Hey, everyone.
David C Andersen here coming at you from the KnifeCenter, and today we're looking at the
KUF V2 from Liong Mah Designs.
Let's check it out.
As you probably guessed already, this knife was designed by Liong Mah.
He's very prolific by this point, and he's turned to Reate to build his knives, creating
pieces of very high quality at reasonable price points.
Before he was a knife designer, however, he actually had a background as a pastry chef,
and in his latest creation, the KUF V2, you can clearly see his culinary influence on
this culinary-inspired folding knife.
KUF stands for "kitchen utility folder," and the first thing you'll noticed about the flat-ground
M390 blade is the drop edge, a lot like a chef's knife.
In a pinch grip, you could use this to do some rocking cuts on a cutting board, but
there's not really enough length for most things where you would typically need to do
that.
But it's great on the draw cut.
The curve and the angle of the edge makes it feel ready to slice.
I do a lot of cooking myself, and something about this blade just feels natural.
I use my chef knife more often than my EDC most days, and this knife feels instantly
familiar to me.
It sounds cliche, but it really does feel like a natural extension of my hand.
The handles come with a titanium frame lock, and the lockup on all of these is nice and
early with plenty of life in them.
There's no lock bar insert, but I've not found lock stick to be an issue at all.
It opens and closes very easily.
You can get the handles plain for a timeless look, or with a couple of different inlay
options.
We've got carbon fiber for a fancier version, and it has an inlay both on the front and
on the back.
If you want the most grip, however, go for the micarta versions.
The inlays are flush, but they have a matte texture that add a little bit of grip over
the standard versions.
We've also got a cool ridged backspacer that connects the two sides, and that adds a little
bit of flair on what is otherwise a fairly simple shape.
We've also got a really cool hidden lanyard point on the back with plenty of clearance
for attaching anything you want.
As far as hardware goes, we've got a milled titanium pocket clip, which is a bit nicer
than your standard folded-type clip, and it is reversible for either left or right side
carry in a tip-up configuration.
One nice consideration they've made is is there's inset screws on both sides where you
put the pocket clip.
This works together to hold the backspacer in place.
What this means is you can use either side without any empty holes and it just looks
like they're supposed to be there and not tacked on at all.
For an extra touch of flair we've even got a really cool stylized pivot that carries
over on both sides.
With the knife closed, the first thing you'll probably notice is what we're calling the
top flipper, which we're finding easier to use than most typical front flipper designs.
And, honestly, this knife was made for fidgeting.
A simple pop of the thumb and the blade opens nicely thanks to the ball bearings in the
pivot.
You can use your index finger too, but I find it a little more awkward than using your thumb.
The advantage of that top flipper, since we do have the drop edge here, is that we don't
have a flipper tab sticking out that would get in the way of that cutting board action.
You can get that same sort of advantage with a front flipper, but as I said this top-mounted
design is even easier to use.
If you prefer more conventional methods of opening, we also have a large cutout in the
blade.
Of course, you can use two hands to open very easily, as well as your thumb, but it also
easily allows the middle finger flick that's become very popular in recent years.
Honestly, I've never been that great at this opening method, but with this knife it's extremely
easy.
I think Liong Mah's KUF V2 design is a winner.
It's refined, usable, and fun to play with, and thanks to the fine engineering and precision
of Reate's manufacturing, it's built to last.
Make sure to let us know what you think of it down in the comments, and to get your hands
on one of your own, click the link in the description below to head over to KnifeCenter.com