Share your French traditional/regional pocket knives

Nice ones, gents. Reminding me again that I really ought to try a Laguiole some time.

Owen, that Basque Yatagan is interesting. What is the handle inlay made of?
 
The handle is ram horn.

The rivets are said to have been added for the benefit of workers who traditionally used these knives to cut/harvest tobacco leaves. The rivets increased grip, the tobacco juice is slippery, I guess.
 
The larger one arrived today! very nice, was worried with horn scales, and there are a couple of slight chips but nothing overly bad, and the blade misses the back spring on this one as well, also it's set so the tip is lower than the small one AND there is not the blade play that the smaller one has so, the small one goes home for a checkup :( I'll miss her, but the larger sister will keep me company, although, now that it's here, I do wish I had gone with wood scales, but the photo's looked so very nice ;) and it is very pretty still...

Now a few things that I run into all the time it seems, the inside of the handle where the stainless scales are have a very crisp edge there, from final shaping no doubt, so I take my trust Victorinox awl and scrape both sides to knock down that edge and then rub folded up sand paper to further burnish the champer to lessen the sharp edge. This is the same on almost every knife I have received, except for CRK and also the Spyderco Southard and Techno, those have Ti scales so they are rounded pretty well. Also this folder was a bit stiff, it is new of course, so some of the Nano oil has helped that a lot. Also while sharp, it wasn't sharp, if you know what I mean, but very very little time made her into a razor edge quickly, very nice blade!

I don't think I'll be tempted to get the larger Trapper, this one is REALLY a LOT larger than the Compact, as you would imagine, but once it arrived it still surprised me on it's size, a real Companion for sure. I'll post some images as I am able to.
G2
 
I noticed the same thing about the overly crisp edges of the liners. I took them down with the metal file of my swisstool, if I remember rightly.
 
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Yes, Le Compagnon is far bigger than Le Compact, on paper the dimensions look small but in reality they're not. Same with all traditional knives mind.

My Compact in Ebene arrived yesterday. Totally satisfied, can't find fault actually. Very smooth finish all over including the multiple pins on one side,radiusing excellent and not a hint of blade play here at all. These are not cheap to buy (here in Europe they may cost more than US!) 95 Euro including rather hefty 18 euro postage costs from one EU country to another! But, the quality is all there as is the look and ergonomics and they are fantastic food knives. These certainly are top quality and will last, it's clear. A modern take on the Laguoile.

I close mine carefully as they have stiff springs. Fontenille-Pataud knives have a blade stop, type of pin, that acts as a kick, so no fears there. Even so, I close them slowly.
 
Sounds great! I just sent my Compact back to France today, :( sad as I miss it already! I am thinking that the tang end of the blade was ground down just a little thinner than it should have been, which is causing the side to side blade play, my guess is they will need to replace the blade, or the entire knife, for some the blade play may not be too bad for them, but for me, it would drive me crazy. The Le Compagnon is very solid, no blade play at all, people at work thought it was the smaller one I had shown them, until I took out the smaller and they went OH, ok ;) and one lady noticed my left arm is a lot less hairy than my right arm, she said I should shave on both arms but I trust my right more than my left for such things! As I've said before when my wife complains about my hairless arm, that in the USA we have a constitutional right to bare arms...:)
G2
 
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avoidspam said:
Nice thread.

I'm liking this L'Alpin

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Sam
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I like that L'Alpin. I am thinking of getting one made by R David. Any opinions on that maker? So many handle materials to choose from I can't decide. Would it be possible to post a photo of the file work on the spring please?
 
smiling-knife said:
I like that L'Alpin. I am thinking of getting one made by R David. Any opinions on that maker? So many handle materials to choose from I can't decide. Would it be possible to post a photo of the file work on the spring please?
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I would go for Gilles if you have got the money. The knife I pictured has some pretty big flaws, the backspring sits high when it is open and the blade rests against the backspring when closed. Later on I got one from Gilles, it is a class act in comparison and pretty much everyone has said the same.





This one is a locking versionin Juniper wood which you depress the lanyard loop to disengage. A beautiful knife, I gave it to my Dad to replace a battered Opi I'd given him years ago.

Gilles's website is worth a look and he'll make changes for you if you ask.

Sam
 
I will second going for Gilles. I don't think the price is too high if you stick to wood scales.
 
The Davids I had were so-so, certain flaws made them a bit rough&ready, not that cheap either!

As the others have noted, the Fontenille-Patauds are on a completely different level. They cost more but they hold their own with custom makers that cost even more. An excellent range of handles too.
 
Got the Compact back today, all spiffy again, no blade play, takes care of that OCD part of me :) I'll get some photos up of the French quarters of my house later one as I'm waiting on delivery of an Ebony Compagnon as well as a #9 Opinel Oyster knife too and that, as they say, ebbe, ebbe ebbe is ALL Folks ! (in my best Porky Pig voice) at least until the next one ;)
G2
 
Gary W. Graley said:
Got the Compact back today, all spiffy again, no blade play, takes care of that OCD part of me :) I'll get some photos up of the French quarters of my house later one as I'm waiting on delivery of an Ebony Compagnon as well as a #9 Opinel Oyster knife too and that, as they say, ebbe, ebbe ebbe is ALL Folks ! (in my best Porky Pig voice) at least until the next one ;)
G2
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That was pretty fast sevice! Looking forward to your pictures :-)
 
Nice set of Thiers you have there! (And Opies ;-) ) How is the quality on your newest? Which one do you like best for edc?
 
The ebony is the pick for me right, arrived in great shape
G2
 
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