Like most people I did not predict 2020 turning out the way it did. A global pandemic has a way of altering your view of the world. But it was an excellent excuse to go adventuring, use some cool tools, and do internet shopping, which, if you are Gear Geek, are probably three of your six favorite activities. I leave it to your imagination to divine the last three.

Suffice to say, this year has been the most competitive since the site launched eleven years ago. While 2018 was a great year for knives, 2020 was just as good for knives AND lots of other categories. Flashlights, in particular, have been very competitive this year. Three times I wrote this article thinking that all of the good stuff was out and three times I have had to change my mind with a release of some new stunning piece of kit. Its December now and I think I have a handle on what will be released.

The rules are simple—the item must be new in 2020 (though a new steel on an old knife is new enough). The top four awards: Best Overall, Biggest Surprise, and Best Value, Most Innovative disqualify the winner from winning a specific category. This allows me to highlight the most possible new stuff. Next, I have collapsed a few categories—multitools, packs, and pens are now found in “Other EDC gear.” These categories pose two problems for me: 1) there aren’t enough new multitools each year to warrant their own category; and 2) while there are a lot of packs and pens they aren’t always tailored to the EDC market. Last, the last two categories, the community awards, are just my opinion.

Best Overall: Laulima Metalcraft Hoku

This year has been difficult to evaluate gear. Over and over again, I drafted my GOTY ballot and then had to rewrite it. In my first draft the Micro Evo 2.0 won. It was the best knife, for sure, but it didn’t have that “it” factor that sets a piece of gear apart from the crowd. It was a superbly polished but very standard offering (I am SO over TFFs).

Then I saw that the Roady was finally out and I grabbed one. It did have that IT factor. The design was so clever and interesting. For a while that looked like the shoe in winner. But then I got the email from Mitch for the Laulima Hoku. I had received the original email but passed because the lights were offered only in smelly metals (copper and brass). This second email was for a Hoku in titanium. Aluminum is the clear choice for torches (as it is a better conductor than titanium, cheaper than copper, and not smelly), but titanium is an acceptable second choice. I bought the Hoku and waited. When it arrived, I was blown away. It was gorgeous and had a dead simple design. I then took it on a Night Hike and it lasted the entire trip of about 2 hours. It was pretty cold so that might throw off the runtime a bit, and I ran it on medium, but the little jewel hung in there. That impressive run time given the tiny battery, meant that the light worked as good as it looked. And so the Hoku seems to stand out from the crowd. Its look gave it that IT factor and the idea of a custom 1xAAA is still relatively new (some forget that Barrel’s first, failed Kickstarter was for a 1xAAA light—I wish they would bring that back to life). You won’t find a nicer piece of kit in 2020 for the $300 this cost.

Runners Up: Sharp by Design Micro Evo 2.0, Spoke Design Roady, A Purvis Progeny MR, Gerber Terracraft

Biggest Surprise: Gerber Terracraft

The Gerber Reserve line, which, thus far, consists of two knives—a fixed blade called the Terracraft, and a folder called the Sedulo. Both are pretty darn traditional—drop points and all. The Terracraft is in the midst of testing and even before I am comfortable giving it a final score, I can say definitively that it is the best thing Gerber has made in decades. It is also a traditional looking knife with a raft of smart upgrades like a liner in the leather sheath and an entirely unique hand geometry. This is a super easy knife to recommend—basically anyone that appreciates knives will like the Terracraft. It is also Made in the USA, which is great. How nice is it that Gerber is making good stuff again? It just seems like the world has tilted a bit back onto its axis after a long time of it being akimbo.

A quick shout out to Benchmade—the 945 was the most inevitable knife in the world, so the fact that it just HAPPENED is quite weird. Additionally, the Tengu was a bit of a coup. In a less busy year, it would have been the banner release.

Runners Up: Benchmade 945, Benchmade Tengu, A Purvis Progeny MR, Laulima Metalcraft Hoku

Best Value: A Purvis Progeny MR

There were a bunch of very good buys in the gear world this year, but none had the luxe feel and impeccable design that the Progeny MR did. This knife feels like a much, much more expensive blade than it actually is. The action, in particular, is stellar, perhaps the best I have ever seen running on PB washers. It is also a more reasonable size than other Adam Purvis designs. Finally, at $139, its a blade that feels like you got it at half price. Designer produced blades have been a huge boon to the knife world and value oriented designer produced blades are even better. If you haven’t experienced a Purvis clip, you are missing out. There is a reason he does a lot of work on clips—they are exceptional.

Runners Up: Ferrum Forge Stinger, the CJRB Small Felspar, the Nitecore TIP SE, Gerber Terracraft, Wood-bodied Deadwood flashlights

Most Innovative: CPM Spy27

Until Spy27 we haven’t REALLY had a steel exclusive to a manufacturer. Sandvik and KAI had a timed exclusive for North America for 14C28N, Busse is the only person to make INFI, and AG Russell has its own high carbon designation DM-1, but Spy27 is a steel just for Spyderco that has its own unique recipe and heat treat, something I am not sure INFI or DM-1 can lay claim to. But more than it being exclusive, Spy27 is fundamentally different than all of the powder steels we have been treated to thus far. Its the first PM steel that prioritizes sharpenability. As a person that sharpens his own knife, I can tell you that Spy27 is great. Its basically S35VN that sharpens like 1.4116. I love this steel, I truly love it and the idea that a maker would design a steel to make it user serviceable is incredible.

