Spanish Knives Any Good ?

Kennieyk

Kennieyk

Joined
Feb 5, 2003
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Such as muela and joker ? They really look nice , but dont know how well they are made. Are there any other knives other then usa that are well made ? If so what are they ?
 
A lot of Spanish knives like Muela and Aitor use steels similar to the 440A, 440B and 440C range. There is also a steel called 440B Modified which has Vanadium, Molybdenum in it and seems quite good. I have a couple of Muela hunters which I used until I found better edge-holding steels on more expensive knives. I did have a couple of hidden tang ones where the tangs were actually very short, small and raised concerns about strength, but I never broke them, so there you go.

I think they're good value for money, but certainly not of any collector value. Some of the survival-oriented styles are loaded with "gimmicks" as I call them. I'm not a fan of those. Jason.
 
Most of the Muela and Aitor knives that I have handled have been good but not great. They do seem to offer decent value. The Joker Navaja that a friend of mine let me try was really quite nice. It was not a very expensive knife and seemed quite well made.

Extrema Ratio from Italy seem to be first rate. I haven't handled one yet, but from what I have read, people that own them usually think very highly of these knives.
 
I picked up a couple of Muelay's when I visited Toledo last year. One, a 4" mini-bowie, has served me well during overnight and weekend hiking trips. Seems to be rugged and holds its edge. Nice shining blade too. I hate blades with coatings on them.
 
Yeah I seen them at our knife store , The prices are way too high..
Everything is atleast MSRP. I dont know why i even go in. They have them there and they look really nice. Never had the chance to hold one yet .
 
Aitor is the best of the lot and they use something very close to 440-C. They are a bit of a sleeper, so you can get them at excellent prices.

n2s
 
Originally posted by Kennieyk
Are there any other knives other then usa that are well made ? If so what are they ?
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Fällkniven is a Swedish manufacturer that mainly produces quality outdoor knives with convex ground VG-10 blades.
 
Their knives are bordering on the upper range of factory prices, but IMHO you get more than your money's worth. There's both novelty factor with their blade construction and steel and from all the things I've heard, their fit and finish and overall quality is of the stuff that originally made Cold Steel famous. The designs are pretty traditional but look extremely well executed and have features you'd noramlly associate with custom made knives - convex edges, laminated blades with VG-10 steel. I'm particularly fond of the F1, S1, H1 and WM1 models are all-round practical piece. The new "Thor" bowie range looks pretty good too but are apparently quite expensive. They have a very slick looking folder that I have handled - it operates like a custom piece. Worth at least a look. Jason.
 
I think Muela are the best of spanish knives. They have quite a broad range of knives and folders, the latter being all finished by hand, at reasonable prices.
I have had problems with aitor sometimes, but I heard they are improving. On the other hand, aitor is supplier for many armies around the world, the UN and some elite police corps, but I still think muelas are better.
Jaime
 
I think the Fallknivens are made in Japan. A lot of the Spydercos are. They come from Seki City which has been a center of excellent cutlery for a long time.
A new brand name, "Seki Cut", includes many of the interesting producers in Seki City.
 
Are there any other knives other then usa that are well made ? I
Click to expand...

Is this a trick question?:rolleyes:

As noted, many knives "usa" or otherwise are made in Japan.

There are lots of areas of the world with a long tradition of blade-making. Why should they suddenly stop making well-made knives after centuries? Just because some of them have quite low standards of living compared to the US, and a lot of cheapo stuff gets made there because of low labor costs, doesn't mean that nobody makes a quality blade anymore.

Try Kellam knives for some Scandinavian knives for instance. Or Ragweed Forge sells some perfectly usable Scandinavian production models that are well put together with nice sheaths. Roselli also looks to have some nice forged stuff, and produces some interesting steels.

That's one little corner of the world.

If by "well-made" you mean "handles of indestructable man-made materials, the latest in-vogue steel, and kydex sheath" or aren't willing to apply a little finish yourself, like re-profiling an edge or sanding and oiling a wood handle, or can't stand to see an occasional forging mark then yes, a lot of knives made elswhere don't fit that description. But some do, if that's ones preference.
 
Other than USA ?.

Besides Scandinavia, Seki and Toledo that have been mentioned, there´s also Sheffield England, Solingen Genrmany, Thiers France, just to name a few, where good knives are made and have been made for centuries.
 
How about Portland, Oregon, the knife making center of the U.S.? Benchmade, Leatherman, Kershaw, Al Mar, Gerber, Columbia River just to name a few.
 
I'm sure you guys are right , I'm still learning about knives . I know little about spanish knives or the others menitioned . I was thinking of getting a muela , the combat model . Looks pretty kewl.
Just to check out some new areas :)
 
I have one Aïtor jungle king and a Cudeman (+/- Buck 110 style)
The blade is not bad but must often be sharped, and rarely razor cutting.
For the Aïtor, the hollow handle is extremely thin and poor compared
to Randall 18 or Al mar green berets.
If I must compare the Cudeman to the Buck or the Cold stell Voyager
I will say 1/10 for the first and 9/10 for the seconds
Don't spend more than 30 box for the Jungle king and 10 for the Cudeman

"Are there any other knives other then usa that are well made ? If so what are they ?"

What about, Marttiini, and the others try this link
http://members.lycos.nl/knifelinks/
Not all are great but you'll find some
 
I bought three Aitor knives when I was new to knife collecting, because I liked the designs and bought their claim that their stainless steel was better than 440C. I have not actually used any of them so I cannot comment on performance.

However, not long ago I saw a post by a member who bought an Aitor and said the blade broke easily. I believe this was one of the large bolo types.
 
The Aitor that I used to have was a large bolo type and I enjoyed it very much. I carried it as a grunt, during family trips, used it for work occasionally, and it even saw some kitchen duty. I never had a problem with the edge, and I didn't baby it. If Aitor still produced that model I would buy another in a heartbeat. Of course, that was 25 years ago, maybe things have changed at the factory.
 
Years ago my father gave me an Aitor with a serrated spine, but it had no guard, right where you would place your thumb is where the serrations were.
My father was using it once, his hand slipped and those damn serrations sliced his thumb to the bone. Needless to say, it was one of the worst knife designs I've ever seen and dangerous.
Aside from it being lethal to the user, it was about as sharp as a hammer and could not get any sharper, the steel must have been hardened to 64, I'm not kidding.

That's my only experience with Aitor. I used to have a Muela as well, the small handle was olive drab zytel, blade was some kind of stainless with a slight recurve, hollow ground. It too had a serrated spine. It could get razor sharp, but did not hold an edge at all. It was only $19.99 though, so for the money it was an okay knife.
 
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