A Douk Douk on steroids!!
I've had the P Cognet Le Thiers since last September. I kind of went on a Le Thiers obsession then. I've had a Chambriard for several years, but wanted to try some new ones, so I picked this one up along with a couple made by Goyon Chazeau. The Chambriard wins but the the others are still very nice. I've been intending to do an in depth review of all of them, but sadly have not gotten around to it.
I'll tell you what I know about the P Cognet, but I haven't actually used it, so I'll instead just share my observations. There is almost no information on these.... I scoured even some European knife forums. Aside from a few pictures, no real info.
This is a very large knife. It's the largest of all the Le Thiers knives I have. I chose the stainless version, although in hindsight, I'd probably go carbon if I were to do it again. I don't know much about the steel, but I'd guess it's probably similar to the Case Tru Sharp in use. Europeans don't seem to obsess over the insanely hard steels that modern US cutlery uses. Personally, I'd rather strop a knife after use than spend hours sharpening so I dont really mind the softer steel.
One stand out is that this knife has a half stop, with a fairly firm pull and snap. Both really good things! No nail nick, but you don't need that. Also, due to the size, the firm pull isn't all that difficult. As with virtually all French knives, don't let that blade slam shut!! It will slap the spring.
For the price, you'd think there would be filed springs or liners but this one is plain. About the only Le Thiers knife I've seen like that.
The one thing that I searched endlessly for was how this knife is constructed..... what the heck keeps those wooden covers on?! They are screwed into the liners from inside the blade well.
Overall, it's a very nice knife with a solid build and the quality is very good. The spring is flush in both open and closed positions and nearly so in half stop. I would recommend getting one if it even slightly interests you. I'm not sure where to get one in the US.... I bit the bullet and ordered direct from France. Chose Juniper for this one.... It just seems the most French to me.... love the smell as well!
Sorry for the not so great photos.... it's getting dark.
Tried to get a shot of the screw inside the blade well. You can barely see it around the center.
Next to the standard size Chambriard. It's a beast!
