Boy is this a long, long time coming. I originally bought this knife in 2022 for purposes of a review then, but I hated the knife so much that I had to put the knife away for a while and come back to it for a more clear-headed review. I have done this before, but with the AD 20.5 the knife got sucked downstairs into my workshop where it served as the workshop folder for a long, long time. But then, something happened—the Gear Gremlin got a bench downstairs and took the AD 20.5 to HIS bench. There it lived for more than a year getting tested in a way that makes gear junkies blush and only recently did I think that I still haven’t reviewed it. So here goes.

Here is the product page. The AD 20.5 in AUS-10 and FRN costs $119.95 with variants going for more depending on steel and handle material. There are dozens of variations. Here is a written review. Here is a video review. Here is the Amazon link.

TLDR: Great bones, lots that is lacking.

Design: 1

There is a reason I hate exposed rear tangs. My very first enthusiast grade knife was a Gen. 3 Delica. My Dad got it for me when he went to Harvard for a leadership class through the Air Force. He was in Faneuil Hall and found Stoddard’s, the oldest knife store in the US (RIP), and grabbed the classic Spyderco for me. I loved the knife, even with the wonky molded FRN clip, but every once in a while, I would be mystified when it wouldn’t lock up. It didn’t happen all the time, so I would stumble through the problem. Then, after a few seconds I realized there was lint or paper or random gunk on the rear tangs. I’d clean it out, usually with a paper clip or the like, and then go back to using the Delica. Since then I have warded off exposed rear tangs, with only a few exceptions (the Roosevelt was good and I really love the Bridgeport 395 v2). This isn’t just an exception, it is a glaring difference. The AD 20.5 doesn’t just have an exposed rear tang, the entire knife seems to accentuate it. I have yet to have a jammed up AD 20.5, but pretty much every exposed rear tang knife has it happen. Let’s be clear—this is not a design defect that can’t be remedied. It can be. Its just a matter of design and desire. For that, the AD 20.5 gets a 1.

Fit and Finish: 1

The handle scales are plastic and a little out of whack. The stonewashing is a bit uneven too. And while the jimping works its not the cleanest either. This has been a work knife, a glue-scraping, paint-can-prying, maple-scoring work knife. And so I don’t really care that much, but in a world where Wal Mart sells knives with perfect fit and finish for $20, this is a bit of a mess. The OEM does seem to do a great job on the titanium scaled versions, so maybe this is a bum unit or a cost cutting measure.

Grip: 1

I am not a fan of proscribed handle designs, but for a proscribed handle, this is okay. The problem with these handles, finger scallops included, is that if you don’t have the exact right sized hand or the right grip, they are terrible. It reminds me of those pencil grips we used to have in elementary school. They looked like wads of chewing gum and they did force you to hold a pencil in a certain way, but pretty much everyone I know hated them. If you can write and not feel pain, who cares how you hold a pencil? Same thing with knives. Give me an edge and leave me alone.

Carry: 2

The AD 20.5 is wonderfully thin. The blade stock isn’t but the handle scales are thankfully quite thin. You won’t beat making folders thinner and Andrew Demko really did a great job here. This goes back to an unescapable truth about knives—most of the time they are in your pocket and so making something really ideal in the pocket has outsized value compared to what the IKC will tell you about folder designs. More than anything else, this is one of the reasons why I love the AD 20.5 despite lots and lots of flaws. It carries and handles well because there is very little unnecessary bulk on the bones.

Steel: 0

Okay, AUS-10 stinks, especially for the money. I will give you that the Gear Gremlin isn’t the easiest on his gear, but after a year or so on his bench the AD 20.5 was chippy enough to be a Tollhouse cookie. Right next to it was his Delica and that knife has no chips. VG-10 isn’t the best steel in the world and I hate to sharpen it, but it has held up much, much better than the AD 20.5. I will concede that unlike the VG-10’s vexatious sharpening issues, the AD 20.5 sharpened with ease and yielded spectacular results (my Dad and I patched a hole in the concrete in my basement and needed to cut stuff one handed and the AD 20.5 did phenomenally well). I don’t mind steels that are specifically sharpening friendly, I don’t get that vibe from the AD 20.5. To me, it just seems like a budget steel choice that stinks, especially compared to something like Nitro V or 14C28N.

Blade Shape: 2

This is a pronounced clip point and it looks clean and classical in the way that all Demkos do. That’s definitely not a bad thing at all. I love seeing classic blade shapes married to utilitarian designs.

