All About Pocket Knives

This is a new cutler to me, Bordertown Blades made in the USA. This knife is a Sharpfinger clone that they call the Stagecoach Mary. Those of you who have followed my previous posts know I have a soft spot for the Sharpfinger pattern. It has a CPM 154 full tang stainless blade and maple burl scales, black liners, and brass rivets. It is truly made with quality materials and beautiful to look at but I have to be honest here, the fit and finish don't measure up to its $200.00 price tag. I doubt that I will be a return buyer. Has anyone else had experience with Bordertown Blades?

These are my most used knives

Charles, it's always disappointing to receive a knife that does not meet one's expectations. The grind lines appear weak or soft to my eyes which is too bad given the materials and price.

Zed, your wide variety of excellent knives, obviously well used, suggests you spend lots of time outdoors. Enjoy brother.

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:08 am Charles, it's always disappointing to receive a knife that does not meet one's expectations. The grind lines appear weak or soft to my eyes which is too bad given the materials and price.

The grind on the blade is fine, my photo may be the reason it looks that way. The problems I had don't affect the knife's usability. There was some substance on the blade (polishing compound?) that I had to use alcohol to get off, there were several places where adhesive from handle assembly was still on the edge of the tang, the butt of the handle had a substance on it and appeared to be about 85 -90 % finished, and there was a small gap between the liner and the tang at the choil which would eventually allow moisture and debris in. All of which doesn't mean the knife was poorly made, it just means it wasn't finished well. I cleaned the adhesive using an X-Acto knife, filled the gap with epoxy, cleaned and buffed the butt of the handle. Not that terrible but I shouldn't have had to do that on a high quality knife at that price. For instance, I paid a similar price for my Bark River Fingerling (pictured below) and it came out of the box pristine and sharp as a razor (btw, the blade on the Bordertown Blades knife was reasonably sharp but I had to put it on the stone to get the kind of edge the BR has). I'd be interested in hearing from others who have bought from Bordertown to see if this was just a fluke or something systemic.

zed6309 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:06 am These are my most used knives
IMG_9817.jpeg

Great bunch of knives Paul! Especially that Puma White Hunter, love it. Who makes the knives with the ZMK tang stamp? I'm not familiar with that stamp.

Sasquach wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 2:09 pm

zed6309 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:06 am These are my most used knives
IMG_9817.jpeg

Great bunch of knives Paul! Especially that Puma White Hunter, love it. Who makes the knives with the ZMK tang stamp? I'm not familiar with that stamp.

Thanks Charlie , the white hunter was a grail knife of mine , picked it up last year for £100 bargain , the Zmk1 and Zmk2 are my knives , I designed it 5yrs ago , I get the blades made by a friend in Nepal from 5160 and they get sent to me and I handle them and make a leather or kydex sheath , whole point years back was I wanted people to have a affordable custom knife , plus it’s a great camp knife

zed6309 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:10 pm

Sasquach wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 2:09 pm

zed6309 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:06 am These are my most used knives
IMG_9817.jpeg

Great bunch of knives Paul! Especially that Puma White Hunter, love it. Who makes the knives with the ZMK tang stamp? I'm not familiar with that stamp.

Thanks Charlie , the white hunter was a grail knife of mine , picked it up last year for £100 bargain , the Zmk1 and Zmk2 are my knives , I designed it 5yrs ago , I get the blades made by a friend in Nepal from 5160 and they get sent to me and I handle them and make a leather or kydex sheath , whole point years back was I wanted people to have a affordable custom knife , plus it’s a great camp knife

I know what you mean about the Puma, a White Hunter is in the top 5 on my wanted list. Your camp knives look like they're very useful. They'd make good bushcraft knives.

Sasquach wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:45 pm

zed6309 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 3:10 pm

Sasquach wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 2:09 pm
Great bunch of knives Paul! Especially that Puma White Hunter, love it. Who makes the knives with the ZMK tang stamp? I'm not familiar with that stamp.

Thanks Charlie , the white hunter was a grail knife of mine , picked it up last year for £100 bargain , the Zmk1 and Zmk2 are my knives , I designed it 5yrs ago , get the blades made by a friend in Nepal from 5160 and they get sent to me and I handle them and make a leather or kydex sheath , whole point years back was I wanted people to have a affordable custom knife , plus it’s a great camp knife

I know what you mean about the Puma, a White Hunter is in the top 5 on my wanted list. Your camp knives look like they're very useful. They'd make good bushcraft knives.