Runners Up: AR-RPM9 (another proprietary budget powder steel from CJRB), Demko Shark Lock

Best Knife: Sharp by Design Micro Evo 2.0

As amazing as 2018 was, 2020 was better. We got five or size Pena X Series flippers all of which were awesome. Got the Micro Evo. We got the Boos Blades Mini Smoke. The Terminus XR got a steel upgrade. There were two Spy27 Spydercos, one of which has a comfortable handle. We got the TRM Nerd. We were blessed with a new rendition of the Indian River Jack. Benchmade finally said yes to making smaller and more useful sized version of popular knives—the Mini 940 (aka 945) and the Mini Bugout also dropped. In most years the Oeser Benchmade collab would have been a banner release. In 2020 it was meh. Spartan Knives released a smaller version of the Harsey, an all time classic. And the Sebenza 31 finally hit the market. Yeah, it was an insane year. To paraphrase Bill James talking about Rickey Henderson, you could split 2020 in half and still have two years that would be among the best ever for production knives. It was very tough to narrow this list down, but I did and in the end, Brian Nadeau’s tiny gem, the Micro Evo 2.0 took the crown.

It is simple, well made, and perfectly sized to be an EDC knife for a generation to come. The flipper and detent work together like Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Both the Small Sebenza and the Micro Evo came out at the same time and it wasn’t a particularly difficult choice for me (a Small Sebenza 31 CF Insingo might have won the day…we will have to see). Its closest competition was from two very different sources—the traditional modern crossovers from Pena and the absolutely great TRM Nerd. The Nerd was the knife that never stayed away from my pocket for long, weaving its way back into rotation at least every two weeks or so. In the end, the Nadeau detent ramp was the trump card and pull the Micro Evo 2 ahead of the pack.

Runners Up: Pena X Series Zulu Spear, Northwood Knives Indian River Jack 2020, TRM Nerd, and WE Knives Banter

Best Light: Nitecore TIP SE

There were a bunch of small updates of previously released flashlights and they were all, for the most part, pretty good. I am distinctly unimpressed by Andruil and “popped” highs (where the manufacturer boosts highs in the first 90 seconds and then lets them drop off significantly after that—this is thanks to the ANSI lumens standard). The Prometheus Beta Mag is a totally different approach to a light—so simple it doesn’t even have an on/off switch. It is a breath of fresh air and a tack in a new direction for lights. But the winner, for me, is the really good, really simple TIP SE. Its super small, quite bright, and charges via USB-C. This is a portent of things to come and its cheap.

Runners Up: Lumintop Micro GT, Prometheus Beta Mag, Noctigon KR4

Best Other EDC Gear: Spoke Design Roady

I have basically given up on reviewing new bags as, well, I don’t travel much anymore due to the pandemic. The courts have even gone remote, so I don’t have much reason to travel there either. Similarly, there has been a paucity of new, legit multitools since the year the Gerber center drive and Leatherman Free series were announced. As a result, it has been pens all day. Fortunately, pens have been pretty solid this year with two outstanding options

Runners Up: Tactile Turn Side Clicky, Tom Bihn Synapse (with edgeless straps)

Marshall Hoots/Derrick Bohn Community Leader Award: Slicey Dicey

Aside from being a podcast carpetbagger, a multitalented collector of collections, and a funny guy, I think its fair to say that Dicey has been a reviewer that just thinks of things the right way. His breakdowns and comparisons are always on point and his way of thinking about gear makes sense. But it is his enthusiasm and biting sense of humor that makes him one of my favorite watches in the Gear World, and a unique voice in the IKC. I also appreciate the fact that he too sees the folly of the Para3 design.

Best Newcomer: Metal Complex

Well, not a newcomer strickly speaking, but definitely someone that came on my radar in 2020. Perhaps that is a sign of how out of touch I am. His reviews are great, thorough, and engaging. He has totally different tastes, but that makes it all the more interesting to see what he has to say. It’s voracious pace though that sets him apart from other on again off again YouTubers. Keep up the work, man, its good.

Where is…?

There are a few items that are missing from my list that are on other lists. For example, the CJRB Ria. This is a great budget design, but I was more taken by the Small Felspar. I would have a hard time saying the Felspar is better, it has "lowly” D2, but at the time, I wanted a good exemplar of the CJRB line and I chose one just prior to the Ria’s release. I will probably circle back and pick this up.

Another knife that I am not including that is on virtually EVERY other GOTY 2020 list is the Protech Malibu. I am sure it is a great knife. Too many very good reviewers have said it is good for it to be bad. But, there are two issues for me. First, I am over the free swinging action of well-tuned button lock flippers. After the Freeman folder, I have just had my fill. It doesn’t help either that I detest the looks of both blade shapes. The taxonomy of blade shapes has just gotten insane, so instead of saying what it is, I think it suffices to say I do or don’t like it. Here, I don’t like it.

I am also leaving off a huge heaping helping of what I think of as a “steroid” lights. We have all been taken in by their specs, but after a few of them, I am over the combination of low-ish price tag, Andruil UI, and kilolumen highs that last exactly 91 seconds. If you have had one, you have had them all and they are all just okay. Not interested. I am much more interested in lights that can hold their highs for a useful period of time.

The Ferrum Forge Stinger isn’t on this list and it should be. Between mail slow downs (go figure—concerted efforts to destroy the post office on a national level cause shipping issues) and the bevy of other choices, I didn’t get around to getting one of these in time to make the list. But I know it is a good knife, given the design, the materials, the price, and the maker.

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