My beautiful Arno Bernard, fixed blade.

I

IXLR8

Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
189
I bought this knife close to 3 years ago and just stuck it in my gun safe.
I had the chance to pick my knife that day, from about 50 others.
This one was the prettiest one. At least I thought so. They were all pretty, but this one stood out from the rest.
I've never used it for anything. It has been a safe queen for almost 3 years. If I remember correctly, I paid 95.00 for it. I think.
My Dad gave me a gift certificate for 100.00 to a sporting good store. This knife is what I bought with the certificate.

I couldn't remember the name of this model so I did a search and found that it's called a Gecko.
I looked at Arno Bernards site and it appears this knife isn't crafted anymore. So I guess it's a collector now. I don't know.

Tapered tang, wart hog ivory, n690 steel. This thing is razor sharp.
So anyway that's the story of this knife.

I liked it so much, a couple months later, I bought the Arno Bernard wild Dog model, with polished Giraffe Bone. Got to pick from about 25 of those. It's also really nice.
For those of you who like pretty knives, here you go.

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Wow, that is amazing. Welcome to the community, brother!
 
Nice blade! Pretty, is a correct description. Did it come with a sheath?
 
jakemex said:
Nice blade! Pretty, is a correct description. Did it come with a sheath?
Click to expand...

Thanks guys.
Yes it came with the cape buffalo sheath. I just didn't put it in the photo.
Just took that photo about 3 hours ago.
 
Welcome. That's a beauty!

I've been eyeing the Arno Bernard knives at KnivesShipFree for several months. All N690 stainless steel and some fantasticly exotic handle materials. The one I've been looking at is the little 2.75" blade 20th Anniversary (20 years as a member of the Knifemakers Guild of Southern Africa) Bush Baby - Warthog Ivory Tusk handle - Cape Buffalo sheath with belt loop.

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Arno Bernard knives are beautiful in its way. Tapered tang & flawless fit & finish. I have early model dassie, which I really like (although I sometimes wish it has n690 blade). I've been eyeing on that exact 20th anniversary knife as well.
 
RamZar said:
Welcome. That's a beauty!

I've been eyeing the Arno Bernard knives at KnivesShipFree for several months. All N690 stainless steel and some fantasticly exotic handle materials. The one I've been looking at is the little 2.75" blade 20th Anniversary (20 years as a member of the Knifemakers Guild of Southern Africa) Bush Baby - Warthog Ivory Tusk handle - Cape Buffalo sheath with belt loop.
Click to expand...

Seems close to my knife only a different style. Same dimensions. Mine up above is a shade over 5.5 inches overall length. I think the blade is 2.75.
It looks like the prices have gone up a bit since I bought mine. If you buy this knife , I can tell you that you will like it. It's feather light. Weighs only a couple ounces.
The factory edge is not nearly what these knives are capable of. Don't get me wrong. It's not bad, but they can be honed to a , shave your face , razor edge.
I tuned mine up just after I got it, then put it in the safe not long after, and forgot about it. Used a good leather strop with 800 grit aluminum oxide, then polished it out on the strop with 2000 grit 3M compound.
It went from sharp to,,,razor, in about 10 minutes.

You'll like this knife if you buy one. I've had lots of knives in my time. Customs, ..Pumas......one of my favorites is Boker. There's something about these Bernard knives that I can't explain. You're drawn to them. I'm no knife expert, but I'd venture to guess that these may be some of the best knives you can get for the money. But my disclaimer in this is, I've never put either of them on field trial. The most I ever really did was slice a tomato up with the Wild Dog just to see how it would handle that. Went through it like a hot knife through butter even though that's clearly not its intended use.

Anyway thanks for the replies. I took a photo of the other side of the knife. The first pic was the less pretty side.
Rd0NLRx.jpg
 
I have been looking at their knives for a few years, and love them. The warthog ivory and Cape buffalo sheaths are beautiful!
 
I just recently purchased an Arno Croc model with giraffe bone handle. It was dyed a beautiful green/blue color that is just gorgeous. His knives are a crazy good value in my opinion, simply because of how amazing the fit and finish is on each and every knife. Add the exotic handle materials he offers and they're hard to beat. My local dealer just recently started carrying them and they've been an amazing hit for him. I drooled over them for a few months and finally broke down and ordered one. I wasn't disappointed. Excellent craftsmanship that will have me coming back for more.
 
Very nice! And for $90? Pshhh - that's chump change for a knife that nice.
 
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