Knife Manufacturers that are not talked about much?

whitty

whitty

Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
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So I was reading through some threads tonight and just got to thinking about some of the companies that I don't see people talking about on here very often, but are making great knives. Of course I will do the shameless plug and mention a few that we carry, but also mention a few we don't. I would love to know some other companies that you do not hear/read much about on the forums but your experiences have been great!

-Southern Grind Knives
-DPX Knives
-White River Knife and Tool
-Heretic Knives
-Spartan Blades (They one American Made knife of the year at Blade Show 2 of the last 3 years)
-Freeman Knives
-Curtis Knives
 
Funny, but I had Southern Grind, White River K&T, and Spartan on my list as well. All well respected, but not super active in terms of the interwebs.
 
madcap_magician said:
Funny, but I had Southern Grind, White River K&T, and Spartan on my list as well. All well respected, but not super active in terms of the interwebs.
Click to expand...

Good to know I was not being biased or just wrong with my thoughts.
 
I don't have any experience with them personally, but not too long ago ( not sure how long it's been ) but colonial aka CKC was acquired by I believe the original family who founded them and now has many cool knives made here in the US. They're not the extreme budget knives they used to be, but I they really interest me and I don't hear anything about them here on the forums.
 
My Southern Grind Spider Monkey is one of my favorites. And a Freeman folder is the next one on my "to get" list.
 
Is this American companies only? If not, I'll mention Fox Knives (they actually do have a USA made line under the FOX USA banner). I have a Fox Desert Fox folder and a couple Ontario XM-1s and an XM-2, which are made in Italy by Fox. All are excellent knives.
 
Spartan comes to mind first, even before I opened this thread.

I'm thinking about picking up a Combative Edge but I haven't heard much on them

Olamic Cutlery also comes to mind.

Pro Tech is often mentioned but not on par with what I believe their quality, craftsmanship and warranty calls for.
 
I try to talk up Dawson Knives whenever it's relevant to do so because I think Barry and crew don't get much attention on BFC.

Zieg
 
This is going to be a fun thread. I love learning about new knives.

I have in my hand right now a beautiful, big Laguiole-style lockback from a Bulgarian company called Manly. The materials and F&F are too good for the ~$120 I spent. I can't speak for their quality but they also make a modern folder and (I think) at least one fixed blade.

If this Laguiole is any indication, they are worth a check.

EDIT: Oh, one cool detail -- instead of the bee on the lockbar it has three little leaves.
 
Olamic comes to mind first for me followed by spartan blades. Im very interested in dpx but dont hear much.
I see pohl force has a sub forum here but i never read or hear much about them
 
What ever happened to Uzi knives?
Yeah, overwhelming publicity maketh a brand...
Both Famous and infamous.
But nothing in between, or so it seem.
 
I'll mention Klotzli knives. They are a Swiss knifemaker with a looong history but in recent times they've been involved with several collaborations with Mike Walker. Their craftmanship is top-notch. I own a Swiss Border Guard folder. Outstanding knife.
 
Spartan Blades Harsey I like the folder a lot and looked them up as a company and as usual first thing I check out is their warranty policy and then boom. The main thing I saw and stopped reading after that.

Warrants ONLY original owner and a copy of original receipt must be accompanied for warranty work.
 
Diamondblade knives, Entrek, Extrema Ratio, 5.11 knives, Wildsteer knives. Ashenville, Pirahna.

God there are like a billion more.

Here's a rare one, GT knives.
 
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I have one knife ground and heat-treated by AirKat knives (Not their design, though) I'f I recall they were doing some nice stuff a decade ago, havent heard from them since. Been making me wonder.

I think that 'Eric' of Draven Industries had a hand in there, might be mistaken...So er..

Best O-1 I've had the pleasure of using either way.
 
Thin-Slice said:
Spartan Blades Harsey I like the folder a lot and looked them up as a company and as usual first thing I check out is their warranty policy and then boom. The main thing I saw and stopped reading after that.

Warrants ONLY original owner and a copy of original receipt must be accompanied for warranty work.
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There are a lot of companies that claim this but don't exactly stand by that claim. I would think that they don't exactly have an exact way of telling who the original owner is unless the knife has a serial number and/or that original owner "registered" their knife. It's hard to do without a serial number because of all the knives going out to retailers.

My biggest issue with their warranty was if you "take the knife apart". I had the Akribis and to adjust the pivot, you needed to remove the show side CF scale to get to the pivot.
 
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