Central Asian Knives

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by blue lander

I think his exact answer when I asked him why he wouldn't use one himself was "Because I know what kind of metal they make them out of." I presume he's talking about junky tourist ones.

He was an older guy but who knows how much he knew about knives or metallurgy.

No doubt. There is a huge difference in 'stan' knives and Uighur knives, and even an amateur like myself can easily tell them apart. The Uighurs knives often come with a sheath, a hand-tooled leather sheath that was custom made for that knife. The 'stan' knives are hilarious. Campy and fun, but not worth a second look. And the Uighurs finish both sides of the knife. Typically the 'stan' knife makers follow the time honored Islamic knife making habit of only decorating the 'seen' side. Don't get me wrong - I don't mean to pick on the 'stan' knife makers. I have a few of those and I am quite fond of them. Some are quite nice, some just campy enough to be fun. Photos attached.