show us your Okapi knives !

I haven't got one any more, because of all the knives I've ever owned, the Okapi was the very worst at actually cutting things.

Worth having one for that cool story about Keith Richards, though!
 
I will look up the keith richards story .
Took a bit of work to get the edge in to shape on this one .

This one is pretty old i think ?
I do like the one handed close .
 
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Doug C said:
The carbon or stainless ?

DC
Click to expand...

Mine was carbon but it was made quite recently, perhaps the older ones are better? Also, it had a very thick edge from the factory and clearly needed a full regrind but I didn't want to spend that much time on it, so perhaps it could cut well if I'd worked at it.
 
older okapis are seriously , seriously good steel .
If you bu a newer one but are not able to put an edge on your own blade , yeah ... itll suck , but if you can sharpen , you have a really good blade there .

I have a couple :)

this is the one that began it for me with them
1159966970.jpg


this is an older pic but I have most of them still kicking around
100_2748.jpg


100_2859.jpg


most of them are South African made ones , and their QC isnt great , but , for a knife that sells for cheaper than the copies of it does ... they are not bad
Their steel and heat treat is still good , tho I do believe the German made ones are better .

For me it is that they are still using the machines from Germany and process and patterns pretty much , pressed tin handles , cellophane wraps , hand assembled for most part .
I just like that .
 
My stainless one is junk but the one in the pics is carbon . It took a keen edge , i have some old german carbon blades and it seems pretty hard / tuff .
The bevel was pretty thick and quite dull .
 
I wrote the Okapi factory about they why of their blunt knives
I got a response that basicly was

They make knives that are cheap , and expect that their customers will know how to put an edge on their knife and maintain their edge .

They have a big market share in third world countries where cheap and durable kinda rule , not so much in first world countrys where prepackaged perfection is the order of the day .
Not a defense , just an observation Until the riots in Cape Town , I was selling their knives , but between having to sharpen each one I sold , and problems contacting the factory during and shortly fter the riots there , I havent for years .

I did get pretty good at sharpening knives tho :)
 
Bf is so awesome for all the info !
I really like the blade shape , similar to a laguiole .
Heres a pic of my fake ss version .image.jpg
 
the SS version may well not be fake , Okapi do make a ss version , and a ss serated version

looking at the pic tho , yeah .. its different to any Ive had hands on so far
 
Here are a couple of vintage Okapi knives, made in Germany. Quite frankly they are junk, and the modern knives made in South Africa are much better.

Okapi.jpg
 
This thread took me back to my childhood!! As kids my cousin and I used to run around on my uncle's farm in South Africa and Okapis were constant companions (bought at the dark and gloomy general dealer that was bicycle distance away). Cutting reeds for fishing rods and switches (can't think of a English better word) for "kleilat" (lump of clay on the end of a switch and then flicked quite effectively with a bit of practice), cutting stick to barbecue our lunch with and then to cut some more switches with which we got the well deserved hidings. Somewhere around here are a few old Okapis (German and South African) but yeah, crap grinds but as kids we were sharpening them on stones we found in the river.

Those were simpler days before we became steel snobs and a POS Okapi was all we wanted or needed and a SAK was a grail knife.
 
I remember fist seeing one in my sisters tent in portugal , remember thinking what a cool sis i have . "Never know when u might need it " stuck with me i guess .
 
who has good Okapi knives for sale in the US? From what I gather, you want a modern s. African one.
 
Bought those old ones from a SMKW "warehouse find." Pretty sure my modern Okapi was purchased from Ragweed Forge, who doesn't seem to carry them any longer. In short, I have no idea. Google didn't even help. :(
 
I've wanted one, but finding them in the US is not an easy task...if anyone finds a place where they can be obtained, PM me please. Closest I have is a Cold Steel Kudu, which is based on the Okapi.
 
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