Im torn between trying to find a Gareth Bull 3.5" shamwari in m390 or go with a burger lexk that I got quoted by trevor it would be $520 for a lexk in m390. What are your opinions on the two knives?
Both brands are well-made. What they have in common -- both are front-flippers, and the makers live in South Africa.
I have a 3.25- inch stonewashed Shamwari with Ti scales and S30V. And a 2.75-inch Burger LEK framelock with Ti scales and M390.
The Shamwari is thin and light; the little Burger is more substantial.
Both have proprietary pivots and you, may, or may not get a pivot tool with your purchase. I'm not fond of proprietary pivots and the extra tools they require. I was lucky to get tools for both. (Although the pivot screws look similar, they take different size tools.)
I found dealing with Gareth's Bull's Gazza extremely difficult. He promised to deliver a 3-inch Shamwari last spring. And then summer. It still hasn't arrived at the end of January, the following year. Gazza seems to have dropped out of sight. He doesn't respond to messages and hasn't posted anything on his FB page since November, at least that I could see.
I found dealing with Burger's Trevor a pleasure, and I ended up buying one of his lovely, new, Ti, framelock models at one of his U.S. dealers, GP Knives.
I enjoy both knives, which, similarities aside, are as different as the men who made them.
