Higo no Kami 7 Pocket Knife by Nagao Seisakusho, Parkerized Black Satin Finish

Super cool little knife. Absolutely simple and sharp. Always in my pocket

I've been looking at a higonokami for a long time, and finally decided to pull the trigger and buy one. I wasn't sure if it would have a place in my daily routine, or if it would end up as just more clutter in my collection of knives. I'm quite glad that I did so, because this little blade is really nice.First, realize that a higo is a friction folder. There is no safe locking mechanism on the blade. Right now the bent brass scales are tight enough to keep the blade secure when the knife is folded up, but I don't have much confidence that this will continue to be the case over time. That being said, I am not carrying this knife in my pocket or in the bottom of a bag where an accidental opening could be catastrophic.I have read that these types of knives were traditionally used by school children in Japan to sharpen pencils. That is a job that this knife is more than capable of. The blade comes extremely sharp, and the back of it is quite thick and sturdy. The tanto-esque point is also quite sturdy. The knife is quite obviously hand made, and made well at that. For the money, this is one of the top "peasant" knives that one could buy. Compared to my Opinel no 8, the higonokami has a shorter blade, but the blade is much thicker and stronger. The higo could be used to pry things that would bend the blade of the Opinel over on itself.The only downside to the knife is that it has no locking mechanism. The Opinel at least has the ring lock that makes it somewhat safe to use, but the higo is just a sharp blade on a hinge. That might limit its usefulness (unless you don't mind losing the occasional finger), but it still doesn't prevent me from giving this knife five stars. Treat it with the same respect that you would a straight razor, but abuse it like you would any peasant knife. It is an all around fun blade, and I'm glad to have it in my collection. If for no other reason than the look on people's faces when I pull it out to sharpen my pencils in public. A higonokami is by far the best pencil sharpener for the money ever made.

Due to some issues with my local Amazon Locker the delivery was delayed for 3-4 days, and I couldn't change where the package's redelivery location.Concerning the knife itself:PROS:-Sharp-Nice EngravingsCONS:-Ugly & uneven spine-Did not come in the nice yellowish box shown in the 3rd product picture [instead it came in this really cheap plastic sleave]-It's extremely hard to open, unlike some other friction folders-The grinding of the blade is totally off. <-- basically one grind is higher than the other (my case, the left grind is higher than the right)- A LOT OF UP&DOWN and LEFT&RIGHT PLAY on the blade [despite this it's still hard to open]-The frame/handle is:1) bent out of shape2) uncomfortable3) the thickness of the right side and left side of the frame is not the same, yet it's the same piece of metalOver all, a cheap knife. I would not recommend this for the price of ~$15, there's quite a few choices out there. For a collector's piece [not an edc item] I'd say it's great. Put it on the shelf, display it. If you're gonna use it as an EDC item, I'd recommend not to use it for hard cutting chores [haven't tried it yet, so IDK].--------------------------Aye, so I went online again and looked up a few things concerning friction folders. Now, it's been ~2-3 days after I got this little blade, modified it in a few areas, & did some slight touch-ups.Right now, it's quite nice, although the grind's still off, the frame's still kinda bent out of shape, & the 2 sides of the frame still got different thicknesses.Other than that, I think I fixed all the thing I disliked about this knife. Bumped it up from a ''' to a '''' rating. I'll EDC it as a backup knife, and prob edit this review once more. I'll probably recommend it depending on what your going to do with it; though you'll need to do a bit of extra work.-kenny kisaki------------------------------------------------UPDATE:It's now May 31st, 2016, been a while since I bought it and have played with it and customized it hell of a lot. I really like this knife now, the bent frame is fixed, and there is no longer blade play. I did force a patina onto it, since it is a carbon steel knife, the patina helps it fight the rust. Here's a pic take a few months back: [...]. This was taken after all the modifications I did.These are individually hand made in Japan, so I've been told, which makes up for the inconsistency. The knife also get razor sharp, and is really easy to sharpen, being a scandi grind.