Bill James, one of the best baseball writers and argument makers in the world, discussed what made a baseball player underrated in the Darrell Evans entry in his New Baseball Historical Abstract. He identified a few factors that are common to all underrated players and then he proceeded to show just how good Darrell Evans (James's 10th Best 3B as of the late 90s, probably dropped to at least 13th now--Chipper, Scott Rolen and Adrian Beltre are all clearly better and belong in the Top 10, with Beltre having a good argument for #2 or #3), a guy with a career .248 batting average, really was. Everything James wrote was dead on, 100% right. And some of those concepts carry over into gear evaluation.

The K12 is one of, if not the single most, underrated produced I have ever reviewed. When gear is underrated doesn't necessarily mean that something is better than people think it is, often underrated gear is just ignored. If you search for videos on the K12 you get very, very few, basically one from AG Russell and that's it. Compare that to the number of reviews for a random Kershaw, something like the OSO Sweet, and you will see just how ignored this knife is.

Underrated or ignored gear, something I love finding, has a few common traits. First it is generally made by a less high profile brand, but one that has a history of making good stuff. Second, it often features an unusual design. Third, it is often out of synch is current trends. The K12 has all of these features. AG Russell is not Spyderco or KAI, but his knives have great designs (notably with very good performance ratios) and excellent fit and finish. The K12's lock is quite strange (more on the lock below). And the VG-10, thumbstud design is definitely different from the market darling titanium framelock flipper. But you ignore the K12 at your peril. Okay, so not really "peril" but ignoring this design is really a shame because it is a damn fine blade.

Here is the product page. Here is an overview of a few Russell blades including the K12. There are no video reviews, but here is the product video. There is no affiliate link (AG Russell should really work on that). Here is my review sample (purchased with my own money):

Twitter Review Summary: The Darrell Evans of knives--insanely underrated.

Design: 2

AG Russell knows how to make good knives. Even if budget stuff is, from a perspective of blueprints, pretty damn amazing. The K12 is a remarkably slim knife, in the hand and in the pocket, and yet it gives you the feel of a much larger blade. Part of this is the way that Russell squeezes in blade length, but it is also has to do with the fundamentally solid components of the knife--the handle is simple but great, the blade is straightforward and excellent. Everything here is just very good. Experience counts for a lot and AG Russell has a lot of experience.

The novelty of this knife--its completely ambidextrous design--is more than a gee whiz thing. It really works. I like the strap lock a lot and everything else about this knife is well-considered and thought out. Even the way the onlay is chamfered around the index notch in the handle is nicely done. There are so many small design niceties that I have to conclude that these were all intentional and that they came about because of Russell's superior eye and massive knowledge base when it comes to knives.

The performance ratios are quite good. The b:h is .80. The b:w is 1.03. The b:w is good, but the b:h is amazing, third only to the perennial performance ratios winner, the Al Mar Hawk Ultralight, and the also underrated Kershaw Chill. AG Russell always does this very well, recognizing the benefits of free blade length from a long way back. One caveat though--not all of the blade length is cutting edge--there is a true ricasso as well as a longer than normal flat section, so the cutting edge ratio is about normal, a little above average.

Fit and Finish: 2

Whenever you have a new mechanism on a knife, be it a pivot or a lock, its always cause for concern--is this novelty going to through off the whole design? Are they going to be able to make it correctly? Here there are no concerns. Russell's OEM in China has been producing very nice knives for him for a while now. The Barlows I have had are very nice. The Skorpion was good (not great, but good), and this knife is the finest of them all. Even the strap lock is nicely done.

Grip: 2

The K12's basic handle shape is one that is used throughout AG's product line. Its simple and effective. Here the only point of concern was the exposed titanium edges on the index notch (the place where your index finger rests). There, the metal was a bit sharp when the knife was VERY tightly gripped. Its not a big deal, not enough to deduct a point, but it is worth noting.

Aside from that, the knife worked well in handle during all sorts of cuts. Long pulls through thick cardboard were fine as were slices through apples. This is a very good handle. The lack of jimping isn't an issue and the plate at the end of the strap lock does provide a bit of extra grip.

Carry: 2

The K12 isn't a tall knife at all and while it is a bit thicker than something like Russell's Skorpion, its not bad at all in the pocket. I was worried that the plate on the strap lock would be a snag point when you removed the knife from your pocket, but it wasn't. This is a very discrete pocket companion. The size, shape, and placement of the clip is 100% correct for a knife of this size and shape.

Steel: 1

VG-10 is not my favorite steel. It does get very sharp and it does repel corrosion, but as with every other VG-10 knife I have used over the past 5 years, the steel just doesn't hold that viciously sharp edge long enough. This blade's steel is quite nicely done, with an excellent satin finish, but even that can't really make up for the lack of edge retention. There is a newer version of this knife, one that uses 9Cr and I am not experienced enough with that steel to say it is better or worse, but I'd be interested in trying it out. VG-10 is nothing special and this knife with a different steel could be really amazing. There was a very limited run made a few years ago using the ultra-hard ZDP-189ish Cowry X steel and that might be worth tracking down if you like this design but dislike the steel. Be warned though--they are few and far between on the secondary market.

