We Put in the Work of Testing All Types of Outdoor and Kitchen Knives to Help You Find the Best Knife Related Gifts.
Well, 2025 was a great year for new knife designs. We understand that it can be overwhelming, so each year the writers here at Nothing but Knives choose their favorites in different categories including tactical, camping, survival, and kitchen knives.
We personally test, curate, and update this guide every year. We like to pull from newer knives that came out over the last year in the interest of making everyone look trendy, but there are also some classics (or updated classics) that will make a cool gift every year. This guide is broken up into categories by use so you can find a gift based on what someone likes to do, and we’ll link to some of our more specialized articles throughout if you want to dive really deep into a rabbit hole for a certain kind of knife.
Table of Contents
EDC Folding Knives That Make Great Gifts
This is a sort of catch all category that includes casual folders and hard use beaters. We have a wider range of recommendations in our Best Hard Use Folders article, though, if you’re set on going that direction.
Vosteed Naga
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Navaja knife variation | 8.04” Overall |
| Top liner lock | 3.47” Blade / S35VN Steel |
| Around $140 | Ocean Micarta handle scales |
| Made in China | Reversible tip-down wire clip |
What’s Cool About It
t’s a variation of the Spanish navaja-style knife with a snappy action and a fantastically secure grip. The navaja design has seen a lot of different uses over the years, ranging from farming to self defense at a time of strict knife-carry laws, but this one leans more stylish utility.
They made the blade broad so it has a smooth cutting action, but it still has a nice, long clip point that can poke through thin and soft materials like tape and cloth pretty easily.
Who Might Like This Knife
While this is a good EDC knife just in general practical terms, the styling makes it a bit loud for some tastes. The Naga is either a knife for you fun friend, or for someone who likes diving into esoteric historical topics about tools and weapons but who can also be fun sometimes.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
We always want to warn people about the possibility of accidentally disengaging button locks on any knife that has this kind of lock, but Vosteed has actually placed it pretty well on the Naga to avoid that risk.
Instead we’ll use this space to get ahead of people who hear “navaja style knife” and get confused about a that’s commonly used by Spanish speakers to refer to any folding knife. Turns out the word can refer to both knives that fold in general and this specific style of folding knife with a clip point blade and a pommel that thins and angles forward. Language is weird that way.
The button lock placement makes works well to prevent accidental engagements. The only button lock I trust more is the one on the Work Sharp RMX pocket knife.
Knafs Lander 4
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Compact, versatile camping knife | 5.9” OVerall |
| Full tang fixed blade | 2.6” Blade / S35VN or 14C28N Steel |
| $65 – 130 | Micarta handle scales |
| Made in China by Kizer / Designed by Ben Peterson | Pancake-style Kydex sheath |
What’s Cool About It
It’s part compact outdoor knife, part old-school fixed-blade EDC. The Lander 4 has barlow vibes which extend nicely into its functionality. It has a strong clip point and a crisp edge that slices well and carves pretty well.
Plus, the lanyard bead is based on the boosters of a space rocket, which is incredibly cool if that’s the kind of thing you’re into.
Who Might LIke This Knife
Knafs Knives is a company with broad appeal, just like the Lander, but it’s definitely a more modern kind of knife. It’s almost invisible in the pocket as well, so in terms of space, weight, and dress it’s pretty low investment as an EDC. All that to say is maybe you have a friend who likes to keep things light and minimal but still enjoys a pop of color.
If someone likes more vintage-style knives but would like an upgrade, this might be the knife for them. It’s a little tricky, though, because it’s kind of in between camping knife and fixed-blade EDC. Someone who likes a little whittling should enjoy this knife. Someone who likes nice knives but wants something a little more subtly different and quirky should like it too.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The lanyard and bead turn out to be pretty integral to giving this knife a four-finger grip. It’s surprisingly comfortable and the knife isn’t quite the same without it. We wouldn’t recommend taking it off unless you want different ergonomics. Also, it is small enough for pocket fixed blade EDC, but I prefer horizontal belt carry.
Orbital Knives Fornax
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Fancy, modern folder | 8.15” Overall |
| Frame lock | 4.5” Blade / S45VN Steel |
| Around $180 | Titanium handle |
| Made in China / Designed by Paul Munko | Standard titanium clip |
What’s Cool About It
In practical terms, the Formax was made to be light and strong in a very premium way. The handle is titanium, the steel is S45VN, and it’s a frame lock. That’s a tough recipe. This knife is not prone to chipping or rusting, but it was made to be a sleek EDC with a smooth, dressy action and it definitely has that.
