Titanium Frame Lock Knives

Ah, titanium. Few materials excite a knife collector as much as titanium, and ultra light, ultra tough, and ultra cool knives with titanium frame locks have seen a surge in popularity over the past decade. Popularized by Chris Reeve and his collection of beautiful titanium frame lock designs, this style of knife is so popular that I decided to dedicate an entire section of the website to them.

My collection of titanium frame lock folder reviews is definitely a work in progress, but I’ve checked out a couple of them at this point and felt like you might enjoy having all of the reviews in one spot – so you don’t need to hunt around for them if you happen to be in the market for a titanium frame lock folder. As always, feel free to leave a comment or question in the section below.

Titanium Frame Lock Knife Reviews

• Shirogorov Ne0n Review
  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. ...
• We Knife Co. Mini Buster Review
  Snecx! If you haven’t heard of him yet, Snecx Tan is a Malaysian knife and tool maker who is, in my opinion, currently the most mechanically innovative knife designer in the world. His Instagram profile says “Just a hobbyist working on knives. Not a knifemaker.” That’s a bit of an understatement for someone who recently ...
• Bestech Marukka Review
  Kombou is on fire lately! In the last few years, Bestech Knives has released 8 knives that he’s designed, including the Marukka reviewed here. I bought the Marukka the day it was released, and as I write this review 60 days later, two more Bestech/Kombou knives are starting to hit stores: the Wibra and the ...
• Zero Tolerance 0308 Review
  I got a little silly with my knife purchases in the last few years. If it wasn’t an automatic knife, my purse strings got tight. I’m not saying I’m a cheapskate, but I was ignoring some great knives in the premium market if they didn’t have a button to flip them into action. A friend ...
• WE Knife Co. Scoppio Review
  I’m writing this review at my work-at-home desk during the 2020 COVID lockdown, and ironically the first translation Google gives me for “scoppio” is “outbreak.” The second translation (from Italian) is explosion, which is more likely what WE Scoppio designer Toni N. Tietzel had in mind. The German designer’s logo is his initials on a ...
• Kizer Yorkie Review
  Ray Laconico designs some elegant knives. I like the clean lines, and the practicality of his pieces. I’m not alone, and over the past few years his work has taken off. Kizer was smart to collaborate with him, and the results so far have been excellent. Buy the Kizer Yorkie at BladeHQ We previously reviewed the ...
• Reate T4000 Review
  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 ...
• Bestech Knives Malware Review
  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 ...
• Zero Tolerance 0470 Review
  Reviewing the Zero Tolerance 0470 is about as safe as it gets. We have reviewed countless Sinkevich / Zero Tolerance designs. It is well within our comfort zone of review material. Buy the ZT 0470 at BladeHQ So why review the 0470? Well, it’s a beautiful knife, it appears to be built differently than the other ...
• Spyderco Hundred Pacer Review
  At first, nothing about the Spyderco Hundred Pacer appealed to me. For someone intent on wringing maximum utility from every inch, every ounce, and every dollar’s worth of blade, the Hundred Pacer seems absurd: too big, too heavy, and too expensive. It’s also… weird. Impressively weird, even for Spyderco, whose catalog is persistently peppered with ...
• Zero Tolerance 0609 Review
  This is a reader request. Proof that if you twist my arm hard enough I’ll review the latest full titanium Zero Tolerance flipper. Only for you guys. Buy the Zero Tolerance 0609 at BladeHQ The Zero Tolerance 0609 is an R.J. Martin design, and is another step in ZT’s trend of releasing smaller, more EDC friendly ...
• Kizer Sheepdog Review
  Imagine you can pick out anything from Kizer‘s lineup. I was recently put in that position. Not a bad place to be. Thumbing through their catalog yields all sorts of stuff from the pedestrian to the outlandish. The Sheepdog is more in that second camp. It’s a big bold design. Not likely to dislodge something ...
