Todd Rexford is one of the hottest young knifemakers around right now, located in Colorado, USA, who builds some very killer and precision machined folding knives and fixed blades. He’s probably best known for his epicenter and singularity folders, the former of which he’s collaborated with Boker to bring us this beautiful production model.

Handle
The full titanium frame-lock handle design, with fully contoured (Boker calls it 3D contoured) handle slabs makes for some fantastic ergonomics. It suits bigger as well as smaller knives due to its medium to large size. The pocket clip is reversible from tip up to tip down carry, but not from left to right hand which is understandable since this knife is generally more suited to righties because of the framelock design.

Fit & Finish
This baby is a looker. Beautiful, smooth and flowing lines give it the look and feel of a much more expensive folder. However, that beauty belies a huge problem with the lockup on this particular example. I have shot a video review showing how the lock fails and how there is a lot of blade play. The knife was returned to Boker, who claimed that there was no problem with the knife, but did give me credit to purchase other Boker knives because they did not have any Epicenters available to replace it with. I know without a shadow of a doubt that there was a problem with it and have video evidence as well, and it kind of bothers me that Boker wasn’t willing to admit it. But they did give me replacement credit, so that was nice.

Overall
Its a fantastic knife, with a street price under $150, it is probably one of the nicest knives in that price range. However, the lockup problem I experienced with my Epicenter was pretty bad, and I really would have liked to have a piece that didn’t have the problem. The design is sound, and the ergonomics are exceptional. The fully flat ground blade is very sharp and would make a great slicer. Without a lockup problem, I would recommend this knife.

Specifications:
Overall: 8 3/8″
Blade: 3 1/2″
Weight: 6.5 oz.
Blade Steel: VG-10
Handle Material: Titanium

Rick Hinderer is one of the Premier custom knifemakers of this Generation, and his custom tactical knives have become some of the most cherished and sought after pieces on the planet. Hinderer’s knives had evolved over the last couple decades but still maintain the same signature style and character. This Spark is probably from the 90′s, but still maintains the same character as his current pieces that he makes in one of the most sophisticated CNC machine shops in knifemaking!

Blade
The Blade has an actual americanized Tanto blade profile, rather than Rick’s exclusive “Spanto” style blade profile present in many of his current blades. I believe this knife may have even pre-dated the Spanto design, which is kind of cool and shows the evolution of Rick’s designs. The primary main grind is hollow, and the primary tip grind is like a modified Appleseed or Hamaguri grind, but with a secondary grind on the edge, the same as Rick’s Spanto blades.

I’m unsure of the blade steel used in this one, but its probably S30V or 154CM. Since I received this one well used and quite dull, I can’t really comment on the cutting ability. The blade measures 2.25″.

Handle
The handle has Rick’s trademark 3D machining, but also has a concave bezel around the edge, a feature that Rick used often in his earlier pieces. The back of the handle also has holes drilled into it for lightness and design. The back side has an integral frame lock machined into it. The handle is entirely bead blasted and overall has a nice finish to it. This particular Spark was missing the pocket clip when I received it and Rick’s shop said that they no longer make replacement pocket clips for it.

Fit and Finish
Excellent fit and finish for this knife, though perhaps not enough to justify the price. After I sold this knife, I saw it listed a few months later by the seller for over double what I sold it to him for. Obviously an attempt to flip and make some money due to the extreme rarity of the knife. There is absolutely no play at all in the blade, and all bits and pieces are finished as good as they can be for a bead blast handle and satin finish blade, though the blade had existing scratches when I received it so I can’t be certain.

Overall
Overall this Hinderer is a great rare piece of history from one of America’s more prominent custom knifemakers. Its a very collectible piece that will only increase in value (It already doubled since I sold it! ). I’m really glad I had the opporunity to own and handle a custom Hinderer, and gave me the opporunity to write this review to share with you all. These old Hinderers are really not about practicality and usability, but more about rarity and collectiibilty – which this piece has in spades.

