The Ten Best Knives 2021
State of the Industry
2020 was a terrible, terrible year. But in the knife world, things were pretty okay, especially if you weren’t a custom maker or used shows to get knives.
For the production world, things were very good. Benchmade got small both at the beginning and end of the year with the Mini Bugout and the Mini 940 aka the 945 respectively. That is a pretty sweet way to start and finish. Spyderco got really slow with new models but continued to pump out sprint runs. Meh. SOG dropped its Big Box knives in favor of higher end designs and they were decent, but not earth shattering (unlike their 2021 models which are ferociously good). Reate continued to make nice handles for their brand and great knives for others. No brand, however, outpaced Civiv/WE both in terms of great releases and in terms of sheer volume. WE is a real player. It matches any production brand in terms of quality and fit and finish. If they were ever to go back and tweak models, they would have a stellar core for an evergreen line up. And their spec work is equally good. They are what the snobs of the IKC think Reate is. And while they might be a smidge off Reate’s end product in terms of polish, it is only a smidge. And their knives cut, which is good because that’s what knives are supposed to do. WE’s offers are so plentiful that they probably had more new models than Kershaw, Spyderco, and Benchmade combined. Speaking of Kershaw, what has happened? A heap of D2 added to the line up makes them finally on par with the dozen or so amorphous Amazon/Bang Good brands. If you appreciate knives there is literally no reason to buy a Kershaw, especially now that their Sprint Run program has slowed to a standstill. The CRJBs of the world make better stuff for the money and a dozen or so brands make better stuff in the mid-tier. And ZT, well, I have left the latern on hoping they would come back to reality for a few years now and I have been rewarded with nothing. I’ll leave it on for one more year, but the flame is guttering at this point. Cold Steel was sold to a faceless conglomerate, which never bodes well. Their first new releases after the buyout were 8Cr fixed blades, not a good sign. I hope this was a blip and not a portent. CRKT continues to carve out a niche as the only company that has two distinct lines of identical knives—the cheap ones and the ones people want. Its almost like they are making counterfeits of their own stuff. But the good stuff from CRKT is QUITE good, so I don’t care. Gerber also returned from the grave with two excellent knives, the Terracraft and the Sedulo. I can honestly say I am excited to see what Gerber does in 2021. A smallish folder would be quite sweet. Fortunes change quick in the production knife world. Cold Steel was a secret darling of the IKC and now its making 8CR knives. Meanwhile Gerber is producing top shelf stuff at good prices. I feel a Ferris Bueller quote coming on.
One company deserves a special mention—Shirogorov. What are they doing? More importantly, how are they able to do what they are doing? I don’t cover them here because they used to make only one knife, just in multiple sizes and I have already reviewed the one knife they make that is sized correctly, but their decision to diversify took a weird turn. Their knives are already exceptionally expensive for what they are, but 2020 saw them double down on pricing. First, there was the collab with CRK, which resulted in gauche $3,000 production TFFs. Then they dropped the Russian Overkill, a collab with RJ Martin. This knife might be the most mystifying production knife ever made. It is a TFF with no adornment or unusual materials. It sports a M398 blade, which is a slight variant of M390 and nothing all that special. And it costs $2,199. If you thought Rocksteads were bananas, welcome to the jungle my friend. This is absolutely, truly nuts. I have personal rule to never pay more than $1,000 for a non-art knife custom (and my Swift was still under that price even though I consider it to be an art knife). But this is a production knife. With stand offs and nothing other than titanium and steel on it. Its crazy. Here are other things you can buy for $2,200:
A 2010 Honda Civic in Jacksonville, Florida (Good Place Shout Out!) with 173,000 miles on it
A 50cc Primevera 2017 Vespa in in New Haven, Ct with 7,530 miles on it
A brand new 1.75HP Saw Stop cabinet table saw
A PSA Grade 1 Michael Jordan 1986 Fleer Rookie Card on eBay
A decked out 2021 Mac Book Pro with touch bar (using an education discount)
A car, a sweet moped, a tool for creating furniture, a super rare collectible, or a very nice laptop. Or you could have a production knife version of an RJ Martin Q36. Oh wait, you can have the Real McCoy custom FOR THE SAME PRICE (this specific knife was sold in February of 2021, so the prices are IDENTICAL as the Russian Overkill was availabe in 2021). My hat is off to Shiro. They have convinced people to pay the same amount for a production knife as the custom original. This is a marketing achievement worth of a Harvard Business School case study. I tip my hat to all of the Shiro folks for this remarkable achievement. While not as impressive, the CKF releases are tending towards price insanity too.
