All About Pocket Knives

Are the Frost Japan made knifes as good a Quality as the Parker Japan knifes?
I notice a good bit of price difference in the two.

I've got a few of each. The quality is similar. Both have some quirks. In general I notice blade rub on more of my frosts. My Parkers are a bit rougher to open. I also have Parker-Frosts, which are of course also quite similar.

Thanks, I've got several Parkers but just could never bring my self to buy a frost. Never really looked at them, But got to thinking they were probably made by the same makers in Japan. May start looking more closely.

Just my $.02 ... and this is quirky, but the tang stamp on the MIJ parker cut-co's is so much cleaner looking that the Frost versions. Plus there's no big blocky lettering saying Surgical Steel on the opposite side of the tang - not a fan of that. The Cut-Co's are hit and miss - the bone sides often get warped and don't sit flush with the bolsters, having unsightly gaps between the sides and the liners ... I've tried to belt sand the bone sides flush with the bolsters and it never works - they sit flush for a while, but always eventually regain a warp/gap. Can't get enough epoxy under the gap to make it grab either. So, its a crap shoot - I have a few really nice examples of Parker Cut-Co's ... others are sub-standard. Funny, never have this issue with bone sides warping with any of my many Case's from the same era.

As I posted elsewhere I don’t know whether I’m lucky or Frost has an unwarranted reputation for poor quality but the ones I’ve purchased recently have been more than acceptable

Lansky1 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2026 8:05 pm Funny, never have this issue with bone sides warping with any of my many Case's from the same era.

Another of the under-appreciated aspects of knives from reputable long-time makers (like Case, Böker, etc). Many obsess over steels - one can find an infinite number of on-line posts debating various blade steels. But rarely if ever do we see posts about the quality of other materials like springs, liners, handle covers. For example Case buys and uses high quality, time and usage-proven bone, stag, pearl, etc. Something very few notice. If they can’t acquire sufficient quantities of material meeting their quality standards, they don’t make those knives.

Aside from occasional debates about steel, very few notice or question the materials used by Chicom manufacturers. Chicom knives are cheap relative to those made elsewhere, but there’s more involved than just cheap labor. JMO

Ken

JustEd wrote: ↑Wed Jan 14, 2026 9:17 pm Are the Frost Japan made knifes as good a Quality as the Parker Japan knifes?
I notice a good bit of price difference in the two.

I have only a couple of Parkers and a couple of Frosts that were made in Japan. So not a big sample. I would say they are fairly comparable. Solid, sturdy knives. But, in both the Parkers and the Frosts the blades are not very well centered in the allotted space and opening and closing the blades is not smooth at all. The fit and finish of the bone handles is about the same, though I think the bone on the Parkers looks a bit nicer.

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2026 9:00 pm

Lansky1 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2026 8:05 pm Funny, never have this issue with bone sides warping with any of my many Case's from the same era.

Another of the under-appreciated aspects of knives from reputable long-time makers (like Case, Böker, etc). Many obsess over steels - one can find an infinite number of on-line posts debating various blade steels. But rarely if ever do we see posts about the quality of other materials like springs, liners, handle covers. For example Case buys and uses high quality, time and usage-proven bone, stag, pearl, etc. Something very few notice. If they can’t acquire sufficient quantities of material meeting their quality standards, they don’t make those knives.

Aside from occasional debates about steel, very few notice or question the materials used by Chicom manufacturers. Chicom knives are cheap relative to those made elsewhere, but there’s more involved than just cheap labor. JMO

Ken

Really good points Ken !

Parker vs. Frost is a toss up here

Both!