Handmade Damascus Pocket Knife Wood Handle, Japanese Razor Folding Knives for Men Linner Lock,Snake Wood Damascus Blade Flipper Knife with Leather Sheath Camping Hiking

I dropped probably 50 different knives in my shopping cart before finally deciding on this one. The full Damascus handled knife was a strong contender but I preferred the beauty of the wood. The knife I received is flawless. It is tight, clean, perfectly symmetrical and balanced. The opening mechanism is smooth and the liner lock clicks in effortlessly. This Katsu knife is the nicest knife I own. I’ve seen questions about the Damascus. I can say almost certainly that the blade is a Japanese style San Mai construction with a high carbon steel core, clad in Damascus steel. It is a thing of beauty and comes shaving sharp. With respect to the country of origin, people have been citing a blurb from a website Katsu-knife.com about construction in a province of China. Katsu-knife.com is a fake copycat website that takes money and does not ship knives. Katsuknife.com is the legitimate source of these Katsu knives and their customer service was very helpful, responsive and appreciative of my questions. They replied to my question about where their knives are made and said that knives were designed in Japan , materials are sourced from The United States and Japan and construction is done in their factory in China. I never write review but I felt so strongly about this knife that I wanted to share my experience. I’m glad I chose this particular knife but I bet you couldn’t go wrong with any of the Katsu knives. It’s a strong 5 stars for me

Perfect! And such a beautiful knife. My boyfriend loved it

I take this with me everywhere. Right out of the box it is already paper cutting sharp which is amazing. I still use my wet stone on it very often. This hand made quality is outstanding and is far from poor construction. There is no wiggle or wobble what so ever and locks in place very firmly. The Damascus and wood finish will earn you many compliments. I previously bought the green bamboo Katsu but it was lost and I upgraded to this and am very glad I did so. I prefer the knife without the pocket clip but that is preference. The Katsu logo is very hard to see on the bade but shows up in pictures. I've had this for over a year now and the wood and stain have held up extremely well and have not tarnished. The wood is very flush with the metal. This knife will last you and get you many compliments. I recommend that you grind down the tip of the flipper to make it have less of an edge as it has poked a couple small holes in my pockets before.

I concur with the other positive reviews: this is a beautiful knife, genuine Damascus steel, handsome scales and bolsters, and very, very sharp. Time will tell, but I expect it will hold its edge well and sharpen easily. I thought I'd mention one nice thing that other reviews have not tended to mention. I have found that the Japanese are attentive to packaging and this knife and (pretty mediocre) sheath come in a nice box but I was pleasantly surprised that the knife itself also comes inside a light canvas sack. Since the knife fits comfortably in my pocket even while in the sack, I carry it that way to keep it clean and I think it would serve well if I wanted to carry it in a purse, brief case, or backpack.

What?? How much!! NUts, insane crazy... Is this knife made in China? Maybe, probably. If it was made in Seki or anywhere in Japan, you can bet your a#$ that the blade would be stamped accordingly. It isn't, which leads one to believe it's made in china, by some folks who don't want to immediately put that stigma on a what appears to be a very, very fine product. I can understand the reasoning, but, I don't like being deceived, I'd like to know definitely where it's made. That will not, however change my appreciation of the item and the workmanship. All told, this knife is a very good value. There's a few things which could be better as far as finish goes, polishing before etching would certainly improve the feel and finish of the final item. Also, the screws holding on the scales and bolster could be a little shorter so as not to intrude into the liner. But other wise perfect. I wish there was more info as far as the kinds of steel used in the pattern weld. With all that being said, this folder is a real beauty, it feels great in the hand, is sharp, great figure in the pattern weld, the blade shape is very pleasing to me as well as the whole knife shape and folded shape are all fantastic to my eye. Furthermore, regarding Handmade... show me the man who can crank out hundreds of thousands of IDENTICAL knives. These are made on machines, the blades are stamped from a pattern welded bar, it might be assembled by humans, but, what isn't? These days, that's all humans do in mass production, feed machines to make the parts, and assemble the parts into the finished product. That's how they made this knife, in China. It's a good knife. It's inexpensive because Katsu isn't a brand, It's a dish. If you slap a boker brand name on this piece the price goes up to 150, easy. Follow Up: Upon close inspection and some use I've found the scales (Handle wood) doesn't exactly line up with the liner. On edge retention and potential sharpness... the edge holds well on my knife, and it's very sharp. After stropping on leather very, very sharp. I've used it to cut fabric and paper. Like butter through both, the fabric was stretchy polyester and the knife cut straight with minimal effort. The fabric was laid on a table and cut, not rip cut.

