Gentlemans Folding Knife, Buffalo Horn and Nickel Silver

In a jacket pocket this one goes missing. It is 3.5 inches shut, so you find it by feel at the bottom, with a receipt stuck to it. Open, it is 2.5 inches of 1095 high carbon steel on black buffalo horn. Plenty of buyers want four inches of blade. This is for the ones who would rather carry than admire.

Specification

The blade

1095 is plain high carbon steel with nothing added for show. It comes back under a stone quickly, which counts on a blade doing small jobs all day. The finish is hand rubbed satin, worked with abrasive until every scratch lies one way and the surface reads soft grey rather than bright. The shape is a drop point, the spine easing down so the tip finishes low. Two and a half inches opens post, cuts string and skins fruit. It darkens with use and spots if it goes into a pocket wet.

The lock and the opening

Nothing here locks, and we would rather say so than dress it up. A flat spring lies along the back of the handle and bears on the tang. It holds the blade open, it holds the blade shut, and it gives way when you push the spine hard enough. Small folders have been built this way for a long time and this one keeps at it. To open, catch the crescent nail nick with a thumbnail and pull. That wants two hands.

The handle

Buffalo horn is black, faintly translucent at the thin edges, and it polishes to a low shine no wood can copy. Polished nickel silver bolsters cap both ends. There is nickel in that alloy, so it stays white rather than yellow, and the bolsters take knocks that would land on the horn. A brass lanyard bail sits at the tail for a cord. Closed it is 3.5 inches, about the size of a fat pen, and it hides under a folded handkerchief.

The leather pouch

Vegetable tanned leather, hand stitched, with basket weave stamped into the hide while it was damp. The pouch is a flat sleeve, sewn on two sides and open at the third, and the closed knife slides in and stays. No flap, no stud, nothing for a belt. That is why it is a pouch and not a sheath. In a coat pocket it keeps a bunch of keys off the bolsters.

Who it suits

Somebody who says they never carry a knife usually means never a big one.

• People in jackets, not work jeans
• Anyone wanting a blade they cannot feel
• Buyers giving a first pocket knife
• Owners who open post and packets

What comes in the box

• The buffalo horn folder
• The stamped basket weave slip pouch
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

Horn is a grown material and never one flat black. Hold a scale to a window and you find grey streaks and a warm edge where it thins. One comes off the bench solid dark, the next has a pale line through it. The bolsters are polished by hand as well.

Looking after it

Horn dislikes being cooked. Keep it off a radiator and out of a car window, because dry heat makes horn shrink back from a bolster. A rub of oil once or twice a year suits it. The steel wants drying after fruit and anything salty, since on a blade this small every mark shows. Rinse the joint if it grits, then oil the pivot. The care and sharpening page has more.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving costs 20 dollars per blade, chosen on this page. About 30 characters go on, which on a 2.5 inch blade is tighter than it sounds, so initials and a date read better than a name. You approve a proof image before the laser starts, which puts 3 to 5 business days on the order. Free from 10 blades up. The engraving page covers it.

Questions buyers ask

Is 2.5 inches too little? For post, string and fruit, no. For kindling, no.

Why carry small at all? A knife you notice gets left at home.

Does it lock open? No lock at all. The back spring is the whole mechanism.

Will it rust? It can. Carbon steel spots when left damp. Wipe it and oil it.

Is it all right to carry? Laws differ by state, city and country, so check your local rules, and we cannot advise on that.

How long will delivery be? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

More blade on the same spring is the olive wood slip joint, and the stag antler trapper is a clip point in a longer frame. It sits in folding knives, with older shapes in pocket knives and small ones in everyday carry knives.