Recent additions

Maybe the marks on the blade will narrow the origin down. We'll see when it arrives!

One category of blades I've always avoided is Japanese swords/daggers. Not because I don't like them, but because it seems like you'd need a tremendous amount of knowledge before you could buy a good one with any amount of confidence, and they're super expensive.

But since this was only $30 I bid on it:

589_002.jpg589_003.jpg589_004.jpg

It appears to be a tanto blade in a shirasaya, which is a plain storage hilt/scabbard for Japanese blades. You keep 'em in one of these when they're not being used apparently. I can't tell from the pictures if it's the real deal or just a letter opener, but for $30 I thought it was a decent gamble. The blade does have a hamon but it looks like it might be fake. We'll see!

Edit: Did more googling, the wavy line pattern isn't a hamon, it's a hadori. It's just a design polished into the blade.

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/togi.html

It has nothing to do with whether there's a hamon or if the blade was edge hardened or not. There may or may not be a hamon underneath the hadori.
 
Last edited:
I didn't have any paracord handy so I used twine. I couldn't get the twine tight enough without snapping, but I got it pretty tight. I squirted a little superglue on it for extra strength . It's pretty sturdy now

image.jpg
 
The Thai or Hmong or whatever knife arrived! She's much bigger than I expected and the blade is quite well made. The hilt and scabbard are very simple, perhaps they're replacements for the original .Looks like the edge is hardened, or maybe it's an inserted steel edge...

image.jpg

Here's a closeup of the writing on the blade. No idea what kind of writing it is yet, so it's research time.
image.jpg
 
Nice Hmong blue! Has that Tamang blade shape. I still need to etch my Barong. I got the powder stuff so gotta figure out a good time/ratio first. Probably easy but just been lazy doing other stuff.
 
Here's a very good example of small and inexpensive doing well. I present you the Gerber STL 2.0 ~ 10$
(STL as Strong Though and Light)

Extremely thin and lightweight at 1-ounce
Overall Length: 5.1-inches, Length Closed: 3-inches, Length of Blade: 2.1-inches
Blade Material: 440A stainless steel, Handle Material: Stainless steel with titanium PVD coating.

STL 2.0
1293045159-DSC02903.JPG

[video]https://youtu.be/RMp2AK3qEVo[/video]

I also got its "bigger" 2.5 brother which is still small. The 2.0 lock is very stiff, so not good for a youngster or a lady with "fragile" nails. The 2.5 doesn't have this problem. Both are among the best budget folders I've seen (close to my favorite Opinels)
 
Last edited:
I like it! Looks like it'd ride comfortably in your pocket.

I carried an Opinel for awhile. Fantastic knife but not too comfy to sit on. I mostly stopped my pocket knife buying once I got a Mercator K55K. I briefly carried a South African Okapi which I really liked. The blade shape is fantastic, I found it more useful than either the Mercator or Opinel. But it's big and bulky and it started tearing a hole in my back pocket.
 
Downright cute! I like it. He says its liner lock in the video but looks like its frame lock. Cool! A lanyard hole! I dont like clips. I had an open frame Gerber (forget what its called Para-something). After the third one lost I quit buying them. Id surely loose that one unless I tied it on somewhere. I finally made a paracord lanyard with a knot on the end so I could clip it behind the knot and then stuff it in my pocket. That worked very nicely. Most of the time I could use it without even pulling it from the lanyard. Heck for $12 no big loss if ya did loose it.

Love the black cat! That id love to have:thumbup:
 
okapi was one of my favourites - sadly it's too big (over 3In. edge) and the killer is the neat ring lock that makes it even more illegal here as an EDC. could get away with it when i was working as a tool, but now that i am retired, that'd be harder to sell to the fuzz. been carrying thhis mantis 2.5 in edge friction folder. looks a bit odd, but fits the hand well. and oddly, carrys well to. looks pretty so it doesn't scare the sheeple much. AUS8 blade & frame, G10 scale.

Mantis.jpg
 
I've never seen that mantis before, I like the blade profile. Is something like the sword peasant knife legal over there?

