When it slid out of the box, the Bel Air’s pivot was significantly looser than it should be. There was up and down blade play and so much side to side blade play that I could here the blade clicking as I moved it from side to side. The action, as you can imagine, was great, but the cost was pretty steep. To say I was concerned is an understatement. Then I tightened down the pivot screw to eliminate all blade play and the knife has been amazing ever since.

Never has such a good product arrived for review with such an inauspicious first appearance. But as bad as that was, its been that good since. This is an elite design, a knife better than the other Magnacut blade produced by KAI, the very excellent ZT0545. Of all the production knives out there, no knife is closer to the blissful slicey performance of the TRM N2. In fact, the gap between the N2 and the Bel Air is vanishingly small. The differences are preferences only. This is a genuinely special knife. Let’s take a look at why.

Here is the product page. Here is a written review. Here is a video review. There are two variants currently—a champagne handled blackwashed bladed version and a fully blacked out version.

Quick Review Summary: The pinnacle of production knives in 2024.

Design: 2

When I started this blog I wanted manufacturers to start making smaller knives. I am not going to say I influenced that, but I was, at least in that one regard, on trend. Then about eight years ago I became smitten with the thin steel of a TRM knife. Since then I have been banging the drum for a thinner blade. And the drum banging has started bearing fruit. The ZT0545 is paper thin. The Bugout is thin. The Para3, well, I guess you can’t win them all. But the Bel Air is really thin, like as thin as the N2. You are going to see this comp come up again and again because this is the first knife I can honestly say hangs with the N2.

Fit and Finish: 2

Aside from the weird out of the box pivot, which has not budged a smidge since I tightened it down, the Bel Air has been flawless. The blade is dead center, the sliding bar lock has been absolutely rock solid, the cerakoted handles are tactile without being offensively grippy. Let’s talk about clip placement below, but the clip is a nice, simple stamped steel design that works well. There is nothing I would change here in terms of how stuff was made.

Grip: 2

I don’t think I have ever had another knife with a cerakoted handle, but I have a cerakoted pocket clip before and it was shockingly durable. Cerakote is a thin sprayed on coating. It is used in a variety of industries where very tight tolerances are needed and parts need to be corrosion and abrasion resistant. The handle here is coated in a matte silver finish and is quite durable. I have not had any issues with it in terms of dings though there is one scratch on the handle, but it is a surface mark. The cerakote is slick when it comes in contact with metal parts or hard objects, but it has a bit of texture in your hands, kind of like drywall painted with a roller, but a bit more subdued. The jimping on the knife is placed well and is effective. But the most grip positive attribute of the Bel Air is the knife’s handle shape. The handle shape here is nothing complex, but it has a nice shape with a good index notch and an unobtrusive back end. You feel like you have a good control on the blade with hand placement very near the knife’s edge.

Carry: 2

This is a metal handled knife so it is not in the ultra lightweight category of something like the Hogue Deka or the Benchmade Bugout, but it is pretty light, clocking in at 2.9 ounces. The N2 is noticeably lighter, a half ounce off, but once you get to 3 ounces or less, the weight doesn’t really matter. The clip is excellent and the knife stays snug even in thin fabric.

Steel: 2

Magnacut really is a do everything steel. I can’t find something I dislike about it and this is my fourth folder with Magnacut (the Deka, the ZT0545, and the Riv). Its nice to switch from task to task without worrying about what it will do the to steel. I am not even THAT fanatical about wiping down the edge on a Magnacut blade, which is a huge change. Cheese? No problem. Peanut Butter? Of course. Wet gravel in a bag? Okey dokey. Over and over again, Magnacut has proven to be great.

Blade Shape: 2

I talked about this briefly in a Sweet Stuff Saturday, but very few knives have what I like to think of as a positive blade angle. By that I mean a blade where the cutting edge travels above the ricasso, starting at the ricasso. Lots of knives as a point above the ricasso, but very few start that sweep immediately, opting, instead to have a straight section and then a belly that bends the cutting edge up. Here, like with the Spyderco Spydiechef, there is a distinct and immediate upward swoop. This is the only reverse tanto that I have seen with this kind of cutting edge and frankly, in use, it has faired quite well. It gives the knife a bit of visual dynamism that in a previous generation might call “visual tension.” The blade feels like it is always in motion, much like the car designs of the 2000-2010s with their sharp corners and abundance of creases and folds. Unlike those car designs, this knife appears fluid and aggressive without being busy. This blade shape is still relatively rare, but not because it doesn’t work. Its fun to use and aggressive without looking scary or mean.

