John Burridge

About John Burridge

John Burridge is a Los Angeles-based lover of knives and other dangerous toys. He spends his days trying to make the world a better place by slipping subversive humor into reality TV shows. And playing with cats. He can be found on Instagram as @bunrudge.

Most Interesting Knives of SHOT Show 2020 – Part Two: Medford to We Knife Co.

by John Burridge Leave a Comment

I went to the SHOT (Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade) Show 2020 and the Las Vegas Custom Knife Show 2020 and saw literally thousands of knives. Because of the internet in general (and Instagram in particular) most of them looked familiar, but I had never seen 99% of them in person. I buy pretty much everything except fresh vegetables online, so I never really know how big knives are or how they feel until they arrive in my mailbox, so it was really neat to be able to see everything in person and ask questions.

If you missed it, here is a link to part one of our SHOT Show 2020 Coverage. My mission with these two SHOT articles is to not only give my fellow knife nerds a heads up on what’s in store for us in 2020, but since I actually got my hands on them, I’ll do my best to describe how they feel. I apologize for my bad photography- I’m going to do a much better job next year!

MEDFORD KNIFE & TOOL

Nosferatu OTS Auto and Flipper

Pretty much every Medford Knife is in permanent beast mode, and the Nosferatu series of knives are no exception. When I slid off the safety and pressed the lock/go! button, a long, asymmetrical dagger with a false top edge swung out with a nice thwack sound. The flipper version with its sheepsfoot blade was nice and all, but it’s docile looking in comparison to the auto. Both knives use a round plunge lock button near the pivot to unlock and manually close the blade. The flipper’s blade swings freely when the lock button is depressed, so if you want to wrist flick a $650 knife, you can. The auto is $25 more at an MSRP of $675, and both are due out in April 2020.

On paper, their specs sound fairly normal: 3.5” S35VN blade, overall length of 8.4”, and .19” blade and handle thickness. Did the thickness number sound a little high? To put it in perspective, I have an old DPX Gear HEST-F, which has a comically thick blade- it’s .19” like the Nosferatu. Every knife person in the world (other than me) seems to have a heavy duty Spyderco Paramilitary 2 or 3, and their blade thickness is only .15”. Even the legendarily beefy old ZT 0300 series (commonly remembered as the NCIS Jethro Gibbs knife) maxed out at .16”.

My point is these things are THICK. And heavy. I really dug the simple linear design, the coffin-shaped pocket clips (Nosferatu means vampire in Romanian folklore) and the sharp-looking but round-feeling chamfering of the handles. I had never held a Medford knife before visiting their booth, and after putting down the Nosferatu and trying out some other Medford knives, it became very clear to me that the Nosferatu knives are the only ones with corners that are chamfered for your pleasure. The signature Medford style is big square-edged chunks of titanium and steel, and my soft, city-boy hands much preferred the slightly rounded feel of the Nosferatu.

Praetorian Slim Folder

Another new for 2020 knife, the Praetorian slim’s 3.25” blade is made from shockingly thin .125” blade stock but still has that square, slightly uncomfortable Medford feel. Two unique features of the Praetorian Slim are its thin, straight, kind of un-Medford-ey pocket clip (not pictured) and its glassbreaker (detail picture above). The full-size Praetorian knives have a hardened D2 steel glass breaker pommel, but the Slim has a little glassbreaker pyramid machined into the base of the blade. The MSRP is $525.

MICROTECH

Dirac OTF auto

Microtech had a table at the Las Vegas Custom Knife Show, and that’s where I found my newest purchase, the Dirac, soon to be reviewed on this website. My Microtech Dirac has a 2.875” blade of M390 steel and a 4” handle, not counting the length of the glassbreaker.

The Dirac and its larger version, the Dirac Delta, are different from any previous Microtech switchblades in that the sliding switch is on the flat side of the handle, not the spine. The switch placement gives the Dirac a couple of advantages. First, it allows the knife to be vertically symmetrical, which looks good. Second, it allows the switch to be noticeably wider and less tall top-to-bottom than spine-mounted Microtech switches. This gives my thumb much more surface area to apply pressure on the spring loaded switch, which feels good.

Iconic Karambit OTS auto

Here is a Link to the Iconic Karambit so you can check it out. I was so busy trying to figure out the little tiny safety switch on the spine of this new for 2020 auto karambit that I didn’t get a picture. I would ordinarily ask Microtech for a picture for this write-up, but I’m kinda talking smack about this one so I’m not going to ask.

At Microtech’s Las Vegas Custom Knife Show booth, I watched three people besides myself unsuccessfully try to close the Iconic, and just put it back on the table with the blade out for the Microtech reps to close. I’m sure it’s just a matter of practice, but for the first time ever I found a Microtech I don’t like.

PRO-TECH

Malibu Flipper

Pro-Tech’s newest knife is the Malibu, and although its smooth aluminum handles and hardware components have a standard Pro-Tech out-the-side auto look about them, Pro-Tech has swerved a little out of its lane with the Malibu. As far as I know, the Malibu is only the second flipper that they’ve made, and it’s their first knife with this blade shape. Pro-Tech calls it a reverse tanto blade. The Malibu will also be available with Pro-Tech’s first sheepsfoot blade (not pictured.) According to Pro-Tech’s Instagram page, the Malibu is going to further depart from the Pro-Tech norm by having CPM 20CV blade steel instead of their usual 154CM.

The Malibu’s 3.25” blade was on ball bearings and flipped open smoothly. To close the knife, I pressed the appropriately-recessed button lock, which had what I feel to be an appropriate amount of spring pressure to keep the button from being unintentionally pressed during appropriate use. I would characterize this knife as a light-to-medium duty tool. The blade is .11” thick and the shape is designed for utility rather than stabbing. I personally do very little stabbing in my day-to-day knife usage, and I prefer blade shapes like these that don’t require much wrist-bending to get the tip of the blade onto the packing tape of a box. I didn’t find the looks of this knife particularly exciting- its kind of average in length, width, and pocket clip, but Pro-Tech’s big thing is making lots of interesting cosmetic variations of their knives, and I expect the Malibu to be no exception.

REATE

T3000 and T3500 Flippers

The final two knives in designer Tashi Bharucha’s four knife “T” series are on their way to a 2020 release. BladeReviews has already reviewed the first two releases- Dan did the T2500 review in April of 2019, and I reviewed the T4000 in October. Their names are based on blade length, and the 3” T3000 ($330 MSRP) and the 3.5” T3500 ($360 for the micarta handle inlay version (pictured) and $370 for carbon fiber) should be released between April and June 2020. All four knives have titanium handles and M390 blades, and the T3000 and T3500 samples I handled had the excellent fit and finish I’ve come to take for granted from Reate. Their flipper action was on ball bearings and the big blades locked firmly into place. None of the knives in the series are particularly thick, but the tall handles filled my hand enough to get a solid grip.

I’m a huge fan of Tashi Bharucha’s work. I’ve got a Tashi Bharucha Heatseeker flipper (made by Reate, sold exclusively by drop.com) in my pocket right now. The Heatseeker, like the entire T series, is an elegant, aggressive knife that prioritizes style over user comfort. All that means in practice is that the T3000 and T3500 had a couple of hotspots in the form of somewhat sharp flipper tabs and pokey pocket clips. These are not manufacturing mistakes, they’re design choices, and I didn’t mind at all because the knives are so cool looking.

SOG

Ultra XR Folder

First of all, I learned that SOG is an acronym for Studies and Observations Group, which makes no sense to me as the name of a knife company (I think spotting scopes or notepads or ghillie suits would be more sensible products from the Studies and Observations Group) but SOG is owning it by engraving “STUDIES AND OBSERVATIONS GROUP” on every new knife blade I saw. Nonetheless, they had some interesting new knives at SHOT, starting with the Ultra XR. It was absolutely remarkable how thin and light this knife was. The clip is thicker than the blade and handles combined. The specs: 2.8” blade, S35VN steel colored gold with a titanium nitride finish, carbon fiber handles, titanium pocket clip, and an XR (slidey-button) lock. The Ultra XR weighs 1.2 oz., which is less than half the weight of a Spyderco Delica, which also has a 2.8” blade.

My hands-on studies and observations of the Ultra XR revealed that opening the blade with the long oval thumb hole was pretty much effortless. The SOG rep thought that it was running on bearings instead of washers, and it certainly felt like it, although it’s so thin I don’t know how they fit bearings in there. Regarding its sturdiness, I didn’t try to crush it in my hand or spine whack it with the 4.6 oz WE Knife Co. Scoppio I had in my pocket, but the Ultra XR felt relatively sturdy for something so thin and light. MSRP is $139, and its release should be before fall 2020.