Lately I've been thinking about getting a Rough Rider Damascus folder.

image.jpg


Normally I don't like pattern welded "Damascus" knives but from what I read these are more of a San Mai dealy, with a core of carbon steel and a folded stainless/Springsteel outer layer. I can get behind that for 20 bucks
 
the svord peasant is a tad over three inches, so it's not a UK friendly knife, they do make a slightly smaller 'peasant mini' one that is UK legal. (i've got both) they are OK. but i find them a bit awkward to carry, the lever is a bit too short and it doesn't seem to fit whichever pocket i put it in, where the mantis does. i like the choil on the mantis too, makes me feel more secure & less worry about it closing on my finger like the svord. the svord has nice high carbon steel tho.
 
Bought me a Japanese hunting knife. Or rather a cheap Chinese knockoff of a Japanese hunting knife. Real ones are too expensive...

IMG_0418.jpgIMG_0419.jpgIMG_0420.jpgIMG_0421.jpg

I have no idea what kind of steel it's made out of, the hamon is obviously fake. It's a nice thick piece of steel though. Does anyone know what the writing says? It looks like it was chiseled into the knife rather than just stamped at a factory.

IMG_0417.jpg

The frog is nasty split grain leather. It's already started to crack. I'll probably have to replace it.
 
My Japanese is a little rusty but I think it says Gud Luc with Blender. I could be off on that a bit.
 
image.jpgimage.jpg

Got this little Turkish friction folder in the mail today. Seller said it was made from bone but even in the auction pictures it was obviously horn or plastic. Thankfully it turned out to be horn. It's a bitty little thing and I'm not sure how sturdy it'll turn out to be, but at least it's sharp. Convex edge, not sure if it's stainless or carbon steel though. The blade is stamped Yusuf Erzincan which I suppose must be the maker.

It'd be a suitable knife to bring on a picnic or something but I bet any serious use would split the horn. There's no metal liner in it, it's just a piece of horn with two pins on it.
 
Hmm when you mentioned this one earlier I blanked on the folder part but I see the little thumb notch to pull the blade out.

Also explains why it's smaller than what I had plugged into my brain earlier. Everybody laughed when I said my brain, it's a small one with not much storage but it's a brain, a doc told me so when I had a little bump took out a few years back.
Said he had a hard time finding it, I said the bump, and he said the brain!

Love the Japanese hunting Chinese knock off blue, good looking knife whoever made it. The hamon fake or not looks cool and that's one of the most important things.
 
Nice little folder. I am sure you are right it is for gentle use, but it does look like a nice little knife. Would it be possible to put a pair of thin metal strips in as a liner?
 
Probably not, the little channel they carved out for the blade is just barely wide enough to accept the blade. I guess that's how they mantain friction.

This knife reminds me a lot of a Spanish knife I bought awhile ago, pretty sure I posted here. They'd been making knives for 100+ years and had a great reputation. The one they sent me had a blunt blade, the body was horn-looking plastic and the blade wobbled. This one is less expensive and the fit/finish is superior. The blade is sharp, it's real horn, and the blade doesn't wobble.

Edit: here it is. pallares

image.jpg

It's sad... I bought about 5 Spanish folders from a site in Spain, all about $30. All of them had great fit and finish and were a steal for the price I paid for them. The only junky one was the pallares.

I did some more research, all the ones I liked were made in China. The only one truly made in Spain was the pallares which was the only poorly made one of the lot.
 
Last edited:
This is my latest purchase, arrived on my doorstep and I'd snatched it up before the mailman was even done marking it mailed.



Neither I nor the seller have any idea who made it. We've been tossing ideas back and forth, but we haven't figured it out. It's quite thin, but solid, and the grip slabs are quite thin and flat. The grind is a little rough around the guard, but it is nicely sharpened, and the tip is quite sharp. It's really designed for the fencing grip specifically, the others I've tried just aren't as comfortable with it. However with how light and fast it is, that's probably a good thing. It also handled my cardboard and my four-layer denim and cardboard test with ease. Makers marks are a skull, and C and P blended into each other.

And yes, that is Alan Alda and Loretta Swit in M*A*S*H on the TV.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top