All About Pocket Knives

Came across a new brand (new to me at least). It is Henry Brothers Cutlery Co. A distributor is in Kirbyville, Texas.

Discovered these at a trade days event today. Couldn't fine a country of origin on the box or the knife. Bought one because the quality looks good and I wanted a thumbstud linerlock. The tang is stamped "Henry 1" and "1095 Carbon". Red pickbone.

Came home, checked Google, and tracked it back to HenryCutlery.com. Made in Yangjiang, China. I thought imported knives had to have the country of origin somewhere on the knife or the box. I see no evidence that the country of origin was buffed off the knife.

The seller had a good story about the origin. Thought it sounded a little too "complicated". Maybe "vague" is a better word.

I will give it a fair trial, but the old saying still stands, Buyer beware.

I'm not familiar with that brand, but there are a lot of knives being shipped into the U.S. from China now days. Seems like most anyone can get their own brand built there and a lot of relatively small operations are doing just that.

Most I've seen that didn't have a country of origin on them have had a small sticker on one of the blades when they entered the country. It is easily removed, and an unscrupulious seller may peel them off so his customers don't realize they are buying a Chinese made knife.

Phil

Thanks Phil. I forgot about the stickers.
I prefer buying U.S. and try to tolerate the changes brought on by economy but practices like this make me more skepitcal.
Jim

Nifenut, wrong website, try henrybrotherscutlrry.com I just ordered one to try it out, the guy said the knives are made in Idaho and Washington. I didn't ask where the steel was made so it could still be made in China I guess. Just thought I'd let you know before Henry brothers cutlery co. gets a bad name off of bad info.

philco wrote:an unscrupulious seller may peel them off so his customers don't realize they are buying a Chinese made knife.

Phil

I think you are giving them too much credit for smarts. I don't think they really care all that much.

The website looks a little sketchy.
1095 HIGH carbon steel. Isn't that redundant?
Usually you see "high carbon steel" in relation to 440C or 420HC stainless steel.
If I were trying to establish a new knife brand, I would give all the info that I could about them.
Maybe they figure the less you know the better.

I looked up the address on Google, and here is the pic of McMillan Ave in Kirbyville, Tx.
There are 3 houses, and nothing else, on that street.

Looked at http://www.henrybrotherscutlery.com/ pretty closely. Nothing said about country of origin for their knives. Usually if a product is made in this country, the web site makes sure to get that right out front. The rhetoric is vague at best.

"Our pocket knives are hand-crafted and made with the highest quality of materials."

"Our knives are the same quality and style that your grandfather carried and passed down to his son. "

One more thing. The 'Double-Lock Trapper Pocket Knife' has a strong family resemblance to some of the Rough Rider lock backs.

Not my intention to beat up on these folks or jump on the nay saying bandwagon. I have no axe to grind with them. Purely my opinion formed from casual observation.

nifenut wrote:Discovered these at a trade days event today. Couldn't fine a country of origin on the box or the knife. Bought one because the quality looks good and I wanted a thumbstud linerlock. The tang is stamped "Henry 1" and "1095 Carbon". Red pickbone.

Can you post a picture of it please?

I am unable to send an actual picture at this time, but the website listed below will take you to the company website where the knife is shown under "Liner-Lock Trapper Thumbstud". Enlarge the picture of the three illustrated. It is third one pictured, "Model Henry 1-BR".

http://www.henrybrotherscutlery.com/

nifenut

If you click the link at the bottom of the Henry Brothers website it takes you to their companion site for Henry Cutlery Co. There you can read the following:



"Henry Cutlery is a family manufacturer of premium, hand-crafted knives registered in Hong Kong and built our own factory in Yangjiang China."

Guess that pretty much tells the story.

Phil

I saw that a while back which led me to question the seller.
Thanks,
nifenut

Bought two Henry Brothers pocket knives, an HR0348 and a HR0358. You are getting what they advertise as far as the words go. The quality is not what you expect though. Everything about the knives scream "Made in China". Fit and finish is lacking. The real giveaway for me was the brass liners, there were so many toolmarks on them they looked like they were in a catfight. No where on the knives is there any indication that the knives are "Made in U.S.A.".