In less-practical terms it looks like something you would see a quick clip of in a scifi movie, maybe in a sea of overwrought props, and think “damn, I wish someone would actually make that. I would love to jump out an airlock to cut an alien off the hull before it sucks all the power out of our space ship with that thing.”
Who Might Like This Knife
This is a sleek folder, but not exactly a gentleman’s carry. This is a knife for someone who likes nice things, but maybe has a little more of a modern aesthetic sensibility. Or, frankly, someone who just wants a good knife that doesn’t dull easily and has really smooth action.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
As nice and carefully designed as this knife is, it’s a frame lock without an over travel stop which often presents one fast problem to people unfamiliar with this kind of knife: It feels hard to open because the third or fourth finger likes to press on the lock bar when the thumb pushes on the stud to open. That also pushes the detent against the tang which makes it harder to open.
So if you or your friend find yourself having trouble, maybe just shift your fingers around.
Case 0163 Amber Bone Trapper
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Classic multi-bladed trapper | 7.4” Overall |
| Slip joint, no half stop | 3.27” clip point / 3.25” spey / Tru-Sharp steel |
| $69 – 90 | Bone handle |
| Made in Bradford, PA | No carry system |
What’s Cool About It
On the practical side, having a clip point blade and spey blade in one pocket opens up a surprising amount of specialized cutting utility. Clip points are pokey and good for slicing; spey blades are good at cutting a material without damaging anything behind the material (these days that would mostly be packages, but ranches do still exist).
Who Might Like This Knife
It’s a classic kind of knife for classic kinds of people. Most of us had parents are grandparents who carried this knife or something similar, and sometimes you just want something to remember an earlier time. But there’s a reason these designs are still around. They’re nice camping knives and not a bad addition to a tackle box.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The obvious danger is that this is a non-locking knife. Some people know how to work with that, and some people learn through bloody trial and error. After that, the spring is pretty strong. It can take a tough pull to get the blades out sometimes, so hopefully you have healthy nails.
You can find more great slip joint gift options in our article on the Best Slip Joint Knives.
Artisan Cutlery Xcellerator
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Large EDC | 8.86″ Overall |
| Liner lock | 3.86″ harpoon blade / AR-RPM9 steel |
| $100 – 200 | Micarta handle |
| Made in China / Designed by Mike Snody | Milled pocket clip |
What’s Cool About It
Forget what it looks like, there are a dozen different ways to hold this handle. Actual, functional, helpful ways to hold it. Not showy, mall-ninja, flip-it-every-which-way-for-Instagram style of ways to hold it. You can choke up on the blade, hold it in a pinch grip, and shift your standard grip up or down the handle so one of your fingers locks into one of the finger choils. The thing feels comfortable almost every which way.
Who Might Like This Knife
We’ve always treated it as a hard use knife and we will continue to recommend it that way. The steel is tough, stainless, and easy to maintain. The handle is conducive to finding more leverage in tricky positions, and there’s a lot of blade to work with. We’d lean toward saying this is great for someone who works outside a lot, but anyone who prefers a larger folder in the pocket should find this interesting.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The standard no-switching-to-left-hand-carry applies to the pocket clip on the Xcellerator. Otherwise, there’s not much to warn about with this thing. It’s tough and functional. You might be interested in following what the designer Mike Snody is up to these days, though.
Off-Grid Rhino Elite
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| A massive folder with a razor edge | 9.25” Overall |
| Frame Lock | 4” Blade / Magnacut steel |
| About $280 – 300 | Titanium handle |
| Made in China by Bestech / Designed by Carey Orefice | Ambidextrous deep carry clip |
What’s Cool About It
It’s sharp. It’s clip-pointy, it’s really really big. Off Grid is not shy about making big knives. Some people might call it ridiculous, but for the people who pine for large handles and larger blades in a way that we haven’t seen since the golden years of Cold Steel, this knife is near ergonomic perfection.
Who Might Like This Knife
Do you have a friend who keeps complaining about how small knives are getting these days? The Rhino Elite will prove them wrong.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
Don’t let the size fool you into thinking this is some kind of gimmick knife. Off Grid puts out knives with wicked edges. The Rhino Elite comes out of the box ready to split hairs and a lot more if you aren’t careful.