• DPx Gear HEST/F Urban Review
  DPx Gear has been at it for a while now. They caught everyone’s attention with the original HEST fixed blade knife in 2008. Their first folder was the HEST/F, a knife I reviewed back in 2012. It was promising in a lot of ways, but ultimately a sticky lock and ponderous footprint kept it from ...
• Benchmade Proxy Review
  Last Updated: September 7, 2019 Warren Osborne is one of the most recognized names in knife making. While he was an extremely talented custom maker, a large part of his renown is due to a series of high profile collaborations with Benchmade. The 940 is one of the most notable collabs, but Warren Osborne is also ...
• Rike Thor4s Review
  Rike doesn’t enjoy the same name recognition that Reate, Kizer, or WE Knives does. While those companies are easily recognizable as the leading names in the renaissance of Chinese knife manufacturing, Rike is often left out of the conversation. On one hand, that’s perfectly understandable: unlike Kizer, WE, or Reate, Rike hasn’t cultivated much cachet ...
• Zero Tolerance 0450CF Review
  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I lust after knives for months, or even years, before pulling the trigger. That was the case with this Zero Tolerance 0450CF. The original 0450 was cool, but the carbon fiber version put me over the top. It’s a little lighter and sleeker, and the choice of green ...
• Kizer Gemini Lefty Review
  Ray Laconico has been a favorite knife maker of mine for a long time. Over the years that I have been buying and selling custom knives I’ve had the opportunity to own two different customs from Ray. His style is simplistic, but with a very unique aesthetic that sticks out on a table full of ...
• Kizer Feist Review
  Last Updated: July 13, 2019 The Kizer Feist is a knife that I’ve wanted to check out since seeing it in the 2017 catalog. At first, I almost missed it: it’s seemingly such a plain design that my eyes slid right over its page, and it was only during a follow-up perusal that I noticed it ...
• Microtech Sigil MK6 Review
  There is depth to the knife industry. So much depth that a reviewer can review knives for 5 years, hire on 3 other writers to review knives, amass a catalog of over 300 knife reviews, and still not review knives from all the major manufacturers. That’s case with this website and Microtech at least. ...
• Zero Tolerance 0055 Review
  Continuing on with my recent interest in reviewing unusual knives, the Zero Tolerance 0055 caught my eye for obvious reasons. This is an unusual looking knife. Designed by acclaimed Brazilian custom knifemaker Gustavo Cecchini of GTC Knives, the 0055 is a collaboration fusing the practical with the fantastical. Buy the ZT 0055 at BladeHQ I think ...
• Spartan Blades Metis Review
  Last Updated: September 7, 2019 Few companies have the pedigree that Spartan Blades does. I rarely hear them pop up in conversation among gear geeks, but that hasn’t stopped them from accumulating a small hoard of Blade Show awards. Between the aforementioned awards and the extensive Special Forces resumes of the two founders, I’m surprised they ...
• Kizer Cutlery Guru Review
  Last Updated: July 30, 2019 It’s been interesting to watch Kizer’s evolution over the years. They had an ambitious, albeit amorphous, beginning, with somewhat forgettable designs rendered in high-quality materials at head-turning prices; I still get a little jolt when I see the Sliver going for $70 with S35VN steel. Buy the Kizer Guru at BladeHQ Then Kizer ...
• Kizer Ki3480 Dirk Pinkerton Rogue Review
  The Kizer Ki3480 Rogue is a series of firsts for me. It’s the first Dirk Pinkerton design I have ever reviewed, it’s my first review of a mid-tier Kizer knife, and it’s the first wharncliffe I have reviewed in a while. The designer, Dirk Pinkerton, is an interesting guy. He is a custom knifemaker from Huntersville, ...
