Lone Wolf Knives?

J

jlamb

Joined
Nov 25, 2009
Messages
211
I really like the look of their knives, have never handled one though. Any thoughts on their quality? Always been a spydie fan, I assume I could at least expect the same quality if not better since they are semi-custom? One last thing and this may seem ignorant, but I was reading that the founder of LWK was the former president of Gerber, and I have always associated Gerber with junk. This probably shouldn't sway my decision to purchase-- right??
 
Let me second this question. I have always liked the look but the steel seems to be never the current generation and they are not cheap. But aesthetically they are dead on, particularly the gentlemans sort of knives they have.
 
Check out the Longhorn, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, etc. They use wood or g10 handles and the blades are s30v. That seems up-to-date with the industry in my opinion. They cost similar to any other g10/s30v knife made in the USA.
 
I own several. I would say they are almost on par with Benchmade, or Spyderco, meaning a very good production knife, but not perfect. They have some very good designs. The fit and finish can be lacking sometimes- I have had to sand the G-10 to be flush with the liners on a couple, and the blades are not perfectly centered on a couple, but functional. Their S30V is quite good, and holds an edge very well. Every knife I have received has been very sharp. D/A scale release is very good. The Paul series is an excellent gentleman's knife, but a bit finicky. Don't get any dirt near that axis release button, the tolerances are too tight to handle the grit. I wish they used better steel for the smaller Paul stuff, but it is not meant to be a hard use knife. They are bit pricey, but about in line with comparable stuff. Their customer service is great. Here is a brief run down of my thoughts:

Paul executive carbon fiber- excellent fit and finish. Great axial lock. budget steel. My favorite dress up knife.

Paul Presto- great fit and finish, but the locking mechanism was not right. Warranty service was superb- they made it right and had it back to me within a week. Fun, useful light duty pocket knife. I wish it was S30V or 154CM.

Diablo D/A- super fit and finish. Above average liner lock, superb scale release. Love the S30V, and the blade shape. The FRN scales feel a bit cheap, but I love the knife. It gets babied, but fun to carry and scary sharp.

Harsey T1/T2- The T2 fits my hand perfectly. A very hard working knife. Locks up solid, and has the S30V. Lock up is rock solid. Pocket clip is the only weak point, as I think it rides too high. The T1 had scale fit issues, and the thumb stud was a bit sharp. Both knives blades a bit off center. I love the Harsey stuff. Very useful design.

I am not too familiar with the newer designs, but they seem to get good reviews. I recommend trying one. These guys deserve some support, considering their good customer service and the fact that they are domestic. Call them up and see how they treat you.
 
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I own a Blackfoot in ebano wood - I love it, its one of my prettiest knives and the finish on mine is perfect. I would recommend it to anyone.
 
Lone Wolf makes GREAT knives. I have one of their Harsey t-3 rangers and it is an exceptional knife.
 
I have several of Lone Wolf's knives. I had the online dealer check the knives over before shipping. The quality is up to spyderco and Benchmade but some of the steel is not the best. On my Paul Presto with Burlwood handles it is AUS8 and 420HC on the Paul Executive with Carbon Fiber handles. But the edges have held up very well. My Prankster and Defender are 154CM. I just got a new catalogue and they have changed the steel to 154CM on the Presto folders. All these knives are sharp and are finished off to cut very well. Proper edge geometry and good sharpening by Lone Wolf.
I sent my Prankster off to take the play out of the Paul lock and they did an excellent job. I talked to one of the owners and they were very friendly and helpful and glad to fix it. They did not even charge me a shipping fee to return the knife and turn around was about 2 weeks. My favorite is the Defender sharp and light and very useful and makes a great EDC. The Defender is just a tad long for me and when I talked to them they may be bringing it out in a smaller version. These people are good to deal with.

