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Top 15 Left-Handed EDC Knives

Only about 10 percent of people are left-handed.

That means the vast majority of items and tools are made with right-handers in mind. Lefties have to put up with right-handed scissors, right-handed can openers, right-handed desks, etc. While the left-handed industry has grown over the years (they make left-handed everything nowadays like scissors and reverse spiral-bound notebooks), finding the same quality that right-handers are afforded is hard.

But it is not hopeless for left-handers. Right, Ned?

Fortunately, for all you lefties out there, some knifemakers are sensitive to your plight and have created truly ambidextrous knife designs. If you’re tired trying to adjusts to right-handed knives with their annoying liner locks, these 10 knives are great EDC options for left-handers.

1. Gerber Gator Knife

Gerber Gator Knife

Gerber gets much maligned by knife experts for a number of reasons, including some that are well-deserved, but when they do something right, they do it really right. The Gerber Gator is the perfect example. This knife is a staple of the Gerber line and is made in the United States with quality materials.

The clip point blade is 420HC stainless steel and the textured handle is glass-filled nylon. You can grab the drop point in 154CM steel if your heart desires. But the real left-handed feature on the knife is the lock back mechanism (which is more specifically a mid lock). This mechanism can be used effectively with either hand.

There’s also no thumb studs or nail nicks on either side which means you can open it up by pinching the blade with either hand. Finally, a lack of clip won’t give you anxiety about which direction it should face.

2. Benchmade Griptilian Knife

Benchmade Griptilian Knife

If you want a truly ambidextrous knife, look no further than Benchmade. Essentially every knife in the lineup works seamlessly with the left hand thanks to the AXIS locking mechanism.

Here is the great Doug Ritter singing the AXIS lock’s praises on his site:

Operationally, the lock can be, and is in all the knives produced so far, completely ambidextrous since the locking bar extends through both side plates. While the lockback is also ambidextrous, the liner lock is not, and with few exceptions, southpaws have been left out in the cold when it comes to liner lock knives.

Because pretty much all Benchmade knives could be on this list, I narrowed it down to the two that are among the best EDC knives ever. The first to make the appearance is the Benchmade Griptilian.

There’s something about the design of the knife that makes it so darn functional and appealing. The originals featured an exceptionally grippy nylon handle with a 154CM blade. For those of us in regions with restrictions, the Mini Griptilian has a blade that comes in at less than 3 inches.

Then, of course, there’s the recently upgraded premium version of the knife with G10 handle scales, blue anodized titanium spacers, and premium CPM-20CV steel. Plus, the knife comes in all types of colors and black or satin blade coating.

There’s a Griptilian for every personality.

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3. Al Mar Ultralight Eagle Knife

Al Mar Ultralight Eagle

Al Mar is a legend in the knife community and the brand’s bird of prey line (Eagle, Falcon, and Hawk) are among the best EDC knives around. They’re a bit on the pricey end, but the Ultralight versions weighing in at less than 3 ounces are worth the price.

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Most Innovative Knife Designs From Grant & Gavin Hawk

If you take a look through some of our comments on our Facebook posts, you’ll see countless people lamenting the lack of innovation and design diversity in the knife world. These people have clearly never heard of the Hawks.

Grant and Gavin Hawk are a father and son knifemaking team that first started making knives in 1995. Whereas most knifemakers work on making knives within the confines of the modern designs, the Hawks have pushed the boundaries for what knives can be and how they can work.

The Hawks are owners of many patents and continue to find ways to completely shatter the traditional knife design. In honor of the innovative duo, we’re taking a look at some of their most innovative designs.

E.T. (External Toggle)

E.T. (External Toggle)

Image from mwmccormick on bladeforums

We’ll kick off the list with one of their best known creations: the E.T. Standing for External Toggle, the E.T. helped put the Hawks on the map as innovative designers. The knife uses a unique toggle system to engage and close the knife at the butt of the handle. As this training video shows, there were actually a number of ways to engage the knife.

The knife was later picked up by Kershaw and took the community by storm. In 2005, the Kershaw/Hawk collaboration won the Most Innovative American Design at the BLADE Show and Best Overall Design at IWA. While the design was not entirely functional and was eventually discontinued, it showed what kinds of genius minds the Hawks had.

D.O.G. (Deadbolt Over Grabstep)

The D.O.G. was an early knife and among their first folding knife designs. It’s also notable for being the first collaboration between the Hawks and CRKT and it was a good one. This beefy folder was named after its locking mechanism. It has an automatic action that uses a deadbolt system to lock into place. I’ve heard people say they put the lock through the ringer without failure. Take a look at what one review had to say:

Unfortunately, it was discontinued and can rarely be found. It’s a shock such a great lock isn’t seen on more knives.