Camping Fixed Blades & Folders
The knives mentioned in this section are perfect for a weekend getaway into the mountains or a family camping trip. They are great at a lot of outdoor tasks from carving up some weenie-roasting sticks to campfire food prep. They are generally not quite as tough as bushcraft or survival knives, but they’re a little more nimble and better for carving. There’s a lot of crossover here with our article on the Best Horizontal Fixed Blades, if you want to poke around some very carriable options.
Civivi Hid
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Folding food prep knife | 9.83” Overall |
| Liner lock | 4.14” Blade / 14C28N steel |
| Typically around $75 | G10 handle scales |
| Made in China / Designed by Ostap Hel | Deep carry wire pocket clip |
What’s Cool About It
It’s a folding chef’s knife. It’s a pretty good one too, which is hard to pull off, but Ostap Hel and Civivi have mentioned to make a reasonably portable knife that provides plenty of knuckle clearance and feels nice in a pinch grip.
Who Might Like This Knife
This was made for campsite food prep, so if you know someone who likes to camp and likes to cook the Hid might be an obvious choice. But it could also serve as a portable but still sizable cutter for anything where you’re taking a pack along.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
While this is a folding knife with a pocket clip, it is large in a way that makes it bulky in the pocket. In fact, it probably isn’t a practical pocket carry for the average pant size unless you have a pocket that can be solely dedicated to knife carry.
The steel is also worth a mention. It’s great stuff – tough and stainless, but it will lose its edge and deform quickly under regular use. If you’re taking this thing camping bring along a honing steel, especially if you’re doing food prep with it.
Case Laramie Miller Sasquatch Bowie
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Big damn Bowie knife. | 13″ Overall |
| Full tang and heavy and fun | 7.75” drop point blade / 1095 Steel/ Caswell finish |
| Around $185 | Micarta handle scales |
| Made in America | Leather sheath |
What’s Cool About It
It’s big, it’s a Bowie and it’s American. It is also a ton of fun. The Sasquatch Bowie from Case is a blast to have around a campsite, but it is also more practical for a variety of tasks than many other large Bowies. This is do in large part to the grippy dry Micarta handle that stays firmly implanted in your fist even in inclement weather.
This Case Bowie is also a decent chopper even though its handle is a little shorter than I like for chopping. Fortunately, there is a convenient lanyard hole, so paracord can be added to the equation for improved security when chopping.
Who Might Like This Knife
Anyone who is cool will like this knife. Let’s be honest, even if you don’t need a big ass Bowie, you want a big ass Bowie, and the cool knife fans on your gift list are no exception.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The leather sheath is surprisingly comfortable. It site in the sweet spot on the hip for maximum hiking comfort. Sheath comfort is always important for fixed blades, but it is especially important for large fixed blades, and Case nailed it.
The design is also quite functional. I picked this knife up to have a little fun on the trail and campsite, but it was obviously workshopped by its designer, Laramie Miller, to be a usable camping tool.
The 1095 steel won’t turn any heads in the modern era of super steels, but it is a tried-and-true steel that is easy to sharpen in the field. The Caswell finish on the blade helps with corrosion resistance, but it still needs to be kept dry and oiled after being used.
QSP Neckmuk
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Premium hunting and camping knife | 8″ Overall |
| Full tang | 3.5″ drop point blade / M390 steel |
| $160 – 170 | Micarta handle |
| Made in Italy / Design by Molleta | Leather sheath |
What’s Cool About It
It’s a little nessmuk, which is really cool for the growing minority of people who genuinely love nessmuk blades. It’s also nice neck knife with an efficient grip for its size. The duck-shaped handle does a lot for locking the hand in without restricting the grip.
Who Might Like This Knife
This is a good carving knife, and reasonably good with food within the limitations of its size, so people who like camping are an obvious choice. It’s not bad for backpacking either, considering how light it is, and how versatile the blade can be.
What Should the Gift Receiver Know About This Knife
First up the D2 steel blade is only partially stainless, so keep it dry. After that, the sheath should be compatible with a few convenient aftermarket sheath add-ons like an Ulti clip or small Tek Lok if you need to modify how to add it to your gear.