Aegis AT Folder

The Aegis isn’t new- Dan reviewed the SOG Aegis for BladeReviews in 2011. I bought an Aegis Mini in 2012, and we both have nothing but praise for them. 2020 brings a few updates, some of which I like. I like the upgrade to D2 blade steel, I like that the pocket clip no longer has the “SOG” acronym stamped into it (the full company name is on the blade like all the other 2020 SOG’s), and I like the jaunty new color combos. My dislikes can be summed up with this quote from The Graduate: “I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Plastics.” The new lanyard loop is plastic. The new spine-mounted safety lock is plastic. The AT-XR (slidey-button) lock button is now plastic- the part you must apply pressure to every time you close the knife is plastic, instead of aluminum like on the older version.

I opened and closed the Aegis maybe ten times and its assisted-opening 3.7” blade snapped open very quickly and locked open just fine. However the spine mounted safety felt somewhat vague and flimsy, and the plastic lock button didn’t feel like it would immediately break or deform, but my brief studies and observations of the SOG Aegis left me with the impression that it’s a great looking knife that I wouldn’t trust without a lot of hands-on testing.

SPYDERCO

Bombshell Folder – Flash Batch

Spyderco let me handle the not-yet released Bombshell folder, but wouldn’t let me photograph it. Instead they gave me a web catalog jpeg of it with no background, so I layered it over a picture of my kitten, Buttercup. Knife/cat size is not to scale.

The Spyderco Bombshell is the production version of designer Michael Burch’s custom Bombshell. It felt heavier than your average Spyderco, and very well made. The thick G10 handles had far more of a 3-D rounded feel than most Spyderco knives, and despite its short (4.04”) handle length, it filled my hand nicely. Its tall 2.98” CPM 20CV blade reminds me of designer Jens Anso’s work, and the pocket clip looks similar to the clip on Michael Burch’s now-discontinued Spyderco Chubby. It’s a Spyderco “Flash Batch” limited limited to 1,200 pieces. I don’t have a release date, but I do know the street price should be $280.

2020 Spyderco Sprint Run Knives

I also got a look at some of the 2020 Spyderco Sprint run knives, which all have CPM REX45 steel blades and burnt orange colored handles. Pictured from top to bottom are the Native Chef (without the upcoming orange scales), the Manix 2, and the Shaman, which were the only three of eight upcoming Sprint Run knives Spyderco had on hand at SHOT Show. Collectors love the Sprint Run because by definition it’s a one-time limited run in a non-standard steel/color combo. I don’t go bananas for Spyderco like many, many people do, but they all seemed very nice.

STRIDER KNIVES

DB-L Fixed Blade

The Strider Knives DB-L isn’t new- it’s at least 10 years old, but it was new to me when I got to check one out at the Las Vegas Custom Knife Show. The DB-L has a 3.9” blade of PSF 27 steel (similar to D2 steel) with a thickness of .19, just like the manly Medford blades mentioned earlier in this article. The handle length is just over 4”, which would ordinarily be long enough for most people to get all their fingers around the grip, but there’s a pretty big finger choil and the G10 grips don’t go far enough forward to allow a four finger grip.

The reason I’m mentioning this in an article focused on new knives is that ever since I handled the CRKT Minimalist Cleaver on the first day of SHOT Show (see the Most Interesting Knives of SHOT Show 2020 Part One). I’ve been fascinated with how knife designers can give the user a solid grip with a handle only long enough for a three finger grip. CRKT’s solution was to make the handle so thin and contoured that it squeezed into the space between the bottom of my fingers and my palm.

When I picked up the Strider DB-L, I understood Strider used a different strategy: a rather thick handle. The shape and diameter of the DB-L’s handle permitted a three finger death grip on the knife in both a normal and reverse grip. The extremely aggressive texture of the G10 “Gunner Grip” handles made by VZ Grips also helped. After relaxing my three-finger death grip, my hands retained the pressed-in Gunner grip texture for a minute or so. As an owner of some VZ handgun grips, I can tell you from personal experience that the grips would rather take some skin with them than slip out of your hand.

After taking a look at VZgrips.com just now, I’m filled with regret that I didn’t think to visit the VZ Grips booth at the SHOT Show- in addition to making grips for Strider Knives, VZ makes a line of absolutely insane G10 daggers. And not just non-metallic (non-metal detector triggering) daggers- they make sharpened cylindrical G10 stabbers disguised as No. 2 pencils and something called the Punch Ripper that’s too horrible to describe. I’m going to kick my COVID stay-at-home blues by getting one of those stabbin’ pencils!

VIPER KNIVES

Katla Folder

The Katla is a thumbstud-opening folder designed by Jesper Voxnaes. The blade is 3.23” of Bohler M390 steel and it will come in several handle and blade finish variations- pictured above are the carbon fiber version and the micarta version, which will have MSRP’s of $208 and $174. There are also some versions (not pictured) that have an interesting organic melty looking machined texture near the pivot and lanyard hole.

The action on the two prototypes I was able to handle was very smooth, and the lockup was solid. I was unable to determine if the knives were pivoting on washers or bearings. The Viper rep made a point of telling me that the pivot collars and backspacers were bronze, but to me they looked very copper-y. Later I did a little research and discovered that the bronze looked like copper because bronze is mostly copper- who knew? Blacksmiths since 3500 BC knew, and now we all do.

WE KNIFE CO.

Gava Flipper

The WE Knife Co. Gava is a scaled-down production version of the custom Gava framelock by BRR Knives of Legnica, Poland. The WE Gava has a 3.25” CPM 20CV blade (1/2 inch shorter than the custom version), titanium handles, and a bearing-driven flipper action.

In the hand, the Gava was typical WE Knife Co quality, which is high. It felt light and tight and flipped briskly. Judging by photos I’ve found online, the WE Gava I handled at SHOT appears to be a pretty faithful rendition of the custom Gava. For me, the major enjoyment of this knife would be in the long contemplation of its thousand neat little machined details. A BRR custom Gava (if you can find one) costs no less than $1,000 USD. I often find it difficult to understand the reason for the high prices of many custom knives, but I’ve done a bit of research on this one, and have definitely figured out the reason for the high price of custom BRR Knives: supply and demand.

People in BRR Knives home town of Legnica, Poland, have been panic buying edged weapons ever since the Mongol invasion of Legnica in 1241 AD. It’s obviously panic buying in case the descendants of Genghis Khan try it again. The WE Knife Gava has a very reasonable MSRP of $275.

Mini Buster Flipper

I had a nerd-gasm when I saw the Mini Buster on the WE Knife table. I’m a huge fan of the Mini Buster’s creator Snecx Tan. I find his design language to be simple and elegant, and the Mini Buster is my most anticipated knife release of 2020. Until now, Snecx has only personally made a handful of knives in his small workshop in Indonesia, and only released two of his designs to be produced by other companies: the Terra folder, produced by Custom Knife Factory, and the (full size) Buster, produced by Jake Hoback Knives. The WE Mini Buster is a framelock design with a 3.43” blade of CPM-20CV steel (vs the 4” M390-bladed JHK Buster), and titanium handles in either a light or dark stonewashed finish. The WE Mini Buster is less overbuilt than the Hoback version and is visually way more Snecx-y.

Handling the Mini Buster, my prevailing thought was that there are a lot of titanium framelock flipper knives out there, but the weight, balance, flipping action, and overall vibe of the Mini Buster have taken it to the top of the framelock flipper genre. Snecx said on his Instagram page that his goal is to make a folding knife as timeless as the Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza. The Mini Buster is not quite that, but it’s clearly a step in the process. He documents that process pretty thoroughly on Instagram, where I’ve been watching the evolution of Snecx’s next knife, the Vision. Snecx has invented an entirely new locking mechanism for the Vision, and that knife definitely has the potential to stand toe to toe with the Sebenza. The release date of the Vision is unknown, but the WE Mini Buster (MSRP of $340) is slated for an April 2020 release. I’m going to buy a Mini Buster tout suite and review it here on BladeReviews.com.

And as an extra treat, here’s a picture of the legendary Arsenal RS-1 knife/gun.

It’s a Rambo knife attached to a six shot revolver chambered in the not-at-all-powerful caliber 22 Short. It’s made by Arsenal Firearms of Russia, it’s $2,500 USD, its target demographic is Russian mob bosses, and it wins Most Interesting Knife of SHOT Show 2020. Thank you for reading!

