Artisan Satyr Review
There is a tremendous bias against Chinese made knives, even now when are positively flooded with stellar exemplars. The Satyr (pronounced like the Passover feast “seder”) is one of those knives. So here is the question—is the bias against Chinese knives jingoism or is it because they make so many knives it is hard to hold one up as a standard bearer like we do with the Sebenza? I ask this because we are LONG past the days where Chinese knives were poorly made or built with inferior materials.
I would never discount the sentiment that the bias is rooted in jingoism, but part of me thinks the problem finding a high end Chinese knife to serve as a standard bearer or benchmark like the Sebenza is the flood of knives makes it hard to grab one and hold it up as a classic. WE/Civivi/Sencut releases a new design a week, on a slow week. Other brands like Vosteed produce fewer blades but they still radically outpace US companies in terms of releasing new models. Some models are evergreen, like the Civivi Elementum, but they tend to be cheaper knives (see also CJRB Pyrite). Without having truly high end evergreen models, its hard to pinpoint one knife that stands out as a classic.
The Artisan Satyr, however, has lasted quite a long time in Artisan’s line up and it has a very simple, clean design that gives rise to broad appeal. For a lot of reasons I’ll get into below, I think this is the knife we should compare other Chinese blades too. Its the first knife I feel comfortable calling the Chinese Sebenza (as opposed to cringe-inducing Chinese Sebenza clone). And what I wouldn’t give for a Mini Satyr.
Here is the product page. Here is a video review. Here is a written review. There was a previous generation of Satyr that had an S35VN blade and there is a DLC coated version out there as well as a micarta version. Finally, debuting at Blade Show 2024 there is a version with a more complex handle milling pattern. Here is my review sample (provided by Artisan for review and to be given away):
Quick Review Summary: A truly superior blade in every regard.
Design: 2
The Satyr is about as big a knife as I like to carry. It is both tall and long, but thanks to thoughtful design, it still carries well because it is so thin. The combination of wide chamfers and great machining make the knife look nice and still provide some grip. The spare, minimal look is just wonderful and one of the reasons the Satyr stands out among the ever-changing landscape of expensive Chinese knives. Its design does its talking, not some silly carbon fiber accent or some wildly anodized handle scale. When you have a good design, you don’t need those things.
Fit and Finish: 2
Reate and Chris Reeve make knives that stand out from the rest of the production world. Rockstead makes so few knives that I don’t really think it is fair to compare. But Artisan is clearly in that next tier down. It is hard to really differentiate the bottom of the Reate/Reeve tier and the top of the tier below and in that murky boundary line between the two is where you will find the Satyr. If you handed it to me and told me it was a Reate, I’d pretty readily believe you. Its really a superior knife with impeccable, yet subtle machining on the handle and really great finishing on the blade. The blade sits nicely within the blade well and lock up is completely wiggle-free.
Grip: 2
The knife’s approach to grip is a good one with a wide, sweeping chamfer on both the top and bottom of the handle. This gives you something round-ish to hold on to. Between the two sandbar shaped chamfers there is some really fine striations machined into the titanium and they provide the grip. Its plenty to keep the knife in hand without getting silly and running some shreddy G10.
Carry: 2
Despite having the 3.35 inch blade and being made entirely of metal, the Satyr rides nicely in the pocket because even though it is quite tall it is both thin and light for what it is. There are no thumbstuds or exposed rear tangs to get snagged on anything and the machining doesn’t hinder extraction.
Steel: 2
S90V is a comparatively old steel (it was first formulated in 1996, almost 30 years ago), but its properties are still pretty special. Here is the KSN article on S90V. It is a notoriously difficult steel to work and so lots of makers skip it in favor of steels that machine better. As a result, it has remained relatively uncommon and is often an “upgrade” steel. Benchmade has a line of premium non-Gold Class evergreen blades in S90V and they are excellent. My first encounter with it was the S90V 940. It turned out to be a great steel. Here I like it quite a bit. It is, in many ways, the equal or superior to M390. It strikes me during use as being a bit better at holding an edge with no real diminishments to offset the better performance. This is the cheapest knife I have owned with S90V blade steel and it is cheaper than all of the Benchmades with this steel.
