KATSU 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

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'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.

For the price I am not sure you could get a much better knife. This is very good quality and the Damascus blade is wicked sharp, almost dangerous for the user. The blade has stayed sharp through several cutting tasks and the locking mechanism and blade swivel are smooth and flawless in function. This isn't a tactical blade or survival knife and isn't meant to be heavily abused, but it will work for your typical every day cutting tasks that you will encounter. I have not run into anything that I felt this knife could not handle. I am not sure what the other reviewers were saying about their wood handle not matching the picture and being too dark in color, mine was very close, of course being natural wood there will be some variations. I would say I would buy again, but the knife is such a good quality I doubt I will have the need to ever buy another one for myself. I would absolutely buy one for a friend though.

I am grading a 4-star only because I just received this Katsu earlier TODAY, and first impression suggests this knife will likely earn a 5-star rate after I spend more time with it. Visually it is impressive and dangerously beautiful (more about that momentarily...). I love Damascus blades. I have a Damascus Tojiro-Senkou chef’s knife and a pairing knife. Both blades have more than earned their keep in my kitchen. This Katsu feels solid and fits well in my hand... the weight is comfortable and reassuring. I was a bit disappointed with the handle... nothing to do with construction... purely an esthetic thing. My favorite color is red, and the pictures in Amazon’s presentation showed me an alluring “red” handle, which was a strong influence in my decision to choose this particular Katsu knife. The handle is not as red as the pics indicated from Amazon... more brown... however, as I kept looking at it... held it in my hand... tossing it from hand-to-hand... this knife continued to impress me more and more... I soon forgot about my favorite color. Sharpness? Back to THAT! No doubt the blade is extremely sharp right out of the box. While I was handling (playing with...) the knife... tossing it from hand to hand... I tried to open the blade “one-handed”... Whoops! Don’t know exactly how I managed to pull this one off, but the blade cut my right-hand pinky finger right up next to the nail! Truly a very clean cut... nice bloody red... lots of the red stuff for such a small slice, but what a clean slice! All is well with my carelessly self-induced wound, and I now have a profound respect for this serious blade from Japan... I am certain we will become friends... just don’t take it for granted!

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.

The beauty and artistry of this knife is surpassed only by it's outstanding quality. I carry a knife every day, and I prefer to buy one good knife every so often over buying many cheaper ones frequently. I'd compare the quality to Case xx, Benchmade, etc... I am astounded that I can get such a quality, beautiful, hand-crafted knife for such a deal. It doesn't have a belt clip, and the opening style can take some getting used to, but I have become enamored with this knife, and I now carry it every day. I will beat mine up, sharpen and re-sharpen it multiple times over the years, and treat it as I have my previous EDC knives. However, this knife is unique in that is is hand-crafted and absolutely beautiful, not just functional. For the price I paid I could not be happier. Note: (Possible con) The liners appear to be Teflon. We shall see how well that holds up. The lockup feels solid so far...

The build quality seems pretty good. The assembly is solid, no loose screws, no wiggle or play in the open or closed blade positions. The pouch is very lack luster, I will probably throw that away and make another one. The grind and polish on the blade was very coarse, so the blade looks very matte. Also, the blade is Damascus steel layered over top another base metal that is actually the cutting edge. The cutting edge came very dull, I had to sharpen it upon arrival. It does hold a razor edge, but not for long. I believe the edge material to be cheap steel, perhaps the other versions of these blades would be better, as they advertise G10 tool steel. They do not advertise what steels are used in the Damascus version, but they sharpen very easily.