Most Interesting Knives of SHOT Show 2020 – Part One: Arcane Design to Magpul

by John Burridge 7 Comments

I went to the SHOT Show (Shooting Hunting Outdoors Trade) 2020 and the Las Vegas Custom Knife Show 2020 and saw literally thousands of knives. Because of the internet in general (and Instagram in particular) most of them looked familiar, but I had never seen 99% of them in person. I buy pretty much everything except fresh vegetables online, so I never really know how big knives are or how they feel until they arrive in my mailbox, so it was really neat to be able to see everything in person and ask questions. My mission with these two SHOT articles is to not only give my fellow knife nerds a heads up on what’s in store for us in 2020, but since I actually got my hands on them, I’ll do my best to describe how they feel.

There were way too many new knives for me to cover them all, so I’m just reporting on the ones that I found most interesting. A well known gun writer, Col. Townsend Whelen, said “only accurate rifles are interesting.” I don’t want to come off as a snob, but I generally agree with the concept. I don’t find knives made with cheap blade steel like AUS8 or 8Cr13MoV particularly interesting, even if they’re superb designs like TJ Schwarz’s Overland or Thero knives, both produced by CRKT. I love that there are so many unique, well made, low-cost folding knife options out there that we knife lovers can take a chance on without breaking the bank, but I personally gravitate towards higher-end stuff. Here we go, and I apologize in advance for my bad photography, I’ll do better next year!

ARCANE DESIGN

Necronaut flipper

This is a prototype of Arcane Design’s first folder, the Necronaut. It’s Kickstarter campaign launches February 10, 2020. It’s a framelock flipper with a 3.5” M390 blade, a titanium handle with red aluminum pivot collars, and it’s going to cost $350-$375, depending on blade and handle finishes. It’s going to be manufactured by Reate, and based on my past experiences with Reate-made knives, the quality of the production knives is likely to be top notch.

The Necronaut felt substantial and aggressive, and the flipping action was brisk with a solid lockup. It’s got a 4 mm thick blade and raised red pivot collars that give it more style and heft. The handle shape is surprisingly comfortable for being so angular, and I didn’t notice the pocket clip when I gave it a few test flips, so it seems to be doing a good job of not creating any hotspots in my very limited time with this mean-looking knife.

ARTISAN CUTLERY

Archaeo non-locking flipper

The locking version of the Archaeo flipper has been Artisan’s top seller lately, with large (3.86” blade) and small (3” blade) versions ranging in price from $57 to $250, depending on materials. Artisan has decided to ride the 2019/2020 industry-wide wave of non-locking knives by producing an Archaeo non-locking flipper. Price, size, and materials are all being decided at the moment. The expected release is sometime in March or April 2020.

The Archaeo felt very thin and light. The flipper action was snappy and the handle materials (G10 in this case) felt grippy and reasonably well-finished. Whether locking or non-locking, the Archaeo variants on display didn’t feel substantial enough for heavy-duty cutting, but that’s obviously not what they’re made for.

Unnamed Prototype Top Lock Folder

This is a prototype of a new locking system that Artisan has been working on for a few years. To open or close the knife, you place your thumb on top of, or on the side of, the spring-tensioned lock mechanism (circled) on the top front of the handle and slide it towards the rear. Artisan doesn’t have a name, release date, or even a final design yet- I think they’re just showing it to people to get feedback.

This felt unlike any other lock I’ve ever used. It’s an interesting design that doesn’t require you to put your thumb in the path of the blade to close it, but you can also close the blade on your fingers if you’re holding it too far back for the flipper tab to bump into your index finger as it swings closed. It’s a prototype, so the edges were somewhat sharp and the spring tension in the lock mechanism was a bit light from a safety standpoint, but it felt pretty neat, and I look forward to handling a finished product someday.

BENCHMADE

Autocrat OTF

Apparently the only new-for-2020 feature of the Benchmade Autocrat is a black DLC coated blade, but I mention it in this article partly because I was pleasantly surprised by it, and partly because BladeReviews.com’s Editor In-Chief Dan recently did a review of the Benchmade Infidel, and I had a very serious question for the Benchmade rep who was showing me around Benchmade’s display.

Dan mentioned in his review that the end of the fuller running down the center of the Infidel’s blade looked like a set of dog testicles (you really should look at the first image in Dan’s review linked above) and I politely inquired about the purpose of that particular shape at the aft end of the Infidel’s fuller. “It’s a blood groove.” said the rep. I then remarked about how fullers are usually for structural rigidity and aesthetics and not for actual blood channeling, and that it looks like a pair of balls. He didn’t like that at all and told me the Infidel is a serious knife for military personnel and first responders, so “It’s literally a blood groove.” Mystery solved, I guess. The Autocrat OTF, pictured above is smaller, lighter, and less hardcore than the Infidel, and therefore does not require the special blood groove shape.

Both sides of the Autocrat’s handle are made of textured G10, and they felt grippy but not abrasive. The knife is also surprisingly light for it’s size. The blade is 3.7” of S30V steel, which is a bit longer than the 3.46” blade of the Autocrat’s main competition, the Microtech Ultratech, but the Autocrat felt much lighter to me than an aluminum bodied Ultratech, and the spine-mounted switch was easier to activate. The pocket clip has a tasteful little Benchmade butterfly logo on it, as opposed to the blood groove havin’ Benchmade Infidel’s clip which says “THE INFIDEL” in large white letters. All in all, I quite like the Autocrat.

Tengu flipper

The Tengu is a classy little (2.77” blade) liner lock named after a Japanese demon. I find it interesting mainly because it’s design blends the look of an old-timey lockback with 21st century features such as flipper opening, a liner lock, an attractive striped G10 backspacer and handles, modern CPM-20CV steel, and overall cool lines. Designer Jared Oeser’s shield logo and smooth-faced handle screws on the show side make this a real standout for Benchmade. It’s slated for release in February, at a MSRP of $220.

This knife felt solid, heavy, and well made. Since there’s no pocket clip, it comes with a nice little soft leather pouch. I’ve handled a couple of William Henry knives, which are the pinnacle of modern + old-timey blended knives, and they’re handmade gems that radiate quality craftsmanship. The Tengu ain’t that, but it’s quite nice.

BESTECH

Kamoza flipper

The Kamoza, by prolific Bestech knife designer Kombou, is a medium-large (3.62” blade) flipper with a futuristic JRR Tolkein elf kind of vibe. The handle is titanium and the blade is M390 steel. As of February 2020, the Kamoza comes in three handle color/blade finish options, and is starting to appear in stores with a street price of around $255.

It felt light and tight with a snappy flipping action. The back end of the handle on the Kamoza has a curved cutout that fits the shape of the tanto blade, and felt quite good in my hand. This knife has a ton of fascinating design details, including a band of fine lines across the handle, which looks like it’s becoming a design motif for Kombou, as his next knife, the Kasta (below) has them too.

Kasta Flipper

This is another new model designed by Kombou, featuring stripes of finely milled lines on the handle and pivot screw. I was told that the Kasta blade shape was inspired by a historical Chinese infantry weapon, the Pudao, which was essentially a short sword on a pole. I was also told it would become available shortly after Chinese New Year and is slated to be the most expensive Bestech to date, with an MSRP of $400. It’s got a blade made of M390 steel, a titanium and carbon fiber handle, and other color/material combos will be forthcoming.

The Kasta felt big and meaty- the tall, heavy blade thwacked open with authority, and the handle allowed me a solid four finger grip. The belly of the blade is slightly lower than the flipper tab, so it could have some kitchen utility if that’s your thing. I would characterize this knife as “not office friendly.”

Tulip front flipper

Permission to use this pic was given to me by the photographer, Grzegorz Grabarski (Kombou)

The Tulip is a little angular front flipping piece of art by designer Ostap Hel. It has a 1.34” blade of M390 steel, and fit easily into the little coin pocket of my jeans. It was a December 2019 release.

The Tulip is cute but felt waaaay too small to do any serious cutting. It was so small I had a hard time opening it using the front flipper, but I’m sure I’d get the hang of it with practice. I get the appeal of such tiny knives, but I also got to handle the Bestech Imp (not pictured), which is about 50% bigger, and in my opinion the Imp is far more usable due to it’s index finger-sized blade choil.

BOKER PLUS

Aphex Flipper

The Boker representative I spoke with described the Aphex as a limited edition “Boker 2020 collector knife.” Designed by Lucas Burnley, it’s got all the right ingredients for a 2020-style tactical knife: M390 steel, titanium frame with carbon fiber inlays, and a super-manly vibe. It’s slated to become available in February or March of 2020 with an MSRP of $549.