Specs:
Blade Length: 2.25″
Overall Length: 5.5″
Blade Steel: Unknown
Handle Material: Titanium
Lock: Integral Framelock

Michael Burch of Burchtress Knifeworks has been dazzling knife collectors for years with his awesome Asian-inspired folders and fixed blades, most noted for the unique blade shapes and visible hamon lines in his carbon steel blades. He stopped taking orders a long time ago, and his folders command a premium on the resale market. If you’ve ever handled one of his knives, you will know that this is for good reason.

Blade
The blade is a flat ground 1095 Carbon Steel, with a beautiful executed hamon line, and then given a cool antiqued sort of satin finish that gives the knife an aura of ancient Japanese mystery. The edge is sharp, and cuts well, though (if you were crazy enough to use this knife) the sabre/flat grind is quite short, and the blade quite thick… which means the knife has poor slicing properties. But very few people are going to use a $1500 knife to slice. The blade has no thumbstuds and is opened via the flipper/handguard and rides on IKBS bearing system. The blade is marked with both the Burchtree Knifeworks logo and the IKBS logo on the front side of the blade.

Handle
The handle is made of anodized blue titanium, and given a surface treatment that is pretty neat. The treatment is done to both the front and the back of the handle and has sort of grooves that are lightly machined into the handle. The grooves look to be machined almost by hand lightly giving them a ‘handwritten’ sort of look. The handles then appear to have been given a tumbled finish with some intentional wear marks in the vein of Strider. Overall they are pleasing to look at and comfortable to hold.

The pocket clip is mounted for right hand tip up carry, and cannot be changed to a different position. I’m sure Michael would be happy to change it for you on a custom job, however. The handle has a framelock mechanism built into it with the recess on the outside of the handle, and locks positively and substantially.

Fit and Finish
In a word, Superb. Michael does an amazing job with his pieces, and they really do have that x-factor that you can’t explain when you hold them. It is something of that Japanese Mystery that I alluded to in the opening paragraphs that just gives you a sense of awesomeness when you pick it up. The hamon lines are exceptional and give each knife that extra bit of personality and uniqueness that you won’t see another Dao Flipper ever have that’s quite the same. The knives have a sense of craftsmanship to them that feels handmade, and that is rare these days.

Overall, Burchtree Knives are probably some of the nicest custom knives on the planet, and there is a reason that they demand such a high price. While many other high-priced custom knives seem to achieve prices that are unwarranted, Burchtree Knifework’s prices are indeed warranted. Very impressed.

Specs
Blade Length: 3.5″
Overall Length: 8.625″
Weight: 6.5 oz
Handle Material: Titanium
Blade Steel: 1095 Carbon Steel

John Grimsmo is a new Canadian knifemaker that made a name for himself producing cool anodized aluminum and titanium knife scales for production knives such as the popular Spyderco Manix2, and only started making these not long ago in 2011. His first CNC machined and hand-finished custom knife model is the Norseman, and has some very interesting looks and cool features.

Blade
The blade is made of RWL-34 stainless steel, and features 3D-machining on the surface of the primary grind. The blade profile is a sort of tanto with a hawkbill-shaped main edge and a curved piercing point. The main edge is a hollow grind, and the front edge is flat ground. I’m not a huge fan of 3D machined blade, just because I find that more traditional satin and polished surfaces are more attractive and are less likely to rust and corrode. But generally, it’s a nice blade. I think I would have preferred the gaps in the machined lines to be the same throughout the blade, instead of getting wider on opposing sides of two grinds.

Handle
I quite like the idea and design of the handle, and it sits well in the hand with a great grippy surface. The overall shape is flat, which I usually don’t prefer, but I think for the style and context of this knife, it has to be. It would be very cool to have this honeycomb pattern on a fully contoured handle, but it would be more difficult obviously. This special example has a Nuko Tools logo engraved inside one of the honeycomb holes and is finished in an anodized gold. Each honeycomb also has a jeweled finish on the surface which contrasts with the raised portions of the handle.

Fit and Finish
Fit and Finish of this Norseman is okay, but could and has been improved in subsequent pieces. The handles and blade are “over-finished” with a little too much polishing on the edges and the spine of the blade. I would have like to see some crisper lines and edges especially on the spine of the blade and in the machined honeycomb handle. The ball bearing pivot and flipper mechanism is smooth and works well.