We liked the Nuckmuck enough to include it in our article on the Best Neck Knives You Can Actually Carry.
What’s Cool About It
Schwarz Knives Lost Trail 5
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Pure-bred camping knife | 10.5” Overall |
| Full tang with exceptional grip | 5” standard blade / A2 steel |
| $195 – 205 | Richlite handle |
| Made in Idaho / Designed by TJ Schwarz | Pancake-style Kydex sheath w/ leather loop |
What’s Cool About It
This is by far the best camping fixed blade we’ve ever tested. It excelled at every stage of wood processing, fire making, and rugged cutting we put it through. It’s also a rare case where the maker put as much thought into the sheath as the knife. It’s one of the better vertical carries out there, and they formed the sheath with pinch points at certain places to minimize the Kydex scratching the blade.
Who Might Like This Knife
This is an only-tool-you-hypothetically-need knife for the outdoors. It’s out preferred knife for camping. It works well enough for fire-side cooking, and it rides well enough to take on a long hike. It’s a knife for pretty much any earnest outdoorsy kind of person.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
A2 steel is far from stainless. The blade finish will do a lot of work to keep it from rusting, but you should still be vigilant about cleaning the blade. There’s a lot more to this knife, so be sure to check out our full review of the Schwarz Knives LT5.
Bradford Guardian 3
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| General-use outdoor knife | 6.75″ Overall |
| Full tang | 3.5″ drop point blade / AEB-L steel (and others) |
| $120 – 200 | Micarta or G10 handle |
| Made in USA / Design by Brad Larkin | Leather sheath (Kydex option available) |
What’s Cool About It
This has become a modern classic in the realm of outdoor knives. It has a small handle with a three-finger grip, but something about the shape of it makes that grip secure and comfortable. It’s got a powerfully simple shape that just makes it good to take on pretty much any outdoor activity you have in mind.
Who Might Like This Knife
Normally I’d say this is a good knife for camping and hiking. It’s so nice to cut, whittle, and carve with the Guardian 3 that it finds its way into being used for pretty much everything when I have it on me. The thing is, everyone seems to like this knife. Knife people love it, non-knife people love it. The lady pruning her rose bushes in the yard seems to like it as much as the ranch hand tying a calf to his saddle.
Point being, if you’re getting a knife for someone who spends a lot of time outdoors, they will like the Guardian 3. But it seems like the odds are decent they’ll like it even if they don’t go outside much.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The belt loop on the leather sheath is very snug. It’s still leather, so it’ll loosen up over time, but you’ll need to be patient with it at first if you normally wear a thick belt. Or, if you aren’t feeling patient, you can just get one with the Kydex sheath. Those are a little easier to work with.
Check out our review of the Guardian 3 for more words and pictures and a breakdown of all the available variations of this knife.
Survival and Bushcraft
These are fixed blade knives designed for the wilderness. These knifes can help start a fire, skin an animal, carve tent stakes and much more. Survival and bushcraft knives are similar to the camping knives listed above, but they are a little tougher and, in some cases, bigger.
In short, they’re the kind of knives people think about walking in one side of a forest with the intention of walking out the other end. If you have an outdoors man or woman on your gift list, we think they would be happy with any of these knives.
Reiff Vicon
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Very rugged military design | 10.2” Overall |
| Full tang and thick | 5.19” Blade / Magnacut steel |
| Around $420 – 435 | G10 or Micarta handle scales |
| Made in USA | Taco-style Kydex sheath, MOLLE compatible |
What’s Cool About It
This is a military design that has been thoroughly field tested by SEA operatives. It was made to survive hard use in most any environment in the world. The blade is a thick slab of Magnacut steel in a sabre grind makes it a fast and brutal cutter if not necessarily the cleanest cutter if you’re working with cloth.
The sheath can be adjusted, tightened, flipped, and hung in just about any configuration you could want thanks to the strategic hole spacing and the sheath retention. It has a retention screw and is very much MOLLE compatible, and they made sure it could handle sticking to a body while falling from a plane.
Who Might Like This Knife
The Vicon was made for military operatives with the help of those professionals, so an obvious answer would be just about anyone in active service. But it’s a great camping knife. So, it’s not a bad choice for someone who spends a lot of time in the wilderness, especially if they tend to abuse their tools.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
While the sheath has been carefully made to be versatile, it can be tricky to dial in the sheath retention for easy drawing, especially when it’s hanging off the hip. The finger guard and the handle thickness are the culprits here, but it’s something you learn to contend with after spending some time with it.