The Aphex has a 4” blade, and felt like a serious tool. It’s big, heavy, and aggressive. Holding the Aphex made me want to use it to use it to whittle a boar-hunting spear out of a tree trunk.

CULTROTECH

Comrade flipper

Permission to use this pic was given to me by Cultrotech via Instagram

The Comrade is limited to 100 remarkably detailed pieces from Cultrotech Knives in Russia. It’s blade is 3.77” of Elmax steel in a titanium framelock handle. I met the designer at the Las Vegas Custom Knife show, but since I don’t speak Russian I wasn’t able to get many details, other than it will cost 48,000 Rubles ($740 USD.)

It felt crazy lightweight, and had a crazy smooth action. I’ve handled a couple of Shirogorov knives, which are known to be among the most well-crafted production folders in the world, and the Comrade was their equal in smoothness and build quality.

CRKT

Minimalist Cleaver

Other than the CRKT Provoke folding karambit, which to me is unquestionably super-cool, the only CRKT knife I want to single out from their huge catalog is the Minimalist Cleaver, along with it’s bowie, drop point, wharncliffe, and tanto variants. They all have blades around 2 inches long, made from not-so-good 5Cr15MoV or 8Cr13MoV blade steel, and come with cute little rigid nylon sheaths. They range in price from $17 to $25.

I thought the entire CRKT Minimalist series with these distinctive handles were kind of dumb gimmicks until I felt one, and then I was totally sold on the concept of these tiny fixed blade knives. They feel great in the hand because of the finger grooves, which provide a surprisingly solid grip despite the fact that the handle is quite thin. The cleaver style (pictured above) would probably work very well as a boxcutter or utility knife. I would actually buy this knife if I didn’t live in California, a state that says no! to fixed blade knives if they’re carried concealed. The only way to stay legal would be to openly carry it in a sheath, but people already think I’m weird enough without wearing a fixed blade on my belt like a mountain man.

FOX KNIVES

Radius folder

I don’t know what to call the opening mechanism, but here’s how it works: press the thumbstud (which is also a button) in to unlock the 2.95” blade, then walk it around it’s little round track with your thumb until it’s open, at which point the spring detent in the button pops it back up to lock the blade open. Reverse the process to close it. There are several blade steel, blade coating, and handle material variations coming out sometime in early 2020, with street prices starting at around $412.

The feel of the Radius was unique, and I liked it. I tend to have some small metal object in my hand (usually a knife or flashlight) when watching TV, but idly playing with flipper or assisted opening knives (and I barely saw any assisted opening knives at SHOT Show 2020 except for CRKT and SOG knives) makes noise and annoys my wife. But the Radius’ one handed opening is silent and addictive. I couldn’t stop opening and closing it the entire time I was speaking with the Fox Knives rep. It’s not a very long knife, with a blade under 3”, perhaps to make it legal in more places in America, and the thumb pivot mechanism takes up quite a bit of space in the handle. Because of that, there was no space on the handle for my pinky finger, which is really the only thing I didn’t like about this knife. The carbon fiber handle scales are unusually thick, which felt great in the hand but bulky in the pocket. I can’t remember if the titanium versions were as thick as the carbon fiber ones, and I also didn’t remember to ask if they’re making a left handed or ambidextrous version for the 10% of the world that’s not right handed.

599 Folding Karambit

The Fox 599 Folding Karambit isn’t particularly new, but I found this knife interesting because of it’s deployment method. It has the Emerson Wave feature, which is the hook on the back of the blade. On any normal Emerson Wave or DPX Gear Emerson-ish opening hook, you pull the knife towards the back of your pocket while drawing it upward, and the hook catches the fabric at the back of your pocket, making the blade snap open. But because karambit knives are designed to be used in a reverse grip with the index finger in the ring and the blade facing out, instead of facing in like a traditional knife, the Wave hook is reversed as well. The 599’s Wave hook works by grabbing the fabric on the front (forward facing) side of your pocket, not the back.

I tried to make this backwards opening feature work several times, and I finally got it but it felt very awkward. I would ordinarily recommend a lot of practice to anyone carrying this knife, but if you’re the kind of person who carries a karambit, you’re already going to practice that move until you destroy 10 pairs of pants.

GERBER

Doubledown Folding Machete

Do you love machetes but are always losing those pesky scabbards? Do you love butterfly knives but wish it was so big you could cut down a tree with it? I’m envisioning the “Has this ever happened to you?” part of the infomercial where it turns black & white and freeze frames on the actor looking into the camera in frustrated horror… Even the Gerber rep at the SHOT Show had a hard time being serious about this butterfly knife machete. It’s got a 6.75” blade, and is 15” open. The Gerber Doubledown is due to be released in August with a MSRP of $130.

I just had to play with this and was disappointed that it didn’t flip all the way open like a butterfly knife, but has a half-stop with safety release buttons (the thin silver bars near the pivot on each handle) that are only there to keep that big heavy blade from chopping your hand off when you try to open this awkward contraption. It’s due to be released in August 2020, which seemed strange to me since spring is gardening season, but perhaps they wanted their big, dangerous, folding machete release date to steer way clear of April, which is National Limb Loss Awareness Month.

KIZER CUTLERY

Clutch flipper

There were lots of thin, light, smallish, elegant new knives at SHOT 2020, and Kizer’s booth had a metric F-ton of them. The Clutch has a 3.39” S35VN blade and it’s titanium frame lock handle comes with either carbon fiber or micarta (pictured) inlays. The thing that made this particular knife interesting to me was it’s micarta inlays.

The extremely grippy inlays looked and felt like rigid corduroy (if you’re under 40 years old, ask your parents what corduroy is) and it’s obvious from the two different textures on the lock side that Kizer machined that line texture into the micarta, which is something I’ve never seen before. The Clutch should be available in May 2020.

Apus Front Flipper

The Apus is another thin, light, smallish, new Kizer knife, and is very 2020-style with it’s small size, front flipper, and different color variations. It’s 3” blade is S35VN steel with titanium, titanium/carbon fiber, or titanium/copper handles. It’s expected to be in stores around May.

I know it’s a subjective thing, but when I had this gorgeous little knife in my hand, I wished it would either be a little bigger or a little smaller, since I was able to get a 3 1/2 finger grip on it with my medium/large hands. I feel like it’s an in-between size at 6.9” overall, but that’s my only complaint. I find this knife’s open profile to be very aesthetically pleasing, especially with the copper handle scale.

Noble Flipper

This lightweight new flipper is designed by Sebastian Irawan from Indonesia, and is one of three of his Kizer-produced knives coming out in 2020. It’s got a 3.5” S35VN blade with a titanium framelock handle. Available in June 2020.

When I picked up the Noble and flipped open the blade (good, quick action by the way) I was immediately aware of how much the handle’s holes and off-center football-shaped scallops reduce the weight of the knife. The Noble’s handle is not particularly thin, but it’s got a lot of material removed from the inside of the handle as well, so it’s pretty much hollow without feeling fragile. The handle’s machining also provides a lot of grip, and the lock side of the knife has even more neat machining on the handle and pocket clip. This is one of those knives that feels better than it looks like it would, if that makes sense.

KERSHAW

Launch 11 OTS auto

Kershaw’s Launch series of Out The Side auto knives just got a little classier with the Launch 11. I think it’s much better looking than any of the previous ten Launch models. It has a 2.75” sheepsfoot blade made of CPM 154 steel in an aluminum handle.

It felt small and light- a gentleman’s switchblade. I felt the opening button was recessed enough to avoid accidental firing, which is important in a switchblade with no manual safety. The spring strength and blade weight felt well balanced, meaning that the spring pushing the blade open didn’t try to throw the knife out of my hand like most OTS automatic knives do.

LIONSTEEL

I think they had some new knives, but their SHOT booth was manned by two guys speaking to each other in Italian who never once acknowledged my presence, so I have nothing to report.

MAGPUL

Rigger flipper prototype

If you’ve read this SHOT Show 2020 article all the way down to this point, you’ll know that I’m not an actual journalist, but I faked it very convincingly at the Magpul booth. The third person I asked about this knife got a fourth person to go into the back and find the prototype pictured above, and they told me a lot of inside info on the story of the Magpul Rigger.

