Help me find a nice damascus steel folding knife

M

martsumoto

Joined
Jan 20, 2017
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23
Hi guys!

Since i was a kid I always had a thing for knives, my grandfather gave me my first swiss multi tool and I still have it. Many moons after that I still love knives, specially folding ones but I'm not into multi tools any more but single blades. I started my collection recently, nothing fancy but cool knives bought abroad that I will present soon. My favorites right now are a couple of Spanish made knives one is made by hand by an artisan in Albacete in "cuchilleria exposito" and the other by Muela in Ciudad Real. I also like my Gerber Tactical assisted tanto.

I'm more into exotic wood handles but like a bit of everything. I add one or two new knives each year to my collection and with my birthday coming soon well, it's an opportunity if you get me...
I would like a decent damascus steel blade, I don't mind where is it made as long as it is real damascus steel and very well made. My budget would be around $130 or less.

So far my first option is a Kershaw 1840DAM Shallot
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/KS...-damascus-plain-blade-stainless-steel-handles

But I would prefer wood handles.

I was also looking at mcusta.

Any good bang for your buck suggestion would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time
 
You will have a tough time finding a good damascus knife with wood handles for less than $130. However, Böker has a resonable nice one that fits your bill. Its a liner lock, has a damascus blade, and uses cocobolo wood for the handle. Böker makes pretty good knives but do not buy their Magnum line of knives, they are not worth it.
 
Mcusta is such a great brand. Frankly I don't think they get enough attention for the degree of excellence they bring to the game. The knives are all unique and beautiful. The fit and finish is superb and personally I have never found a sharper knife out of the box.
 
Your price point really limits your options for both damascus + wood, as both tend to drive up prices.

That said, I have had 2 great experiences with Mcusta, and their Tactility knife in Cocobolo wood falls right above your range, but I think it's right up your alley, and I would not hesitate to recommend them.
 
Yeah, at this price point your best bet is a Mcusta. I have a Mcusta Tactility in Damascus / Corian and it's a fine knife, although its a little beyond your price range. The level of fit and finish is a little beneath the price tag, but that's often the case with knives imported from Japan. I went with the Tactility model because it's the only one they offer with a tip up clip. If you're ok with tip down or no clip you can also check out the Basic, Take, Kasumi or Gentleman's Folder. Those all come in with damascus at around the $130 mark.

One comment about the Mcusta Damascus: in my example it's fairly dull. The contrast between dark and light isn't as dramatic as I've seen on much cheaper damascus blades like the Kershaw Skyline 1760DAM.

Speaking of Skyline, that damascus Skyline would be a great choice but I've had trouble getting custom wood scales made for a Skyline before. The stock scales are so thin that aftermarket scale-makers seem to have trouble with such a thin piece of wood.

As someone else mentioned, avoid the Boker Magnum line. They offer several damascus/wood combinations but I have a feeling you'll be disappointed with whatever you get.

If money were no object, the logical answer would be a Chris Reeve Mnandi or Sebenza!
 
grennings23 said:
You will have a tough time finding a good damascus knife with wood handles for less than $130. However, Böker has a resonable nice one that fits your bill. Its a liner lock, has a damascus blade, and uses cocobolo wood for the handle. Böker makes pretty good knives but do not buy their Magnum line of knives, they are not worth it.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I was told their magnums are not good. I think I know the one you are mentioning and it is from their Plus series which are also made in China and Taiwan. Are they much better than the magnums? I would like a german Boker but the ones I like are around $380
 
The plus line is significantly better. And unfortunately for 130 this is probably the best you will get. Certainly not bad, but not the best. Probably perfect for a collection and from what I hear it's still a nice knife


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Lapedog said:
Mcusta is such a great brand. Frankly I don't think they get enough attention for the degree of excellence they bring to the game. The knives are all unique and beautiful. The fit and finish is superb and personally I have never found a sharper knife out of the box.
Click to expand...

Great, that is really good to know. In my book and I'm not an expert, Japanese steel and craftmanship is superb!
 
Hackenslash said:
Yeah, at this price point your best bet is a Mcusta. I have a Mcusta Tactility in Damascus / Corian and it's a fine knife, although its a little beyond your price range. The level of fit and finish is a little beneath the price tag, but that's often the case with knives imported from Japan. I went with the Tactility model because it's the only one they offer with a tip up clip. If you're ok with tip down or no clip you can also check out the Basic, Take, Kasumi or Gentleman's Folder. Those all come in with damascus at around the $130 mark.

One comment about the Mcusta Damascus: in my example it's fairly dull. The contrast between dark and light isn't as dramatic as I've seen on much cheaper damascus blades like the Kershaw Skyline 1760DAM.

Speaking of Skyline, that damascus Skyline would be a great choice but I've had trouble getting custom wood scales made for a Skyline before. The stock scales are so thin that aftermarket scale-makers seem to have trouble with such a thin piece of wood.

As someone else mentioned, avoid the Boker Magnum line. They offer several damascus/wood combinations but I have a feeling you'll be disappointed with whatever you get.

If money were no object, the logical answer would be a Chris Reeve Mnandi or Sebenza!
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the input, I'm glad I asked!
 