I had been watching the Henry line since this post ran. If you go to their internet site, all items are out of stock until the company is in place in Kirbyville, TX. It is not clear if this is where the manufacturer ships a finished product or what. Could be parts assembled here being made overseas? It would be nice to have access to carbon slippies at $30 or so.....Herb

I looked at this address on Google Earth but there is nothing there. The problem is the last imagery is from 2009. I will post further if I find anything else. Anyone knowing any more, the info would be appreciated...Herb

If anyone is interested. a phone call today revealed an open up time in about two weeks. The company is using US made parts assembled in Texas. They are expanding the line to include many more products using D2 and more locking blade models. My interest was a well made and priced slipjoint in 1095 and I was assured that type would be available as it has been. If any of you have experience with this line please post. Thanks....Herb

Oldgoat xxx,

Can across the same distributor at the same local flea market last weekend that I bought a linerlock thumbstud folder from months ago. He basically had the same story you were told about parts to be made in U.S.A. and to be assembled in Kirbyville...... office closed for about two weeks, etc.

At his table he had segregated the "USA" knives from a new batch made specified were made in China. The Chinese knives looked to be the same steel (1095) but had nice stag handles. Prices on "USA" made knives had increased from approx. $25 to $30 each (Liner lock thumbstud trapper & a two blade trapper, both with brown bone handles). The Chinese ones with stag handles were in the $50 to $75
range (As best I can recall). I did not see any knife stamped with "U.S.A". Since no knife was stamped with the country of origin, I remain skeptical.

This vendor also had a few knives that resembled Boker switchblades but none with tang marks. He said these were unmarked as part of a transition to new production...or something to that effect.
Note: In my opinion, the knife he offered as a Boker switchblade had an enamel or painted handle, not anodized and the rubber inserts in the handle were not the same craftsmanship I would expect from Boker.

There were two yellow handled trapper. One with double locks. Looked just like the Moore Maker version. And a few leather folding knife sheaths...again similar to Moore Maker but embossed with "Henry" or "Henry Brothers".

I am not a knife expert but have collected (or accumulated) for 40+ years.

That being said, these would probably still serve well as an EDC. As the saying goes, "Let the buyer beware".

Nifenut

Thanks for the information....Herb

This is posted on their site
The Henry Brothers Cutlery Company has just moved to a new location, and we will begin manufacturing our pocket knives here at our new location in Kirbyville, Texas. Our pocket knives will once again be available after this transition is complete. Please contact us if you have any questions. Check back soon for updates!

Hey y'all, I live near kirbyville Texas and I have seen distribution place there in town. I don't know the people who run it but I'm thinking the address y'all have found is their home mailing address. My grandfather bought a knife from them a couple of months ago, he has used it daily since. Out of two months of use it has shown some wear, the blade is now pretty discolored but that's expected from carbon steel. The bottom of the handle is also starting to split. But after all the knife was only 20 bucks. As for where it's made, I couldn't tell from the knife alone but it says they are made made in the USA on their website. I plan on buying some from them in the near future to test the quality myself. If I find out anything interesting I will let y'all know.

Well I stopped by these guys place today and I'm sure glad I did. I talked to the owner Robert Wilson who was very friendly and answered every question I had about his company. He said he gets his blades from three different places in America (he named them but i dont remember them) and he orders elk horn from a company in New Mexico. Robert also showed me the work room where they make the knives. Over the 20 minute period that I was in there the man making the knives made an elk horn trapper, and it was beautiful. Robert shared with me the plans for his shop in kirbyville, and they were very promising. He said that within two months he hopes to have his shop to where customers are able to walk in and see every part of the knife making from behind a glass wall. The future sure does looks bright for Henry Brothers. These guys are deffinatly cool.

I bought this smoothed elk horn trapper while I was there for a very resonable $74 after tax

Thanks jspurlock.
Sounds encouraging. I don't live too far from Kirbyville so maybe I can drop by when they are in full swing.
Nifenut

So.. If there are built in USA with USA parts by USA citizens.. Should it be in the Chinese thread?? Just sayin!! John

If they are made in the U.S.A., why are the knives not stamped "U.S.A"?
Still a skeptic,
nifenut

nifenut, I wondered the same thing. I knew a custom knife maker several years ago who made beautiful knives from scratch. That knife maker never put "made in the USA" on his knives and I don't know why. But the point is, just because it isn't stamped "made in the USA", doesn't mean it's not made in the USA. And on the other side, That does raises an alarm that it could be made in china. Robert told me the reason why they haven't put "made in the USA" on their knives yet is just because they simply haven't gotten to it. Robert said he should be able to put "made in the USA" on the knives within a few weeks. The knife I bought isn't stamped "made in the USA" and Robert told me to come back in a few weeks and he would let me trade it in for one that said "made in the USA". These guys are just getting started and already have alot on their plate. I cant expect them to do everything that a company like great eastern cutlery, or case, etc. can do. But hopefully before long they will be running like a well oiled machine.

Thanks Jspurlock. I wondered if that might be the case. Seriously, I don't live far from Kirbyville and will likely make a visit to their site later. It would be nice to have a local manufacturer.
Nifenut