I’d seen pictures of the Rigger from last year’s show, and really liked it’s purposeful, clean aesthetic. In the hand, it’s big, tall and heavy, and the 3.4” S35VN blade flips open with a satisfying snap. The secondary locking mechanism (the switch that’s securing the framelock, pointing at the pocket clip in the second picture) was designed to feel like a 1911 pistol’s thumb safety. I have a 1911 and while this doesn’t look like a 1911’s safety, it does indeed have that crisp metal-on-metal snap when it locks into place.

Magpul released a serialized 200 piece mid-tech version of the Rigger with a black blade and handle in 2019, and it sold out immediately. I asked why the much-anticipated production run of the knife hadn’t happened yet, and was told that they were still trying to figure out how to make them at their Cheyenne, Wyoming factory in a cost-effective manner. Each pocket clip, for example, currently takes 4 hours of machining time due to it’s 2 degree angle. Magpul makes all their products in house, in America, and they’re going to figure out the puzzle of how to make the Rigger by themselves.

According to one of the Magpul reps I spoke with, they’re planning on releasing another limited run of 200 pieces, this time with the brown canvas micarta handle (pictured above) sometime in 2020, priced at around $425. I told him that I’m definitely going to buy one from their website when they drop, and then he told me about the other problem with getting the Rigger out there: the moment the first batch became available at magpul.com, demand was so high that the website immediately crashed. Hopefully they get that fixed soon so I can snag one for BladeReviews.

Part II…

Coming up in part two of the Most Interesting Knives of SHOT Show 2020: Medford, Microtech, Protech, Reate, Rike Knife, SOG, Spyderco, Strider, Viper, and WE Knife, featuring my most anticipated knife of 2020, the Snecx-designed WE Mini Buster.

Reate T4000 Review

by John Burridge 2 Comments

Whenever there’s the thinnest excuse to use a pocket knife, I do so. Over the last month of carrying the Reate T4000 nearly every day, I’ve noticed that when I open it up in public to do any of the small innocuous things I use a knife for, I’ve seen people’s eyes light up with…not terror, but a distinct “What the hell is that?” look mixed with a tingle of atavistic fear.

Buy the Reate T4000 at BladeHQ or GPKnives

It looks like a large double edged dagger- which, to the subconscious mind of most people, looks like what the ruling classes have been using to kill people with for the last four thousand years, and/or what everybody gets stabbed with in Game Of Thrones. I have two friends who are into knives on almost the same nerdy level that I am, and even their first responses were “Whoa!”

The instant I saw the T4000, I knew I wanted it simply for the fear/thrill reaction it gave me. But when writing a knife review, I always try to determine the knife’s intended purpose. In this case, it’s easy: when Reate Knives began teasing the T4000 in July 2018, BladeReviews.com’s own Ben Schwartz wrote an article about it for KnifeNews.com. Here’s what the designer of the knife, Tashi Bharucha, had to say about it:

[It] does not pretend to be anything other than a stabbing pocket sword.

It’s intended purpose is to be a stabbing pocket sword? Sign me the fuck up!

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Reate Knives T4000 is part of a four-knife series, all designed by French knife auteur Tashi Bharucha. At the time of writing, only the smallest of the four, the T2500 and the T4000 have been released. The naming convention reflects the length of the blades in inches- the T2500 is 2.5” long, the T4000 is 4”, etc. The T3000 and T3500 have yet to be released.

I find it curious that a French designer and a Chinese knife manufacturer are using the antiquated Imperial measurement system for the names of these knives- I’m going to assume their target market is ‘Merica. I don’t know if the pricing scheme is also related to the blade length, but the T4000 cost me $400 USD. I suppose that’s a bargain compared to Tashi Bharucha’s custom, handmade knives, which cost at least $1,000. Even though I’m a big fan of his work, I’m not going to spend over a thousand bucks on something I can’t drive, ride, or shoot.

It comes with a bunch of nice, unnecessary stuff like a Reate Knives Zipper pouch, a cleaning cloth, a microfiber knife bag, a velcro embroidered “Reate” patch, and extra handle screws, which are actually a really nice touch.

There are three handle choices: Titanium with inlaid carbon fiber, inlaid brown canvas Micarta, or inlaid green canvas Micarta, which is what I bought. It’s an unusually large and heavy folder, even bigger in every respect than my collection’s previous champion of unnecessary size and weight, the Microtech Sigil MK6.

The T4000 weighs 5.3 oz (150 g), is 8.86” (225 mm) long when open, 4.92” long (125 mm) closed, and 1.75” (44 mm) tall when open or closed. Some knives disappear into your pocket- this definitely doesn’t. It’s not particularly thick though, at .68” (17.2 mm) at it’s widest point, pocket clip included.

The blade steel is Bohler M390, which is considered a “super steel” due to it’s extreme hardness and corrosion resistance. I’ve been reading up on blade steel, and want to give a shout out to knifesteelnerds.com for a lot of in-depth articles that a non-scientist like myself can understand. What I’ve learned about M390 is that it’s high hardness resists edge deformation, which keeps it sharp. The trade-off for high hardness is a reduction in toughness, which is basically resistance to chipping. A lot of these hardness/toughness qualities seem to be imparted into the blade during the manufacturing process known as heat treating. My limited understanding of heat treating boils down to this: you heat up the unfinished steel blade to get the individual molecules to bond together in a very specific way, then remove the blade from the heat to lock in the molecular structure.

Most knife manufacturers guard their heat treating methods as proprietary secrets, but Reate Knives has made this little nugget known: after the heat treating is complete, they use a technique called “freeze edging skill.” This process cools the blade while the cutting edge is being ground, so that the friction-induced heat of grinding doesn’t undo the specific molecular structure from it’s heat treating. It may just be marketing hype, but it makes sense to me.

I was recently talking to a guy who is several orders of magnitude higher than me on the Blade Steel Nerdiness spectrum, and he gave me an earful about how modern super steels like M390 are too brittle, and he prefers softer, “tougher” steel like VG10 or 154CM which are easier to sharpen. I totally get it because he’s way into sharpness- he sharpens his daily carry Sebenza with a leather strop every day whether he’s used it or not. Personally, I have a bunch of nice pocket knives that I carry and use, and I wait until they’re good and dull before I sharpen them. I would rather have a knife with a crazy hard edge that I can use longer between sharpenings. In a month of light duty cutting, I’ve barely dulled the edge of my T4000, so Reate’s M390 is working great for me.

The blade is surprisingly slim for such a big knife. It has a thin hollow grind with a decorative fuller, which briefly flares the blade’s maximum width to 3.8 mm in the center. I looked up a ton of information about blade fullers for this review, but it’s far too boring to include here.

Suffice it to say that fullers are basically for structural reinforcement on long blades and are not “blood grooves.” The T4000’s standout feature is it’s aggressive symmetrical dagger shape, but the top of the blade, which is exposed when the knife is closed, has a 1.1 mm thick unsharpened edge.

This knife has excelled at my usual mundane tasks of box and bag opening and loose thread cutting, but I like trying new things, and I’ve never used a dagger for food prep before. I stabbed and slashed and hacked my way through tomatoes, onions, artichokes, sausages, etc. My experience using the T4000 in the kitchen was pretty much like with every other pocket knife I’ve used in this capacity- I couldn’t dice anything like with a chef’s knife because my knuckles would hit the cutting board before the blade would. It’s thin blade slices well, and the fuller seemed to keep food from sticking to the side of the blade. The false edge on the top of the blade is wide enough to push down on for some extra leverage.

Other uses for the T4000’s false edge are:

Opening mail- the false edge opens envelopes perfectly without dulling the sharpened side.
Removing staples- slip the tip of the blade under the staple and twist towards the unsharpened side.
Pretending to slash my wrist- I’ve absolutely horrified several people.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

On the T4000, designer Tashi Bharucha used a variation of his signature handle shape. From an aesthetic standpoint I love it, but I find it’s ergonomics often make the knife difficult to use. The problem, in my opinion, is how far back my hand is from the blade’s tip. There’s no place on the handle to choke up and gain the mechanical advantage of having my hand closer to the tip of the blade.

That being said, I don’t really care, because I don’t buy his knives for the ergonomics. I would never classify myself as a “fanboy” because first of all I’m not a boy, I’m a goddamn man, but Tashi’s design style really speaks to me, and I now own five of his production knives.

The handle ergonomics on three of the others are similar to the T4000, with the exception being the Massdrop-produced Prism (far left in photo), which cleverly exchanges some sharpened blade length for the ability to choke up on the handle. The Tashi B./Reate Knives Baby Machine (not pictured) knife has a similar ergonomically friendly shape.

