Wife wants a knife! Need your help.

dsvirsky

dsvirsky

Joined
Aug 2, 1999
Messages
1,910
My wife just asked me to help her find a knife! Okay, it's for some sort of New Age nonsense, rather than actual daily use, but it's a start.

Specifically. she wants an upswept blade somwhere in the 2 to 3 inch range with a white handle -- no plastic, something like ivory micarta, mother of pearl, or bone. Fixed or folder, doesn't matter. Price preferably under $100 (my specification, not hers). A good example, except for price, would be the William Henry Persian in either the Diamond, Pearl, or Rainbow series.

Thanks in advance.

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Dave

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of More Knives
 
Dave if my wife asked for a knife WH, is the way I would go, I might even have to get myself a matching one (or one just a little bigger) my wife might even think that was sweet.

As an alternative, it's not an upwept blade but the BM 330 Mel Parde with pearl scales is very nice.
 
Hmmm . . . A William Henry T08 in pearl and nickel silver would be nice, but a bit over the price limit. . . . so surprise her!
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New age stuff ain't my cup of herbal tea either, but it sounds like she's looking for a "bolline," which would be a white(ish) handled knife, used, for instance, for harvesting herbs, and it should take a decent edge. Contrast the "athame," usually a black-handled dagger that's kept dull because it is only used to direct psychic energy - "cutting air" in the physical plane.

Ivory micarta is itself close to being "plastic," since it's a laminate of paper and epoxy resin.

Would a light-colored wood like birch be acceptable? If so, there are a lot of small Scandinavian and Finnish knives that might work. Here's one that's longer than 3" and clip-pointed instead of upswept, but it is well under the price limit, so if she doen't like it you have a useful knockabout carbon steel working knife: Frosts-Sweden 137
A bit more money gets "nicer" variations on the same theme.

"Ragnar" of www.ragweedforge.com also specializes in "northern" sorts of knives, and has a lot of "new age" customers as well as the creatively anachronistic sort, so he might have some useful suggestions.

If a curved "clip point" qualifies as "upswept," there may be some choices among stag-handled factory knives, where one could grind away a bit of material if one thought the surface was too dark. The stag or light maple handled Marbles Fieldcraft is again about a half an inch longer than specifications, but the price is on target, and it has a certain "traditional" appeal.

For smaller size and less money, in 440A steel, Bear MGC makes a 2 5/8" stag handled upswept hunter - the BC596. It looks like it would require filing away a lot some dark surface to make it off-white.

I'm trying to think of a production upswept or clip-point folder in natural bone . . . .

If it doesn't have to be a lockback, and generic "surgical stainless" is OK, I spotted a pearl-handled Case 829 "Texas Toothpick" with a 3" slim and slightly upswept blade for under $100 at KnifeCenter.

Another possiblity - you may be able to find a custom maker who can do a small stag or bone handled fixed blade to her specifications, with a "working" finish, for somewhere in the $100 neighborhood.

Good hunting . . .

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- JKM
www.chaicutlery.com
AKTI Member # SA00001
 
If stag would be OK (you could sand off any brown and, if needed, bleach it white), check out Blowout knives. They show a Linder #LI80109 fixed blade knife with a 3-1/2" s/s upswept blade and stag handle, with sheath for $36.

If she's not in a hurry for it, there is a site called www.boline.com that is supposed to carry the type of knife she wants. But they are not up and running yet, and they don't say when they will be.

One more thought. If she would be interested in a miniature, Bob Tice makes them. Check www.bobticeknives.com and look under "custom knives" and "B". The one that has the upswept blade is about 3" total length. I think it was about $60.

Good Luck.

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Dave
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If at first you don't succeed, go buy a knife.

[This message has been edited by Columbo (edited 03-06-2000).]
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to give WH some more thought, since I really want a CF Lancet for myself.

James/Columbo,
You guys are absolutely correct; my wife is specifically looking for a boline.

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Dave

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of More Knives
 
Dsvirsky,
I think it wouldn't be the worst idea to specify a bit more particularly what kind of knife your wife needs, or in other words - what she is going to do with this knife. Should it be:
  • Kitchen knife?
  • Concealed carry knife for self defense in urban environment?
  • Outdoors/camping knife?
  • Combat knife?
  • Survival knife?
Folding knife or fixed blade - it's by far not the same and it simply can't to be "no matter which". It can be pretty tricky to carry in concealment a large bowie fixed blade, especially for lady. Also it can be pretty tricky to chop with a small utility folder like SPYDERCO Michael Walker Lightweight in outdoors conditions
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In my opinion the specification of these options is much more important than blade shape or handle material.
BTW, white ivory micarta in fact is no more than plastic, please don't confuse it with true ivory.

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Sergiusz Mitin
gunwriter
Lodz, Poland

[This message has been edited by Sergiusz Mitin (edited 03-08-2000).]
 
Sergiusz,
Thanks for your interest.

If you re-read James Mattis' post, you'll see that he accurately identified what my wife is looking for: a boline. It's used for light work such as harvesting herbs. Fixed blade is preferable, but there are legal advantages to a locking folder.

I did discuss with my wife whether ivory micarta is okay, and her feeling is that since it's paper and [epoxy] resin, rather than some injection-molded plastic made from petroleum byproducts, micarta would be acceptable. Bone would be preferable, but only if it's from an animal that was killed for food; pre-historic ivory is also an option, as is a light colored wood.

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Dave

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of More Knives

[This message has been edited by dsvirsky (edited 03-08-2000).]
 
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