Katz knives

Skimo

Skimo

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Mar 28, 2009
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The most I have been able to find on Katz knives is a guy named Keith Derkatz, he started making knives ~1991, and his knives seem a bit over priced.

I can't find any cult following, knife worship and the steels he uses are proprietary, with guesses at 440c ATS-34 AUS-8.

Are his knives, more specifically the "cheetah" worth the money?:confused:

I'm mainly interested because on what looks like a well made lockback there's a cheap plastic thumbstud held on by a tiny phillips head screw, the kicker is that it covers jimping on the blade.:thumbdn: The blade has a pretty nice nail nick on it.

Cosmetically the rear of the lockback shows machining flaws and the blade seems to be warped to the left almost to the point of making contact with the brass liners.:mad:

Edit:

Help me out here guys, opinions needed.

Thanks!
 
They are OK knives, a bit overbuilt. I found one on ebay : KATZ 800DP CHEETAH WHITE MICARTA FOLDING KNIFE. Item # 350251217306 for $195.00 the rubber handles are most likely less. They use 440C. I spoke with their salesman at the SCI show last year.

I say hang on to it and use it. It will take a beating.
 
I have this one, a Katz Kagemusha, but can't tell you much about it. I bought it at a closeout of a local sporting goods store for 50% off, and only bought it because I thought it had kind of a unique look to it.

As you can see the thumbstud is metal, but held on with a set screw. The steel is clearly identified as XT80 , and the blade manufactured in Japan. From what I understand XT80 is a proprietary steel to Katz knives, and is claimed to have similar properties to ATS34.

I have never used the knife, and don't know enough about steel composition to provide an opinion. Fit and finish on this knife seems pretty decent.

Not sure this helps much.

Katz-Kagemusha-1.jpg


Katz-Kagemusha-2.jpg


Katz-Kagemusha-BladeDetail-2.jpg


Katz-Kagemusha-BladeDetail.jpg


Kevin
 
I had one of the Katz large folders back in their early days, quality was extremely high IMO, but it was a bit of a tank, very heavy.
 
I've had a AT80 (I beleive that's the model number) since at least before 1990 (i.e. over 20 years). I have no idea where I bought it nor how much I paid for it.

I can tell you that it's by far the sharpest knife I've ever owned, straight out of the box and it's still sharp after all these years. It's been basically a safe queen, even though I believe the quality and design is top notch, I've just never carried it for some reason, unlike my Prodigy, LMF II, Crewman, SRK at al.

I've often wondered why there's no apparent "following" with these knives. Their on-line prices would seem to indicate that someone thinks highly of the knives to pay the prices I see.

Al
 
Hello, I was looking at these very same knives today . I found one with black handles for $99 at Knife Outlet.Seems to be good at that price.
 
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Cool knife
Yeah I definitely agree about a unique appearence
It is almost shapped like a reverse swayback jack
 
Seems like they were more popular back in the 80's and 90's. Todays knife buyers is more likely to not go along with makers who don't make any of their own knives, charge a lot of money and obviously just make up names for pre existing mediocre steels with little to no technological advancements over the decades. They may have exited buyers back in the middle 80's but I don't see much that would really grab buyers attention now. No disrespect meant but that is the way I read it.

Joe
 
I carried and used the Cheetah with red wood scales for 10 years through the 1990's and put it to work in the boileroom using it for everything including scraping gaskets and it held up well. It rode in a well made black leather pouch on my belt, and is a heavy knife.
 
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