Hey, everyone.
David C. Andersen here coming at you from the KnifeCenter, and with Thanksgiving behind
us, it’s time to take a look at the best new knives to hit our shelves in November
of 2019.
Let’s check ‘em out.
So we get a lot of new stuff in the doors every month here at the KnifeCenter, and even
still, there’s always a few things that really stand out to us and really rise to
the top, so for this month we’ve got eight new items to show you that we’re still thinking
about.
First is a personal favorite, exclusively launched by the KnifeCenter, the L.T. Wright
Holy Bushman.
Now, this is a puuko-inspired design, but instead of the blade coming straight out of
the handle, we actually have a little bit of a drop to the edge for an added degree
of safety over that classic design.
We’ve got A2 tool steel for dependable high performance, and a length of under four inches
for easy control, and a scandi grind for bushcraft supremacy.
The fat handles provide a solid foundation for hours of comfortable carving, and we’ve
got micarta or G10 options available.
And this wide oval profile fills the hand, and it isn’t prone to twisting while you
lay into some heavy work.
Now, the handles feature multiple lanyard holes for even more versatility, extra safety,
maximum retention; it can even be used to lash the knife to a stick if you want to increase
your reach.
For instance, to get to something too high up to get to otherwise.
Rounding it out is a sleek bushcraft leather sheath made by JRE Industries that helps you
carry this knife with you just about anywhere.
Made by hand with a lifetime warranty, there’s a lot to love about the LTWK Holy Bushman.
Now, that L.T. Wright’s not the only outdoor knife this month to make the list, we’ve
also got the Italian-made Lionsteel M4 Bushcrafting Fixed Blade.
Overall, it has a similar size to the Holy Bushman, and it’s similarly easy to control.
But we get super steel in this case; the powder metal M390.
With a high flat grind, it’s not as powerful at carving wood as a scandi grind, but it’s
more well balanced for other tasks, like hunting, food prep, or “survival.”
The handle on this knife is nice and contoured, but is still very comfortable in multiple
hand holds.
The handles are bolted on with options for micarta, G10, or some more exotic woods, and
we’ve got a formed leather sheath with a snap closure.
It’s got nice thick welts and is very high quality.
The Lionsteel M4 Bushcrafter is a great recommendation in my mind for a catch-all, do-everything
fixed blade for just about any outdoor activity.
Whether you’re camping, hunting, hiking or bushcrafting, you can cover a lot of bases
with this knife.
Now changing gears completely, let’s go tactical with an OTF automatic knife, the
new Hogue Compound.
Now, this knife gets its name from a chassis that uses aluminum internals wrapped in G10,
coming together for a very rugged design.
There’s several colors to choose from as well, including these camouflage-like G-Mascus
patterns.
The action itself is super satisfying with very strong and intentional deployment.
We’ve got two blade shapes to choose from, you can get a tanto or a clip point in your
choice of black PVD or stonewashed finishes.
The Steel is S30V, which is a nice upgrade over the 154CM on some of their other automatics,
and we’ve got a deep carry pocket clip that keeps the knife unobtrusive, and reversible,
too.
This is a great knife for lefties, as well.
Hogue’s engineering is fantastic, and they’re continuing to push their automatic game forward
with knives like the Compound, which should definitely be on your list if you’re looking
for a new automatic knife.
Now, next up is a new variant of our KnifeCenter exclusive Pioneer X from Victorinox Swiss
Army.
We’ve now locked down the black Alox as our own exclusive color for this knife in
addition to the red that we already have as well.
I thought the red looked great, but the black adds yet another dimension to this knife.
It’s classier, nice and sleek, and I think it’s going to look even better down the
road than the red when it gets scuffed up from years of use.
The tool set takes the standard Pioneer’s main blade, awl, and can and bottle openers,
and adds another layer so they can squeeze in their great set of scissors.
The Swiss Army Pioneer X looks great in any color, but you can only get black or red from
us at the KnifeCenter.
Next up, we’re going back to tactical again with a new combat knife that’s the start
of a transformation that’s going on over at SOG.