M.U.D.D. (Multi-Utility-Dirt-Defiant)

Do you hate when debris or gunk gets stuck in your lock mechanism? The Hawks solved your problems with the M.U.D.D. This was the first knife to use the Hawk Lock because it allows the lock to be completely sealed inside the knife thanks to the use of a rubber boot around the button. This prevents failure due to dirt from hard use. The lock mechanism is a spiritual successor of the Benchmade AXIS lock. It works essentially the same, but the way it functions on the inside is a little different.

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2017 BLADE Show ‘Knife of the Year’ Awards

BLADE Show 2017 is in the books.

There were a ton of new knives to gawk at and custom knives to buy. But one of my favorite parts of BLADE Show is the awards. Awards are highly subjective and often forgotten but it’s always interesting to see which knives take home which prizes. I recently assembled a list of all the Overall Knife of the Year winners since the very beginning of the show if you’re so inclined.

Up next is a look at a handful of the winners along with the full list of winners at the end.

Overall Knife of the Year: Lionsteel SR-11

For the third year in a row, Lionsteel took home the top prize of the Overall Knife of the Year award. In 2015, it was the T.R.E.; in 2016, it was the KUR Metamorphosis; and this year, it’s the SR-11.

The Lionsteel SR-11 is a truly impressive piece of artistry that evolved out of the popular SR-1, which won the Most Innovative Imported Design of the Year award at BLADE Show 2010. This model features a ball-bearing flipper system, a tungsten carbide window breaker, Rotoblock frame-locking system, and a 3.7-inch Sleipner blade.

Here’s another look from SR-11 owner foldersunfolded on Instagram:

American-Made Knife of the Year: Spartan Blades Kranos

Winning the American-Made Knife of the Year is the Kranos from Spartan Blades. It features a modern look with an S35VN blade and a titanium/G10 handle. Kranos is apparently the Greek word for helmet, which is awesome because if you look closely, you can see the profile of a Spartan helmet in the handle design. Subtle but awesome.

Here’s a quick video:

Imported Knife of the Year: CRKT Crossbones

CRKT won Imported Knife of the Year with its Foresight back in 2012 and takes home the prize again this year for its Crossbones. Designed by Jeff Park of Hawaii, the Crossbones is a thin and streamlined flipper that’s lightweight and versatile. It’s based off Park’s first custom release and features IKBS ball bearing pivot system, brushed aluminum handles, and AUS 8 steel blade. That’s all in a  package that’s 2.4 ounces.

Most Innovative American Design: Tighe Breaker Integral Automatic

(The image is of the flipper button lock version of the knife but you can see the auto version in the video.)

One of my personal favorite awards surrounds innovation because these are some of the most interesting designs. Brian Tighe gets the nod this year with his Tighe Breaker Integral Automatic (I swear he’ll never run out of knife names based around his surname). This  version is the first integral automatic knife and features handles made from a  single piece of titanium. They’ll make even the manliest man swoon.

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6 Reasons Why Some Knives Are Discontinued

discontinued knives

We’ve all experienced it. You had your favorite knife for years—say a Kershaw Groove. You used the hell out of it. You took it to your wedding. You carried it every day for the last 10 years. Maybe you even used it to cut your first born son’s umbilical cord.

Then it finally gives way and simply stops working.

But when you go to Knife Depot to buy another, you find out it’s no longer in production. You drop to your knees, raise your fists to the sky, and curse the gods for such cruelty.

Maybe it doesn’t happen quite like that, but discontinued knives are a sad reality for knife fans.

So why do some of our favorite knives get the boot? Several reasons abound, including some that may surprise you.

1) It no longer makes money.

We’ll start with the most obvious reason why a knife might be discontinued. It’s not a moneymaker. This is actually a lot more complicated than it sounds, so we’ll break it up into different facets.

The knife sold poorly from the start.

Companies tend to release a slew of knives each year. Some hit the mark and others miss it by a mile. There will usually be people who buy every knife, but that’s not always enough to sustain the continued production of a product line.

Kershaw Tremor

Discontinued Kershaw Tremor

The Kershaw Tremor is one of those knives that came and went in only a few years, most likely due to poor sales. Not long into its run, the price of the Tremor dropped significantly. It went away quietly.

The knife sees fewer and fewer new sales.

