All About Pocket Knives

I'm in need of some Puma wisdom. I've had my eye on a 1972 Puma Bantam 673 for a while now, however this is a brand I don't have or know much about. My father carried a Puma Game Warden when I used to hunt with him in the 70's. Short of that, I have no experience with them. The Bantam is picked bone, looks near mint and is going for $185.00. Is this a fair price? How do they compare with other german made knives? ie, Eye Brand, Bulldog, and others.

I'd save my money and find an older eye brand

My experience with Puma has been pretty limited, but that's for a reason. I have owned a couple made in the last 5-6 years. Both were very lacking in quality of construction IMO. I had also wanted a Puma lockback for quite a while until I had a chance to inspect a couple at the SMKW showroom a couple years ago. They were so poorly fitted together I decided to pass on getting one after all. The fit and finish was rough and the blades had a gritty feel on opening and closing. I was very disappointed in the quality level.
The knife you have your eye on may well be of higher quality construction than the newer ones I encountered, and to be honest, for the money it really should be a LOT better.
For the amount of money you are talking about spending, there are better buys to be had.
Just my uneducated opinion.

Phil

Thanks MM and Philco, that's what I needed to know.

I assume you are looking at the one listed by pumaknifeman.com

I've always had a soft spot for Puma. The older ones are sweet knives but I'm wondering why you would want to pay top dollar for a brand you admitedly know nothing about. Is there anything specific about this particular knife that appeals to you?

As Phil said, there are alot of nice knives that can be had for much less than $185.

That's correct I was looking at Pumaknifeman.com.

I don't want to pay top dollar for a knife I know nothing about, that's the reason for this post. I always liked the way old Puma's look, however after MM's and Phil's post I am reconsidering and looking at other knives. I value and respect their opinions.

Hey Mike,
I went on that website and looked up the knife you were considering. To be honest, it looks a lot better than the newer ones I have had experience with. Still the same, that's a lot of money. Have you taken a look at the Canal Street knives? For what they are asking for this Puma, you could get two and possibly three nice C S knives. I have recently bought a stockman and a congress in dark amber bone by Canal Street and I'm very impressed with both of them.
You could get a couple of Great Eastern Cutlery knives for that amount or just a tad more. I don't have any of them, but those who do rave about them.
Ultimately though, it's all in what YOU like. There are a lot of nice ones out there waiting for a good home.
Phil

Phil, That's funny you mentioned Canal Street. I just ordered the whittler. I have several GEC's and like them, but I'm waiting for a slimmer smaller 3 1/2 model to come out.

Mike,
Let me know how you like that whittler when you get it. I'm quite taken with the CS knives.
Phil

Me, too. I recently bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0369983625

Much cheaper than $185 aand easily as nice (IMHO).

I have quite a few early Puma knives and the quality is definitely high.Whether they are worth what they are currently bringing is open to question.I believe that most if not all of the Pumas made recently are of Asian ancestry.
As an aside;although I have not personally dealt with pumaknifeman,from what I see he has nothing but high quality pieces to sell.I've talked with him a couple of times on various knife sites and he seems to be a pretty straightforward person.