• Zero Tolerance 0900 Review
  Last Updated: May 20, 2019 Alright, peer pressure, you win. You finally got to me. After holding out for god knows how long, I finally jumped on the titanium-flipper-framelock (henceforth TFF) bandwagon. Not just any TFF, mind: if I’m challenging my own tastes, I’m going all the way. Full bore. Thus, I decided to pick up ...
• Kizer Intrepid Ki4468A1 Review
  Last Updated: August 12, 2019 The high end Chinese Renaissance has been blossoming for a couple years, and Kizer is arguably the Michelangelo of the movement. Yet there hasn’t been much coverage here of this rapidly expanding segment of the market. Ben has capably covered a couple knives from Kizer including the original Ki3404-A3 and the ...
• Hinderer MP-1 Review
  It seems like every time I write a review of a Hinderer knife I can’t help but open with a commentary on the state of the Hinderer market. Maybe it’s the finance degree talking. At any rate, a few years ago a Hinderer XM-18 would sell for well north of retail. Some were selling for ...
• Pohl Force Mike One Review
  Last Updated: July 31, 2019 I have lusted after the Pohl Force Mike One for years. I wanted one for years. For the uninitiated, Pohl Force is a tactical knife company owned by Dietmar Pohl, a long time knife collector, knife designer, knife enthusiast, and author of books on knives. I have met with Dietmar, and ...
• Freeman Outdoor Gear 451 Flipper Review
  Last Updated: August 5, 2019 Few of us have the money to shell out hundreds of dollars for every knife we think we might like. We have to cull the herd. Maybe we splash out for a promising ‘Maybe’ every once in a while, but 80% of the time we go for the sure thing. Most ...
• Spyderco Mantra 1 Review
  Last Updated: August 30, 2019 Admittedly, the Mantra 1 had a hill of biases to climb from the start with me. It is a titanium frame lock flipper, a style of knife that I’ve never warmed up to. I find the flipper to be an inferior deployment method for knives, and while I’ve had positive experiences ...
• Kizer Vanguard Gemini Review
  Last Updated: August 2, 2019 It’s a question I (and others) have been asking a lot lately: Where is the middle? The Budget Knife has had its day: the Tenacious, the Cryo, the Skyline, the RAT-1, the Drifter; value was the byword of the industry, and knife makers were showing some serious creativity and finesse working under ...
• Zero Tolerance 0452CF Review
  When it comes to folding knives, I am extremely selective in what I choose to carry, especially if it is a blade that I am going to carry for self-protection. It has to be light, reliable, sharp, and geometrically efficient. These are just a few of the qualities I look for in a ...
• Kizer Ki3404-a3 Review
  Last Updated: August 12, 2019 As the standard-bearer for the burgeoning (and almost instantaneously influential) high-end Chinese knife scene, Kizer made an immediate impression with its very high-quality, relatively affordable knives. In what is perhaps a not-very-encouraging indicator of where the knife community’s mindset is at, Kizer immediately fell under harsh scrutiny – a scrutiny ...
• DPx Gear HEAT/F Review
  Last Updated: August 3, 2019 It has been a long time since I have examined a DPx Gear product. You may recall a review done on the HEST back in 2012. This was DPx’s first effort, and is the knife that put them on the map. The HEST is a solid tool and is well made, ...
• Hinderer XM-18 3″ Review
  Last Updated: August 5, 2019 If you have been following Hinderer Knives on the secondary market, you will have noticed that the prices have fallen dramatically over the past couple years. A few years ago, it would have been hard to find a used XM-18 for less than $700. Some were fetching closer to a grand. ...
• Zero Tolerance 0808 Review
  Last Updated: August 3, 2019 Zero Tolerance has had some interesting releases in 2015. What especially intrigued me was their addition of a few smaller folders to the line up. The 0450, 0900 and
• Southard Knives Tolk Review
  Midtechs. If there was a single thread that bound Blade Show 2015 together for me, that thread would be midtechs. Specifically, midtechs offered directly from custom knife makers. Midtechs are nothing new, and have been in the knife enthusiast’s vernacular for several years now, although it is admittedly a fuzzy term to define. But at ...