Designer-produced blades, like those from Vero and Sharp By Design, continue to be my favorite part of the market and they continue to be great. The criminally underrated Progeny MR is really an exemplar—its a superior knife for a steal of price. If this is what we get as a replacement for midtechs, I am thrilled. Midtechs were confusing and terrible and bland. DPBs are your favorite maker specing out a production run of his custom and getting to keep the money instead of having to share profits with a production house. Its great.
Custom makers must be suffering terribly. Blade Show was moved and ultimately cancelled as it played chicken with Covid-19 and lost. Nearly every other show in 2020 went away as well. I hope the custom community can weather storm. And I hope that knife shows in 2021 come back but don’t turn into superspreader events. I miss my knife shows a lot, but not enough to tempt the Covid Fates.
The state of the knife union is strong if you like production stuff. The custom world is lost in the Covid wilderness.
Ten Best
A few rules. First, I am only listing things that are in production. No point in a recommendation article full of unavailable things. Second, no limited editions or customs for the same reason. Third, if things are intermittently available on a consistent basis, I will include them. For example, the Emerson Mini A-100 is not always made, but it is consistently made, so it is in. The Strider PT, which has been made once in like eight years, is not.
There are some carry overs from last year and a few new entries. One new entry, in particular, unseats the longest winner in the history of the site. 2020’s Ten Best are really strong.
Best EDC Knife for Most People: SOG Terminus XR LTE
Five years ago SOG was so far from this list that it was behind illustrious brands like Smith and Wesson knives and United Cutlery. But with a slow, steady rebuild, SOG has placed its brand in a position it has never been in before—frontrunner. At a time when Spyderco has abandoned new knife design in favor of a rainbow-of-flavor full of sprint runs and while Benchmade is shrinking its line up, SOG is making new stuff and doing a good job at it (though, of course, the Terminus XR LTE is a new version of an old knife).
The Terminus XR LTE is quite a good knife. For $140 it features a 3 inch blade of S35VN steel with a good lock, decent flipping action, a good clip, and structural carbon fiber. It is a sign that SOG is serious. Until now knife companies have treated carbon fiber like car makers in the 1950s treat chrome—a purely decorative element. Unlike chrome, carbon fiber actually has a function. Taking advantage of that makes the Terminus XR LTE a truly great knife.
There is a lot of competition here, but nothing is straight up better. The Giant Mouse Riv is truly great, but it is a limited edition, so it is out. I like the Drop Gent, but it has a worse pocket clip. I like the Mini Grip 555-1, too, but it is more expensive. I like the Spyderco Native 5 in Spy27 a lot, but it is pretty blocky in the hand. I love the Chaparral, but its lock bar is too thin and painful to disengage. Over and over again, there is a lot of good stuff, but nothing outright better. The Dragonfly II in ZDP-189 would dust all of these knives because of its combination of size, performance, and value, but alas, she has left the production world. The K390 version is decent, but not as stainless.
In the end, its the SOG Terminus XR LTE by a hair in a field full of very good contenders.
Best High End EDC: Brian Nadeau Sharp by Design Micro Evo
Here the story is different. The Micro Evo v. 2 is so much better than the competition it is hard to put it perspective. The Chris Reeve line up, which, coincidentally is the same line up as when this blog started, but for the introduction of the Impinda, is just not that impressive anymore. The fit and finish that used to be a standout a decade ago is common place. Sure the designs are still good, but they aren’t outstanding.
