Why no William Henry chat?

I EDC a William Henry Tom Brown Quest "survival" knife. I think it is the largest folder that W/H makes. I modified it to suit my needs. I added a pocket clip and a damascus blade. The core of the 3 1/8" blade is ZDP=189 hardened to 67Rc. The 6/4 Ti handle has been skeletonized on the inside to reduce weight. The thing weighs 59gm. The button blade release works a lot like the axis lock, but it is not ambidextrous. This is a lot of knife in a small package.
 
I have had upwards of 12 different WH knives in all the different designs.
Apparently, I must be wealthy because I have carried and used all of them.

I recently reduced my "herd" of WH's down to three of the B5 "Monarch" model.

It is the only design I now carry on a regular basis - but they were all excellent folders and the button lock action is on of the best locks for my uses.

Exemplary fit and finish, good edge retention and unique construction make them one of a kind. Their customer service rivals the best of them, including Chris Reeve Knives.

Buy one and you'll know.
 
I have long admired some of their less ostentatious models but currently they cost as much as many customs. I wouldnt turn one down by any means, but you have to have the means to buy one.
 
Mountain-Aire said:
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?
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William Henry knives are mostly marketed towards business men & novice art knife collectors. Neither of which are a bad thing. For the business man who seeks a little man jewelry they certainly will fit the bill. For the new and novice collectors wanting a ltd.ed or custom look and name at an affordable price WH offers several models at reasonable step stone price. A great many manufacturers are currently doing the same with semi-custom pieces (using well known knife makers for design and option ideas), so obviously the demand is there. For quality WH is a fair to good product -for a widely considered mid to low end non-user knife. Prices start at approx $375 for the Kestrel with sapphire thumb stud etc.



That being said...In hindsight would I recommend them as an investment worthy art knife? Absolutely not. They simply don't increase nor rarely even hold in value, in addition the quality control lacks due to the volume produced.
 
Most of us don't have the money to spend $1000 for a knife that will be used a couple of dozen times for formal occasions......Of course collecting them would be another thing, but probably most of us are broke from buying toys lol.
 
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William Henry makes nice knives, I don't think there is any disputing that. But to be honest, most of their offerings are just too blingy for my tastes. And I don't think I need to tell anyone here that their stuff is expensive. For the price I'd rather get a custom slipjoint.
 
I haven't noticed any quality control issues in the three W/H knives that I own or in the many that I have handled at knife shows.
 
I carry a B12 TZ a lot. I use it as well. I dont use it for cutting wire or anything over the top but I use it. I have found that Titanium scratches very easily and ZPD 189 dulls very slowly. I would love to own a few more but since my primary area of collection is firearms and most William Henry's above the B12 TZ model cost as much and often much more than a firearm, I havent pursued them much.
 
mikeymoto said:
26 posts and no pics!? :eek:
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I only have this friction folder and one of the Ti money clips with Iron wood inlay.
They make some nice knives but they are for the most part way too busy looking for me. I like to look of the Persian they do but have never had a shot at the plain jane one. It always seems to be the one with mokume and black lip pearl handle with inset emeralds and saphires with...........

Any way, heres a pic of a nice plain one :p:thumbup:

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mongomondo said:
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.
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Hey Mongo,

Any thoughts on this? looking at one or the mnandi.

Thanks
 
I like the size and shape of the EDC series. The carbon fiber inlayed ones especially. Really smooth action (as always) and a good deep-carry pocket clip. Kind of hard to go wrong!
 
92degrees said:
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."
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I agree, I bought a P-10, (Pearl) Lancet when they first came out, probably the single most expensive production knife I own, I do EDC it but only in a more sophisticated environment.

It's my "Sunday go to meetin'" knife, special occasion goin' to a weddin' knife, still I to am more surprised that they don't generate more discussions.
 
Like many in this discussion I have a very nice WH but have yet to use it. To be honest I don't think it's ever been used and I purchased it second hand. I aways wanted one but after I received it I quickly realized that I'd probably never use it. I've caught myself offering it in a couple trades because of this. The knife has no fault at all, fit and finish are second to none but it's too nice or something.
 
Haze said:
I only have this friction folder and one of the Ti money clips with Iron wood inlay.
They make some nice knives but they are for the most part way too busy looking for me. I like to look of the Persian they do but have never had a shot at the plain jane one. It always seems to be the one with mokume and black lip pearl handle with inset emeralds and saphires with...........

Any way, heres a pic of a nice plain one :p:thumbup:

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this is their best design imo, simple classy lightweight, no lock so legal where i live... i almost caught one at a great price some weeks ago. just a couple minutes too late, i was sick !

if you ever want to sell it .... ;)
 
jdboy said:
Like many in this discussion I have a very nice WH but have yet to use it. To be honest I don't think it's ever been used and I purchased it second hand. I aways wanted one but after I received it I quickly realized that I'd probably never use it. I've caught myself offering it in a couple trades because of this. The knife has no fault at all, fit and finish are second to none but it's too nice or something.
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I guess I'm one of the fortunate few who don't have to use a knife to justify owning it. I can buy knives to use, buy knives to display, or buy knives to put away and not have to deal with a single "ought to" in any of my purchase decisions. What a freedom that is for knifenut like me. :)
 
jec006 said:
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
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My problem with WH is that they are just too damn beautiful to use and risk damaging. KInd of like a new GT3-RS with a dent in the door or a beard on
the Mona Lisa---just can't have it. At least my Sebbies can go back to CRK
for refurbishment if I screw them up--does WH offer a similar service?
 
CARRERA50 said:
My problem with WH is that they are just too damn beautiful to use and risk damaging. KInd of like a new GT3-RS with a dent in the door or a beard on
the Mona Lisa---just can't have it. At least my Sebbies can go back to CRK
for refurbishment if I screw them up--does WH offer a similar service?
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Thats a good point, given the detail work I don't see how they could refurbish them...

wonder if CRK can also redo the mnandi as I am looking for one of those.
 
udtjim said:
I am 60 Plus years old and have never seen one.:confused:
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I am not even 40 and I own 6 W-H knives and a pen... ;)

On the dutch knifeforum (messenforum.nl) we have a "William Henry" subforum.

Most people see them as "jewelry", but in my opinion the B30 Gentac model makes a very light & handy EDC folder.

Some pics:

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Kind regards,

Jos
 
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