The orange peel finish of the handle is somewhat inconsistent, and there are some strange finishing/machining marks in some areas including the recess for the lock back which is shown in one of the pics. I would have liked to slightly better finishing out the door.

Overall
Overall a strong first effort from a young Canadian maker, with tons of potential. There is a lot to like about the Norseman, and even more to look forward to with future releases. John Grimsmo is a knifemaker to keep your eye one, as I think that we will see some very nice things coming out of his shop in the near future.

Specs:
Blade Length: 3.65?
Overall Length: 8.75?
Closed Length: 5?
Weight: 4.6oz.
Blade Steel: RWL34 at 60RC

Website: http://www.johngrimsmo.com

The Spyderco Sage is a very well regarded knife and in many ways an evolution of the Spyderco Caly3 into first the Liner Lock version and then now the Integral Frame Lock version in Titanium. This is one of the earlier models to feature the CPM-S30V steel that is sent out to Taiwan for manufacture. Fit and Finish are superb, but I still think the fit of models made in Golden are better. This is an older knife, purchased used… perhaps the new ones are even more improved.

Handle
The bead blast titanium handle begs to be compared with a Sebenza, but it is quite different. The Bead blasting is much finer resulting in a smoother finish than the grippy blasting that the Sebenza gets. This means that it will scuff less and but will not have as much traction in the hand. The wire pocket clip can be switched from right to left hand carry but only gives the option for tip up. Overall I really like the ergonomics of the handle, as it is probably one of the best EDC Knife handles out there.

Fit and Finish
The fit and finish are very good, though I would have liked to see thinner washers between the blade and the handle. The Taiwanese-made Spydies leave more gap than I would like, but still is a very well made product. The handle has some machining marks in the scalloped areas but nothing that really bad, and they almost look like they’re supposed to be there – heck who knows maybe they are.

The satin finish on the blade is typicaly Spyderco.. very good for a production blade. The Taiwanese production got this very right. Smooth and straight grinds, with nice crisp edges – just the way I like it.

Overall
A superb piece that exemplifies Spyderco’s dedication to exceptional user-oriented knives. The Taiwan manufacture is very good, and the action is smooth and solid, locking with conviction. The CRK Integral Lock is superbly engineered, and has a very solid, positive lock that gives the user confidence. The Spyderco Titanium Sage is truly a knife knut’s knife, with fantastic EDC potential. Highly recommended!

Specs:
Blade Length: 3″ (76 mm)
Cutting Edge: 2-5/8″ (67 mm)
Blade Thickness: 1/8″ (3 mm)
Overall Length: 7-1/8″ (181 mm)
Closed Length: 4-3/16″ (106 mm)
Blade Steel: CPM-S30V Stainless Steel
Weight: 3.5 oz. (99 g)

Ladies and Gentleman, what we have here, is a very rare and collectible piece from Microtech. It is a 1999 Vero Beach period Microtech Halo 3 OTF Automatic, one of the legendary knives that put Microtech on the map, and it is in mint condition. I was giddy as a school girl when a friend approached me with the opporunity to procure this fine piece of tactical cutlery history.

Since this is not a dual action OTF, you have to depress the firing button, and pull the charging handle back in order to close the knife. Single Action OTFs are usually more reliable, fire harder, and have a better blade to handle ratio than dual action OTFs.

The handle is precision machined 6061-T6 aluminum, with a Level 3 hard annodized finish. The surface is satin finished with no pocket clip and is very slim. Vertical and horizontal grooves are machined on the sides to provide a bit of traction, and gives the blade a nice feel in the hand.

Overall this is a collector’s piece that I doubt you will see too many of. The Halo 3 remains a key part of the Microtech history and evolution of the OTF Automatic knife. If you can find one, its a great collector’s piece.

Blade Material: 154CM Stainless Steel
Handle Material: 6061-T6 Aluminum HAIII Annodized
Blade Length: 4″
Overall Length: 9.3″
Weight: 3.6 oz

Now if this isn’t an exercise in excess and trendy zombie bandwagoning I don’t know what is – but I still had to have it! When I received it, I got a little surprise because it actually came with a little mini Acheron skeletonized fixed blade that slides into the front of the sheath as well. The War Sword is a from Kabar’s ZK (Zombie Killer) line, and the bright neon green plastic handles don’t let you forget it.

