We are usually not the ones pressing a potential customer from making a bad choice, but this is the exception! Please do not purchase a pressed-horn handle Laguiole pocket knife, especially if you plan on keeping it for a long time.

Regardless of where you buy your knife, you must be certain that the handle material is made of HORN TIP, not PRESSED HORN. Why? Only the last 4 or 5 inches of a horn (see image belwe) is solid like a piece of wood or metal; the rest is hollow. To use the hollow part of the horn, it must be cut in half, steamed, and compressed to make it flat. The issue with such a process is that the horn has "shape memory" and, over time, the horn will try to warp back to its original rounded shape. This will cause the knife's handle to lose its shape and show gaps. Pressed horn is inexpensive to purchase; this is why bargain Laguiole knives often use such material. Retailers that offer such a knife are uninformed or do not care about your long-term satisfaction with your knife. Why are handles made from horn tips better?

Horn tip comes from the massive, noblest last 4 or 5 inches of the horn. Small bars are cut from the horn and then fixed and worked directly on the handle. Horn tip does not undergo heating constraint like pressed horn does (cheap Laguiole knives). The horn tip is the toughest, densest part of the horn. Only two knives can be made from one horn tip. It is important to note that France's most renowned cutler such as Forge de Laguiole and Fontenille Pataud do not offer pressed horn handle. Why? Simple, they care more about their reputation for excellence than making additional sales by offering poor knives. 

LAGUIOLE IMPORTS DOES NOT RETAIL ANY POCKET OR STEAK KNIVES MADE FROM PRESSED HORN