[The Cultural Woodsman]

Anybody have much experience with this brand? Designed in Germany now made in South Africa.....hard to go wrong for the price but I remember a fellow telling me that about my first car....lol

I like the look of them....but are they workers?

[Kager]

Hi,
I was just nine years old when I was given my first pocket knife, it was an old Okapi lockback :) with a 3 " blade I'm guessing its 30- 40 yrs old now, it is of German Manufacture , I have it here in front of me at the moment, It has a distinctive design and the blade has a full flat grind. On the one hand its obviously cheaply made and I have had to do a little work on the peculiar mechanism for Unlocking the blade... the "Locking" mechanism is still great. The blade steel seems to be high quality, in fact I would rank this knife as being one of the sharpest I have in my sizeable collection.
This baby sure brings back some good memories of those carefree childhood days!

Sorry I can't help you with your current choice however as they are undoubtedly a different knife today.

My personal advice is to hold off until you can personally examine the knife. There few things quite as disappointing a forking out good money on a bad knife.

If you are after a fixed blade, have you considered making your own? I haven't looked back since I started making mine. They aren't that difficult, and the materials needed can be picked up dirt cheap.

Regards
Josh

[The Cultural Woodsman]

I was more looking for a companion folder for the small fixed blade of Russian steel that I carry for any trip to the woods.

I have Opinels and love them, but I am always looking for "something different" but a dependable working knife. I like carbon steel in a pocket knife for various woods and wood working related reasons.

How do you make your versions of a fixed blade? I have experimented here and there but must say I am very impressed with the Russian forged knives....but heck I am always eager to learn and try about anything.

[geim druth]

As a matter of fact, I gave one to my son yesterday. It's a nice looking knife and seems to be well made. The mechanism does not lock the blade completely, moderate pressure on the back of the blade will close it. Overall fit is very good. Time will tell how well it stands up, but for the price it is a great knife.

[hagar]

It's the Saturday night special of assault knifes. Symbol of tsotsis (african thugs). I spend many a night on patrol with the South African Police back in the 70's, and almost every criminal we arrested, had an Okapi. Not bad knifes, like AK47's they are cheaply made, but work.

[Kager]

Hi,
I usually just use pre tempered carbon steel that way I don't have to worry about heat treating etc. but I am currently making a waved folder that will have a 440c Stainless blade that will require heat treatment.
For a working knife I usually use old Power hacksaw blades or circular saw blades. (which are basically free) Cut to desired shape with 1mm thick cuttoff discs in an angle grinder (they slice fast and minimise heat) and then grind the main angles for the edge (preferably as thin as possible,( keeping everything cold with constant water cooling. Diamond hone the rough spots and use 1000 grit emery paper to sharpen the edge and leather strop for a final finish.
They are not perfect but they are howling sharp, Only the other month I was involved in a minor car crash and we needed to remove the side panel for the rear bumper off this guy's car. I fetched one of my fixed blades and just sliced it off like it was made of butter. Judging from the suprised comments/looks, I doubt anyone there had seen a knife so sharp.;)
The down side to these knives is that they don't hold a edge as well as a proper knife steel. But they are easier to resharpen.

Regards
Josh

[RDF]

Kager, mentioned using "OLD" circular saw blades or power hacksaw blades.

It is important that you use real old ones as modern power blades tend to be made of a bi-metallic composition. The first .10 to .15" measured from the cutting-edge inward is made of a high quality steel heat treated to a high hardness while the rest tends to be of a more modest steel. On some of these blades the material is carbide.

I can't answer for how these current blades work as knives but I wanted folks to know about their construction.

RDF

[Kager]

RDF; Thanks for clarifying that.

I have made a few knives out of the Bi metal Hacksaw blades, While not the best stuff I have used, it is OK, It is a good starter for the budding knifemaker. You need to grind a very thin edge and strop it to get that freaky sharp blade:cool: They do tend to loose that edge fairly quick when cutting certain types of materials. The up side is that they won't back down on harder materials. I work for an engineering firm and I don't hesitate to use them to trim steel swarf etc.

regards,
Josh

[shecky]

They're fine users. The carbon steel blades take a very good edge. However, you'll need to put that edge on them, since they come with almost no edge at all, a very rough, obtuse grind.

I have two, the large lockring version, and the smaller sheepsfoot blade slipjoint model. They are crude in construction, using a centuries-old design, with nicely stout backsprings. The lockring version has a sort of ratcheting sound on opening the blade. There is a little bit of a trick to closing them safely, but it's not difficult. It's also quite large for a folding pocketknife, over 9". However, it's thin and lightweight, and very pocketable. They have a very old country navaja look about them that seems to draw interest even from folks who generally don't carry knives.

Funny, it is the Saturday night special of knives. I recall doing a Google search once on "Okapi knife" and finding half the hits were crime reports in Africa or the Caribbean where someone was sliced, usually to death, by an Okapi wielding assailant.

I got both from Ragweed Forge (http://www.ragweedforge.com/HistoricalKnifeCatalog.html#okapi).

[tellner]

Okapis are your basic crude, flimsy pocket knife. Their real virtue is price. If you're poor and need a blade they are cheap enough to be in your price range.