Grind: 2

The grind here is a simple full flat grind. When you combine that with exceptionally thin steel the result is a knife that cuts for days. If this knife had D2 it would cut for days. With Magnacut, the edge has lasted quite a while. I took the Bel Air on vacation as my only knife for a week and given that and the fact that the beach house lacked some pretty essential tools, it flexed into a variety of roles and did it really well.

Deployment Method: 2

Thumb studs are the least sexy deployment method ever, but they work well. Here combined with a silky pivot and the sliding bar lock, the Bel Air’s deployment method is really fidget friendly and fun. There are some really snappy deployments with the knife.

Retention Method: 2

I like the clip. I don’t like its position. It actually hangs out over the knife. The result is very discrete carry and retrieval is unhindered, but it does look a little funny. If it impacted performance, I’d give it a lower score, but as this is a preferential, aesthetic thing, the Bel Air earns a 2. It is enough to hold the knife back from a perfect score, but not enough to take off a full point.

Lock: 2

There is a really interesting law review article on the efficacy of patents based on the sliding bar lock’s history. The lock, while strong, easy to engage and disengage, and intuitive, was, at its inception, something of a mess. Over time that didn’t really change. Blade play was a known thing and just accepted as part of the deal. Then the patent expired, Benchmade retuned the machining and produced their best Axis lock ever for the Bugout. That became a runaway best seller. Then round after round of knife releases had better and better sliding bar locks. Both Benchmade AND the rest of the market were made better by the expiration of the patent. This sliding bar lock is excellent in every way.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: Very High

All sliding bar locks are phenomenal fidget toys. The fact that the Bel Air’s pivot is so smooth and there has been zero lock stick only increase its entertainment value.

Fett Effect: Low

Cerakote is pretty durable. Blackwashed blades are really durable. And Magnacut is basically impervious to rust. I will note that I did get one scratch on the handle, but I was carrying the knife with a rock in my pocket. Don’t ask.

Value: High

While nothing here is best in class, everything is close. The lock is great, the steel is great, and the design is really nice. When you add up all that good stuff, its hard to think of a knife that is straight up better.

Overall Score: 20 out of 20

There were a few niggling issues that held the knife back from being best in class. The clip placement is just weird. The tiniest exposed rear tang I have ever seen is truly unnecessary. The champagne cerakote isn’t the most durable color. But none of these issues are big problems. In fact, I had to pick up the knife and look it over to remember what its drawbacks were. This would be a 97 out of 100 if the scale was more refined. But the Bel Air is a truly superior knife in a part of the market that is absolutely cutthroat. But don’t sleep on this knife. Its great.

Competition

The competition in this part of the market is fierce but there are three knives that stand out as true challengers—the TRM N2, the Hogue Deka, and its stablemate, the Zero Tolerance ZT0545.

Compared to the N2, the Bel Air is very close, but comes out a smidge behind for the reasons listed above. They are small enough things that I think if you liked the lock or the blade shape of either knife over the other you should choose which you like better. Both are truly excellent knives with truly excellent designs, materials, and features. The N2 is a bit thinner and lighter, too. When the swappable scales you can basically make your N2 completely unique. The N2 is a 100 and the Bel Air is a 97.

The Hogue Deka is another similar knife. The handles are a little rubbery and the grind starts about halfway down, but the knife is cheaper than this knife. If the Bel Air is a 97, the Deka is a 96. Both are great knives, but I have an ever so slight preference for the Bel Air, even with the extra cost and weight.

One other knife that is worth comparing the Bel Air too is its Kai-made buddy, the ZT0545. Despite that knife looking super cool and being both thinner and lighter, I like the Bel Air better. The pivot on the ZT0545 has something of a ratcheting effect while the Bel Air is silky smooth. This is likely because of the pivot parts contacting the carbon fiber handle material on the ZT0545 (though I am not sure as I have not taken this knife apart). If you find yourself admiring the angular look of a Lamborghini, then the ZT0545 (along with the entire ZT bro macho line) is for you. If you don’t need that level of aggression but care about refinement, then the aptly named Bel Air is an easy pick.

Competition is fierce, but the Bel Air stands its ground. It is a great knife.

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Zero Tolerance ZT0545