Los Olivios Lince Bolster Olive Wood Knife

The Los Olivos brand is a new line of knives introduced exclusively by the Knife Warehouse here in the UK. The knives are produced in Albacete Spain, a region with a long history of knife making, under a chief knife maker with numerous national and international awards. With such a significant pedigree expectations were high and testing the knife would be interesting.

The knife

The knife on test is the Los Olivos Lince Bolster Olive Wood model and first impressions were very good. The knife has a sleek and efficient look with a very ‘solid’ feel in the hand and you can tell that time has been spent on finishing it to a high standard. The full tang is very thick which adds weight to the handle area making the knife feel nicely heavy and the olive wood grip is shaped to fit in the hand, both with and without gloves on. The 1.4116 steel drop-point blade is 4mm think and comes nice and sharp, all ready to go. The sheath is a typical Spanish leather product, heavy, well made and nicely finished. The whole knife has been finished to a high standard with all of the metal surfaces highly polished.

The test

This is a knife that looks like it is built to take a lot of heavy use, so it was well and truly tested, cutting rope, leather, plastic and a variety of timbers. The blade retains its edge very well and can do both heavy and light work equally well without any significant blunting. Splitting small pieces of wood, driving the knife through the timber by hitting the back of the blade with another piece of timber (bad practice but a good test) did no damage and the knife held together just fine. The blade is well shaped and jointing a chicken neatly or taking smaller limbs off a tree are both tasks it carried out easily.

Conclusion

There is no question that this is a good-looking knife, but it is not just a pretty face. The blade is very tough and well-shaped and the handle is comfortable and strong. This is a great generalpurpose knife and it is definitely a working knife rather than just an ornament. The 56/58 HRS Steel hardness of the blade makes it extremely tough and durable and the price of the knife is very reasonable, so you are getting a real workhorse without breaking the bank. Knife Warehouse has brought a great brand to the UK market and the Los Olivos range includes a number of models to suit a variety of applications.