We get into a little more if you care to read our full review of the Vicon.
If you are looking for something more bushcraft and less military check out our Reiff F4 Article.
Olive Arbor
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Fibonacci blade grind makes it a smooth camp knife | 9.3” Overall |
| Fixed blade bushcraft knife | 4.54” drop point blade / Elmax |
| $400 | G10 handle scales |
| Made in USA / Designed by Andre Buys | Pancake-style sheath w/ drop-carry back |
What’s Cool About It
If you were wondering what the most extravagant, built out, fancy bushcraft knife is out there, the answer is probably the Olive Arbor (at least in the production knife world).
The most striking feature you’re probably wondering about is the grind on the blade, which they call a Fibonacci grind. It’s a sort of tiered structure that makes certain kinds of cuts smoother and adds a lot of strength behind the cutting edge. It is an absolute dream for batoning and carving wood. It’s by far one of the best knives we’ve tested for making and starting campfires.
Who Might Like This Knife
This is the kind of knife that would be best used in the hands of an avid camper. Especially if they like taking tools that can work and survive a multitude of tasks. It would be a good backpacking knife (except maybe for ultra-light backpackers), but it’s also a nice knife in hand, so it’s great for a long fire-side whittling session.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
This thing might look and feel fancy, but it was made to be used and abused. You can’t fully appreciate what the Arbor is until you settle into a campsite with it.
The flip side here is that Olive Knives wanted to make sure this had an edge that would last in the field. The Elmax steel at 61 HRc is great for that, but someday it will need to be sharpened, and that can be tricky. A flat diamond sharpening stone would be best for that when the day comes.
Check out our in-depth review of the Olive Arbor bushcraft knife if you are looking for a premium present for the fixed blade fan on your gift list.
Tactical Knives
These knives are primarily designed for self defense. They may be capable at survival or hunting type tasks as well, and also at making boring people feel cooler sometimes, but their primary purpose is helping you survive emergencies and get out of danger as quickly as possible. You can find more recommendations in this category in our Best Tactical Knives from Our Favorite Brands article.
Hogue SIG K320 AXG
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Grippy gun-companion EDC | 8.0″ Overall |
| ABLE crossbar lock | 3.5″ drop point blade / S30V steel |
| $160 – 200 | Aluminum handle w/ G10 inserts |
| Made in USA | Deep carry pocket clip, Reversible |
What’s Cool About It
From the company that started out making really good gun grips then started making really good knives, this is the conceptual descendent of the Sig P320. It’s also a tough, comfortable design with a slide lock and four possible carry positions for the pocket clip, so it’s completely ambidextrous.
Who Might Like This Knife
Gun folks are a pretty safe bet for this knife, especially someone who owns a Sig Sauer (and especially if that Sig is a P320). But as good of a design as the knife is, one of the benefits of it is that it doesn’t have an aggressive “tactical” vibe. It’s just good, which makes it a nice hard-use EDC too.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
There are quite a few variations of this knife available, including automatic versions. It is possible to find a Hogue K320 that matches the handle materials and color of your companion Sig if that’s really how you want to live your life, but you might have to dig for it a bit.
Check out our review of the Hogue K320 for a little more info.
Off-Grid Black Mamba V3
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Oversized premium flipper | 9.25″ Overall |
| Frame lock | 4” wharncliffe blade / CPM Magnacut steel |
| $260 – 280 | Titanium handle |
| Made in China/ Design by Cary Orefice | Deep-carry pocket clip, reversible |
What’s Cool About It
Off Grid’s Black Mamba designs have always been high-performance cutters. Going up in size has not changed that except to add a lot more cutting edge from the V2.
There’s another interesting thing with the “coyote tan” titanium scales. Mainly in that you don’t see titanium scales that color very often. The result is actually more of a gold color, which may or may not be your thing, but it’s a nice break from the black and gray of most titanium frame locks out there.
Who Might Like This Knife
It’s definitely a decent tactical option, with a large handle that’s reasonably grippy for titanium and a viciously thin blade made from a high-end steel known for being the best compromise between edge retention and toughness. But the size makes it a good hard-use EDC for anyone with some pocket space to spare.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
While they’ve made this a right and left-hand carry by milling a pocket clip insert on both sides of the handle, it won’t be the same experience on both sides because of the frame lock. That’s the case with all frame locks, but the tactile experience of the lock under the index finger is a lot more pronounced on a knife this large.