The T4000’s handle is made of two pieces of titanium and one piece of green canvas Micarta. This is my first knife utilizing Micarta, and I was dismayed that after a month of sweat and cooking oil and dirty hands, the Micarta’s color has permanently changed from light green to a darker olive drab. It’s somewhat grippy texture is unchanged. The mating of the Micarta into the handle is so precise I can see where the inlaid Micarta meets the titanium, but I can’t feel the seam.

Reate’s fit and finish on this knife are superb. Every angle machined into the handle looks sharp but feels smooth. The T4000’s shape is just so weirdly aggressive that I can’t stop looking at it- it’s the knife equivalent of an Italian sports car. Specifically, the Lamborghini Urus: a 641 horsepower all wheel drive SUV that, to my eye, shares many design cues with the T4000. Please forgive my crude Photoshop skills:

Both the car and the knife are fascinating combinations of severe lines and curves, and both come off as being large, lumpy and aggressive. I periodically see one of these big stealth tank-looking SUV’s rolling by, and my response is always “Whoa!” By the way, for an excellent review of the Lamborghini Urus, I suggest checking out the Amazon Prime TV show “The Grand Tour” season 3, episode 5 “An Itchy Urus.” Anyway, back to the knife…

The forward tip of the pocket clip is very sharp. Not cut yourself sharp, but certainly scratch the paint off your car door sharp.

Nonetheless, the clip looks great, and I think it’s pointy design is entirely appropriate for a stabbing pocket sword. The T4000’s titanium clip is milled into Bharucha’s signature stylish shape, and the clip’s shape and position mirror the titanium inlay inside the Micarta inlay on the show side. The amount of flex is great, it’s amount of offset from the body of the knife is great for thick denim jeans pockets, and it’s shape melts into the fold of my hand when I’m using it.

When carrying the T4000 while wearing reasonably tight pants (as I often do), the knife, though heavy, stays put due to it’s robust clip. But when wearing loose shorts, I feel that big hunk of titanium and steel rhythmically slapping my thigh as I walk.

Deployment and Lockup

The blade is heavy and the flipper detent is strong, so it takes a bit of finger muscle to open it. It swings smoothly on ceramic bearings, and has a nice strong magnet-like feel that snaps the blade closed when it’s open less than 6 mm. It’s a framelock, and locks up securely with about half of it’s 3 mm steel lock face in contact with the blade. It’s not a hard use knife like my DPX HEST F1, which has a 75% lockup on it’s 4 mm wide lockbar, but the T4000’s lock doesn’t seem to be likely to fail under reasonable use.

There is one weird thing about it though- it’s sound. When flipping it open, instead of the normal, satisfying “click” that I’ve come to expect from titanium knives, there’s a two-part sound like a metal soap bubble popping, followed by an unusually high-pitched snap. One of the nice things about having a lot pocket knives is that I have them on hand to compare and contrast with each other. At the moment, I have 16 reasonably good folding knives, and I sat down in a quiet room and flicked or thumbed open every single one. Through this highly scientific investigation I have determined that the sound the Reate T4000 makes when opening is utterly unique. The sound has nothing to do with it’s functionality at all, but it’s odd enough that I feel compelled to mention it.

Two last things: first, the T4000 has a party trick- it can stand on it’s head. Second, I was driving on US Interstate 5 on the East side of Los Angeles and noticed a 125 foot (38 meter) tall Tashi Bharucha pocket clip rising above the LA River. It’s the central spire of the North Atwater Bridge which is due to be completed in 2020. Say what you will about the evils of social media, but thanks to Facebook I was able to send the picture below to T4000 designer Tashi Bharucha. He responded that he hadn’t seen it before and, no, he did not design the bridge.

Reate T4000 Review – Final Thoughts

The T4000 is definitely a niche item. It’s not for everyone, it’s not perfect, and it’s relatively expensive at $400. But I dig the Reate T4000 stabbing pocket sword on a deep, visceral level – I don’t know if it’s an ancient, hardwired feeling of security or a Roman-Legionnaire-in-a-past-life kind of thing, but I sure do like it.

Reate T2500 – From $419.95
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Reate T4000 at BladeHQ or GPKnives. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. Thank you very much.

Bestech Fanga Review

by John Burridge Leave a Comment

I love me a big knife. I particularly love a big, well designed knife. I recently acquired two similar big folding knives, and I’m going to do a full review of one and complain about the other one.

Buy the Bestech Fanga at BladeHQ

The Bestech Knives Fanga is the newest design from Polish knife designer Grzegorz Grabarski (AKA Kombou on Instagram), who’s on a real hot streak lately. In the last couple of years, a total of seven of his designs have been produced by BRR Knives in Poland, Custom Knife Factory in Russia, and five models from Bestech in China. Bestech’s website describes their company as “a professional manufacturer and exporter of medium and high quality knives in China for OEM in the past 10 years.”

I had never heard of Bestech until about a year ago, but apparently they’ve been making knives for other brands for a decade. Everything I’ve seen of theirs has been very well made, particularly the Bestech Malware, which I previously reviewed. The Fanga is also his least expensive folder to date, with the G10 handled version retailing for $80 and the carbon fiber/G10 version (the subject of this review) for $102 at BladeHQ.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Fanga is indeed a big knife at 9.375 inches (238 mm) open, weighs 4.75 ounces (135 grams), and has a 4 inch (102 mm) clip point blade that brings to mind a scimitar or Bowie knife. Research into scimitars and Bowie knives led me down a very deep internet rabbit hole, and when I climbed out I had two salient pieces of information:

1) curved blades are designed to aid in draw cuts, where the blade is being pulled across what it’s cutting. The outward curve of the blade not only provides a longer surface area to cut with than a straight edged blade of the same overall length, but the curved shape is also ergonomically designed to cut deeper than a straight blade when using a slashing motion. And

2) searching for information on Bowie knives led me to YouTube videos of the Mountain Dew drinking maniac Tom O’Dell on the QVC Cutlery Corner cable TV show from the late 90’s / early 2000’s. He would say “bowie” a hundred times an hour with amazing enthusiasm: “We have a set of 14 B o o o o o – ee knives with genuine jigged stag bone handles and top quality mirror polished stainless steel for only $39.99!” I have fond memories of watching that show at 2am in the 90’s- and now, even without the bong, it’s still captivating viewing.

The blade has 3.875 inches (98 mm) of sharpened edge, and it’s made of D2 tool steel. D2 was patented in 1927, and was primarily used for industrial cutting tools until the mid 1960’s when it started showing up in high-end knives of the time. D2 is a good middle of the road steel. It’s not quite rust-proof stainless steel (not enough chromium), it’s not as fine-grained as modern powdered steel (not easy to sharpen to a fine edge), but on the upside it’s a pretty “hard” steel, meaning it can take a lot of abuse without deforming. That quality of hardness gives D2 good edge retention, but is notoriously hard to sharpen to a very fine edge. I’ve been able to get a good sharp edge on mine using my Wicked Edge sharpener, but I had to resort to using a very coarse 400 grit stone to smooth out some slightly rolled sections of the edge. I usually only need much finer grit stones like 800 and 1000 grit for touch-ups on knives with premium modern steels.

The last decade has seen an explosion of new varieties of blade steel, and I think I know why. I started getting into pocketknives in the late 90’s when my father got me the Spyderco Civilian I’d been wanting for my birthday- thanks again Dad! I told him to go into Chicago Cutlery and ask for the scariest looking knife in the store- which, in 1997, was unquestionably the Civilian. The blade was stamped “GIN-1 STAINLESS”. This was towards the end of the pre-internet dark ages, so investigating the blade steel meant a trip to the library and checking out a book on metallurgy. So I lazily assumed whatever steel knifemakers used was the most appropriate steel.

I didn’t think much about it until 2012, when I bought a DPX Gear HEST/F with a D2 tool steel blade, which sounded really cool. I decided to look up the comparative properties of D2 online, and was shocked to learn that D2 wasn’t the greatest blade steel ever invented. Between 1997 and 2012, the internet had matured into a snarky criticism/pornography e-commerce platform that highly values new products. I learned about S30V and many other new blade steels that were becoming popular thanks in no small part to the internet’s hunger for new, improved things.

So, to keep up in modern business, new powder metallurgy “super steels” like M390, S110V and Vanax 37 have become the steels of choice for high-end knives. Now, D2 blades are generally relegated to lower-priced knives. In fact, the last D2 steel knife I bought was the OKC Carter Prime, which was disappointing in so many ways. But the Carter Prime is not the knife I’m going to complain about…

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The G10/carbon fiber handle is long, fat, and heavy, and fits my medium-large hands very well. As my daily EDC over the last month and a half, I’ve done a lot with it. I prepared an entire BBQ meal with the Fanga. It’s blade shape and the fact that the blade edge is higher than the bottom of the handle preclude it from being good at dicing onions, but it hacked open the packaging on the sausages and sliced the rolls just fine.