• Viper Odino Review
  The “Italian Renaissance” of knife making has been on my radar for a few years now. Manufacturers like LionSteel, Fox, Fantoni, and Viper are getting more traction stateside. The Italians have been doing some interesting stuff with manufacturing and innovation over the past few years, and the level of quality is often exceptionally high. Buy ...
• Spyderco Slysz Bowie Review
  Last Updated: August 1, 2019 An often enjoyed pastime of production knife collectors is to discuss various “Sebenza Killers” arriving on the market. The Sebenza has long been considered a gold standard in high end production cutlery, and the thought that a competitor might knock the Sebenza off it’s podium has been a topic of conversation ...
• Shirogorov 95t Review
  I have had folks occasionally confess that they live vicariously through my reviews of high end pocket knives. I have handled some nice stuff over the years, but for the most part my wallet and I have been able to resist the renaissance of mid tech and custom knives. This is despite the deluge of ...
• Zero Tolerance 0620CF Review
  Last Updated: August 3, 2019 I have given Zero Tolerance over the past year. So I actually had to pause and think when my pre-order for the 0620CF popped into my inbox. I try to feature a variety of knives from different manufacturers. Would I purchase and review this knife? I slept on it for a ...
• Spyderco Tuff Review
  Ed Schempp’s designs are something of an acquired taste. The man isn’t afraid to try new things, and his “function over form” design philosophy aligns nicely with Spyderco’s credo. He has worked on a series of ethnic folders with Spyderco which have intrigued me, although never to the point of acquisition. I have always found ...
• Rick Hinderer Knives XM-18 3.5 Review
  Last Updated: June 23, 2019 In the past I have compared knife collecting to mountain climbing. Certainly there isn’t the element of physical accomplishment, as the only thing that really gets a workout is your wallet, but there is that spirit of pursuit and of course the ascent up a pile of incrementally more expensive knives. ...
• Zero Tolerance 0562CF Review
  Last Updated: July 14, 2019 By this point we have seen quite a few of Hinderer / KAI collabs hit the market, and I have covered them extensively on the blog. We started with the heavily built 0550, moved to the critically acclaimed 0560, a knife that raised the standard for high end production pieces, spent ...
• Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza 25 Review
  How do you improve on perfection? That may have been a question asked by the engineers at Chris Reeve when they approached the Sebenza 25. I wasn’t in the room, so I really have no idea. The Sebenza has received incremental improvements over the years, but for it’s 25th anniversary CRK really wanted to up ...
• Zero Tolerance 0801 Review
  Last Updated: August 7, 2019 Titanium framelock flippers. Are we sick of them yet? No? Great, because I’ve got another titanium framelock flipper review for you today. Given the rapid influx of titanium framelock flippers on the market, I initially thought that I would pass on the Zero Tolerance 0801. The wide shape, chunky build, and ...
• Lionsteel SR-1 Review
  Last Updated: July 28, 2019 A topic knife nuts love to ponder is the age old question of “is it worth it?” This question is probably as old as knife ownership is itself. I imagine that first cave man who showed off his fancy new blade hewn from obsidian rather than the typical rock was met ...
• Chris Reeve Knives Large Sebenza 21 Review
  Last Updated: July 28, 2019 For many the Sebenza 21 is a knife obtained on the steep ascent to the upper echelons of production knife collecting. It’s not a starter knife. It is something to be gradually aspired to, pined over, and then climatically acquired. I had such an experience when I bought and reviewed a ...
• Strider SJ-75 Review
  I have come to really enjoy my Strider SnG. Perhaps its because I won it in a contest, and therefore, had no qualms about carrying and beating the crap out of it. Regardless, it is a knife I have really enjoyed. But honestly, if my money was on the table, I’m really not sure the ...