This is the SEAL XR, a fast-flipping and rugged folder.
You press that flipper tab, and the S35VN blade slams into place.
Now, you can also use the thumb cutout to open it if you wish, or you can use the XR
lock to flick the blade open with a little bit of wrist action.
Now, this is similar to Benchmade’s Axis lock, but with SOG’s own spin on it.
Pull back on this crossbar-style lock, and it stages the blade out.
It makes it super easy to fling the weight of the knife out with very minimal effort.
The blade itself, as mentioned, is S35VN, and it’s made in America.
And I love what they’ve done with the spine of it as well.
The design certainly references their famous SOG Bowies, which is a nice nod to their heritage
with this new model.
The handle is glass-reinforced nylon, with finger grooves and jimping all around for
a rock solid grip, although a good set of work gloves would be a good choice if you’re
really bearing down on this knife.
It even has a persuader tool on the pommel for..
Well, you know.
We’re very impressed by this SEAL XR, and if it’s any indication of where SOG is headed,
we’re very excited to see what they come up with next.
Now we’ve got another solid entry into Bestech’s line of affordable D2 knives, the Texel.
This is an excellent flipper at an excellent price with a perfectly proportioned sheepsfoot
blade.
It’s got a nice flat grind with a long swedge, which makes this a good choice for an all
around cutter for EDC.
There are several G10 handle colors to choose from, including some unusual ones like yellow
and orange, or the translucent one here that looks, for all the world, like jade G10. it
has just enough length for a four finger grip while still remaining a very pocket friendly
size when folded.
I’ve been consistently impressed by Bestech’s quality, especially on knives like this which,
as of right now, is just a hair over $50.
The next nod goes to a set of kitchen knives from Spyderco designed by Murray Carter: the
Itamae series, and specifically the Bunka Bocho.
Now, I’ve very particular about my personal kitchen knives, and I’ve got the customs
to prove it, but if I was still on the hunt for a main kitchen blade, I’d be looking
very hard at this knife right here.
Pinched at the end of the bolster, the balance is perfectly neutral, and the blade is an
easily controlled length for both medium and larger tasks, with just about 7.25 inches
of sharpened length.
The steel itself is laminated in classic Japanese tradition, but in a modern spin it offers
stainless outer layers, with super-blue carbon steel at the core.
This means that the edge itself is not exactly stain resistant, but it is capable of holding
a very acute angle, perfect for fine cutting in the kitchen.
The handles themselves are gorgeous.
They’re octagonal, but the corners at the ends have all been rounded over for comfort,
and we see a black G10 bolster with a white spacer and burl G10 for the main section.
It’s a unique look, not quite natural, not quite man made, but overall a striking and
capable addition to your kitchen, no matter which blade in this series that you find yourself
drawn to.
Finally is the Panache, which in my opinion is the best of CRKT’s push into the higher
end sphere yet.
A solidly premium offering designed by Ken Onion.
Limited to 550 units worldwide, and all individually numbered, they feature a CTS-XHP blade riding
on IKBS bearings.
Flips great as a result.
It has a cool shape, and a nice milled section for contrast that has an interesting diamond
texture that’s echoed in the pivot hardware and the carbon fiber inlays.
Now, because they’ve used carbon fiber, not G10, we get more light bouncing around
as you move the knife for an added degree of specialness.
The frame itself is titanium with a stepped approach to the corners, riding along the
edges of the knife like contours for a very cool effect that’s seamless as it transitions
to the carbon fiber.
The CRKT Panache is definitely a knife worthy of our attention before they’re gone for
good.
So these are my favorites for the month, but which knife did you guys like the best?
Be sure to let us know in the comments, and let us know if you think something else should
have made the cut too.
In the meantime, to get your hands on any of these great knives, you can click the links
in the description to head over to KnifeCenter.com.
And be sure to sign up for our KnifeRewards program while you’re there so that you can
earn free money towards your next knife with every purchase, because if you’re gonna
buy a knife anyway, you might as well get some perks out of it.
I’m David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter, signing off.
See you next time.