Sorry for the delay on this one. Its been a bit hectic, what with starting work for AKTI. For that reason, I am not going to do a State of the Union.

Ten Best

Best EDC: TRM Neutron 2

Without a true high end steel in a Dragonfly 2 and with nice tweaks between Gen 1 and Gen 2, the Neutron 2 is the King of Cutters. I noticed as I wrote reviews that it kept popping up in the Competition section and invariably I wrote the same thing: while X knife is good, the Neutron 2 is better because of its overall design, its price, and the fact that it is made in the USA. Its just hard to beat no matter how you look at the market. As everyone else is going upscale and high end, TRM is clearly focusing on the middle of the market and they are crushing it. And if you want to make your Neutron 2 rapturously amazing, they offer some truly killer scales that are easily added.

Why not the Deka? It was a close call, but in the end, the Neutron 2 is a better slicer. Really nothing approaches the performance of the Neutron 2. It cuts so incredibly well, it is hard to recommend anything else. If the Neutron 2 is not available or too expensive, the Deka is a good fall back position. If you need something a bit higher end, I like it better than the Sebenza as well. Lots of stuff is good, a few things are great, but only the Neutron 2 can win Best EDC.

Best High End EDC: Vero Engineering Mini Synapse

“Flipper tabs are ugly.”

“Front flippers are dumb.”

“I wanna be able to do that cool finger flick opening I see on IG and TikTok.”

If you have thought these things in the past ten years, folks, have I got a knife for you. If you also want stellar design chops, a unique look, and excellent performance, fortunately they can be found in the same knife. The deployment methods lure you in, but it is the great performance that makes the Mini Synapse earn its pocket time. This was a true revelation for me. I love this knife. And the much better than expected fit and finish from Bestech only makes these even cooler.

Best Value: Knafs Co. Lander

There are cheaper knives out there, in particular the CRKT Drifter and the CJRB Pyrite/Mini Feldspar, but the Lander’s size, comfy handle, and great blade geometry win the day for me. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better “don’t worry about it” knife than the Lander. This isn’t a knife you will baby so you can leave the ridiculous $200 razor blade holder at home.

Best Dirt Time Knife: KaBar BK16

If you look at all of the folders on IG and think: “Oh, those prebroken knives are adorable,” then get yourself a BK16. There is nothing you will need to fuss over here, nothing precious or fragile. You can dig with it and do food prep back to back, though you should clean it in between. The steel is easy for even the most novice grinder to sharpen. The blade shape is ideal and the handle is as close to perfect as you will find on a knife. The sheath is meh and the handles are plastic, but if you have a stock BK16 there is something wrong with you. I stripped the coating off mine, made a kydex sheath for it at home, and swapped out the handle scales. None of these took a great deal of time or fancy tools (I heated the kydex up on an old griddle). Part of the fun of owning a BK16 is that it gives you such an excellent clean slate to do all of your knife experiments on, with very little fear that you will screw up the knife or the need for a $2300 belt grinder. Just don’t change the blade or handle shape and you’ll be fine. If you want to skip all of the work and are okay at sharpening harder steels, the GSO series from Survive Knives are straight up excellent.

Best Proof that Times are Changing: Hogue Deka in Magnacut

The current knife market is weird. There are lot of good self-published blades, Chinese makers are releasing a new knife every day, and there is an addiction to Spring Runs. Into this context steps Hogue, a company that has been nibbling on the edges of the strike zone for a while. With the Deka in Mangacut, they launched a 106 MPH fastball right down the middle and no one could hit it. As we get more and more high end and high dollar knives from China and some US makers are wandering around, Hogue has made an amazing knife with an amazing steel for a stunning price. Times are changing. This is proof.

Best Knife that Needs to be Released Again: Northwoods Knives Indian River Jack

If we can get multiple colorways of Zome on a Delica, why can’t we get another release of the IRJ? I know that finding a maker is challenging, but maybe if Northwoods asked nicely Hogue or TRM could find some spare capacity on machines and an able, US-based partner to make these knives again. TRM even has experience with slipjoints (remember the Atlas?). No traditional holds a candle to the spare, stripped down beauty of the IRJ and they basically sell out so fast its like printing money, so the market is clearly there. We just need the logistics hurdles to be overcome. Magnacut Indian River Jack anyone? How about some user swappable carbon fiber scales?

Best Knife You Can Buy on Amazon or a Big Box Store: SOG Terminus XR

There are a ton of knives on Amazon. Some a really terrible. Only a few are superb purchases. This is one of them. The SOG Terminus XR is also the best knife you might find in a Big Box store. With good flipping action, a solid steel, and a really eye pleasing design, there is a lot to love for a decent price. If the Hogue Deka in Magnacut is on Amazon, then it displaces the Terminus XR, but not by a lot. I really, really like the Terminius XR.

Best Waterproof Knife: Terrain 365 Otter AT

Don’t sleep on this knife. Its great. Not like “What a great dinner,” but like “Snap On Tools have great fit and finish.” Terrain 365 makes some interesting stuff but this is the coolest, weirdest kind of A10-useful-but-ugly design. And the fit and finish is sweet. I know people love Reate and WE, but Bestech is definitely their equal and the tool here proves it. And who doesn’t like some weirdo blade material? That’s why we like knives, right?

Best Sebenza: Small Plain Jane Chris Reeve Sebenza 31

I know there is a contingent out there that think I have joined the Butterscotch Club and for them I have this category. Honestly, its really just a way to put the Small Sebenza on this list. It should be on this list. Even if it is an old design, that is expensive, with a price hike, with fancier knives out there, its not an integral, it doesn’t have Magnacut (on most versions), there is no MokuTi option, it doesn’t have a flipper, it lacks that fidget friendly action we all like, and so on and so forth. Its here because it does what good knives are supposed to do—cut. And it does it exceedingly well. Classics that get update are awesome. So think of this like a 1967 Mustang Fastback restomod. Its awesome.

Best Knife Worth Hunting Down: Urban EDC Supply Baby Barlow 2.0

There is a lot of stuff out there that is really good. Fun, cool knives that come and go. But the Baby Barlow 2.0, in addition to being a looker, is a knife that just works. I can see some hipster buying one based on a shill site post and then carrying it for twenty years only to look back on the purchase in 2040 and think—DAMN that was a good buy. The right size, the right look, and great materials. If these are out of stock, hunt one down. Its outstanding.

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