Grind: 1

Part of the grind score has to do with the stock thickness chosen and here, the knife falls short. There is no real reason the blade needs to this thick. Reducing it a 1/16th might be hard with the ultra soft AUS-10, but that just points out another problem. I will note that when Demko does slicer versions of knives, they are always in the 20CV steel. Either way though, this is a gimme point that the knife shouldn’t lose. With something like 14C28N or Nitro-V you can get thinner and still have edge retention.

Deployment Method: 1

A belt and suspenders set up, I hate a thumb stud with a thumb hole design. Just pick one. Its an unnecessary redundancy that makes the knife busier looking, adds steps to the production process, and in the case of a thumb stud, adds weight and an obstruction in the cutting path. Why bother? This is another gimme mistake.

Retention Method: 2

The clip here is a pretty standard clip and it works well staying out of the way but still gripping the knife tight. I will note that the version my my AD 20.5 is not an over-the-top deep carry design and the newer models like the Shark Cub have just such a clip.

Lock: 2

This is the star of the show and it is worth the hassle. Lock up is dead solid, disengagement is easy and intuitive, and there is no side to side play. The lock is very similar to SNECX’s super lock and reminds me a bit of the Hawk Strong Lock System found on the Buck Marksman and the Front Lock from Crawford Knives and seen on AG Russell One-Handed Knives. None of this is to take away the innovation. The Shark Lock is great and by far my favorite of those locks. But in a mechanism as simple as a knife lock there are definitely what Wittgenstein calls family resemblances.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: Peak

The knife’s excellent pivot and finger friendly Shark Lock make it one of the best knives to fidget with ever. Its not a flipper but I still love playing with it.

Fett Effect: Moderate

The plastic handles do collect dents and dings along the edges, but everything else is pretty ageless.

Value: Moderate

I really think the steel is holding this knife back as a value option. This knife with 14C28N would be a world beater in terms of value.

Overall Score: 13 of 20

Don’t think that this score means that this knife is a bad one. It’s probably the best 13 out of 20 I have ever reviewed. But it is a flawed knife. And sometimes flaws line up really well with the scoring system and you have a low score on a very good design. This is review is a perfect example of that. There are just a lot of head slappers, none of which impact function. Having both a thumbstud and a thumb oval makes no sense. The gappy rear tang is both ugly and potentially a problem. The blade stock is chonky at all get out. And the AUS-10 steel is pretty spectacularly awful. But…and to have a cavaet after all that is impressive…the bones of the knife are good. Its thin in the pocket. It locks up well. It deploys easily. Despite its flaws, of which there are many, the AD 20.5 still just appeals to me. Think of this as an A-10–that plane has flaw after flaw after flaw, but its so good at the one thing it is supposed to do that even now, years later, we still use it. And there are ways to make this knife better. First, scrap the AUS-10 steel. It is worthless. Going from AUS-10 to 14C28N or even S35VN would be a huge upgrade for not much money. That wins you back a point. Then, reduce the blade stock by 33%, that will not only save money, but make the knife slicer. That gets you another point. Drop one of the two deployment methods, preferrably the thumbstud as it is in the cutting path. That gets another point. Stopping there results in a 17 out 20, a much better score and there are Demkos out there like this from the man himself.

A radical change would be to shape the handle to cover up the rear tang. Or just reshape the rear tang. The Bridgeport Knives 395 did a good job with an exposed rear tang. So did the Roosevelt. Even the Civivi Vision FG, with its very similar Superlock does it better than the gap toothed look of the AD 20.5. This change would be more substantive, but it would make the AD 20.5 an even better knife. Thusly configured, the knife would score an 18. I would imagine you could get one of a dozen different OEMs to make this hypothetical knife a bit nicer, and you’re at 19 out of 20. All this effort would be worth it too. The bones here are excellent, which is why, despite the many flaws, I still think the AD 20.5 is a knife worth trying.

More than anything this version of the Demko Shark Lock-based knife makes me want to try another, higher end version. So despite the low score, this is a good knife.

Competition

The Delica is cheaper and is significantly better. There are half dozen Civivi knives that are better for less including the Yonder. I like the Ferrum Forge Gent 2, which also has a weirdo steel (9Cr), better. The advent of superior steel in overseas made knives makes the market really hostile to this cheaper version of the AD 20.5. There are a bunch of things this version of the knife leaves on the table. But, and this is the takeaway, the Shark Lock format is super engaging one. A Benchmade Bugout is in the same price range, roughly, and it is a better knife all around.

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