Lone Wolf Loveless folders - opinions?

redvenom

redvenom

Joined
Aug 15, 2000
Messages
2,330
The new Lonewolf Loveless folders look pretty good in the pics but I'm dying to know what opinions knife enthusiasts have about them. Anybody owns or has handled one? From where I am it will be a very expensive slice of shipping to find out for myself.

And why, why, dont they produce a fixed drop point hunter?!!

Thanks
Andrew Lim
 
I haven't studied the Lone Wolf Loveless folders too much, except for the Loveless-designed slipjoint, the "City Knife." It's a nice knife.

I posted a thread here not too long ago about the Lone Wolf Harsey tactical folder, which promises to be one of the ultimate production tactical folders EVER made. No one responded.

I guess it ain't HYPED enough.
 
I haven't handled any, but I think komondor is partially right on the hype issue. In introducting their new products - Lone Wolf Knives has relied on a formula of "designer branding" (who cares, really?) and the fairly vague term "semi-custom" to try and sell some very, very expensive knives to the public.

Also, they were selling basic Loveless-designed hunters for $300. Yeah, I wonder how many they sold at that price. They are going on Ebay now regularly for $120 - $150. Even Lone-Wolf dropped their "MSRP" to $180. That tells me that some folks that actually paid $300 for these things out to be getting a phucking $110 rebate. How many have gotten those rebate checks? A good way to really piss off the folks that bought these for $300. What a rip-off. Would you buy a Harsey folder from them for $280 only to see it going on Ebay for $175 about a month later? Not me either. Unlike Chris Reeve, Lone Wolf has not suceeded in getting distributors/dealers to adhere to their pricing scheme. This just makes me laugh at their prices.

Also, what about their competition? Considering that you can get some pretty high-quality knives (drop point hunters) made by one-man shops for $120-$150, that means that they were expecting folks to just fork over cash to have yet another reproduction of a Loveless design.

Hasn't that cow been milked to death? The last round of Gerber Loveless's were a hard sell as it was.

That Harsey looks like it would be fun to try - but a lot of people would rather pick up a Camillus CUDA MAXX bowie for about $130 for a 5.5 inch D2 flipper framelock. Just have to wait until their pricing structure comes down to earth.
 
I don't know, Architect. Everything I have heard about the Lone Wolf knives-- inlcuding the Loveless hunters-- has been exceptional. I'm not sure though that any real knife users, like on these forums, have purchased and used these blades. You may be right on them being over-priced, but I would imagine the quality is better than Gerber's.

As far as the Harsey folder is concerned, I think it might be a little longer than, say, a Spyderco Police, but still .75" shorter than a Cuda Maxx. The Maxx's are like folding daggers, whereas the Harseys still maintain a tactical knife profile.
 
Don't know about the Lone Wolf Loveless folders, but I did have a chance to see the Lone Wolf Tighe folder up close and personal. Flawless, and hard to tell from an actual Brian Tighe folder. I would have given the $200 the guy wanted for it, if I had it.
 
I have the Lone Wolf Tighe Tac and I've also handled the "real deal" and IMHO, the Lone Wolf is so close to the custom that it's scary. I handled the custom at last month's ECCKS. Other than a gemstone inbeded in the thumbstud, you would be hard put to tell the difference in fit, finish and materials.

I spoke with a dealer (very well known to all:rolleyes: ) who told me that the original production run of the Tighe Tac was, in fact, so well hand "tweaked" that Lone Wolf found they were losing money on it. Newer versions are, apparently, more along the lines of a basic production knife.

I jumped quickly at this knife and this is one situation where I'm glad I did.

BTW, I have no idea what dealers are doing with the price at this point.
 
I would have to agree that the Lone Wolf Tighe Tac is very, very close in quality to an actual Brian Tighe. In fact, my Tighe Tac has a better lockup than my Tighe Pan had when I first picked it up from a purveyor. As for the Loveless City Knife, I think that it is very well made but its backspring was too weak for my taste. I would not have felt safe using the City Knife as an EDC.
 
Just picked up one of the Lonewolf Tighe folders, and I gotta tell ya there is no way the custom version could be THAT much better, to be worth all the extra cost. My factory version is that damn good. If only it was small enough for me to bring into the Govt building where I work, it would be my EDC.
 
I got to see a Lone Wolf Tighe Pan several months ago at a shop in Savannah, GA and I thought it was to die for. I recently ordered one from KnifeWorks which should be making it's way to my hands tomorrow, so I'll report on it.
 
My city knife came from a B&M store at 20% off an original price that was the same price at three internet places. Maybe the e-bay discuounts are product from stores that have folded. The finish on my city knife is virtually perfect and it has a good strong backspring. The finish shows some hand touches, making it seem to be a possible "mid-tech". The city knife has a unique steel developed by Sandvick for Loveless and LoneWolfe, plus integral bolsters for ~$80, you don't see that type of design and materials in many other production knives.

From their website, Lone Wolf says they are using a new steel that can be forged to some extent for the fixed blades, thus a loveless from them is different than one from Gerber.

I haven't seen any of the loveless folders on the internet or in stores other than the city knife.
 
I got a City Knife as a Christmas present. It is, without a doubt, the best slipjoint I've had the pleasure of handling. The craftsmanship is superb. VERY close to custom. It even has bronze washers like a Sebenza. The City Knife hasn't left my pocket since I got it.

I am now strongly considering other Lone Wolf Loveless knives.
 
I just picked up a Lone Wolf Loveless City Knife as well, and I like it very much. I even like it better than the Lone Wolf Paul folder I recently got. Mine had a little side to side wobble out of the box, but removing the pivot screw and applying a little bit of Loctite to the threads and tightening it up solved the problem. It feels really good in the hand and is plenty sharp. The backspring issue may be of some concern to a few folks since it doesn't snap shut with all the authority of other slip joint folders, but it does the job for me. This will definately be one of my EDC folders.
 
Got a chance to handle both Lone Wolf Loveless Folders the other day at a knife shop. Not real impressed for the money. On these 2, the fitting of the micarta was rough. Plus, both had little press marks like the bolster had been forced on rather than fitting the micarta better.

I did love the style and the balance. I'm a fan of the Loveless fixed blades of course. On the other hand, the folders are 2/3-3/4's the size of the fixed blades, so the handles are more of a 3 finger-style knife.

For the samples I saw, if they offered the knives for under $100, I could see it and would buy one. Better make sure you handle the one you want to buy first or buy from a dealer who allows returns.

Brad
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top