Why no William Henry chat?

M

Mountain-Aire

Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
33
I like collecting knives, but i really like chatting about them in forums. We all talk about the steel, etc...etc.. Id like to start collecting william henry knives but there are no forums to chat about them. Why is this? Its also very rare that william henry is ever even mentioned on any forum. I know they make great knives, so what gives?
 
Saw a mention of them in the EDC - what's in your pocket thread the other day. A couple of his designs are definitely on my wish list
 
They probably aren't mentioned too often since many folks use them simply as man-jewelry for suit occasions and as such don't use them often. There's no doubt that they're fantastic knives, but out of the goodly number of William Henry owners I've bumped into in real life only one man actually used his. It was a nice change of pace to see packing tape residue all over one of those gorgeous blades. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
They probably aren't mentioned too often since many folks use them simply as man-jewelry for suit occasions and as such don't use them often. There's no doubt that they're fantastic knives, but out of the goodly number of William Henry owners I've bumped into in real life only one man actually used his. It was a nice change of pace to see packing tape residue all over one of those gorgeous blades. :D
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I tend to agree with this statement. I carry my only William Henry when I have to dress up for special occassions or at other times when I like to carry a Gentleman's knife. It's seen a little use, but not much. They are beautiful knives though, and I'm positive that they are built solidly enough to EDC.
 
That's a good point, about how they're pretty much purely viewed as man-jewelry, but I think it also boils down to the notion that everyone pretty much knows what to expect from William Henry. You're going to get a product that's exactly true to its intended description, it's going to be nearly flawless in fit & finish, and its performance under duress isn't really ever questioned.
 
Yup, it's a matter of being a high-priced knife, with limited tactical or practical duty on a day-to-day basis. That's not saying it couldn't handle any real duty. It's just that there are cheaper ways to get by.

I actually have one that I carry regularly, and it shows. I bought it because I saved my pennies (almost literally!) for over a year. It's a beautiful, functional, awesomely built piece of art, and I love it. At just over $500, it needs to serve a purpose, otherwise, I couldn't justify it, at my income level.

If you compare the quality and price to a Sebenza, it's there, its just that the WH doesn't see the heavy use that Chris Reeve's stuff does. If more people actually used the WHs they owned, we'd see a lot more talk about them.

Spread the word! They make GREAT users!:D

Daniel
 
They are some of the best looking knives I've ever seen, and they were among the first to use ZDP 189, IIRC. But they are pricey. Not saying I don't want one, but there is a line, and the more expensive, the further back in the line they have to stand.... :D
 
I think that they are more like jewelry than knives which is not particularly popular on these forums. A store near me carries a bunch of them, and although I am sure they are quality, they are not something id drop a large sum of cash on. In fact I find the gems and colors and such quite ugly to my eye
 
Its funny how everyone always talkes about hard use knives. In all my years of collecting striders and such ive yet to ever chop a 2x4 in half or pry open an oil drum. I know we all have that mcguiver in us, but to be honest the most my striders have ever seen was opening a hot dog package or trimming a thread from my jeans. Wait, wait there was a garden hose i cut in half back in 2004, eummm, never mind i used my swiss army on that one.
 
One of the local brick and mortar knife stores carries several models of them - and it appears most are sold to collectors.

These range in price from $500 - $1250+.

Too rich for my blood.

I think they are great looking knives - but I like tactical / hard use knives, and these just don't float my boat.

I think of all the great knives I could buy if I had $1250 to spend right now - wow. Hard to make one purchase when I could probably make 10-12 purchases.

I think thats why they are just not discussed that much.
 
I have an earlier liner-lock version from back when they were in the $300 range. Mine is strictly a dress knife for those few times I wear a suit. Most it has cut is paper or tape.
 
They have the new E6 "EDC" series that are $250. The blades are the cheaper D2 steel instead of the fancier stuff, but otherwise they look pretty cool to me.
 
I recently picked up a William Henry and started EDCing it at the office. I picked it up for a few reasons:
I wanted it
Very light weight
Looks great (IMO)
Blade is over 3" (my preferred blade size)
I do not need a "hard use, tough as nails, cannot be broken, will survive the Nuclear WAR" knife for office work
Non-knife people react different to it than my other EDCs. (If you want to discuss this point I am willing to talk about it in another thread.)

Yes it is more expensive than most of the knives in my collection. It is also a great knife, that fits my needs and looks great doing it. So far I have no regrets picking one up. I also have no intention to let it collect dust on the shelf.
 
I don't like the direction they've gone. I respect the company and they do good work, but the old, relatively simple, Lancet and Spearpoint were great knives for casual office carry. They were appropriately priced, nicely finished, cut like lasers, and they were "users."
 
I wants one....I thinks they're pretty.


Besides I would feel like an idiot spending that amount of cash on a knife and then not using it.
 
Mountain-Aire said:
Id like to start collecting william henry knives but there are no forums to chat about them. Why is this?
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Probably two major reasons:
1. There are not that many people into gents knives
2. WH are too expensive for most of the people, including me.

I love some of them, i would say some of lower priced models, still just cannot justify spending around $500-750 for the knife.
 
I had a Titan Lancett (I think it's called) and it just seemed way too fragile. So I sold it. I prefer the Mnandi. So far I haven't seen a gents knife that can match it.
 
I bought a couple a few years back just to take a look.No question they are superb quality and beautiful but i just couldn't see me using them and quickly sold them on.
 
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