[Geech]

I purchased a knife cheaply (Around $20) probably 6 years ago because I liked the look of it. I never did much with it, and I just found it again recently. I think it's probably junk, but I was wondering if there are any telltale signs that would let me know for sure if it's worthless or if it might actually be a decent knife.

[scbair]

What brand is it? Most quality manufacturers are pretty well known to knife aficionados. If it's a folder (your post didn't specify folder or fixed blade), when open, is the blade "tight" or does it wobble around under finger pressure? Are the parts (blade, guard, bolster, handle, pommel) fitted well, or does it look like Mongo finished the knife with a piece of cement block?

[Don Gwinn]

Any markings? Description of what it looks like?

This would lead you astray with some brands, but an obviously-buffed mirror finish is one thing that really turns me off now purely because it appears on so much junk. This is especially true if the buffer was allowed to round the edges.

[hillbilly]

Also, can you sharpen it to where it will shave hair off your arm?

hillbilly

[Geech]

Sorry, I just realized that details were conspicuously absent from my post! It's a fixed blade that's almost exactly 7 inches from hilt to tip and 11 1/8 overall. It came with a leather sheath that's colored a sort of deep red. The color almost looks like it has been painted on somehow, but its held up pretty well for basically being ignored for six years. There's a 'stylized' (read: not realistic) image of a deer pressed into the front of the sheath. The 'fit and finish' aren't great, it seems like it's intended for utility rather than decoration, but I wouldn't really describe them as bad. The blade is somewhat broad, being about 2 inches at its widest point, and it's not stamped with any brand although it is stamped 'PAKISTAN' which does not inspire any confidence. The guard looks like brass, and the handle is made of some kind of wood I cannot identify.

[Geech]

The finish on the blade is shiny, but I don't know if I'd call it buffed. The edges aren't rounded.

Hillbilly, haven't tried that. It looks like it needs to be sharpened before it'll be any good, and I'm not sure if it's even worth trying to get a good blade on it. I don't even think I have a whetstone lying around.

[scbair]

"Pakistan" on the blade indicates it ain't really a knife; it just looks like one. The Pakistani-made blades are of soft metal, and typically can't be sharpened at all. If it does take any kind of cutting edge :what: it will lose it cutting butter!

Sorry, but for $20 you can obtain decent cutlery, if you shop around. I have one Spyderco Catcherman and one Cold Steel Trail Guide; each cost $20 at a gun & knife show, and they're excellent folders. Read the forums a bit, learn the well-respected cutlery firms, and you can choose a tool that will perform as advertised.:D

[Geech]

I figured that would be the case. I'm not actually in the market for a knife right now, I was just curious about what I had.

[hso]

While 99.99% of the Pakistani knives are poor quality construction with even poorer quality steel a reasonably good knife sneeks out from time to time.

Look a the bevel on the cutting edge. It's a good sign if there is a high degree of symetry. If the width of the bevel the same from guard to tip it's another good sign. Sharpen the knife to a good utiltiy edge, not hair popping, just so that you get a good clean cut on the draw through 4 or 5 layers of newspaper and then cut 12 inch strips of card board with it. If you get more than 6 cuts, good. More than 10 - great. Resharpen and do it again. If you get roughly the same number of cuts and it's more than 6 you may have a keeper.

You already know the odds are against the knife, but you might get lucky.

[Jim March]

Every once in a while you see a Pakistani piece that was hand-made in the back country out of old auto leaf spring or similar...forged (versus stamped out of sheet and then partially ground like the junk). Worst case, recycled railroad track, which ain't that bad (but auto springs ROCK! and are closely related to Cold Steel's "Carbon V").

Spotting a hand-forged low-cost blade is easy...it'll look like it's been hammered on and not quite all of the resulting dings polished out. Basically, if everything about it looks hand-made, that's a good sign. (Don't worry about the sheath, that was probably done elsewhere...genuine village blacksmiths in Pakistan, India and Nepal will do the steel, usually somebody else does sheaths.) If the blade isn't stainless, that's a VERY good sign...Pakistani shops using stainless almost universally use the crappiest stainless grades imaginable, basically fit for butter-knives :rolleyes: and THEN the heat-treat sucks :barf:.

I don't think I've ever seen a stainless Pakistani knife that was worth a dang. There MIGHT be such a thing but I've never heard of one.