I needed to chop down a recently deceased banana tree in my yard, and why use a saw or machete when I have this bigass knife in my pocket? It was like cutting through seven inches of tough, soggy celery, and I gained a practical appreciation of the handle size and shape. The index finger cutout, along with the wide, flat thumb rest above the pivot, gave me surfaces to push and pull against as I sawed the banana trunk into sections that would fit into my yard waste bin. Afterwards, the knife and I were covered in bitter banana sap, so I cleaned us both with a garden hose. I was hoping that the Fanga’s machined G10/carbon fiber handle and G10 backspacer would be less slippery when wet than an all-titanium handled knife, but it was about as slippery as my titanium Sebenza.

Most of the time G10 appears on folding knife handles, it’s a flat slab with a square grid pattern molded or machined into the surface. It feels great and provides excellent traction, but looks boring. Notable examples of this are a lot of Spyderco knives, the Rick Hinderer XM series of knives, and pretty much every Emerson knife. But on the Fanga, this material is sculpted in a creative, organic way you that you feel more than you see.

Kombou, the designer of this knife, has added his signature design cue of several little scalloped cuts on the top of the handle behind the pivot. I’ve noticed this design in four of his other knives (the Ornetta, Volta, Kamoza, Bragga, and Buwaya) and I now notice a signature naming convention as well- all of his knife names end with an “a”. I really like his design aesthetic. It’s not quite as distinctive as knife designer Elijah Isham’s style but I find Kombou’s knives to be more practical. Like Isham, Kombou does 3D computer design, not physical knife making, and a close examination of the Fanga reveals many well-executed small details, like the deep blade fuller that can be used to open the knife like you would open a traditional slipjoint.

The pivot collar and the pocket clip are made of the same blue anodized titanium, and both have style. The pivot collar is subtly cone shaped, and the angle at which it rises above the handle matches the angle of the pivot screw, resulting in a volcano shaped pivot. The clip has a unique organic shape that compliments the shape of the handle. It also has a sufficient height above the handle to easily slide onto both my thickest denim jeans and my Triple Aught Design Force 10 AC pants which are extremely thin, but indestructible. The amount of flex in the clip has held on tight to everything I’ve worn in the six weeks I’ve been carrying the Fanga.

I scratched the anodizing on the clip somehow, and the blue anodizing is showing some fading on the edges. My Fox Knives Phoenix has similar blue anodizing and even more pronounced wear, but that’s also not the knife I’m going to complain about…

Deployment and Lockup

The Fanga stays open by utilizing a steel liner lock, which contributes to it’s weight. As D2 steel has gone out of fashion in high-end knives, so have liner locks been replaced by frame locks. I personally love a well done liner lock because it allows the handle design to be symmetrical in shape and materials. A frame lock knife, like the Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza, by definition must have a steel or titanium handle on one side that functions as it’s locking mechanism.

The design of the “lock side” of a typical frame lock knife is dominated by the lock. If a knifemaker wants to use a material other than steel or titanium for the non-locking side of the handle (the “show” side) they can use G10 or micarta or solid gold, but there’s no way to have symmetry of materials on both sides of the handle unless you use steel or titanium. Thanks to it’s liner lock, the standard Bestech Fanga has symmetrical G10 (or G10/carbon fiber) handles on both sides.

The lockup is solid with no blade wiggle, and the combination of the wide, heavy handle and thick blade stock prompted me to test the overall strength of the knife. My banana-watering garden hose burst at one end so I seized the opportunity to cut it with the Fanga. It took all my strength to cut through the extra-thick hose, so for the sake of science I sharpened it and cut a couple more slices much more easily.

The Flipper detent is a little stronger than I’m used to, meaning that it takes a bit of effort to get the flipping motion started. Once past that initial resistance it flips open smoothly on it’s ball bearing pivot system. It’s a big heavy blade and the detent feels appropriate to get that much mass moving and locked into place. I have never failed to completely flip it open using a normal index finger technique or by my wrapping my thumb over the top like a front flipper knife.

Every surface on the Fanga that’s able to be touched is chamfered or rounded a little bit, with the exception of a sharp two inch portion the back side of the liner lock, which is a) only exposed when the knife is locked open, and b) not sharp enough to cut you anyway. I would call that a design flaw, but that’s nothing compared to the design flaw of the knife I’m going to be complaining about, the Spyderco Tropen.

On paper, the Tropen is practically the same as the Fanga with the exception of the Tropen having better blade steel. Their weight, handle size and shape, blade size and shape, and full flat grind are very similar to each other. It’s in the differences between them where the Tropen falls short. The flipper tab’s pointy top jabs into your finger, the polished G10 handle scales are slippery even when dry, and the liner lock that keeps the knife open is only 1mm, while the Fanga’s liner lock is almost double the thickness at 1.8mm. In the picture it looks like the liner locks are the same size, but I bought digital calipers specifically so I could bitch about this and I assure you the measurements are accurate.

I also replaced the pocket clip with a $26 MXG Gear deep carry clip, but that was an aesthetic decision on my part. In my opinion, Spyderco knives are like Glock pistols: they’re usually OK right out of the box, but if you really want to get the most out of them, you have to install some aftermarket accessories and tinker with them a little. My Tropen had two serious problems when it was in the closed position that definitely required some tinkering.

First, the detent keeping the Tropen closed was so weak that it opened in my pocket several times. To remedy that, I turned to YouTube and learned how to increase the detent by taking the knife apart and using a dremel tool to enlarge the hole that the detent ball rests in. The second problem has perplexed me and the knife nerd community in general- when the knife is closed, there’s a half inch of sharp blade exposed next to the lock mechanism. The only fix is to dull the back end of the blade with a file. I haven’t cut myself on it yet, and I’m leaving the end the butt end of the blade sharp just to see if it actually does cut me while I’m holding it in my pocket. I’m willing to trade the pain for the knowledge.

Finally, the Tropen costs about $100 more than the Fanga. The only reason I bring up the Tropen at all is to make my final point about price versus value.

Bestech Fanga Review – Final Thoughts

Warren Buffett said this about price versus value:“Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that ‘Price is what you pay; value is what you get.’ Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.” When I first held the Fanga in my hands, I was surprised that this knife only cost $102, and the regular G10 version $80. The fit and finish, at least to my untrained eye, are excellent. That’s a lot of value at a low price. There are many quality knives out there that cost approximately the same amount, but I haven’t seen one that has this much style and meticulous detail plus a milled pocket clip at this price.

I bought the very similar Spyderco Tropen (which is also made in China by the way) for approximately double the price, and it ended up costing me even more in parts and labor. Despite it’s higher price, I feel like it’s value is significantly lower than that of the Fanga. The Bestech Fanga is, in my opinion, a great all-around knife and a tremendous value for the money. I recommend it.

Lastly, while fact-checking this review with the designer, Kombou, he told me that he has recently quit his regular 9 to 5 job to become a full time Product Designer for Bestech. My congratulations to him and to anyone who gets paid to do what they love. Keep making cool knives (with good value) and I’ll keep buying them.

Bestech Knives Fanga – From $102.00
From: BladeHQ

Editor: I recommend purchasing the Bestech Knives Fanga at BladeHQ and Amazon. Thank you very much.

About the Author: This guest review was written by John Burridge. John Burridge is a Los Angeles-based lover of knives and other dangerous toys. He spends his days trying to make the world a better place by slipping subversive humor into reality TV shows. And playing with cats. He can be found on Instagram as @bunrudge.

Bestech Knives Malware Review

by John Burridge 3 Comments

Over the years, I’ve noticed that in polite society when I whip out a folding knife to open a box or cut a loose thread, most people’s reactions are some variation of “Oh God, why do you have/need/carry that?” My usual reply is that a knife is the most useful tool in the world, but I’ve found that no matter how “non-threatening” looking the knife is, I still get that same reaction. Therefore, why not carry whatever I want?

Buy the Bestech Malware at BladeHQ

So, a month ago I put down my already scary-looking Microtech Ultratech OTF switchblade and picked up the seriously murder-ey looking Bestech Malware.

