Baladeo Laguiole Knife with Olive Wood Handle - '08 Overstock

Comments about Baladeo Laguiole Knife with Olive Wood Handle - '08 Overstock:

This knife looks great online, but the reality was far from impressive. Laguiole knives are as a whole an excellent design, and the overall layout of this knife fits with an excellent tradition of French knives.
That is where the similarities end. The blade is poorly ground and only roughly shaped, with obvious grinding marks remaining along the back of the blade. The wood of the hilt was poorly fit and very poorly worked. The blade and corkscrew were challenging to open, but quite willing to snap shut on a moment's notice.
All of these elements combined to make a knife that was supremely disappointing.

Comments about Baladeo Laguiole Knife with Olive Wood Handle - '08 Overstock:

Very poor quality Pakistani steel, inconvenient locking mechanism, and unusable corkscrew. This isn't useful for anything.

Comments about Baladeo Laguiole Knife with Olive Wood Handle - '08 Overstock:

I picked up the knife two days ago despite being aware that the knife had bad reviews. I was intrigued because of the unique styling of the knife. Those looking for a knife manufactured from a Laguiole company will be very disapointed. As another reviewer pointed out, the knife is [...]is actually a Baladeo product. I'm not familiar with Baladeo but it seems to be some foreign sporting goods company. A quick look at the Baladeo website revealed numerous spelling and grammatical errors in the English version. My confidence in the abilities of the Baladeo company only diminished after recieving a different knife model than the one I ordered (through no fault of REI, the picture on the box is the correct model). All that being said, I'm not altogether dissatisfied with my purchase. I'll take some time to talk about the knife defects before I comment on the good points. The knife looks very similar to the one in the picture excepting the corkscrew since I recived the wrong model. Note that the knife I recived has a blade only. The blade was fairly dull upon removal from the box. I'll attempt to sharpen it on my own. There are some obvious grinding marks in the cracks and detail work, but nothing obscene. some of the bolts holding the wood on the handle are misplaced. The action is very stiff, and there's no lock-in-place mechanism.A one star review would be completely deserving for this knife but there are certain aspects that I do enjoy. The wood on the handle is pleasant to hold. The handle is well shaped, and the knife blade is elegantly shaped. The overall style of the blade is quite functional. The knife shape is pretty unique, I haven't seen an American blade designed like it in my limited shopping experience. Also, the steel on the blade is well polished.I really wish I could say the knife is exceptional. The concept behind it is great, but like a poorly directed movie, it seems that the overall product isn't quite together. However, for the price REI asks, I can't really say it's a terrible deal. Just don't expect a work of art, or even a out-of the box functional knife. Grade: C-

Service and delivery comments:

Product shipped was diffent that product advertised on REI website. The box of the knife showed the correct model, but the knife recieved was a different model, one manufactured without a corkscrew.

Comments about Baladeo Laguiole Knife with Olive Wood Handle - '08 Overstock:

I added this to my cart along with a bunch of other gooodies... Upon opening the box EXTREME disappointment immediately set in. This is not the genuine article, this is a 'made in Pakistan' copy of a French Laguiole knife. REI: Laguiole is not a brand specifically, it is a 'type' of knife hand-made in the region of France near the town of Laguiole (there are MANY companies making knives in that region). Shame on you, you should not be selling this imitation article, perhaps your buyers are unaware of this. Should not even be in your Outlet... dump the overstock items [...] where they belong!