Dolphins again

[button_man]

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I've noticed that 'Dolphins' knives have largely disappeared from the AAPK listings. Currently nine displayed, five of which are sold. Two of the remaining pieces are ring pull -- enough said. The last two are small (8" and 8.5") non-stiletto knives.

Considering the thousands of knives for sale on AAPK, this seems somewhat surprising. However, the runs of each model are said to be very small, so perhaps they settle into their "forever homes" fairly quickly. I've been keeping an eye on 'Dolphins' for a couple years now; and the number of them available on AAPK has steadily declined during that time.

Perry has about a dozen (10" and over non-ring pull) Dolphins listed, but clicking on each one shows that many are sold out. However, some of the remaining pieces show multiple items in stock, so I counted 11 knives actually available. Defense Outfitters has a couple or three.
That's about it.

No doubt there are more, scattered through various sites here and there..... but these were the main search results, and they are surprisingly paltry. On the other hand, people keep asking for a brand of genuine Italian switchblade with good quality that isn't priced into the stratosphere...... maybe they've found it.

I've bought eleven of them. One is a problem piece; the other ten are fine. I'd like to hear from others who have bought 'Dolphins' knives -- what's your opinion?
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[JulesVane]

It's been a long time since I have been on Facebook to keep track of Lucio Di Bon and Francesco Mariani ("Dolphins"), are they still actively distributing knives often? I have at least one or two wasp body flatguard picklocks made by Renzo Pascotto that they distributed. I have a hunter style model that I have no idea who made, but luckily it's a decent piece. I recall they were contracting with some cutlers in Italy that were unknown by name to me. I'm just wondering how active they are these days. Bless Lucio for doing all he still does, at his age. I really have no idea who makes knives for them. I presume different styles from different cutlers.

[Tom19176]

There are a few dealers on FB that seem to get them in still. They seem to be a bit better then others, but I have handled some at shows that I didn't notice a great improvement on.

[JulesVane]

When I bought the few I have, I knew Renzo Pascotto made the 2 wasp body flatguards, and the Hunter model was made by the same gentleman that had been making that style for years for other distributors. But, I recall they had designed a right and left hand model that they said was made by some unknown name, that could have been a little old Italian cutler with 50+ years experience, or a teenager that started building switchblades in his basement last week. So, the real question isn't how are "Dolphin" (the distributor) knives, it's how are the quality of knives made by the cutlers that they contracted with to have made for them? This is where the "hit or miss" comes in.

[NorthCarolinaDude]

I have a few. I even have a Dolphins Pascotto Flatguard Wasp I got back in 2024, I think. It's super nice!

My most recent acquisition was a couple of the A.Rosa Wasps. The quality of materials is there but they could've used a bit more time on the polisher. The edges weren't as smooth as they should be.

The person I acquired them from thought maybe they had pushed them through the production process a little quicker than they should have.

And that's probably fair. With so few makers being on the field these days the demand must be crazy. We've seen what it's done to prices too. I'm hoping the Dolphins folks can get more hands on deck and keep at it.

Practice makes perfect, and quality takes time.

[johns7076]

I just bought two Dolphins from Perry. One was perfect the other there was no way to activate, so tight it was virtually impossible. I know about putting oil and grease in the sear hole, oil did no good, no grease available. The one that was so tight was a Spadon, sear hole goes all the way through so oil doesn't work well, spring sticks up out of the slot, strongest spring I have ever seen. Sent it back, Perry is great to deal with. Why do makers create knives that are this hard to activate? Don't they check them before offering them for sale?

[button_man]

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My (cynical) hunch is that the European makers don't care about quality because they know that problems are not going to come back on them..... just on the American distributors. They feel insulated from repercussions.
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[Bill DeShivs]

Things can change after a knife is assembled. Temperature, humidity, corrosion and other factors can change the way a knife works. Every knife I have ever repaired leaves my shop working properly, yet I have had more returns than I like. Of course I correct them, but if a knife was made an ocean away-how can it be corrected?

Quality control is an issue, but I wanted to point out that things can change after shipping.

[jim d,]

That is an important point, Bill.

Not only can things change when there are fluctuations in temperature and humidity, as well as bouncing around during shipment, but also simply sitting in a knife chest in my house. Bill recently fixed a Campolin Baron for me that would not even come close to staying closed. It had functioned fine the last time I put it away. The knife chest demons had their way, and that was sitting still in a pretty much temperature and humidity controlled environment. Contrast those conditions with what a knife might encounter during domestic or international shipment.

Jim