Queen Copperhead in Pearl

2manyknives

2manyknives

Joined
Aug 9, 2006
Messages
718
A while back I posted some details about my first attempt at buying a Queen Copperhead. The knife (when it arrived in the mail) turned out to be a mini folding hunter with liner lock and with a few quirks at that. I kept it as despite some of those 'quirks' it was a nicely made knife that used quality materials.

Some of you that responded to that thread had Copperheads and spoke highly of them so I kept on looking around.

The folding hunter had Queen''s excellent amber bone and as much as I admire it I decided to get something different in the Copperhead. I found a couple of different wood versions but ended up surprising myself with some mother of pearl.

Now a famous military man once said some very unkind things about men who carry pearl handled guns. I don't know if it carried through to knives. I assure you I am neither a pimp nor a gambler.

qperal2.jpg



qpearl1.jpg



I know very little about mother of pearl apart from the fact that it comes from pearl shell. I couldn't differentiate between a flaw and a feature so I will just say that it looks good to me.

As for the rest of the knife - Like most Queens it has a good strong backspring. It is not as tough to open as the folding hunter I have. Also differing from the folding hunter is the lack of a half stop which is ok with me. Once it is open everything is nice and tight - no blade movement and it requires a deliberate but not unreasonably difficult effort to close.

I like the dimensions of the Copperhead - it is a good compromise between 'pocketability' and úseabililty. The knife is thinner than the folding hunter which has full length accommodation for the liner lock.

The blade has the usual Queen safety edge - virtually incapable of causing injury. I haven't got around to sharpening it yet but I know from experience that once the edge is sorted out then it's performance will be up there with the best. The edge holding on Queen's D2 is very very good.

If I had to nitpick - the fit between the scales and bolsters is not perfect and not as good as other Queens I own. I don't know if this is related to the MOP characteristics and whether it is a stable material. Perhaps some of you might have some experience with this stuff and could comment.

Overall, I like it a lot.
 
I've never really been drawn to MOP, but thats a great lookin knife...
The Copperhead is a terrific pattern
 
i'm an ole timer & remember the knives from the 50s & 60s. queen was offering more pearl models than just about any company thru the 50s,60s & 70s. they have always made quite a few knives in pearl & i guess their early contacts gave them a firm place within the market when it comes to pearl.pearl like so many natural materials has gotten very expensive, so we see less on the market.i'm not sure if i do'nt like pearl better than abalone, similar to comparing bone to stag.hardly any other material catches the eye faster. the newer processed abalone may be tougher since the flakes are embedded in a plastic, however pearls beauty is of a more subtle refined grace.the copperhead is as large a pattern in pearl that i've seen lately, larger pieces of pearl necessitate huge shells which are very rare.the only reason i do'nt collect pearl is because i'm clumsy & do'nt want to ruin a good day by dropping a pearl on the kitchen floor.thanks for the good pics.
 
I really like it. A gentlemen's hunter. Who says a sharp dressed man (or woman I guess) has to be limited to peanuts and Eisenhowers?
 
Dennis - thanks for your post and the additional info. I wondered how strong/delicate the pearl was. Although I know very little about the material I actually live in a place where pearling is still quite a significant industry - its all farmed pearls now of course but this part of the coast of northern Australia has a strong pearling heritage. It has sparked my interest and I will try and find out more about the material.
 
Is the Copperhead the same length as the Minihunter? Is the blade the same?
 
I think that's a great looking knife. I have several Gerber Silver Knights in MOP and Black Pearl and a 200A in Abalone. I like pearl on small knives like that. I am sure that dropping the kniife on a hard surface would be, well, not good. That's why I generally carry my wood handled or kraton handled versions EDC rather than the pearl ones. I do carry the MOP versions around from time to time, just because I like them so much.

I also have a Case Canoe with gold pearl, a beautiful knife as well, but it stays in its case and I carry one of my composition handled versions instead. I have a mini-Copperlock in MOP and yet another Case canoe in Paua (sp?) shell. All really prettty, but really just eye candy and I don't carry them.

Anyway, that is a very pretty Copperhead there. I'm planning to get a Queen soon and that is probably the pattern I'm going after. Looks great and if you want to carry it, go ahead and do it and not worry about other folks opinions.

EJ
 
arty said:
Is the Copperhead the same length as the Minihunter? Is the blade the same?
Click to expand...

I have seen some advertised that have slightly different dimensions (could be an error in the seller's description) but mine are the same length in both the grip and blade and the blade is the same profile. The mini hunter is thicker in the grip.
 
Thanks. The blade on the minihunter is a little shorter than the teardrop linerlock - the mini's is about 70mm.
 
338375 said:
I've never really been drawn to MOP, but thats a great lookin knife...
The Copperhead is a terrific pattern
Click to expand...

I agree. That pattern is a great looking one. Sweet knife!

That doesn't have a liner lock, does it? I was thinking that Queen Copperheads did have liner locks.
 
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That pearl looks pretty nice, better than I expected for a production knife. Do you have a shot of the other side?
 
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