What is your favorite Yo/Western style handled knife?

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WiriWiri said:
+1. Something works with that finger slot and balance, Shame about the daftly spaced riveting and mitten-fingered finishing.
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i searched for tf but couldnt find the right place. can you link me where this brand is
 
IME TF handle is a little skinny (had both 210 and 240), although the balance is indeed phenomenal. Those 270 TF’s handle looks super thick and comfy though.

Zwilling Kramer 52100 10-inch is so far my favorite western handled knife. That handle is just so comfortable. It’s a good knife ootb. With a little thinning behind the edge (1 cm wide bevel and then smooth the shoulder), it becomes a killer knife. The HT is very good on that one.
 
FWIW, I really liked the Steelport. I wish it was slightly forward balanced rather than perfectly balance at the bolster and the end cap being 52100 meant that there was just too much reactive steel on the knife for my preferences. Handle was very comfortable and I loved the profile of the knife. Little thick behind the edge, like the Kramer, but easily fixed with a thinning session.
 
Hz_zzzzzz said:
IME TF handle is a little skinny (had both 210 and 240), although the balance is indeed phenomenal. Those 270 TF’s handle looks super thick and comfy though.

Zwilling Kramer 52100 10-inch is so far my favorite western handled knife. That handle is just so comfortable. It’s a good knife ootb. With a little thinning behind the edge (1 cm wide bevel and then smooth the shoulder), it becomes a killer knife. The HT is very good on that one.
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I’ve seen Jon Broida post on IG that he has thinned/added some convexity to one or more. I wonder what the charge was because you’re right, the Kramer is a really nice knife otherwise. I had an 8 inch and if they had a little less rise in the tip I might try a 10 inch.
 
@ftermath said:
I’ve seen Jon Broida post on IG that he has thinned/added some convexity to one or more. I wonder what the charge was because you’re right, the Kramer is a really nice knife otherwise. I had an 8 inch and if they had a little less rise in the tip I might try a 10 inch.
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The 10 inch’s profile is more natural to me but the tip is still not very useful I have to admit, but it looks good.
 
@ftermath said:
I’ve seen Jon Broida post on IG that he has thinned/added some convexity to one or more. I wonder what the charge was because you’re right, the Kramer is a really nice knife otherwise. I had an 8 inch and if they had a little less rise in the tip I might try a 10 inch.
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theyve discontinued the wood handled one and are coming out with a new version that's paper micarta and more distal taper. both seem like reasonable changes to me.

anyway I guess my favorite westerns are the Tojiro DP knives as I think theyre the right price and by process of elimination.

would really love to try a Shig yo handle but like, it's not even a matter of money with some knives.
 
My 8-inch 52100 Z-Kramer thinned at JKI. If it was 9 inches, it would be perfect -- 8 is a little short. I always wanted to get a thinned 10", but 254mm is longer knife than I usually use at home. At any rate, it's one of my daily drivers at home. The tip is insanely thin and the handle is gorgeous. The steel is fantastic (it takes an edge like nobody's business) and it ghosts through produce. Lots of stiction, but who cares? It's a laser.

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I don't have that many yo-handled knives though. I guess I really like my Takamura R2 too. And I have some petties that I love -- a UX10 120mm (though I don't really enjoy sharpening it) and a 90mm Saji R2 ironwood.
 
This is a really broad category so it's very easy to get diametrically opposed answers. People have different preferences in knives... If you know your preferences you can match recommendations to it, but otherwise it's hard to really say anything sensible. Even on something as simple as the handle people will have very different opinions about the same knife simply because certain size handles work better for certain hand sizes.

For what it's worth I think yo handles deserve more love than they deserve. Sure, wa handles are prettier and look more flashy, but yo handles have their advantages too, and I'm actually still not sure which I prefer ergonomically.
 
Jovidah said:
This is a really broad category so it's very easy to get diametrically opposed answers. People have different preferences in knives... If you know your preferences you can match recommendations to it, but otherwise it's hard to really say anything sensible. Even on something as simple as the handle people will have very different opinions about the same knife simply because certain size handles work better for certain hand sizes.

For what it's worth I think yo handles deserve more love than they deserve. Sure, wa handles are prettier and look more flashy, but yo handles have their advantages too, and I'm actually still not sure which I prefer ergonomically.
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I still prefer the feel of a metal ferrule with pakka scales to anything.
 
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