I'm 50yo in the construction trades all my life. Carried a knife since my Grandfather gave me at the age of 7. I have all kinds of knives and they all get used, they don't sit in display cases, when they stop being useful to me I give them to someone they will be useful for. Musashi said, "Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful." I follow that advice. So when I say I use this knife, I do. I've been using this knife as a daily on and off the last year or so but every day now for the past 6 months. For a living I'm a maintenance director doing commercial building maintenance and repair, high end stuff. To be fair. I spend about 80% of my time behind a desk and in meetings. I'm at that age where I can get away with carrying a nice folder because when I bring out tools, I bring out big kits on wheels and have what I need. So this knife is used for what it was made for, cutting, slicing and shaving things. Something it excels at. I rarely take out my various razor and other knives unless I am cutting a lot of materials. For the small day to day I need to open this, cut that, sharpen this pencil, etc. This is the unit. Its carried on my belt with the supplied sheath. The sheath is ok and its holding up and thats enough. Its important you understand this is not a good pocket dwelling knife. The sheath is a must. The opening tab is a pocket ripper to be sure. I won't even put it to the test. The knife is a pure pleasure to work with. Its sharp and stays that way. Opens and closes easily, a bit awkward to get used to at first, the tab is a Japanese thing I first encountered when I had a Japanese Biz partner doing construction another lifetime ago, so I knew I would like the uniqueness of it. You might not. If you're used to the side thimb peg you're probably going to fumble this knife a lot at first if opening one handed. Just be aware. Its very well made. Fittings are tight, smooth, grind is done well, handle fits correctly. It feels good in the hand. It wants to cut. On top of all that, Its realy damn beautiful. You can see the lamination in the spine. After a used it a month and then gave it a little oil the grain seemed like it deepened and the knufe settled in a bit or maybe I just got more used to it.... either way, Its just pretty and every time I take this knife out a small part of my brain get a little dopamine hit. Because of this I only use it for what its made for. I carry a quality multi-tool to do the rest and take abuse if my roll-aways are not around. Like I've said, I use it for what it was made for. As for those of you in the field 100% of the time beating the hell out of your knife. THIS IS NOT THAT KNIFE. Personally I'd go with a tanky design by a company like Benchmade. Yeah, you'll drop some dollars. However, the Osborne I bough way back when for $200 ($280 now) has gone to the very pit with me and back again. Scarred, beaten, finish worn, edges grooved from beer bottles, sharpened so much the blade is even with the hilt but no matter what it has never let me down. If you used you knife for things it shouldn't be used for. Don't get this one. You'll only make it ugly. For the rest of us older guys that have young men with strong backs to do the heavy lifting. If you want a reasonably priced knife that is attractive, useful and don't mind wearing it on your belt. This could be a good choice. I love it.

I wanna know more about this knifemaker. The knife didn't shock me when I first laid eyes upon it, there's nothing popping out at you or loud about it... it's the attention to every fine detail to near perfection that makes you just want to have it around. I could probably write a column on this knife, it's just really that good. The fact that you can get this knife for under $100 is such a steal: I ordered one for my mom and her husband and we are all in love. (Our 3 knives pictured above) These knives are as beautiful as they are functional, and I can only say that about one other knife I own (also Damascus) and that knife is much more expensive. Each cut of the snakewood is completely different, not only aethetically but physically. I put the middle knife's (in the pictures above) handle under a jewelers loupe and saw that it was pourous- its the only cut with that characteristic that I've received. Best value on any knife I have seen for what you get, and truly just a work of art. Thank you Sir🙏

This is a handsome knife, but more ornamental than practical, I think. I doubt that it was made in Japan. There are no markings on the knife, the box it came in, or anything that came with it that say where any of it came from. I suspect that it was made in China. The ball bearings are disappointing to me. It's the only knife I have so far that has ball bearings. The action in this knife is not as smooth as my $30 Boker Magnum from Taiwan or my $40 Boker Magnum from China, which I don't think have any bearings at all. Maybe the screws that hold it together are too tight. Maybe the bearings are dirty and/or dry. But I don't expect that ball bearings have to be "broken in" and I don't expect a brand new knife to be dirty or dry. It feels like that either the balls have flats on them or the races are not smooth, or both; not like any Japanese bearings that I've seen. This is not a knife that I would carry in a pocket. The long lever sticking out the top of it looks like a trigger for an accidental opening. There is no pocket clip. And while the action is very tight and has a lot of friction right now, if it were to get to be as easy as I think ball bearings should be, there isn't a lot to hold the blade closed. It has only a very small ball or ball-shaped protrusion on the locking part of the liner to keep it closed. I think that the handles have shrunk slightly since the knife was assembled. I can feel the edges of the liners all around. And I can see them too, about 0.01 inches of them. It's a minor detail, but I have several other knives with wooden handles that don't have this problem and I've had some of them for decades. The "Damascus Steel" in this knife looks just like the steel in other knives that I have from China and unknown origins. There is a thick piece of plain steel in the middle that the edge is ground on and up to 20 or so layers of ornamental metal welded to each face. You often can't see this by looking at the top surface of the blade, but you can see it if you look at the ends. Some of these knives hold an edge well, some don't. The edge this knife came with is very, very sharp. But how well it will hold that is unknown. And it looks like it might be difficult to resharpen without damaging the ornamental surfaces where the bevel blends into the shank. I'll keep it because it's different and it's pretty. But the knife I got does not have a better fit, finish, action, or quality of materials that other unbranded or unrecognized brand knives that I have bought in the price range of $25-40.