Blade Shape: 2
A big broad drop point blade makes for a superior utility cutter—it plows through cardboard and still has the rocking cuts to mince chives (we have chives on salads instead of onions—I love chives). As you can see in the picture above it has quite a bit of straightaway and a very large, though not comically silly (like the Lionsteels), belly. If you don’t might the height, and this is a tall knife, there is little this blade shape does poorly.
Grind: 2
The stock is thin, the blade is tall, and the grind starts up high. The Satyr slices like a laser. Its a great cutter, one of those knives so nicely ground, that it is a pleasure to use. Plowing through cardboard is so fast and easy, the Satyr sounds like a zipper. It is a bit sticky in food—cheese and cured meats seem to magnetize to the blade, but beyond that, this knife has no drawbacks with its grind. While I wouldn’t place it in the Elite Tier of something like the N2, it is not far behind.
Deployment: 1
So, yeah. This is one thing about the Satyr I would do differently. It is clearly designed to be a Spydieflick opener, but the small oval gives you very, very little purchase. After a week or so of practice I can open it with ease and if this were your only knife you’d pick it up even faster than that (hahahahaha, your only knife). I can’t shake the notion when opening this knife that things feel a little cramped.
Retention: 2
The proliferation of blind clips is a cool trend in higher end knives. The look so much better, so clean and sleek. When you combine this with some real upgrades in making sculpted titanium clips, we are in a golden age of clip design and the Satyr’s clip is one of the better, cooler looking ones out there. Perfect tension, good entryway ramping, and no real hotspotting in the hand.
Lock: 2
The framelock here is well made, it is easy to engage and easy to disengage. It has no wobble in any direction. Its not the bank vault lock up that you get on a Sebenza, but it is pretty close.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Moderate
Once you master the small bit of finger yoga required to open the knife, it is actually pretty rewarding to open and close the knife.
Fett Effect: High
With a highly polished blade and blasted handle, the knife will show quite a bit of use and wear.
Value: High
Its hard to call a $200 knife a “high value” blade, but here you get outstanding machining, superlative design, and S90V for about half what you’d pay for the Spyderco Smokestack, another overseas made blade with titanium milled handles. You get a better design here and more complex machining. I like the blade steel here better too (S90V v. 20CV). Now, saying something is a good value compared to that horrendously overpriced blade is faint praise, but the knife is also less than half what a Sebenza cost, cheaper than the Tactile Turn Rockwall, and just about every other knife in this class. Heck even the Titanium N2 from TRM costs more.
Overall Score: 19 out of 20
The Satyr has been around for a while. They have iterated on it. They have also made smart upgrades, including selecting S90V to replace S35VN. The knife is very good in a whole range of tasks thanks to a good steel and a thin grind. It compares nicely to a Sebenza, but it is less than half the cost. There is a real value in buying the thing you want, so if you want a Sebenza, get it. If you want a good TFF and don’t need a Sebenza, the Satyr is worth considering.
Competition
If you are making a TFF it gets compared to the Sebenza. Here, the Sebenza is a better knife, but not a clearly better knife. The Magnacut version has a slight edge on the S90V and the slimmer design is preferrable in my opinion though not as slicey. I like the Sebbie’s thumbstuds too. But none of these advantages are that large. So when you account for the price tag, this is a very competitive knife. But here is the thing—buy this if you want a great knife, don’t buy it as a Sebenza alternative. If you want a Sebenza that is the only thing that will make you happy. If you like the Sebenza design philosophy—a well made general purpose TFF, then the Satyr will make you happy. Its a good knife.
Amazon Links