RKH
 
I had one of their Harsey Ranger knife models in cocobolo and s30v and I still think it was one of the best knives I've ever owned. They look and feel great and I love the fact that they mix traditional looks and material with pocket clips and super smooth/fast opening even in their manual models. Prices are reasonable too for what you get IMO. Unfortunately I lost that knife but if I get another it will probably be the longhorn. I think I like the pocket clip on that knife more than the harsey models and the knife I previously owned is harder to find now.
 
let me preface this by saying i really am not that experienced with knives...

Having said that in the last 4-5 weeks I have bought 4 t2 tacticals (1 frn, 3 red/black micarta), a t1, a t3 (this thing is huge and the liner on it about as thick as a mini grip blade), a cheyenne, 2 dark ravens (the original name for the blackfoot), and a longhorn...

the 3.2" blade t1 almost feels compact in my hand, it feels better than a mini grip but has amuch bigger blade. The t1 (and the whole t series are out of production for over a year now) is very similar to the cheyenne. The blades are very similar lengths and thickness, however the cheyenne is much wider. The handle of the cheyenne is much bigger and it weighs more, however, if I was going to recommend a lone wolf knife for someone to start with, it is the cheyenne.

Opens smoothly but not lightly. Very sharp out of the box (this is the sharpest knife tied with the t3, that I have gotten). The FRN feels incredible. The steel is s30v and people say that lone wolf has a great heat treatment. The blade is much thicker than say a regular sized griptilian. The fit and finish is excellent. The knocks I would say is that there is no lanyard loop, the pocket clip is not reversible (however it is very high and very smooth), and its a bit heavy (thick blade, thick liner, etc).

I like benchmade, I bought 2 m4 ritter grips that are slighlty longer blades. If I was going to be stuck in a survival mode, I think I would choose the cheyenne or the longhorn over it. I paid $92 each for them. I paid $165 for the m4 grips.

Oh, if I had to pick the perfect packin knife, it would be a t1.

Rich
 
I have 4 Lone Wolf models. I think they are very good knives. At least as good as the Benchmade knives I have.
 
I love the Blackfoot. The coating they use is very attractive and has help up pretty good considering the use I've put it through. They are definately on par with benchmade and spyderco in their overall quality. I also love the fact that they are a pretty small company and combine traditional wood handles with high end blade steels and excellent ergonomics.
 
I have been on the hunt for a dress knife. Narrowed down my selection between Benchmade Shoki and Lone Wolf Paul Executive CF. I'm leaning towards the LW Paul Executive. I think its an excellent looking knife. I like the fit, finish and axial locking mechanism. But I'm still on the fence. Not sure what's holding me back. My gut feel tells me now to spend 2x or so the amount and get a small Sebenza.
 
I had a Lone Wolf T1 Harsey in Carbon Fiber.

Still regret selling that knife. Fit and finish was top-notch, although I wasn't too wild about the bead-blast finish on S30V.

I had it sharpened by someone who didn't know what they were doing, and they pretty much destroyed the blade. Contacted Lone Wolf, and they not only replaced the blade, but re-sharpened and cleaned up the damaged blade, and sent it back with the repaired knife for free!

Talk about customer service!
 
I have owned three Lone Wolf knives and am constantly on the lookout for one. The designs are a little unusual and quirky. They look good and the ergos are good. As mentioned, they are typically a little overpriced compared to some of the big names.
 
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I love their knives. The bottom two (Warrior and Diablo) are very often my EDCs.

Fit and finish is top notch. The only production knives I have that were sharper "out of the box" are my William Henrys.

I highly recomend Lone Wolf Knives.
 
Lonewolf knives are actually pretty good.
While I encountered some minor issues with Blackfoot, Longhorn and Wolfgang (usually, a bit of bladeplay in non locked position, or not perfect fit of the wooden scales (but it is really minor issue) - see e.g. the bottom end of the right scale), the Prankster and the Defender (both with Paul locks) are both excellent. The Trailmate (fixed blade) is also very good (only the sheath could be a tad better).
 
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