You can read more about the Black Mamba V3 (and the first two versions) in our full review.
Spartan Blades Alala
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Small fixed blade prioritizing secure retention | 7.875″ Overall |
| Full tang | 3.75″ drop point blade / 1095 Cro-Van steel |
| $90 – 160 | Micarta handle |
| Made in USA / Design by Curtis Iovito | Polymer sheath w/ retention lever and strap |
What’s Cool About It
This has a pretty remarkable sheath. It’s kind of a locking sheath that has a little lever you push to get the knife out. That might sound bulky on paper, but in practice it’s incredibly fast and intuitive, and one of the best retention methods we’ve seen on any fixed blade design.
Who Might Like This Knife
If you know anyone who jumps out of planes regularly, they would be the obvious choice. But the sheath retention and overall size of the knife make it a great choice for anyone who has to spend a lot of time crawling, or climbing, or squeezing into tight spaces where the environment tends to tug at all their clothes and gear.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
Pretty much everything about this knife is ready to go out in the field. But it doesn’t ship with the sharpest edge (at least, not when we picked it up). Obviously it’s all about personal preference and use cases, but you might want to test the edge and put it to a sharpening stone before you try putting it to work.
We prattle on about this more in our full review of the Spartan Alala.
Gentleman’s Carry
Gentleman’s folder knives are pocket knives that are kinda dressy looking and can be a good choice for situations where a large tactical or survival knife are apparently inappropriate. We have gone through great lengths here at Nothing But Knives to avoid such situations at all costs, so this is probably the category we are least qualified to give recommendations in. But we have reviewed at least two folders that we liked and could maybe take to a wedding without getting weird looks.
You could probably find a few knives that count as snappy dressers in our nostalgic slip joint article.
Kershaw Federalist
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Slip joint throwback | 7.5″ Overall |
| Nail nick open | 3.25″ nessmuck blade / D2 steel |
| $110 – 120 | Micarta |
| Made in USA | No carry system |
What’s Cool About It
It’s one of those new “modern classic” folders the kids keep talking about. Kershaw did a really good job on this call back knife. It feels like something your grandpa would have carried except the blade is made of a really nice powder steel that wasn’t developed until 2006.
Who Might Like This Knife
This knife was made for the people who missed the salad days of Case, Old Timer, and Buck, when all anybody thought they needed was a sharp blade with a nail nick. As near as I can tell, those people tend to be the ones with a fifty year old truck that is somehow cleaner and in better condition than most cars made after 2010.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
There’s no pocket clip on this, so it’s a floater. On the one hand that keeps it looking nice, but it also makes it a little awkward to carry. It’s thin, though. I usually set it behind my wallet in my pocket and it rides well enough.
It’s also worth mentioning that the detent is pretty light. The integrity of the knife is just fine, but all the things people tell you not to do with a slip joint go double for the Federalist.
Read up a little more on it in the Kershaw Federalist review.
Ocaso Solstice
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Slim EDC | 7.8″ Overall |
| Liner lock flipper | 3.5″ standard blade / S35VN steel |
| $180 – 360 | Carbon fiber handle |
| Made in Taiwan / Design by Andrew Demko | Deep carry pocket clip, Reversible |
What’s Cool About It
The fascinating pull to this knife when it first came out was that it was designed by Andrew Demko, who’s pretty famous for his big, overbuilt folders. Taken purely as a knife on its own merits, though, the Solstice is a super snappy, lightweight folder with a very fine slicing action.
Who Might Like This Knife
The Solstice hits a blade-to-weight ratio that you don’t see in knives often. There’s about an average of 1.75” of blade for every ounce. That’s a lot of cutting edge for something that’s barely noticeable in the pocket. So if you know someone who’s a snappy dresser and a stickler for efficiency, they’ll probably appreciate this design.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
This is more purely gentleman’s carry than a lot of the knives we review, which is to say that it is optimized for polite use. That thin, lightweight build makes it great for slipping into some tailored slacks, but I wouldn’t trust it to really hard use and abuse.
Check out our full review of the Ocaso Solstice here.
