I’m hardly the first to say it, but the rise of well-designed manual flippers has really thrown the value of automatic knives into question. When already-good flippers are paired with assisted-opening mechanisms, true autos are obviated ever further. That said, my beef with many assisted-opening flippers is that they’re chasing an aspect of autos I find unnecessary at best and obnoxious at worst: actions that kick the blade so vigorously into the stop pin that they generate recoil. So aggro! If you ask me, the spring assist only needs to be strong enough to work with the momentum of a moderate ..read more

Well, it’s finally happened: After several years of buying almost all of the models I really wanted, my knife purchases are slowing down dramatically. (Heretical, I know, but bear with me.) Today, I have a drawer full of knives with great ergonomics, good steel, and excellent blade shapes for particular tasks. I also have several knives that deliver superb combinations of those qualities at tremendous value. Recently, I’ve read glowing reviews for knives like the Civivi Ortis and Kershaw Link, but I’ve yet to bite on a purchase. I’ll sometimes ask myself, “How different are these from what I a ..read more

If there’s a gripe I have with Kershaw as a whole, it’s that there are simply a lot of products in the company’s lineup to keep track of. Over the last decade or so I’ve paid attention to their catalog, I’d argue half of Kershaw’s offerings are similar to the point of being completely undifferentiated. Buy the Kershaw Chill at BladeHQ Buy on Amazon A few examples: is there some particular feature on the Camshaft that sets it apart from the extremely-similar Airlock? Does the Concierge do something that the Atmos doesn’t? Do we need eleven different Emerson CQC models? Why not name the Bareknu ..read more

The vice president under Woodrow Wilson, a man named Thomas Marshall, once said that “What this country really needs is a good five-cent cigar.” Even when the world is going to hell in a handbasket, there’s reassurance to be had in getting a great bargain. Admittedly, today’s consumers are spoiled for choice when it comes to budget knives—the world is yours for under fifty bucks. Spending more may get you better steel, higher build quality, and more thoughtful design, but I would reason that 98% of people will have their EDC needs met by something as ubiquitous as a CRKT M-16. Buy the Ruike P ..read more

If you hadn’t heard: the war between form and function continues to rage. Sure, in a perfect world we’d end up with tools that look fantastic and work great. That said, the reality of the knife world is that most of us end up with pug-ugly blades we don’t mind hammering on, and a lot of drawer queens that we feel wrong about putting to hard use. Buy the Gerber Jukebox at BladeHQ Buy on Amazon The Gerber Jukebox has oddly fallen right into the middle of that continuum for me. Like most of the knife’s buyers, I originally saw the retro-cool looks and unique operation and found I couldn’t say no ..read more

As most of you know, the Ontario Knife Company threw down the gauntlet a little over a decade ago with the Rat Model I. At the sub-$30 price point, the EDC knifebuying public received a well-constructed product with a slick action, great ergos, good-enough steel, and simple-but-effective blade geometry. Since then, OKC followed up with the Rat II, which has become maybe the most ubiquitous EDC knife on the planet earth. And, uh, they didn’t have to do much else. Except maybe assume a comfortable posture on the throne they built and watch the money roll in. From the moment the Rat II developed ..read more

I knew I had to have the CRKT CEO as soon as I saw it. A miniature katana blade hiding inside of a package that resembles an elongated cigarette lighter? Sold! Over the better part of a year and since that impulse buy, I’ve come to appreciate what CRKT’s knife represents, and I’ve additionally come to terms with what it is not. Despite the name and branding, I have my doubts as to whether this is the alpha and the omega of the “gentleman’s knife,” a point I’ll touch on later. Buy the CRKT CEO at BladeHQ Buy on Amazon Suffice it to say that the CRKT CEO offers some good functionality in a smal ..read more

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but 2020 was a year of changes for me. One of those was career related, turning my collar from blue to a gray-ish shade of white. With this transition comes a change in scene. Where before I’d been free to carry tools like the Spyderco PM2, I’ve reached a point where I’m seeking out more discreet options for daily use. Enter the LionSteel BestMan, my first traveling companion on this strange new road. Buy the LionSteel BestMan at BladeHQ or GP Knives Buy on Amazon Lionsteel’s thesis here is simple: Produce a traditional style blade with modern, high-end mater ..read more

A few months back, and I fully admit I’m late to this party, I stumbled across a Youtube interview with self-defense expert, knife designer, and all around “guy who knows his stuff” Michael Janich. I became familiar with Janich years ago because he’d produced quite a bit of content for some of the shooting sports / self-defense print publications I also write for, so as soon as the name crept into my “suggested for you” feed, my eyes widened a bit. Janich helped provide an answer to a question that had lingering in the back of my mind for some time: what’s the deal with Wharncliffes, and what ..read more

I spend a lot of time imagining what it must be like to create a masterpiece. Putting the final brushstroke on Monet’s Water Lilies or for John Frusciante to idly strum the opening chords to Can’t Stop for the very first time. What must be to be involved in the creation of something truly great. That must be something like how Sergey and Igor Shirogorov felt when the Ne0n was designed. It’s rare for me to be such a fan of a knife, this came together in a perfect storm of materials and lines to make something that I truly enjoy putting in my pocket. Although to spoil the ending, it does have on ..read more