Background:

First of all let me tell you a little bit about me.

I believe that quality knives are not limited by the region they're made in. I believe people are people everywhere and when truly working hard and with the right intentions they have a right to success in any field they wish to work in.

So it was about two years ago that I was approached by a knifemaker from Pakistan. He asked me if he could send me some samples so that I could review them and give them my stamp of approval and (I think but he never said) that I might sell them for him over here in Western Europe.

I said:  sure, send me some stuff and I'll look it over.

He replied: What would you like me to make?

So I gave him some specs and we agreed that I'd pay for shipping but that the cost of the knives would be on him. I sent him money through bank transfer (and expensive endeavor to Pakistan I can assure you.) And waited for a long time.

Too long really but ok. Craftsmanship takes time, I get that.

When the package finally arrived it cost me a hefty sum extra in order to obtain it from customs...but hey, that's not the makers fault right?

So I got my package from the mailman and opened it up.

Imagine my surprise......NONE of the knives in there (out of four pieces he'd sent) were among the ones I'd requested.

So that was strike one and a critical right away. I cut off all contact with him. THEN I started to examine the knives only to find that they were all sub par. Misaligned scales, poor edges, bad grinds and the biggest one (a MASSIVE and very uncomfortable bowie knife) even had spacers simply falling off the handle...not to mention big gaps at the guard.

I decided right there and then that if I were ever to help anyone from Pakistan out again it would be different. My gamble paid off a second time and I still use THAT seller to get the mosaic pins that I use in my knives. He treated (and treats) me well and we've become good friends.

Then not too long ago I was approached by Waqas.And here's a quick report on 2 out of 4 knives that he sent me. (And two sheaths).

Knife 1 The traditional slipjoint.

Now to be honest this it the one I was most curious about. Good slipjoints are NOT easy to make. But it's a field of knifemaking that is dominated by a few high profile makers (at least in the custom section)

So let me introduce this knife to you.

It came in a pouch style belt sheath

It's a nice wooden type slipjoint with brass bolsters and liners. And filework on the back.

The wood appears to be untreated apart from being polished. The grain is very nice it's like a Lacewood type it seems.

As you can see the untreated wood does have a tendency to get some dirt in the grains of the wood however.

The other scale doesn't seem to have gotten this problem (I've not done anything to these knives. The states they're in is how I recieved them)

The pins are all nicely flat and don't stick out. The bolster is well polished and for a pivot it appears that steel was used rather than brass which makes for a stronger pivot.

The knife has a nice snap to it. Not a very heavy pull. The bolsters fit the liners perfectly and are well aligned left and right.

There is a slight gap between the backspring and the liners. But this might have something to do with the fileworked spring.

The blade is nicely centered.

Once you open it up a highly polished blade comes out. Waqas tells me that it's D2 steel at Rockwell 58. I've not had a chance to verify the hardness yet.

The bladeshape is a bit odd. But it looks kind of like a spey blade with less curve.

And I do mean highly polished.

(that reflection is the phone I'm taking pictures with today)

The grind is nice and thin and slicey and the edge has a nice bite to it. It's well sharpened.

The verdict/Conclusion

Is this a high priced knife in the same range of makers like Bose/Davidson/Britton? No it's not.

It IS however a very functional handmade knife with a decent (unverified) steel and pretty good fit/finish.

The price Waqas told me should be somewhere in between the offerings from Rough Rider and the Offerings of Queen/Great Eastern.

Now for that price you get a slipjoint with decent fit and finish. That has been put together by a proper craftsman that comes sharp (more than can be said for Queen knives...ouch.) is ground thinner than any production sljpjoints I've seen from varying brands and has a pretty good steel.

Would I buy this knife personally? For the price quoted to me.....probably. I like the man who made it. He's honest and open in his dealings with me and appears to properly want to do right by his customer. And the knife is good enough that, for the money, it's be happy owning it. Even if I wouldn't keep it for myself it's really cool to be able to give a friend of mine or a relative a proper handmade slipjoint.

Don't compare it to the handmade slipjoints from well known makers however. But then again, those cost easily 10X as much.

The sheath it came with is also fairly nicely made. The leather isn't the highest quality. But the stitching is nice and even and appears to be quite solid.

Sheath #1

The second knife in our lineup I put in one of the sheaths that came in the package. I do feel however that this sheath wasn't specifically made for it. So first I'll comment on simply the workmanship of the sheath.

This sheath is a lot nicer than the one that came with the slipjoint. Thick Stuff leather. Double row of stitching (appears to be a saddle stitch of some sort) with a very thick welt.

(note, the stains on the sheath didn't look like that when I got it. Something appears to have spilled on it while it was on my breakfast table at home)

The leather is untreated by any coating or dye or some such which does make it it prone to staining.

Like I sait the welt is fairly thick and solid and this makes the sheath a bit stiff but DOES give it a quality feel.

And the stitching is very clean and even.

Verdict/Conclusion

This is a very well done sheath. Personally I'd opt for a dye of some sort (I might still do this myself) and coating it with a wax or something just to make it that much more stain proof. But the workmanship is very good.

Knife #2 a persian/fighter/hunter/something?

Now I don't really know how to name this knife so I'll just call it a Persian from now an due to it's upswept point.

Specs (measures are just an estimate. I don't have any rulers or anything with me.)

4"blade

5"handle

Blade: Firestorm carbon damascus (Waqas tells me the composition if 1070 carbon steel and 4340 nickel steel)

Bolsters: Damascus (don't know the composition but I'm assuming it's the same)

Scales: Micarta, Black

This knife is pretty much exactly large enough to be held in my hand. Any smaller and it wouldn't fit. The finger grooves make it fall prefectly for a solid grip. For my wife it's too large. But she's a cute pocket size so that's no surprise.

It appears to me that the Damascus on the bolsters was NOT heat treated. (Damascus etches a lot lighter before heat treat) but the blade in contrast was. It has a very nice pattern with lots of contrast and there appear to be no flaws in the damascus.

The fit of the bolsters to the blade and the scales is well done and without gaps.

There are no gaps in between the blade and scales either. And the bolsters are nice and even on the blade.

The blade is well sharpened (like on the slipjoint) and is thinly ground and perfectly even on both sides, this aint no sharpened prybar.

And the fit is tight all over.

Verdict/Conclusion

The fit, finish and grind as well as the handle materials are all VERY well done. I'm talking rivalling a lot of western makers that charge a LOT more money for their knives.

The only and I mean ONLY thing that I could possibly have for a point of critique (apart from there not being a makers mark...which is also true for the slipjoint) is the use of 4340 steel in the damascus.

I did some research and 4340 steel will reach a max hardness of rockwell 54/55. Now this is somewhat compensated by the 1070 steel in the blade which'll reach rockwell 58 no problem. But it DOES make for a blade which will test low on the rockwell scale in some parts and high on others. And which will (as an effect there of) become dull on some parts of the blade a lot sooner than on the rest.

This results in....well....not a bad blade. Just an inconsistent one. It should hold up just fine in most uses. But it might need resharpening a little more than a blade that's made of 100% one simple carbon steel.

To be fair though, all this is just in theory. Most knife collectors (and even users) won't even notice this. In fact. Due to the fact that some parts of the edge will wear down faster than others this might make for a type of micro serrations which will actually HELP in cutting things. I've yet to test it out. But it IS a point to think about.

Second of all...for the money charged (similar to that of the slipjoint I believe) this is an EXCELLENT knife. And it wouldn't not be a bad way for a lot of collectors to dip their toes into the world of handmade knives this way.