Vosteed Nightshade
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Shilin Cutter style | 7.48″ Overall |
| Liner lock flipper | 3.26″ leaf-shape blade / 154CM steel |
| $70 – 140 | Micarta (several other options, though) |
| Made in China / Design by Yue Dong | Deep carry pocket clip |
What’s Cool About It
In a world saturated with three-inch flippers, the Nightshade manages to pull from a tradition that makes it stand out. This is an homage to the Shilin cutter from Taiwan. It was made to be a slicey, hard use folder in its day, and over time it became a highly sought after collector’s item. There have been a couple of knives based on that design over the years, but Vosteed really hit it home with this.
Who Might Like This Knife
The designer, Yue Dong (aka Doctor EDC), has a bit of a following. He’s been clicked in on the crowd that loves snappy, smooth flippers for a few years now, and his designs seem to have a wide appeal. The Nightshade in particular falls into the category of “a nice looking knife that just works”.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
There’s a thinner, lighter, and cheaper version of the Nightshade called the Nightshade Lt. It doesn’t quite pop in the same way, but it’s still a damn fine knife if you want to go down a price category.
We say more cool things about the Nightshade in our full review.
Remington Cutlery Collector’s Sets
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Throwback collector knives | Varies 2.75 – 7″ Overall |
| Includes slip joints and lock backs, nail nick open | Blade shapes vary / 440 steel |
| $35 – 40 | Wood, bone, or synthetic handles |
| Made in China | Tin case |
What’s Cool About It
Remington’s Collector Series #AD has a wide range of classic-style knives that each come in a different themed tin case. Designs range from the Duck Collector Set (featuring ducks!) with a two-bladed lockback folder with a bone-white handle set with a waterfowl scene to the Whitetails Cut Over set featuring their 7” Jr. Sinner fixed blade and a tin with a scene of whitetail deer.
Who Might Like This Knife
Anyone with old school sensibilities (not necessarily just old school people). This is a return to an old tradition for Remington, and they’ve geared it for collectors to go crazy (which isn’t to say these knives aren’t viable EDC options).
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
This is a collector’s item first, but as it’s not an especially expensive collector’s item you should really press that these things can be used and abused. The vintage-style art and limited edition knife styling is all cool, but very often more enjoyable, and eventually more meaningful, after a knife has been worn in.
Kitchen Knife Sets
Kitchen knife sets make a great gift for anyone who likes to cook, but is getting by with substandard knives. Fortunately, there are great gift options for just about any budget from top cutlery brands. Here are a few of our favorites.
Vos Ceramic 4-Piece Knife Set
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Chef, utility, paring, and multipurpose knife | 11″ Overall on chef’s knife |
| High edge retention, but brittle | Ceramic blades |
| $60 – 70 | Polymer handle |
| Made in China (possibly) | Standing knife board |
What’s Cool About It
These are ceramic knives, which is cool with a big asterix that I’ll address in the “What to Know” section here. The upside is that ceramic is a very hard, lightweight material, so these knives have great edge retention and feel lighter than a feather in the hand. Also, since ceramic is an inert material, there’s no danger of rust.
Who Might Like This Set
A lot of people like knives like these for cutting vegetables, but the heart of it is that anyone who doesn’t sharpen their knives or complains about the slight steel taste left by more traditional knives will probably be into this set.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Set
Ceramic is not the kind of material you trifle with. It’s incredibly fragile, so you can’t use these knives on tougher foods like squashes or anything with bone. These knives will absolutely chip if you bump the wrong material or drop them. So there’s a certain level of exactness required in handling them. The bright side is that these are also very cheap knives, so it doesn’t cost much to replace one.
Bavarian Knife Works 19-Piece Dreamcut Set
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Large selection of German-style knives | 13.125″ Overall chef’s knife |
| Crowned spines | X50Cr15MoV stainless steel |
| $400 – 500 | Pakkawood handle |
| Made in China | Wood block w/ detachable steak knife block |
What’s Cool About It
What I really love about these knives is the crowned spines and the balance. For German-style knives these are very lightweight with just a minor bias toward the handle. More importantly, the spines are really nicely rounded, so these don’t bite into your finger in a pinch grip. I also like the selection of knives in this set. It has a 10-inch chef’s knife, a cleaver, a paring knife, a slicer, and a bread knife. All those cover a nice spread of uses for pretty much any kind of food you might bring into your kitchen.