Blade:
The SK-5 High Carbon Steel that Kabar uses in their ZK War Sword is basically the equivalent of 1080 Carbon Steel, which is a good and reliable carbon steel. Since Carbon Steel is susceptible to oxidation and rust, the powder coating is a very nice feature to have especially on such a large knife which has many more areas that could get rusty. The blade came quite sharp, and I’m pretty happy about that. Big knives take longer to touch up and can be a bit more trouble. This one has a thinner blade than most fixed blade knives, probably because it is so long.

The slight machete style blade shape should make it a good chopper, and the long flat-ish edge should make it a decent camp utility knife.

Handle:
The knife comes with two handles, both identical except for color. Neon Green and Black are the two that it comes with, and they are both pretty basic black ABS plastic with small round traction bumps all over them. I believe several hobbyists out there make G-10 upgraded handles for these and the other ZK knives for $30 or so, which I don’t feel is necessary, especially for a knife that’s only around $55. The grip isn’t substantial but if you wanted extra grip you could always file down the plastic and use some grip tape or just wrap the handle with some grip tape.

Fit and Finish
This knife has great finish and finish for the price point. It is made in Taiwan, and has straight grinds and no uneven peculiarities to speak of. The blade powder coat takes away the need to finish the blade too much, and reduces costs and also increases the durability of the blade. Overall, very well finished and the handles fit flush to the knife.

Overall
I’m really satisfied with this knife and it is a nice chopper. Haven’t taken it out to the camp yet, but I suspect it will perform very well in general camping and utility chores, even though the blade is a lengthy 9 3/4″. Really dig this blade for the fun factor as well as the design and quality of the construction and finish. Recommended.

Specs:
Overall Length: 15-1/8″
Blade Length: 9-3/4″
Blade Steel: SK-5 High Carbon Steel Black Epoxy Powder Coated
Hardness: 57-58 HRC
Handle Material: ABS Plastic

The Boker Plus team puts out a pretty decent piece here, even though its made in China. Sniper Bladeworks’ distinctive design style is very apparent here in the S2, and it is a very attractive design to me. I love wide profile blades, and the S2 certainly has one of those.

Blade
Extra-Wide profile, full flat ground blade, that actually has a very thin cutting edge. This is a good slicer. The Blade steel is 440C, which is a very good steel. In fact, 15 or so years ago, it was considered pretty premium stuff. The finish is a really cool, rough stonewash affair and gives it just that extra bit of grit and styling that makes it look like a mall ninja tacticool piece of hardware. I’ll admit it.. I am a sucker for tacticool. The blade is opened via a trigger and has no thumbstud, so you have to make sure you give it enough of a flick so it opens all the way. This might be a turn-off for some buyers that plan to use this knife as an EDC. I personally don’t mind it.

Handle
Bone-stock black G-10 handle with grooves on one side of the handle and a pocket clip on the other. The pocket clip is reversible, but I just realized while writing this that if the pocket clip is used in tip down configuration, the end of the clip sticks out past the handle edge. That seems like a pretty big oversight, unless I am missing something here.

The G-10 glass fiber handle feels like the lower quality type of finished G-10 that you see in the Cheaper Chinese knives. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise, but higher quality knives that use G-10 seem to have a more tactile feel to the G-10 while the cheaper Chinese knives have G-10 that feels more plasticky. Its still perfectly fine, especially in this price range, but the feel does not ooze quality.

Fit & Finish
Very good fit and finish for a $50 knife. Probably one of my favourite knives in this price segment. The Chinese know how to put together a $50 knife, that’s for sure. Good materials, good quality control, and good fit and finish. The blade play is minimal, and the lock up is solid with the stainless steel liners. There are very good attention to detail in the design and construction of the knife with the relief on the opposite side of the locking bar to aid in ease of unlocking the knife without compromising the integrity.

Overall
Great value here, guys. I really enjoy this knife and it cuts like a hot damn. The full flat grind makes it very versatile and the materials are all excellent for this price. The Sniper Bladeworks design is also a plus because you have a great, respected knife design team providing input for this knife.

