interested in, you can check him out at: www.Lierande.com. John

 

[Chefget]

Lotsa great one hand choices, though not 'trad'

Jerome Hovaere: both front flippers but thumb flick works great

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Cyril Kalisz: front flipper

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And of course David Breniere: front flipper
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[Laurent57]

I have a nice fixed blade made by Geoffrey Gautier, Cryo'ed 14C28 with a Wenger scale handle that strangely I first saw on You Tube, a Dane using it on "Survival Russia". He also makes quite a few very reasonable folders. Not sure if that is what you are interested in, you can check him out at: www.Lierande.com. John

Geoffroy is a passionate.
He has a very good knowledge on steals and grinding.
I am not sure he makes custom knives anymore but few years ago he created a knive (named Lierande) that has a nice design and a efficient blade.
We can call it a semi-industrial.
I am not sure about the complete process, maybe i mistake but i think the material is manufactured at Thiers* by différents companies (handle cut, handle paint, blade cut, steal hardening ) and he makes the grinding and he mount the knives.
The goal was to create a différent knife, usable, and cheap as possible (starting 40€)
I have one and very happy with "Le Thiers" design, discret and easy to use at restaurant.

I can see there are a lot of promotion now.
Each french collector knows it's a "must have".

*Thiers is a city, south of France we call "capitale de le coutellerie".
There are a lot of companies about the knife industry. Some are very specialised on some processes (cut, hardening, laser engrave, supply).
And of course there are knives maker, artisanal or industrial (kitchen, army, table knives,...).

 

[Chefget]

I've got one of the 'Lierande' models; I might be kind of a klutz but everytime I carry it I get a good hard pinch

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[killgar]

Depending on the design of the particular knife, it may be possible to add a thumbstud. All it takes is a carbide drill bit, a drill press, some oil, an aftermarket thumbstud, and the will to drill a hole through your knife. It's not always necessary that a two-hand folder stay a two-hand folder.

These knives had no thumbstuds and required two hands to open. You had to actually stick a thumbnail into the nail nick to open them. That was quite unacceptable to me. You can see in the video below how easy they are to open with the thumbstuds.

And a side benefit of adding a thumbstud is- it acts as a blade-stop when the knife is closed, preventing the edge of the blade from hitting the back spring.

 

[Another Shepherd]

A couple of my French knives:

 

[Laurent57]

A couple of my French knives:

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How do you recognise the French army knife ?
Easy !

 

[Chefget]

OK, I'll fess up, here is a David Breniere lockback with an installed thumbstud. The clip was by M. Breniere.
Thumbstud works perfectly, opens with a 'thwak!' while without it was a bother to open (and carry). I like the way it looks also

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