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which is better William Henry or Chris Reeve knives
- Thread starter zeping
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You have to look at both from an asthetics and mechanical view.
William henry are linerlocks or buttonlocks, Chris Reeve are mostly framelocks.
Do you want a Gents folder or something that you can beat the crap out of?
One's not better than the other, they are different.
William henry are linerlocks or buttonlocks, Chris Reeve are mostly framelocks.
Do you want a Gents folder or something that you can beat the crap out of?
One's not better than the other, they are different.
I agree with striper28. I have a few of both. They are very different animals. William Henry is more for a dress up situation in my eyes. CRK are made to go to the moon and back. Fit & Finish will go to CRK all day long. If you are caught up in the tactical craze of what lock can survive a bomb blast, then buy a Sebenza. If you wear a suit all day long and never leave your corner office, buy a WHK or a dressed up Sebbie. I like and use them both in different situations. Hope this helps, but most likely you will end up with one of each.
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I have owned both, W-H and CRK are similiar in that they both offer very high levels of fit and finish, tighter tolerances than many customs in fact.
In my limited view, CRK knives are designed as working tools, form follows function (except for the darned round handles on the one-piece line).
W-H knives are very sharp, well ground, precisoin cutting tools. They are also functional pieces of art. While they are wonderful knives, their functional scope of work is much more limited than the CRK folders.
Additionally, the CRK line has fixed blade knives that cover a much ahrsher range of use than anything the W-H knives are capable of.
That being said, the Brown designed knife (Quest?) is one from W-H I would LOVE to try out.
In my limited view, CRK knives are designed as working tools, form follows function (except for the darned round handles on the one-piece line).
W-H knives are very sharp, well ground, precisoin cutting tools. They are also functional pieces of art. While they are wonderful knives, their functional scope of work is much more limited than the CRK folders.
Additionally, the CRK line has fixed blade knives that cover a much ahrsher range of use than anything the W-H knives are capable of.
That being said, the Brown designed knife (Quest?) is one from W-H I would LOVE to try out.
I recently decided to buy a smaller knife for suit or dress pants and sportscoat occasions, and came down to William Henry or Chris Reeve.
I chose the Mnandi simply because I am left handed and it makes no sense to buy a knife with only a right-hand opening stud, ala William Henry. In fact, I refuse to buy any one-hand opening knife that does not have either an opening hole or double studs.
Since I was going to have to use two hands to open it anyway, the Mnandi made a lot more sense.
I chose the Mnandi simply because I am left handed and it makes no sense to buy a knife with only a right-hand opening stud, ala William Henry. In fact, I refuse to buy any one-hand opening knife that does not have either an opening hole or double studs.
Since I was going to have to use two hands to open it anyway, the Mnandi made a lot more sense.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
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- 4,761
I've been much more impressed with the overall asthetic of many a WH. I was never that impressed with CRK folders, visually, but the WHs, some of them at least, blue me out of the water.
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I've never been a big fan of thumbstuds; they always seemed like a useful but ugly design hack. That's why I passed up on a WH lancet my first knife show and got a Mnandi. It's also why I passed up on a Scott Cook Lochsa on the table, but I don't talk about that because it pisses me off so g--d--- MUCH. GAHR!!!. Sigh. What can you do, but get on the two year waiting list after coming to your senses.
That aside, I really really like my Mnandi as it is built like tank, but shaped and weighted like a ferrari. The WH's I've looked at have also been very sturdy, but didn't give the "tank" like impression. The things that the CR knives has over the WH knives are: the bushing+washer system which will basically last longer than you, their hollow grind blades with the thicker spines for more strength, their crazy strong Ti handles, and their unsurprassed fit and finish. The WH are nice, but use synthetic washers to get that additional bit of smoothness in the pivot. The things that WH has over the CR are: the smoothness of the pivot
, the thinner slicing blades, the variety of handle materials and designs, and their generally lighter weight. Of course my Mnandi is around 1.3 ounces but it's the exception to the rule.
I'd say "pick your poison" but both companies produce top rate knives. Pick your pleasure
That aside, I really really like my Mnandi as it is built like tank, but shaped and weighted like a ferrari. The WH's I've looked at have also been very sturdy, but didn't give the "tank" like impression. The things that the CR knives has over the WH knives are: the bushing+washer system which will basically last longer than you, their hollow grind blades with the thicker spines for more strength, their crazy strong Ti handles, and their unsurprassed fit and finish. The WH are nice, but use synthetic washers to get that additional bit of smoothness in the pivot. The things that WH has over the CR are: the smoothness of the pivot
, the thinner slicing blades, the variety of handle materials and designs, and their generally lighter weight. Of course my Mnandi is around 1.3 ounces but it's the exception to the rule.I'd say "pick your poison" but both companies produce top rate knives. Pick your pleasure