We cover most knives from hard-use folders to gentleman carries and a lot of odd things in between. Since “EDC knife” is a really broad term that basically includes whatever people carry every day, you’ll find a lot of variation in this category, but we try to be descriptive with our titles so you’ll know roughly what range of use a knife falls under before clicking on the full review.
We carry every knife we review for several weeks and subject them to various tests ranging from comfort to sharpness and edge retention. We cut a ridiculous amount of cardboard and probably do a lot of other things each knife wasn’t really designed for. By the end of each review you should have a good sense of how well a knife performs, how long it might last you, and if there are similar alternatives to consider. For other articles, we might list a knife we don’t own but are recommending based on a lot of research and genuine interest and curiosity on our part. We always prioritize knives we’ve actually used, but there are a lot of designs out there and even though we can’t physically own them all, we still like talking about them.
This Budget Folder Features a Big Comfortable Handle and a Blade That is All About Finger Placement. The harpoon is rapidly becoming a go-to shape for knife designers, and for good reason. The concavity ground into the spine is an often-graceful addition that adds versatility to the blade. And Artisan Cutlery specializes in functional knives …
A Purpose Driven Pocket Knife That is Rugged Enough for the Woods and Refined Enough for the Board Room. Rarely have I found a folder that feels as good in the hand as the Labrador. Vosteed has a track record of building solid working knives with a refined aesthetic, and the Labrador holds true to …
A Compact Draft Horse of a Knife that’s the Proof In Steel That Fixed-Blade EDCs Do Exist Hard-earned experience – and I contend that having endured more than one season of The Walking Dead qualifies as such – suggests to the initiated that there’s basically two types of knives caused to be invented by the …
Kershaw’s American Made OTF is Built with the Same Utilitarian Functionality That made this Brand a Staple in the Industry. My thumb is tired. Thankfully, I type mostly with my fingers, which will make this review of the Kershaw Livewire a bit easier. I’ve been walking around the house now, for days, snapping the blade …
ESEE Made a Bushcraft Friction Folder, and We Talked to Designer Shane Adams I never thought I’d use that phrase, and I especially never thought I would like something that fell into such a category, but here we are. ESEE released the Pinhoti around the end of 2022 and I was intrigued. Then I got …
This Flashy Flipper Lives Up to Its Looks This thing is a lot to look at. By all rights I should be calling it a gimmicky toy of a thing, made more for the agitated hand than for any particular job, and maybe there would be a little truth to that. But I’ll be damned …
The Buck 263 HiLine is a Well Designed Budget Pocket Cleaver that Should Have Been Made In Idaho. The HiLine is a good budget pocket knife, but I wish Buck would have manufactured this one in their Twin Falls Idaho factory and doubled the price. I know that sounds crazy, but this knife has the …
An Award-winning Tactical Fixed-blade Design That Turned Out To Be An Unexpectedly Good Utility/EDC Knife As Well One-and-a-half decades of experience with knives has left me with one, overriding article of faith: that your blades will, sooner or later, reveal themselves to be falling into one of three main categories. First, there are those few …
A Well Designed Pocket Bowie That May Be Civivi’s Next Classic EDC. Some folder designs seem built around a rather desperate premise: the company needs something new. Others, like this build from Civivi, strike me as instant classics–designs that will likely define a long line of successors. There’s nothing half-baked or desperate about Civivi’s Sinisys. …
Antonio Rodriguez Hits The Knife Design Scene With a War Zone Ready Flipper That is as Fun as it is Versatile. Columbia River Knife and Tool has a new addition to their Forged by War line: the Taco Viper. For this odd snake, CRKT turned to knife designer Antonio Rodriguez, a veteran of the 82nd …
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