The smaller Mk2 I use for bushcraft, the mk1 is more a general camp / survival knife , yeah I got lucky on the puma ,it’s not very old , 1991 think I got it at that price as no box , but I got it to use

I kinda get a kick out of thos sharpfinger inspired knives so I had Matt mcAlevy make me this one. Top shelf fit/finish, as are all his knives. 190 bucks.

robpa, Permit me to state the obvious. You have a beautiful knife.

Paul, you have some superb camp/survival knives!

Charlie, I don't know much about the Bordertown, but I sure like the Bark River ... on my list!

Got another for my display collection:
Kershaw Golden Bear Serial #2710 ... Solingen Germany
Black Micarta / 9 1/2" Blade / 15 1/2" OAL

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:32 pm robpa, Permit me to state the obvious. You have a beautiful knife.

I second that!

Corn Creek Cutlery wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 12:46 am

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 5:32 pm robpa, Permit me to state the obvious. You have a beautiful knife.

I second that!

I’ll 3rd it

CCC. Super classy.

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:49 am CCC. Super classy.

Many thanks QS! There are two other in this series, a "Golden Boar" and a "Golden Eagle" ... I think 5,000 of each were made.

Great Kershaw bowie, Tony, have you got copies of the other 2 from that series as well, if so please show us.
An even better question, do you own a copy of their famous "Trooper" bowie, it's one I'm watching and have been for awhile cuz I'm hoping for a price decrease, since all the copies I've seen for sale are all up there in price.
Very cool display knife, buddy!

Madmarco wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 7:17 pm Great Kershaw bowie, Tony, have you got copies of the other 2 from that series as well, if so please show us.
An even better question, do you own a copy of their famous "Trooper" bowie, it's one I'm watching and have been for awhile cuz I'm hoping for a price decrease, since all the copies I've seen for sale are all up there in price.
Very cool display knife, buddy!

Mark, I do not have the other two.
I wasn't looking for this one, it just came my way. Now I want the other two ... looks like another collection has started.
I am also looking for a Trooper, but like you said, they are pricey. Will let you know when I find a good deal on two.
Yep, we do like a lot of the same types of knives and their characteristics!
Thanks My Friend!

Sounds like a plan, and I will do likewise, Tony!

Corn Creek Cutlery wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:56 am

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:49 am CCC. Super classy.

Many thanks QS! There are two other in this series, a "Golden Boar" and a "Golden Eagle" ... I think 5,000 of each were made.

I just saw the entire set box and all at, www.arizonacustomknives.com /$535., for anyone interested!
Just search for the "Recently Added" banner and after clicking-on it scroll through to the $600. and down listings.
The disclaimer states they've been in his safe since purchasing years ago!

Madmarco wrote: ↑Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:28 pm

Corn Creek Cutlery wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:56 am

Quick Steel wrote: ↑Thu Feb 29, 2024 11:49 am CCC. Super classy.

Many thanks QS! There are two other in this series, a "Golden Boar" and a "Golden Eagle" ... I think 5,000 of each were made.

I just saw the entire set box and all at, www.arizonacustomknives.com /$535., for anyone interested!
Just search for the "Recently Added" banner and after clicking-on it scroll through to the $600. and down listings.
The disclaimer states they've been in his safe since purchasing years ago!

Whew! I only gave 100 for the Golden Bear, but I imagine those three have the same serial number. Thanks for the info Mark!

I just went back and checked, Tony, but no numbers were apparent anywhere on any of the 3 knives, even under close-up.
The description states they are a set from only 5,000 sets made, so perhaps that says it all.
All of the blades still hold their mirror polish and the wooden box is in excellent condition, so they were obviously well cared for.

Madmarco wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:09 am I just went back and checked, Tony, but no numbers were apparent anywhere on any of the 3 knives, even under close-up.
The description states they are a set from only 5,000 sets made, so perhaps that says it all.
All of the blades still hold their mirror polish and the wooden box is in excellent condition, so they were obviously well cared for.

It is a very nice set, and should be serialized from what I know about them. I am gonna wait till the other two I am missing come my way as the G-Bear did. The numbers won't match, but that is ok. I see a lot of knives from people coming in the store wanting to sell something or trade. The other two will turn up one day. Thanks Mark!

You bet, buddy, good luck!

At some point my father bought a Remington salesman role. Not sure of the # I will have to look I have pictures of that also. Wasn’t only Remingtons in it. Kabar, Keenwell, Kinfolk and Remington.