• Strider PT Review
  Last Updated: August 3, 2019 One of the best parts of blogging about knives is checking out other people’s blogs, and seeing what they really like. It often piques my interest and expands my collection into all sorts of unhealthy directions. Case in point, I had absolutely zero interest in the Strider PT until I read ...
• Spyderco Domino Review
  Last Updated: August 4, 2019 The Spyderco Domino is a knife that I almost wasn’t going to review. I’ve been following the Titanium Framelock Flipper Arms Race closely ever since the ZT 0560 took the production knife market by storm. Like pretty much everyone else, I’ve enjoyed these knives, but felt some initial hesitance to the ...
• Spyderco Southard Flipper C156GBN Review
  Last Updated: July 30, 2019 If you have been following the production knife scene the past couple years, then you know that titanium framelock flippers have gotten extremely hot. This has a lot to do with custom and mid-tech makers that often set the trends, which eventually trickle down into production knives. Larger companies have finally ...
• Strider SnG Review
  Last Updated: February 13, 2018 For many knife collectors the Strider SnG is a holy grail of sorts. Much like the Chris Reeve Sebenza, the Strider SnG represents the top of the line for production grade folders. Toss in a Hinderer XM, and you have what many knife collectors like to call “the holy trinity” of ...
• Spyderco Techno Review
  Last Updated: August 4, 2019 The Spyderco Techno is a small titanium framelock folder with all the fixings. It is designed by Polish maker Marcin Slysz, who doesn’t seem to have much in the way of background information on the internet. According to Spyderco, Marcin is an extremely talented knifemaker of international repute. Buy the Spyderco ...
• Zero Tolerance 0560 Review
  Last Updated: July 27, 2019 Finally! A Zero Tolerance 0560 review. It feels like forever ago since the 560 was first announced at the 2011 BLADE Show. Buy the ZT 0560 at BladeHQ Since then I have heard the rumors, ogled the pre-production photos, and even caught a glimpse or two of the knife in some 2012 ...
• DPx HEST/F 2.0 Review
  Last Updated: March 3, 2018 A hard use frame lock with multi-tool capabilities, the is a unique offering from a small company with an interesting pedigree. The HEST is designed by journalist Robert Young Pelton, who is known for traveling to dangerous places and going ...
• Chris Reeve Knives Umnumzaan Review
  Last Updated: July 28, 2019 The ink had barely dried on my Small Sebenza review. I was sitting peaceably at my desk and distinctly remember saying how it would be a good while before I got my hands on another Chris Reeve knife. Shockingly enough it was only a couple weeks before the sweet Siren that ...
• Chris Reeve Knives Small Sebenza 21 Review
  Last Updated: June 2, 2019 I don’t think many people get into the hobby of collecting knives with the idea that one day they will buy a pocket knife that costs hundreds of dollars. Well, at least I didn’t start out my little edged adventure with the thought of purchasing a $300+ knife. However, as I ...
• Spyderco Sage 2 Review
  Last Updated: August 2, 2019 Today I am looking at another beautiful knife, the Spyderco Sage 2. The Sage series is designed to pay homage to various pioneers in the knifemaking industry and to recognize some of the talented custom knifemakers that have helped re-define pocket knives. Buy the Sage 2 at BladeHQ The Sage 1 pays ...
• Zero Tolerance 0550 and 0551 Review
  Last Updated: August 3, 2019 Today I am taking a look at the Zero Tolerance 0550, a special collaboration between ZT and Rick Hinderer of Hinderer Knives. Rick has been making knives and self defense weapons for over 20 years. He started out specializing in Damascus and art knives, but over the past decade has ...
• Zero Tolerance 0300 Review
  When Zero Tolerance first came on the scene the 0300 is one of their knives that really caught my eye. The graceful curves reminded me of some deep sea mammal while the construction reminded me of a semi truck. So I wasn’t surprised to learn that the 0300 was a collaboration between Ken Onion and ...