The detachable steak knife block is another neat feature, if you like modular things and playing around with your counter ergonomics.
Who Might Like This Knife
This whole set looks and feels nice and has a certain premium feeling to it that you don’t quite get even with some Wusthoff or Zwilling knives thanks to the crowned bolsters. But the block is still pretty big and tall, so this is a better gift for someone with some counter space who needs a jumpstart on their culinary toolset.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
The edge retention is a little subpar on these knives. The steel is soft so the edge rolls a lot. It’s not too big of a deal if you just work the knives on a honing rod before using them. The standard block also comes with a 10-inch chef’s knife. If you want a regular 8-inch you’ll have to buy it separately.
This set made such a good impression on us that we added it to our Best Professional Knife Sets article.
You can read our full review of the Bavarian Knife Works set here.
Chef Knives
The kitchen is where many of us really use knives, so we figured we should include a few of our favorite chef knives in case you have a busy home cook on your gift list. We think just about any serious cook would be happy with these knives even if they already have a chef knife or two in the kitchen.
Civivi Cibus
| Stand Out Features | Specifications |
|---|---|
| Rugged chef’s knife | 12.46” Overall |
| Full tang construction | 7.87” Blade / Sandvik 14C28N Steel |
| $65 – 85 | G10 handle scales |
| Made in China / Designed by Ostap Hel | Comes in cardboard box |
What’s Cool About It
The Cibus was CIvivi’s first crack at a chef’s knife and while it is a fully dedicated kitchen knife design, it still has that EDC/outdoor knife feel. It has G10 scales and it has a high flat grind rather than a full flat. What’s a little more interesting is that the designer Ostap Hel seems to have opted for a more french-style Sabatier design.
Who Might Like This Knife
This knife works well on meat, especially large cuts (which makes sense for a sabatier). So someone who grills or smokes big batches of trip-tips, hams, and whole birds should find the Cibus pretty pretty useful. Especially if it’s someone who has complained about their other knives chipping, because this knife is definitely tougher than most typical kitchen knives.
What Should Your Friend Know About This Knife
While this was made to be a dedicated kitchen knife, it doesn’t have a full flat grind, so this might not be ideal for dicing, especially onions or potatoes. You will definitely feel wedging on bigger root vegetables. It’s comfortable, though, and tough enough to be made to work for any job, just keep in mind that the Cibus is built for rugged, French cooking.
Knife Accessories
Sometimes the better answer is to get something somebody can use a knife with. Maybe because a person already has so many knives you can’t process the idea that they would actually want another one, or you have the wisdom to recognize you’re not sure what they’d actually want.
The alternatives are things like knife rolls and cases, sharpening systems, or maybe just a big cardboard box and the phrase “hey could you break this down for me?” All perfectly reasonable options.
Vault Case Secure
| Combo lock w/ resettable code |
| 2 small-loop panels |
| 2 small medium-loop panels |
| 1 large medium-loop panel |
| 1 large buffer/patch panel |
| Detachable shoulder strap |
| $40 – 70 |
What’s Cool About It
There are a few cases out there, but this one locks, and comes with a bunch of removable flaps. It’s a really great solution to a large EDC collection. You can fit a whole mess of knives and pens in this and still have room for notebooks, strops, sharpening stones, or whatever else is just a little too bulky to fit in the pocket.
Who Might Like This
Someone who travels with a lot of gear is likely to use a Vault case a lot. But also anyone with a large knife or pen collection will definitely use it one way or the other. Even if it just gets filled up and tucked into a drawer, things like this are an organizational God send to gear junkies.
What Should Your Friend Know About It
The lock on this is resettable, and you can buy extra panels separately, so there is a lot of possible modding to be done here. And if you’re not too concerned about having a lock, they make a few other variations in different sizes and colors.
More Options for Sharp and Pointy Gifts
If you didn’t find what you were looking for in this article, check our Kitchen Knife Reviews section for the busy home cook on your gift list or our EDC Knife Reviews for more info on great presents for the pocket knife fan you need to check off your gift list.
How to Pick the Right Knife for the Knife Fan on Your Gift List.
It’s tough to know how to choose the right knife for a friend or family member without knowing what their primary needs for sharp and pointy tools are. Ultimately it comes down to their interests a savvy gift buyer can pair the right knife to the right person based on their interests.