The Malware was designed for Bestech Knives by Todd Knife and Tool. TKT was started in 2016 by prolific knife reviewer Teryl Todd (Zelrick42 on YouTube) and his brother Seth Todd. They went from being fans to designers, and have a thoroughly modern company. Teryl lives in Ozark, Missouri, and Seth lives in Houston, Texas. They jointly design their knives by sharing 3D CAD files online, then Seth makes physical prototypes that they both test. TKT have developed a distinct visual style also apparent in their We Knife Co. made Roxi folder, and in the many prototype images shared on the toddknifeandtool Instagram account.

General Dimensions & Blade Details

The Malware’s blade is 3.875” (9.8 cm) long, the blade stock thickness is 0.15” (3.9mm), and it’s full open length is 8.75” (22 cm). The long stabby blade folds into a titanium handle, the blade pivots on ball bearings, and it’s framelock has a steel lockbar insert. The steel lockbar insert is a theoretically replaceable part that protects the titanium framelock from rubbing against the lock face of the steel blade. My experience has been that often a titanium framelock rubbing against a steel blade tends to “stick” in place, but steel on steel doesn’t have the same problem.

Here is a size comparison with a large Sebenza Insingo:

It weighs 3.68 oz. which is technically a little more than a Spyderco Paramilitary 2 or a Chris Reeve Knives large Sebenza, but it feels lighter than either of them in the hand. I attribute this feeling to the weight balance of this knife. If I’m holding the Malware in a normal thumb-on-top grip, and I slowly open my hand, the knife will not fall to the floor, but will stay balanced on my index finger. This nearly perfect weight distribution helps the Malware feel very agile in my hand.

The titanium pocket clip is configured as a right side, tip up only, but there are dedicated left handed versions as well. I have the “Ti Black” version. The titanium backspacer and pocket clip are anodized a brassy gold color, and contrast nicely against the black stonewashed finish of the rest of the knife. The stonewashed treatment gives the edges and corners a worn-in look similar to Kershaw Knives’ “blackwash” finish.

It’s blade steel is S35VN, which was developed specifically for high-end knife blades by steelmaker Crucible Industries and Chris Reeve Knives. It’s a powdered metal steel, which has the advantage of more uniform blending of it’s elements (iron, niobium, chromium, vanadium, etc.) than conventional steel. The end-user benefits of this manufacturing process and the S35VN formula are excellent blade toughness (it can take a hit without breaking or bending), corrosion resistance, and edge retention.

So it’s a modern production knife made in China with premium materials and it’s priced accordingly at $196 on BladeHQ. What makes it different than every other new Kizer, Reate, We, and Rike knife? Style and details.

What I love about good pocketknives is that they’re pieces of functional art you can hold in your hand. The Malware is full of interesting details and I keep noticing more. The design is a strange futuristic combination of curves, straight lines, and, as on the cutting edge of the blade, straight lines that almost imperceptibly turn into curves. The blade has a finger choil which, although it’s a little too small for my index finger, is the full 3.9mm width of the blade stock, which is yet another design detail that I appreciate.

Handle, Ergonomics, & Pocket Clip

In pictures, the handle looks very thin, and in the days between ordering the Malware and receiving it, I wondered if it would be too small to properly wrap my medium-large-ish hands around. When it arrived, I found that it fills my hand very well, and the long, flat clip doesn’t create much of a hotspot any way I hold it.

Some edges are pretty squared off, like the machining on the backspacer, but almost every part of the handle that comes in contact with my hand is chamfered, making it quite comfortable to hold. And the more I have it in my hands, the more I keep discovering new functional design details that I had, at first glance, written off as being cosmetic- like the three holes in the show side near the flipper tab. Those holes are exactly where my right thumb needs traction when flipping the knife open.

On the lock side of virtually all framelock knives, there’s a machined indentation in the frame that allows the locking part of the frame to flex inward and lock the blade open. A lot of knives cover this indentation with their pocket clips, but as yet another example of how well thought out this design is, the pocket clip on the Malware sits right above, but not covering, the indentation. So when gripping the knife to flip it open, my ring finger is naturally pushed into that square indentation, which gives me a secure grip when flipping it open.

I don’t ordinarily use my pocketknives for food prep, but in the spirit of thoroughness I sliced up some veggies with it. The blade has a full flat grind and gets very thin at the bottom, which made slicing easy. The ergonomics for general food prep were fine as long as I didn’t try to spread anything- the thin blade definitely doesn’t work as a butter knife. The flipper tab extends below the cutting edge, so it can’t really be used for dicing either, but kitchen work is clearly not this knife’s intended use.

The pocket clip is rather long and thin and has more flex to it than any other milled clip I’ve handled. The good news is that it doesn’t chew up my (already chewed up) pants pockets, but the bad news is that it seems like it could easily get bent.

I carried this knife during a T.C.C.C. medic class, and when we were learning how to improvise tourniquets, I used the Malware as a windlass (the stiff piece that you twist to tighten the tourniquet.) Despite really cranking this thing down tight on my training partner’s arm, I had no fear of the knife breaking or bending until the instructor decided to show the class how to tie off the end of the improvised tourniquet using the pocket clip. He was bending the clip way out and jamming fabric under it, and I desperately wanted to ask him to stop so he didn’t break it. I resisted this urge because I didn’t want to seem like a weenie to our super-badass Los Angeles SWAT Medic instructor. So he manhandled the clip, and when he was done, it just sprung back to it’s normal state. It may be thin and flexible, but it’s not fragile.

Overall, the Malware isn’t an “overbuilt” knife like a Hinderer Knives XM or a Strider SMF, but it’s definitely tougher than it looks.

Deployment & Lockup

A gripe I have with every single framelock flipper is if I grip it in such a way that I’m putting a lot of pressure with my middle finger on the front of the lock near the pivot, then the knife becomes very difficult to flip open. The worst offender on this front that I have is a Brad Zinker midtech version of the Boker Urban Trapper. The only knife I have that is immune to this problem is my GiantMouse GM1, which is an awesome knife overall, but perhaps solves this problem by having a weak detent which makes it difficult to flip open. However, the ergonomics of the Malware naturally place my fingers where they don’t get in the way of the mechanism at all.

The Malware’s flipper tab is relatively small but has comfortably rounded jimping that provides good traction for flipping. The amount of detent tension that has to be overcome to flip the knife open is tough for me to objectively define- but subjectively, I think it flips perfectly. The Malware’s framelock engages at about 40%, which you can jam over to about 60% if you’re worried about it slipping (not that that’s ever happened to me or anyone I know.)

I don’t carry a knife specifically for self defense, but I must say that I certainly never felt under-prepared while carrying the Malware on the weird streets of Los Angeles. It’s never accidentally opened while in my pocket or while drawing it out of my pocket. It’s flipped and locked open securely every single time I’ve flipped it. I don’t think an especially scary-looking knife like this is going to make a bad man run away in terror, but it’s a long, mean looking blade with a big handle I can get a very firm grip on. So I’ll add self defense to the Malware’s growing list of positive attributes.

Bestech Malware Review – Final Thoughts

I carried the Malware every day for a month and primarily used it for un-challenging tasks like opening packages, slashing open bags of cat food, and as an improvised medical device. At the end of the month, the finish on blade, handle, and clip are unblemished. The S35VN blade was still very sharp in most places, but after a quick, ham-fisted touch up on a Wicked Edge sharpener, it’s back to 100%. There’s no sharpening choil, but I don’t really care if the last few millimeters of my blade are super sharp.

What is the Bestech Malware made to do? I don’t want to sound like a knife snob a-hole, but I tend to compare everything to my Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza 21. The word “Sebenza” is literally the Zulu word for “work”, and the Sebenza feels like an indestructible precision tool. The Bestech knife doesn’t feel like a tool, it feels like a blatantly offensive weapon that can also open boxes from Amazon. Malware is the perfect name for this knife because it’s so badass. Not flaming skull badass, but sci-fi villain badass. It brings to mind futuristic heavy metal music by the band Voivod, it’s like the knife version of the Space Marines’ rifle from the movie Aliens, it should be a weapon in the DOOM video games, and I obviously really like it.

The deciding factor for anyone considering buying the Malware is definitely it’s looks- if you immediately like it’s vibe, I say get it. Nothing is perfect (except kittens), but the Malware excelled at everything I wanted it to do, and looked super-murder-ey doing it. Recommended!

Bestech Knives Malware – From $196.00
From: BladeHQ

Editor: I recommend purchasing the Bestech Knives Malware at BladeHQ and Amazon. Thank you very much.

About the Author: This guest review was written by John Burridge. John lives in Los Angeles and has a deep passion for knives. I plan on adding to this section to include more info about John and where to find him. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this in depth review.