Carraca (gypsy) knife

The crazy part is, they've apparently left Spain TWICE, according to the local office. I have two tracking reports on their site that read "Salida de la Oficina Internacional de origen" on two separate dates, the first was April 2, then again on April 4. USPS only shows "Origin Post is Preparing Shipment We have received notice that the originating post is preparing to dispatch this mail piece."

Sooo...where is it?

This is why I always go EMS. I'd asked about it with Filofiel, but it looks like they went with Registered Mail, instead. Tighter security, I guess, maybe cheaper...but nowhere near as fast, and the tracking is more a suggestion than a thing.

Some good news, finally, maybe you will get your blades after all

I hope so man. I also hope I will get some pics of those knives

I was hoping this post would be the slew of photos I'd just taken, but mother dearest has taken my USB card reader with her. I'd lent it to her previously, for use with her laptop, to compensate its malfunctioning built-in reader, but oh well.

So the knives are here! Overall, I'm impressed.

The whole package came in a small manilla bubble envelope, and all three knives were rolled together in a piece of really fancy paper, complete with Filofiel's company logo. Each one was rolled into its own layer, then the whole thing folded into a nice little wrapped package. Best part is, it was topped off with a freebie keychain, an actual folding navaja bandolera style mini knife. I felt this was a very nice little extra touch, it's going straight to my keyring.

As to a breakdown, well, again, I was hoping to have photos to share, but those will have to wait. You'll have to deal with text descriptions and Filofiel's own photos for now.

First off, the J.J. Martinez. Seen here: www.filofiel.com/tienda/product_ ... ts_id=4916

This was the knife I was most intrigued by, and as time passed, became most eager to have in-hand. Now that I have it, it's easily my favorite of the trio. The construction is superb, the finish amazing, and the rigidity of the locking mechanism is just about perfect, a bit tough, but that'll wear in. The release is also the smoothest of the three, able to support itself fully open while the blade closes with the ease of an old-fashioned folder with no lock at all, but when the lock is engaged, the blade does not budge at all. Blade is very shiny, found myself fussing quite a bit over fingerprints while getting acquainted, I'm sure that will pass.

The Celaya, ( www.filofiel.com/tienda/product_ ... ts_id=3263 ) being the second most expensive, I must admit I am not as thrilled by. The finish to the blade is a rough satin, which in itself is fine, the edge is comparable to the other two (all of them are quite sharp, as an aside), the metal fittings on the handle are also a sort of matte satin affair, and the wood inlay of the grip is plain, presumably untreated wood. All these things are fine, no problem at all to me, but for the price, a little more polish would have been nice. The lever controlling the locking mechanism is loose and wiggles a bit, the blade very stiff to open and close, and there are gouges in the collar from the rubbing of the lever mechanism, which is a bit tricky to place properly to relieve the lock. I can't make it "stick" open like the J.J. Martinez, so I have only one hand to close the knife, while the other keeps the lock open. Some oil will probably be applied in an effort to ease things a bit, but I'm a bit let down by those gouges. At least you can't actually see them under the mechanism itself. Still, at roughly $35-40 USD, eh...

Now...where I'm REALLY impressed, is the Albacete. See here: www.filofiel.com/tienda/product_ ... cts_id=880

I'm pretty well convinced that either the website is showing the wrong knife, or I was sent the wrong knife, because this thing I have is VASTLY different than the one pictured there. One, instead of that tacky white color, this is a deep, rich, brown, with some interesting effects in it. The metal is very highly polished, including the blade. The lock is a bit less-but-more stiff than the J.J. Martinez, in that the blade opens rather easily to the first detent, and between each, but clearing those gears each time is tough. Luckily, as with the other two, one can simply lift the lever to release the lock while opening the knife if they choose. Doing it this way is very easy, but requires caution to ensure the lock is re-engaged before use. Once engaged, there is a bit of play to the lock, but only very little. The lever shares with the J.J. Martinez in that it can be "propped" open so both hands are free to operate the blade. I was less than taken by the design of this style of navaja, despite both this one and the Celaya being the same type, but the Albacete actually presents itself as a very fine knife in-hand. ...For almost half the price of the Celaya.

Ah, mother's home, and has returned my card reader. Time to trim and resize the photos, hopefully I can finish this before we have to go somewhere in the next 30-45 minutes. Otherwise, it'll be a couple hours...so bear with me!

Nice stuff man, congratulations !

How large are these blades ? Weight ? How do they feel ?

Thanks !

NIce looking blades Random.

I like all of em myself. They're all different enough from each other to be interesting in their own right.

Thanks for sharing them with us after all that you went through to get them. :lol:

The Celaya would have to be my favorite, but I do like the blade on the Martinez.

Glad you finally got some of them, hopefully your first order will be shipped soon.

Here you go, guys: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3898

Oh yeah, my searches took me through quite a few discussions of that one. The general take was that it was nice of Spyderco to incorporate the design, but apparently the ratcheting sound is artificially created by some other mechanism, and is not related to the locking of the blade.

Still, a nice knife.