Boker makes some nice, affordable ones. One thing though, I carried one every day for a few weeks in my pocket and it started to show some rust. You may want to get a leather shirt and wear it on your belt.
 
I remember seeing a fox knives wood handle Damasteel blade. Looks like it would be a great EDC, but I believe it was a limited run. Still, might be able to find one.
 
I would also suggest MCusta. I had a Basic and a Tactility. I did move them on, but only because I did not care for the clips and the Basic just did not fit my hand well. Not a thing wrong with the blades, and both of the ones I had were ridiculously sharp from the factory.

One thing: I don't know if the MCusta blades are "real" Damascus steel. It is some sort of layered steel, true, so it's not just etched or some sort of faux-Damascus. But I don't know it is "technically" Damascus steel. Looks pretty darn good to me, though.
 
Bigbluefish said:
I would also suggest MCusta. I had a Basic and a Tactility. I did move them on, but only because I did not care for the clips and the Basic just did not fit my hand well. Not a thing wrong with the blades, and both of the ones I had were ridiculously sharp from the factory.

One thing: I don't know if the MCusta blades are "real" Damascus steel. It is some sort of layered steel, true, so it's not just etched or some sort of faux-Damascus. But I don't know it is "technically" Damascus steel. Looks pretty darn good to me, though.
Click to expand...

Well since most of you agree that mcusta would be the best bang for my buck in this current budget situation I'm buying a basic. Let's see how it goes!
I will post once I get it :-)

Thank you all
 
Damascus, Wood and ~$130:

  • Mcusta has several
  • Boker Exskelibur II
  • Fox Elite
  • Buck n Bear has several
 
REAL DAMASCUS is not produced in any knife you can buy today. REAL DAMASCUS is nothing like what is called damascus on knives today. The real stuff is made from a special type of ingot steel that originates in India called wootz steel. Wootz steel has a small percentage of vanadium in it as well as carbon nanotubes which creates the wood grain pattern seen in real damascus/wootz/bulat steels. These additions to the steel give it superior properties. The recipie to produce this steel was lost in the sands of time.

These days what we call damascus is actually produced with an entirely different method. All modern damascus is produced by pattern welding. Pattern welding is another ancient tecnique for combining dissimilar metals. Pattern welding was once done because high quality metal was rare so smiths would twist brittle and hard steels with ductile and tough steels together. High quality steel was rare and expensive back then so to save it the smith would weld the high quality steel on just the cutting edge.

However even though we call pattern welded blades "damascus" today they are not related to real damascus. The only similarity is they both have the wavy pattern. Lamination is another technique which is unique all to its self. Steels like Sanmai are laminated steels. It is also possible to have Sanmai modern damascus where the outer layers are pattern welded and the inner layer is usually a harder more wear resistant steel which forms the cutting edge. Unlike true damascus the modern pattern welded damascus is largely cosmetic and does not have a real advantage over today's mono steels.

So Mcusta's damascus IS real damascus as by the definition of damascus today. It made with the same technique as all other "damascus"'blades on the market today. I have a Mcusta Yoroi which is made with Vg10 Sanmai. It is supposed to emulate the construction of laminated samurai swords and has a wavy line demarking where the Vg10 shows underneath the steel it is clad in. This is not damascus. My Mcusta Dragonfly DOES have modern damascus steel for it's blade.
 
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Lapedog said:
REAL DAMASCUS is not produced in any knife you can buy today. REAL DAMASCUS is nothing like what is called damascus on knives today. The real stuff is made from a special type of ingot steel that originates in India called wootz steel. Wootz steel has a small percentage of vanadium in it as well as carbon nanotubes which creates the wood grain pattern seen in real damascus/wootz/bulat steels. These additions to the steel give it superior properties. The recipie to produce this steel was lost in the sands of time.

These days what we call damascus is actually produced with an entirely different method. All modern damascus is produced by pattern welding. Pattern welding is another ancient tecnique for combining dissimilar metals. Pattern welding was once done because high quality metal was rare so smiths would twist brittle and hard steels with ductile and tough steels together. High quality steel was rare and expensive back then so to save it the smith would weld the high quality steel on just the cutting edge.

However even though we call pattern welded blades "damascus" today they are not related to real damascus. The only similarity is they both have the wavy pattern. Lamination is another technique which is unique all to its self. Steels like Sanmai are laminated steels. It is also possible to have Sanmai modern damascus where the outer layers are pattern welded and the inner layer is usually a harder more wear resistant steel which forms the cutting edge. Unlike true damascus the modern pattern welded damascus is largely cosmetic and does not have a real advantage over today's mono steels.

So Mcusta's damascus IS real damascus as by the definition of damascus today. It made with the same technique as all other "damascus"'blades on the market today. I have a Mcusta Yoroi which is made with Vg10 Sanmai. It is supposed to emulate the construction of laminated samurai swords and has a wavy line demarking where the Vg10 shows underneath the steel it is clad in. This is not damascus. My Mcusta Dragonfly DOES have modern damascus steel for it's blade.
Click to expand...


I get you, but actually Complutense University of Madrid discovered in an investigation the process to make real damascus steel in fact, they hold a patent for it.
So I tought some brands would ask complutense in order to produce it for their knives.

But everything you said is very interesting
 
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