Navaja Folders

U

UPSTARTCROWE

Joined
Oct 17, 1999
Messages
122
Ok! I just finished reading the post on Laguiole knives. I have also been interested in purchasing one and appreciated the member input. Can anybody give me some feedback on Navaja folders? They're another very handsome knife but I don't know where to find a quality model. Any experience or tips.
 
Geez, crowe.....you ask hard ones.
Always wanted a quality Navaja.
Haven't found one, yet.
I did find a huge Martinez "Gypsy " knife a few years back. At least 15in opened (might have been 18in)Might have been marketed by Muela.
It was of "fair " quality....real stag inserts in the handle but the bolsters were hollow sheet metal. Reminded me of the knives carried in the cummerbunds of the rebels in the old movie : "The Pride and the Passion" (or "Poosh the Cannon...Pool the Cannon" in a contemporary Mad Magazine)

Damn thing was stolen from my car..probably by 10 year olds. Didn't show up in any of the local pawnshops....or in the courts. So I assume it went down a drain, somewhere around town.
There are some really crappy Navajas around so be carefull. I asked my local dealer to order me one from a catalogue (Fury ?)
When it arrived, the "locking mechanism" was faked.....it was cast into the Spine of the knife which was a cheaply made slipjoint.
Looked like a locker in the catalogue.
Of course, I had the dealer send it back.

------------------
BrianWE
ICQ #21525343


 
Thanks, David.
Nothing new there but interesting, anyway.

I am beginning to realize that many of these "classic ethnic knives" I have lusted after for so long are not so good, after all.

The modern stuff seems to be far superior.
So much for dreams.


------------------
BrianWE
ICQ #21525343


 
Thanks Guys. Well Brian, you just saved me some hours (maybe days) continuing my search on the Net for a foreign manufacturer, not to mention the money I would need to spend on a sample to discover the quality of the knives. I suppose I'll just suffer an "unrequited love" for these fancy foreign blades whose image is not equal to their function. Wow! My wife will be pleased. No need to buy Navajas or Laguioles....
 
Crowe

just in case you weaken, do a search under "Andujar".
I just found a graphic that I once saved of some Spanish folders .....didn't record the address but Andujar is the brand name.
I seem to recall the prices were quite low. Always a danger sign.

------------------
BrianWE
ICQ #21525343


 
Thanks again Brian. There are givers and there are takers and you, my friend, are a giver....although my wife would call it an "enabler".
 
The only manufacturers of quality navajas I've found are in Spain and won't/don't sell to Americans.

Note that the quality issue is not inherent to the design, which is in many respects superior to the bulk of modern folders.

Its a matter of lousy workmanship, which wholey rests on the manufacturer.
 
Snickersnee, if they don't sell to Americans will they sell to Canadians or Frenchmen? I have family there... I'm perfectly willing to buy a quality Navaja from a non-Spanish distributor as well. Did you ever find one?
 
I can't speak for Canadians, but I think the deal is they don't ship overseas.

As far as the Frenchmen are concerned, if you've got family in France they should be able to scrounge around and find some good examples in their own country, or make the trip to Spain.

Of course, that assumes they know how to tell a good knife when they see one.

As far as non-Spanish distributors go, they're all low quality too, at least the ones I've seen.

From some contacts in Spain I hear that the maximum legal length was reduced and reduced and the knives themselves were taught to be feared and loathed in schools.

Net effect is that they've become either a souveneir of poor quality for a tourist, or a scarce handmade commodity for the traditional Spaniard.

I'm planning on going into production of these things some time next year. They'll incorporate modern materials, some refinements and inovations of my own doing, and they won't be replicas of historical pieces.

In other words, a real fighting navaja made by someone whose people have traditionaly been conected to them, and who knows how they work combatively, only made with technologicaly superior techniques and materials. I feel that would make them quite authentic.

However, I don't have any hang-ups about withholding sources for my own personal glory. The best navajas on the net I've seen are at;

www.netvision.es/TONI/NET/page1.htm

I tried to order from them, but was declined, but good luck...
 
Thanx Snick. The Estilete is a slim little blade isn't it? I sent in an e-mail so I'll just need to wait and see if "Albacete?" responds. Looks like a Snickersnee Navaja Estilete (that's a mouthful) could be in my future, if you make them available for sale that is. Thank you for your help.
 
Yeah, I've gotten much more positive response to this project than I thought I would. To further fill you in, here's the deal;

It ends up the Army is taking me back, so don't expect anything before April/May.

I'm also not going custom, I'll be a "handmade factory", with a fixed line. I may offer to make the navajas according the the owner's relevant body measurements in the traditional fashion, as that is an important part of the how's and why's these knives work. However, I can get close with three standardized sizes.

I will be making navajas and their larger brothers, santiolos. The navajas will be similar to the "bandolera" model on the link I gave. The santiolos will have a bladeshape that is difficult to describe but appears in Manual del Baratero.

Essentialy, the base of the blade will be slightly recurved, the then swell slightly to make the belly, the end in an "S" curve, like an upside down "nogales clip".

I will also likely be offering single edged "leaf blades" in both santiolos and navajas.

Prices will be about U.S.$200 for the navajas, about U.S.$250-300 for the santiolos.

Average blade length of a navaja would be eight inches, average blade length of a santiolo would be twice that.

I still haven't made the final choice on finish type, but I'll offer one that's showier and one that's more spartan and "field grade". Sythetic handle materials, likely micarta and/or G-10, and either steel or titanium liners. I experimented with aluminum, but it gets buggered up too easy. Expect traditional geometeric designs and probably mottos custom engraved for the purchaser.

Navajas, even steel ones, are light for their size. A little heft is a good thing anyways.

The main thing is that these will be first and foremost weapons, secondarily using knives, I'm not into the whole collector thing, and really my finishing skills aren't at that level. I can make you a profesional looking navaja, but it won't look like Darrel Ralph made it.

Since an understanding of the way in which a navaja is used combatively is important to apreciating the knife, I will be offering a Spanish/English paralel text of Manual del Baratero, and likely footnoted with things that I've learned from my family and friends on the subject, as well as some tricks I've developed on my own.

Loriega's book does not accurately or justly represent these weapons, or these arts have degraded much more quickly over the century and a half since MdB among the Spanish than they have among my race. So I do not reccomend it. If it was good, I would. I'm not saying it sucks because I'm vainglorious, I'm saying it sucks because it does.

Oh, I'll make D'Avilier's work available too if I can find it. I've got an English friend of my searching the libraries there for me already.

He's turned up all sorts of cool stuff for me. Just sent me Talhoffer's
daggerwork from 15th century Germany. Uses rondel daggers and such, not navajas, as it is a military style. Likewise it doesn't emphasize the same sort of "psychological warfare" that MdB does. A lot of good parries, traps, seizures, throws and impalements though.

Oh, I guess it's worth noting that Albacete was one of several cities listed in MdB as being well known for the quality of it's navajas...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top