Anza Knives

ISCS Yoda · #1 09-24-2023, 02:30 PM

The blade is marked Anza Knives USA. The sheath is marked:

ANZA
Knives
Made in USA

A friend gave this to me. It appears to have been made from a file but I am uncertain. It is full tang.

Any details would be appreciated.

Oh, and what "type" of knife is this? Skinner, butcher, puuka?

Thanks.

Oops......picture required!

sodacan · #2 09-24-2023, 02:49 PM

Correct, made from a file. Decent quality. Grossly overpriced. Can't help without a photo.

Protocall_Design · #3 09-24-2023, 05:19 PM

Looks like maybe a skinning knife to me.

Shrek Of The Arctic · #4 09-24-2023, 05:56 PM

As noted, they're made from files. I've always figgered they were reasonably priced myself. I made my first few knives by drawing the temper down on old files, but I honestly felt they remained a tad brittle. But...it could very well be that Anza has something figured out that a high school educated Northern redneck missed.

To me that one looks very suitable to skinning and general outdoor tasks.

I think that's a darn decent knife ya' got.

Marshwheeling · #5 09-24-2023, 06:16 PM

The knife you show looks a WK6R. With the wood scales, I’d guess it sells for $82.00. Compared to what you would pay for good quality knives, not overpriced at all.

I bought my first Anza about 1982 at a motorcycle swap meet in Saint Paul. The founder, Charlie Davis, was somewhere in the building. I bought my knife, a small utility knife, from his wife or girlfriend who was manning his table. At the time, I thought the $60 or $70 he wanted was more than I would ever pay for a knife, but my small one seemed reasonable at $25.

Over the years, I have bought nine or ten of his knives for myself, and several more as gifts. Some were direct from Charlie, some from vendors, some from private individuals on the net. Some of his bigger, more expensive knives have retail prices above what I have been willing to pay, but I have found better prices on Ebay or from his vendors. I don’t buy knives that I think are overpriced. Anza knives, even the more expensive ones, compare favorably with what you can find from more mainstream makers.
These knives are not for everybody. They are semi-custom knives, made by hand so that each one is unique even if there are others of the same model. They are always hard-working knives. At the same time, many are works of art, some of which I like a lot, while others are not to my taste.
Some of my knives are shown here. You can look at more of his designs at anzaknives.com.

He treats his steel first by annealing the very hard file steel to make it workable, then tempering it back to the desired hardness (whatever that is). That is what he says about his heat treat.

garddogg56 · #6 09-24-2023, 07:50 PM

I have a couple of Anza knives the D2 steel has great retention

hardluk1 · #7 09-25-2023, 06:36 AM

I would buy a knife from Holtzman survival and just decide if you prefer D2 silverback or 1095 bloodline blade and that may depend on your skills at sharpening and how you treat a blade . Personal I bought a pair of knifes from knifes of alaska that are D2 steel and I still very fond of there blades some 22 years later . I also carry a S30V flipper from ZT bought when prices were far lower than today .

Amazon

s&wchad · #8 09-25-2023, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISCS Yoda

A friend gave this to me. It appears to have been made from a file but I am uncertain.

Oh, and what "type" of knife is this? Skinner, butcher, puuka?

Nice gift!
It is made from a file. That's a drop point blade, which is my favorite style of hunting knife. It's perfect for field dressing and skinning medium to big game.

swagmeister · #9 09-25-2023, 10:19 AM

They seem to be solid, well made knives. I had a smaller one several years back that I gave I think around $40-$50 for. I've seen them at gunshows in the past few years and the larger ones run from $150-$200. The smaller ones were $75-$100. I don't think that I would give that much for them now.

growr · #10 09-25-2023, 10:21 AM

Anza knives are very popular here in Montana.

Randy

ISCS Yoda · #11 09-26-2023, 03:03 PM

Thank y'all so much! That was an education!

And that knife I got might not be my only Anza knife!!!

Goony · #12 10-03-2023, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swagmeister

They seem to be solid, well made knives. I had a smaller one several years back that I gave I think around $40-$50 for. I've seen them at gunshows in the past few years and the larger ones run from $150-$200. The smaller ones were $75-$100. I don't think that I would give that much for them now.

I'm still seeing the small ones offered in the $50-60 range, even when they're fitted with nice genuine stag scales, like this one I picked up last year.

swagmeister · #13 10-03-2023, 02:25 PM

I would easily give $50 for one like that if I could find one. Must be going to the wrong gunshows! Nice look to it.