This knife is outstanding. It has the best flipping action ever for a production knife. It has a great clip and handle, which is expected given it is a Reate-made knife, but it is also a good slicer, which is unusually given its maker. In short the Micro Evo is the best EDC knife if you are okay with spending a few bucks. Brian has made two runs since I got mine, so it is not exactly a limited edition, but instead a knife intermittently in production.
Best Fixed Blade for Most People: Gerber Terracraft
You want to beat the ever living snot out of a fixed blade and still have it look good and not tear up your hands? This knife is a good choice. The Terracraft is truly remarkable knife—a great fixed blade with a great stock sheath, in leather, no less. When Seth the Wunderkind and his team at Gerber leverage their huge buying power and market share to produce an enthusiast grade knife, the Terracraft is the result and it is stunningly good. Plus, it is half the price of an equally nice Bark River. This is a no brainer.
Best Value: American Bladeworks Model 1 v.5
Let’s play a thought experiment. Name a product you have bought in the last year, other than food and medicine, that you still happily buy if it cost twice as much? If your car doubled in price would it be a good buy? If your jeans doubled in price whould they be a value? Let’s not even start on watches.
But the American Blade Works Model 1 v.5 could DEFINITELY double in price and still be a pretty good buy in the market today. Part of this, of course, is the rising prices of all knives, but in large measure this is because the ABW Model 1 is just an astoundingly good knife for the money. It fires like a rocket, carries well, breaks in beautifully, and is large without being bulky. All of the curves and cuts are purpose driven and the blade looks marvelous. At $400 it would run with the Sebenza and some Reates. It would fit in nicely in that group. But it is not a $400. It is a $200 knife. And, oh yeah, it fires like an RJ Martin.
This is an easy pick and one of the best buys in the knife world.
Best Knife to Prove Membership in the IKC: Vero Synapse
No knives are more 2020 than hard to buy Vero blades and no blade is more quintessentially Vero than the Synapse. Aside from being good looking blades, Veros are jammed with one “it feature” after another—green micarta, front flipping action, sculpted clips, minimalist designs—Veros ARE 2020 in the knife world. Their prices are a bit high, especially on the secondary market, and the availability is low, but they are regularly produced. There are a bunch of size and blade variants and they are all pretty solid.
Best Budget Knife: CJRB Mini Felspar
The CRKT Drifter in G10 has long been my go to rec for a budget blade. The Mini Felspar is just a better knife for less money. The handles are fully contoured, the clip is an over-the-top design that rides deep, the pivot is quick and snapp with bearings, and the blade is D2. In every way it is better than the G10 Drifter. It is also cheaper. What a wonderful time we live in.
Best Food Prep Knife: Terrain 365 Otter
It is thin, waterproof, and cuts for years thanks to the blade material’s chemistry. The lack of a lock and a good belly make this a pairing knife that happens to fold and is nice ot carry. Nothing is even close in terms of food prep, as the Spydiechef is gigantic. If you haven’t had an Otter in hand, you need to try it. Its marvelous.
Best Gent’s Knife: Chris Reeve Mnandi
Still the best gent’s knife and now with a distinctive purpose in the CRK lineup thanks to a third version of the opening hole. I am always going to be partial to the original, but the new full passthrough hole is good. If you have not owned a Mnandi you are missing out one of the sublime experiences in the production knife world.
Best “Design-First” Knife (aka Best Hipster Knife): Quiet Carry Drift
Is this the new “do everything knife”? I am not sure, but it icould be. Certainly, however, if it is a design first knife that is curvy in all the right ways. Quiet Carry has long been one of the priemere “design-first” knife brands (along with The James Brand and Civilware). The Drift, however, captures that aesthetic, but also includes useful knife features like a finger choil. The blue gray G10 is particularly captivating. I have one in route for review and something tells me it might be on this list next year in a different slot.
Most Underrated Knife: A Purvis Progeny MR
ABW Model 1s are PRAISED as great values. But the Progeny MR is cheaper and pretty good. But the reason this knife is underrated is that Adam make more expensive versions and Bestech makes a cheaper version (the Texel). The result is a Goldilocks effect of where this knife has a bunch of nice touches for a good price, but doesn’t grab eye balls for being super cheap or a bling magnet. That said, its an excellent blade.
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