Blade Shape: 2

The blade shape here is really quite nice--a clean steady spearpoint blade with just enough belly to do roll cuts and make sharpening easy. One reader was worried about the extra long ricasso behind the sharpening notch, but in practice that hasn't really bothered me. I have moved away from my old way of using a knife where the space right next to the pivot got lots of work (this is, I think, in part because my first real knife was a combo edge Delica and I developed bad habits because of how easy the serrations cut through stuff), so the long unsharpened edge was not a problem.

The blade shape reminds me an awful lot of the Kershaw Leek, a knife that has a fragile thin tip. This blade has the same overall profile, but delivers more steel to the end of the knife making it much, much stronger at the tip. This difference is why experience matters--same profile, better performance.

Grind: 2

The grind on the K12 is quite clean and reduces the surprisingly thick blade stock to a very fine edge at just the right angle. The knife's stock is thicker than quite a few knives of the same size, but the expert grind made the K12 great in the kitchen, slicing apples with ease and making translucent thin wafers of delicious salami (thanks Uncle John!). I am not sure if this is a hollow grind or a flat grind but either way it works, and that's what really matters. Sometimes I think we let taxonomy get in the way of practicality.

Deployment Method: 2

Okay, I can easily see why someone would deduct a point for the thumb studs. As you can see below:

they are quite pointy at the end. There is one too many terraces to the thumbstud and the result is a somewhat pokey opening if you slow roll the knife. If, however, you coin flip the thumbstuds are they wonderful. The pivot is very finely crafted, so nicely done that despite constant contact and pressure for the strap lock, you can reliably pop the blade out with no wrist flick. There are no Spyderco lockbacks (which cause a similar a friction of the blade of the knife) that you can do this with out of the box. In the end, the coin flip method is my method of choice and so I decided not to deduct a point.

Retention Method: 2

Again the K12 proves that you don't need something complicated or fancy to make a knife work. Here the clip is dead simple--a discrete over the top deep carry clip with no funky upturn at the end--and it works amazingly well.

Big bonus points for the matte finish and the reversibility (this is a 100% ambidextrous knife). Carved titanium clips are good looking, but this is vastly more functional.

Lock: 2

And so we get to the place where the K12 differs from most other knives--the Strap Lock. Give credit where it is due--this lock was invented by Pat Crawford, who loaned it to AG Russell. According to legend Crawford didn't think it could be patented, but Russell tried and succeeded. Because Mr. Russell is the soul of honor, he then gave Crawford payment for the design even though it was never something Crawford had requested. This is one of many examples of how wonderful the knife business is--Crawford being kind enough to lend out his design and Russell being honorable enough to pay the man, even though it wasn't required.

The lock itself is a wonderful design. It is simply put the easiest lock to disengage with one hand. I am not convinced it is the strongest design in the world, but it is plenty strong for EDC use (this is one reason among many why I think the Cold Steel lock test videos are pointless). Thanks to some really nice fit and finish, the lock exhibits no wiggle and there is zero blade play when the lock is engaged. This is really a fine design. I think its applications are limited because on a very large or very small blade the strap could be hard to implement. On a small blade it would be hard to get the strap to flex sufficiently to disengage the lock and on a large blade you might have to make the strap too thick. I am not sure that's right, but from my month of use and carry, it seems correct. Either way, I really like this lock. Note that while it is not identical to the Nak Lock from Benchmade it functions very similarly, so if you can't find the K12, that might be a good substitute.

Overall Score: 19 out of 20

Overall the K12 is proof yet again of just how good AG Russell is. It also emblematic of just how important simple design is when backed by years of experience. Everything just works. Only the steel is a real knock against the knife and even then I could do just fine with VG-10 if I weren't a bona fide steel snob. For 99% of people the steel isn't bad enough to matter. That said, the quality of the design here makes me want to hunt down a Cowry X version.

I also know that AG Russell is closing out the VG-10 models in favor of an entirely Chinese made version with 9Cr steel. Hopefully the lack of importing steel (VG-10 is a tightly controlled Japanese steel) will lower the price. At the $115 I paid the knife is worth it, but probably a little below par in terms of value.

I also think that AG Russel has a real star here that they don't push enough. I'd love to see sprint runs of this knife with better steel on a more regular basis. I also think they should release user-swapable scales--they are so easy to remove. If KAI made this knife there would be forty versions already--its that solid and unique of a design.

I am not sure how many of the K12 in VG-10 are left, but if you want something that is very good and very different, its definitely worth a try. Their lack of presence on the secondary market (something that is true of all AG Russell exclusive designs) is telling. Once you get one, you don't want to let it go.