Extremely popular knives are also discontinued, thanks to the idea of a product’s life cycle. Say a new knife comes out that’s exceptionally popular—the Starbird. The Starbird has huge, record sales when it first comes out and it’s the talk of the town. Sales continue to rise and rise. Eventually, the number of sales will reach a peak. As everyone who wants the Starbird has already bought it (market saturation), sales will begin declining.

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How Portland Became the Knife Capital of the US

portland-gerber

These days Portland is best known for old-timey beards, hipsters, microbreweries, and veganism. But, if you look past the alternative culture oozing out of the city, you’ll find out that Portland is the undisputed knife capital of the United States.

That’s not surprising considering some of the most important knife innovations and designs have come out of the Portland metropolitan area over the past 75 years or so.

How did Oregon’s largest city take a seat among the greatest knife cities of the world—alongside Solingen, Germany; Seki City, Japan; and Sheffield, England?

Read on.

Portland’s Start in the Knife Business

Pretty much all of Portland’s importance in the knife community can be traced back to one name: Gerber.

Gerber-Logo

It started back in 1910 when the Gerber family set up an advertising business in Portland—a business that still runs today. Joseph Gerber, founder of the Gerber advertising agency, was looking to send gifts to his clients during the holiday season. So he obtained carving knives from a local knife maker named David Murphy.

According to a great article in the Portland Business Journal discussing the city’s place in the knife industry, the knives were a hit. Because the knives were so popular, Gerber arranged for Murphy to produce the knives on a larger scale.

Then, in 1939, he established Gerber Legendary Blades and made his first sale to Abercrombie & Fitch.

By 1939, Gerber wasn’t the only knife company to call Portland its home. Coast had been established earlier in 1919. The company, which still makes knives and flashlights, was founded by Henry Brands near the banks of the Willamette River in Portland. An excellent early history of Coast can be found on its website.

Portland_and_Mt_Hood

While Coast remains an important name in the history of Portland knives, much of the city’s stake today can be attributed to Gerber. Thanks to his marketing prowess, Joseph Gerber turned those holiday gifts into thousands of retail accounts around the country. Then, when his son Pete Gerber took over the company from 1951 to 1987, the company only grew bigger.

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5 Reasons to Ditch Your Pocket Clip

Here’s a shocking fact for you youngins: The pocket clip is a relatively new invention in the history of knives.

Depending on how you define it, the pocket knife was invented more than 2,000 years ago. By comparison, the pocket clip on knives was introduced in the early 1980s. Sal Glesser of Spyderco created the “Clip-it” Worker, which was essentially the first tactical folder ever and the first to use a pocket clip. That knife went into production in 1981.

Although pocket clips are on pretty much every single folding knife these days, people went without clips for thousands of years. Here are five reasons you may want to ditch your pocket clip.

1. Some clips create hot spots

One of the most common complaints people levy against pocket clips is the fact that they create “hot spots.” No, that doesn’t mean you’ll get better WiFi. A hot spot on a pocket clip is when there’s unwanted tension or discomfort in a specific area of the grip.

sebenza-25

For example, a pocket clip may put some pressure right in your palm, causing pain during regular use. Some complain about the clip on the Chris Reeve Sebenza 25 because the tip bends up right where the middle finger grips the choil. Take a look at this complaint thread over at bladeforums with an image.

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2016 BLADE Show ‘Knife of the Year’ Awards

With the 2016 BLADE Show in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take a look at all those awesome knives that won the “Knife of the Year” awards. It’s fantastic that knives and knifemakers are honored for excellence at one of the biggest events in the knife world.

Like last year, we’ll take a look at some of the big winners from the 2016 BLADE Show, but you can find the full list at the very end of the post.

Overall Knife of the Year: Lionsteel Metamorphosis

Lionsteel Metamorphosis

For a consecutive year, Lionsteel took home the top prize of the Overall Knife of the Year with the Metamorphosis. Lionsteel is a family-owned operation founded in Italy in 1969. Its goal, which all other companies should strive for, is to produce knives using only the best materials with unparalleled quality control.

The Metamorphosis is a flipper with a textured aluminum handle featuring a special heat-sensitive coating. When the handle is held in the hand for a few minutes, it changes from black to camouflage. Check out the video:

The premium Sleipner steel blade is 3.43 inches and locks with a liner lock. Sure, the handles are just a luxury, but the knife itself is a real performer.

American-Made Knife of the Year: Spartan Blades SHF

Spartan_Harsey_Folde_Black_Fina_lRAW__54601.1461784257.1000.1250

The Spartan Harsey Folder, which goes by SHF, is an anticipated design from Bill Harsey Jr. Harsey has won a few American-Made Knife of the Year awards in the past and this folder is definitely worthy.