Its a tacticool knife, but was probably designed as an all-round use knife to be good as a utility knife and to be used for self-defense if needed. The dropped blade edge makes it quite good for cutting chores on the camp site while the great ergonomic purchase of the handle makes it good for self-defense. Good overall performer, highly recommmended.

Specifications:
Overall Length: 8.75″
Blade Length: 4″
Weight: 5 oz.

Yet another Sebenza-killer comes to the market, the Bradley Alias. This is the Alias II, which is the smaller version and comparable to a Small Sebenza. As the Legend goes, Bradley Cutlery was created solely as a response to the Sebenza with the intention of creating an American made knife that was equal to yet more affordable than the Sebenza.

Blade
Both the Small Sebenza and Bradley Alias II have S30V blades at the time of the Alias’ release. The Sebenza has since upgraded to S35VN. The blade thickness between the two is the same as well. The Bradley alias has a very similar blade profile to the sebenza, but the grind is quite different. The Alias II features a sabre ground blade and a swedge that sweeps around almost the whole spine of the blade stopping at the thumbstud (which is annodized blue titanium – screwed in, not press fit). The Alias II came razor sharp, which is refreshing because Benchmade had slouched on the sharpness department in the past.

Handle
The handle is a all Titanium with a Framelock, bead blasted with a stonewashed steel pocket clip that can be switched for tip up or tip down carry. The handle edges are very slightly beveled but are still relatively square making it not as comfortable as it could be. The overall handle profile is slightly curved and feels nice in the hand with a slight scallop for the index finger. The handle is elogated slightly to allow room for a lanyard hole. In general its a good handle, but could have been refined a bit further.

Fit & Finish
The fit and finish of the Bradley Alias is very good. It seems in line with the better Benchmade knives, but not in the same league as a Sebenza. I’ll elaborate on a few of the differences that make the Sebenza superior in fit and finish. The Sebenza allows the user to fully tighten all the screws used in its construction and that is how it works best. Even the Screws are cut to perfection. The Alias II has to be adjusted as the pivot tightened all the way down will make the knife hard to open.

The Bradley Alias II, when opened, is not completely smooth throughout the whole cycle of the opening sequence when the pivot is tightened optimally. This is very normal and perfectly acceptable in even a higher quality folder, but a Sebenza will be perfectly smooth throughout, with absolutely no play. The Sebenza also has a perfect lockup and detent feel that is nearly identical on every single Sebenza – those that have tried to create that same feel so consistently have failed.

Overall
Overall the Bradley Alias II is a fantastic knife that is well worth the asking price. It is at the top tier of Benchmade’s manufacturing ability and locks up VERY solidly with a good strong contact between the lock bar and the blade. In fact, this lock up is among some of the best I’ve seen, next to the Sebenza. It is only when you are purchasing this knife expecting it to be as good as the Sebenza that you will be left wanting more. Otherwise, it is a well executed sporting knife with very good construction and materials.

The Spyderco Native is one of the favourites that Spydie fans like to buy and collect, in part due to its sensible design and materials. The knife is designed for the human hand and fits mine perfectly. There are several generations of this knife available and this is the 3rd, now discontinued, generation of the knife.

Steel
This model has Spyderco’s workhorse VG-10 steel, sharpened to hair-popping sharpness as usual. The spearpoint design is a great looking and working shape, with a very thin taper giving it excellent slicing ability. The blade is hollow ground, with a small swedge on the top and measures 3 1/8″ long. The actual cutting edge is quite a bit shorter since there is a large finger choil at the tang of the blade to allow the user to choke up on the blade.

Handle
The Native III has a unique handle shape, which is very different from all over versions of the Native. The handle is very 3D looking, and has some dimple spots in it that make it immediately identifiable. The wire clip is held in by a barrel nut and can be switched from right to left hand tip up carry.

Overall
This is overall a fantastic user and a great EDC knife, and most of you know that already. The fit and finish is typical of Spyderco FRN products made in Japan: Very good, especially for the price. Not much to complain about here, as they are about the best FRN knives money can buy, and they often appreciate in value too. Highly recommended.

Specs
Length overall: 7.063″
Blade length: 3.125″
Blade steel: VG-10
Weight: 2.8 oz (81 g)
Blade thickness: .125″ (3 mm)
Handle material: FRN

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