Puma Damascus Folding Knife - opinions?

Teague

Teague

Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
633
I'm thinking of buying this Puma Damascus Folding Knife:

122054_lg.jpg


Here's the description:

A famed Japanese maker creates the blade with 78 sheets of steel being heated, twisted and hammered into one, creating the stainless Damascus steel with distinctive "swirled" appearance

Blade is Rockwell hardness tested 60, so it's hard, sharp and can be re-sharpened

6 1/2"l. open with 2 3/4" blade. Approx. 4" closed

Handle is brushed stainless steel with textured Zytel® polymer scales

Fully riveted for strength and locks out solid

Thumb stud for easy opening.

Includes belt clip. Can accept lanyard.

Weighs approx. 3 ozs.

Blade made in Japan, knife assembled in China.

I can get it shipped for $31.

What's your opinion of Puma Knives?
 
I must say, however, the blade itself is stunning for 31 clams. I cannot believe that a damascus blade can be made that cheap.
 
I have one of these with the thuya wood inlaid handle, and I love it! The fit & finish are great on mine, but from what I understand mine was assembled in Germany with Japanese damascus, but the newer ones are stamped "China" on the blade so I can't comment on if there was a drop off in quality at that point. Either way, for $31 you can't go wrong IMHO. This is a great little knife (although out of the box it left something to be desired in the sharpness department..)
 
Puma = :barf:

If I saw someone with that knife, I'd think 'that person likes knives, but doesn't know what good knives are.'
 
Newer ones may (or may not, haven't handled one) but the older ones from '70s or before are pretty decent knives.
 
In the 1950s through the 1980s Puma was the number 1 maker in Germany and made knives of very high quality. The Baron who had run it for years died and the family sold it and it has been sold several times and production moved to China. At one time there was little quality control, it looks to have gotten better. The World moves on.
 
I have a Puma alligator which is pretty nice, although I haven't really carried and used it. The blade on mine, which was bought through REI a few years ago, is stamped Germany. The knife in sum is a mix of really cool (blade shape and jimping) and not too great (liner goes all the way over already. Mine is Al. with wood inlays. I think I am going to mod this one---make the blade from tanto into a shape like the picture above, round off the handles, remove the clip, and try to fix the liner position, and then it will be really pretty cool. That is a nice looking knife above, except for the Zytel. Awesome looking blade shape.
 
I had one of those with the thuya scales. Good fit and finish. Lock up was solid and consistant. The blade took and kept a good edge. The only complaint I had on it was the thumbstud was so tall it interfered with sharpening. Even at around 40 degrees inclusive the stud would hit the stone. Mine came from Smoky Mountain Knifeworks and was assembled in Germany.

MB45
 
I got this exact knife a few months ago. Here were my main impressions:

- I expected the handle to be more substantial...heavier maybe. That said, it seems solid and lightweightedness is not a bad thing (nor is it a word)
- The pivot is rather lose so the knife is quite a flipper. You can flip it out from just gripping the handle and giving it a good flick.
- The blade pattern is very nice. However I have concerns about it being real Damascus. This is because the pattern is actually textured. Each band of color feels like a layer placed upon the previous band of color. I have 3 other Damascus knives and have not come across this before. It almost feels more like a coating of something than a pattern in the steel. So, between that and the low price...I'm concerned. Maybe those who know more about than myself can chime in.

All in all, a fun knife to have in the collection.
 
with a really deep etch, you can feel the layers in damascus, so that may be why you feel the texture.
 
hardheart said:
with a really deep etch, you can feel the layers in damascus, so that may be why you feel the texture.
Click to expand...

Can I assume that "etched Damascus" is not the traditional procedure of combining many layers of steel to produce a pattern that runs troughout the thickness of the blade?
 
You misunderstand. In order to SHOW the layers in damascus it always needs to be etched. If you give it a deep etch however you can also feel the layers.
 
LX_Emergency said:
You misunderstand. In order to SHOW the layers in damascus it always needs to be etched. If you give it a deep etch however you can also feel the layers.
Click to expand...

Got it. Thanks for clarifying! I thought an imitation pattern might be created using etching :o
 
Well I got the knife today! I'm sure disappointed. The knife is so dull that I don't think it will cut hot butter. And the blade is loose - not side to side- but, up and down. It looks like the frame lock is too short. I'm not at all impressed and so I have to give this knife a failing grade. I called the company and got then to send me a return tag. For a nice $35 knife, I guess I'll stick with Victorinox.
 
I got one perhaps a year ago, stamped China on the blade, which irked me. Everything on mine was solid, not loose up or down or sideways. One of the attached scales was not flush to the body of the knife, I could see air between the two. Tightening a side screw improved things, but still not perfect. Anyway, the gist is this: still left me hungering for a cooler damascus blade, so I'd have been better off putting the money toward that. Just treated myself to a Mcusta MC-33d and am much happier. The Mcusta is a work of art and is definitely made in Seki Japan. I don't believe Mcusta is a "true" damascus blade, but it is a super cool knife!
 
they use San Mai damascus (just like Santa Fe Stoneworks) with a VG-10 core, so it technically is damascus but its not one solid layer of damascus ... lol
 
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