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15 Cool Knives with Unique Opening Mechanisms

One of the things I appreciate most about the knife community is the relentless drive for innovation and originality. Sure, I enjoy diving into the subtle tweaks on the latest flippers, but it’s the truly revolutionary designs that leave me in awe.

For a tool that’s been around for millions of years, the knife continues to evolve in exciting and unexpected ways. These bold designs might be hit-or-miss—and many don’t stick around—but they’re proof that no matter how long something’s been around, there’s always room for fresh thinking and creative breakthroughs.

Here are 15 knives with the most interesting deployment mechanisms.

1. Kershaw ET

Kershaw ET

Let’s kick things off with a knife that almost always comes up when you talk about unique opening mechanisms: the Kershaw ET. Short for External Toggle, the ET was the brainchild of the inventive duo Grant and Gavin Hawk. This father-and-son team is known for their outside-the-box creations, including the TOAD, Boker Griploc, and several others.

The Kershaw ET features a toggle mechanism that lets you open and close the blade in a few different ways. While you can operate it like a traditional folder (using your thumb and dropping the handle while holding the blade) the toggle mechanism is easily the most fun. A lever near the butt of the handle lets you control the action. Unfortunately, the knife was discontinued, likely due to the risk of it accidentally closing on your thumb when using the toggle.

Here’s a gif of how it opens with the toggle from this review:

kershaw et gif

2. CRKT Rollock

CRKT Rollock

Next, we have another discontinued knife: the CRKT Rollock. What makes this one stand out is its unique opening mechanism. To deploy the blade, you press down on some jimping near the back of the spine while it’s closed. This action causes the blade to pop up, allowing you to slide it fully open.

This production model from CRKT was based on the original Rolox design by Blackie Collins. Collins is frequently credited as the pioneer of the assisted-opening knife, although Ken Onion may have developed the SpeedSafe mechanism around the same time.

Here’s a gif from an old YouTube :

3. Paragon Knives by Asheville Steel Warlock

paragon-warlock

The Warlock from Paragon Knives by Asheville Steel (yeah, it’s a bit of a mouthful) doesn’t fit neatly into the automatic or assisted opening categories—it carves out a space of its own. When closed, the blade is completely hidden from view. So how do you bring this thing to life?

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How to Keep a Knife Clip From Tearing Up Your Pocket

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To many, it’s a badge of honor. To some, it’s a nuisance. To others, it’s not even a problem.

Pocket knives have been known to accentuate outfits, but they’ve also been known to destroy clothing.

Yes, I’m talking about that old problem in which a knife’s clip shreds the top of your pocket.

In case you haven’t seen this phenomenon, CRKT posted this image to their Instagram page a few weeks back:

#KnifeProblems

A photo posted by Columbia River Knife and Tool (@crkt_knives) on

Sure, the picture is all in good fun, but anyone who carries a knife on a regular basis will know that over time, a clip may ruin a pants pocket.

If you’ve encountered this problem or want to avoid this problem, here are some things you can do.

Bend the clip

One reason a pocket may become destroyed is due to the fact that the clip is way too tight. Certain manufacturers make clips pretty tight to make it a little more difficult for others to slip it out of your pocket without you knowing.

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Top 5 Designs from Late Knifemaker Kit Carson

Kit CarsonLate last week, the knife world suffered a huge loss with the passing of legendary knifemaker Harold “Kit” Carson. Not only was Kit Carson one of the pioneers in the knife industry but he was also a retired master sergeant as well as a mentor and teacher to so many people.

Carson was probably best known for his work with CRKT, which he collaborated with on a few groundbreaking knives like the M16 and M4.

Although he was respected for his knives, one of Carson’s lasting legacies was his willingness to talk to anyone who needed help, had questions, or just wanted to chat. He would go above and beyond to help out.

I was recently trying to pinpoint the person that invented or popularized the flipper and stumbled upon a thread at BladeForums.com from 13 years ago and Kit Carson was kind enough to respond to the post by saying with the utmost humility that it was in fact CRKT and himself who made the flipper popular in today’s folder.

This is just one example of a countless ways Kit Carson would make a point to respond to people and have an open line of communication.

In honor of the knifemaker, we’re looking at 5 of his creations. Incidentally, all of the knives were picked up by manufacturers, but the pictures show his custom work taken directly from his website.

If you are inclined to help out, the family has requested donations be made to parkinson.org.

M4

Desert Ironwood

The Model 4 was Kit’s “flagship custom” (as he called it) because of its popularity. Even though the design was picked up by CRKT for the masses, it remained one of his most requested custom knives. It’s a solid EDC with a simple but reliable design.

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