J. A. Henckels knives

mikekoz · Post by **mikekoz** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:34 am

I am about to purchase a few J.A. Henckels brand knives. What kind of quality are they? Any opinions?? They look like pretty solid knives.

Mike

johnnierotten · Post by **johnnierotten** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:59 am

I have owned several over the years,there very nice knives.

But then again I love all German made knives...Heres a pic of one of my more recent ones.

sunburst · Post by **sunburst** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:06 am

I have owned several and have enjoyed them. They seem to be a decent knife for a reasonable price. My only problem I have had is I gave my employees a henckel trapper each for Christmas last year and the shields all fell off as they used them.

The vintage henckels were made with a little more quality in my opinion but also hard to come by. One of my favorite Henckels was a 3 bladed Stag Trapper I had for a while, it was a fun knife to own..

Great Stag on that congresss Johnnie...

Sunburst

johnnierotten · Post by **johnnierotten** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:26 am

Theres a lot of companies that are slipping in the quality department.

.. I love Case ,but man are they slipping!!! The older ones are so much better...

sorry..back to Henckels...

El Lobo · Post by **El Lobo** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:40 am

Just as information.....

Henckels hasn't made any pocket knives for quite awhile. They have most recently been made by Boker, and are about like the Boker line in quality... some very good, some OK...JMO.

Bill

Edited:
Choice of terminology

Roger - 50/2050 · Post by **Roger - 50/2050** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:08 pm

Hey fella's,

Bill is correct, the older Henckels of yesterday are no more & my own personal opinion on these "new age Henckels" is that some of the Stag & Pearl handled patterns are very nice looking but with the shields being glued on instead of being pinned is a magor drop in quality & not worth my hard earned money at all!!!

"Texas collector", Roger - 50/2050

justold52 · Post by **justold52** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:20 am

I have some henckels too.
I fell they are a lot like Schrades. Except for the shields.

Here is one that I have not seen or can find any more of.(did I do some thing RIGHT this time?)

I like the stuff on the blade so mush that I bought it.
WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

The box says ZWILLING J.A.HENCKELS .

Upstream · Post by **Upstream** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 1:35 am

I bought a four blade Congress about a year ago, I just took it out of the box for the first time and the shield fell off.

johnnierotten · Post by **johnnierotten** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:05 am

Nice knife Ken.

mikekoz · Post by **mikekoz** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:01 am

johnnierotten wrote:Theres a lot of companies that are slipping in the quality department. .. I love Case ,but man are they slipping!!! The older ones are so much better...

sorry..back to Henckels...

That is disappointing to hear after I have just purchased 3 of them! On what do you base your opinion on? How are they made now that is inferior to past models? Wouldn't it be hard to judge quality on a knife that has been around only a few years as opposed to 30? I am not doubting your word, I just want to learn what makes the new ones inferior. It seems apparent with the Henckels shields coming off of them. If they have cut corners with that, chances are they have cut them elsewhere. I have just ordered a few of those also!

Mike

El Lobo · Post by **El Lobo** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:11 am

mikekoz,

You asked for opinions after you had decided to purchase knives...that makes it difficult for most folks to tell you what they think any longer.

Best now for you to get the knives and decide if YOU are happy, as that's really all that matters.

Bill

mikekoz · Post by **mikekoz** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:44 am

El Lobo wrote:mikekoz,

You asked for opinions after you had decided to purchase knives...that makes it difficult for most folks to tell you what they think any longer.

Best now for you to get the knives and decide if YOU are happy, as that's really all that matters.

Bill

Thank you for your reply. I am happy with all of them that I have purchased. I just want to know why the newer Case knives are being regarded as inferior as opposed to the older ones. I am happy with the $10.00 Rough Riders I have purchased. I just like the way they look! I know they would not hold up with real heavy use, but that is not why I bought them. I like the Bokers. To me, they FEEL just as solid as a Case. I was familiar with Case before I started collecting and regarded them as one of the best. I am just curious what it is about the newer Case knives.

johnnierotten · Post by **johnnierotten** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:06 am

The shield issue is the same with Case as it is with Henckels.They glue them on instead of pinning them like they use to.Like I said in my earlier post I do love Case knives and will continue to buy them.Most of my collection consists of Case knives,most are pre 80's,for that is when I think they started slipping.The overall feel is different ,the edges are rougher now and they just don't look as good overall...I guaranty that 90% of Case collectors feel the same way.......

I do like the 90's Case Classics but the majority of them were made by different companies.

Todays Case knives are still GREAT knives just not as great as they once were.

knifeswapper · Post by **knifeswapper** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:23 am

Sadly most shields are glued in these days; and they use cheap glue, because a touch of superglue and you'll never have the problem again. I think the Henckels are on par with price / quality of any knife made today. The importer is now defunct and flooded the market with inventory at prices low enough that nobody else can buy the name and pick up where they left off. Boker has not made any in some time and is not expecting to.

Every brand has pros and cons. I'm sick of seeing grind lines in all Queen brands; Case makes mostly for the collector market and their stainless gives some people problems; thus for 60% of what a Case cost and 40% of what a Schatt costs, they are good buy in my opinion.