Hey everyone, David C. Andersen here coming at you from the KnifeCenter.
Today we're taking a look at the best new knives that have hit our shelves in the last
month or at least my favorites.
Let's check them out.
[Best new knives of May 2020]
So this first one, honestly should have been on the list last month but for some reason
when I was putting that list together had a bit of a brain fart, because this knife
absolutely deserves a place of recognition.
This is a great new outdoors knife, the Kershaw Camp 5.
The big reasons that I like this knife are the versatility and the affordability.
It's got a great blade shape for just about any outdoors situation out there and it's
just 60 bucks.
You get almost five inches of D2 steel.
That's going to give you a good amount of edge retention for your money and a decent
amount of toughness.
You've got a stonewashed finish as well so you're not afraid to beat up on
And it's certainly thick enough to stand up to some things like a little pounding or some
light wood splitting if necessary.
We've got a full flat grind with a nice deep swedge.
What that does is it creates a diamond shaped cross section to the blade makes it really
efficient when you're slicing through meat or any softer material.
When you take that combined with enough belly out here near the tip, it should allow this
blade to be a good hunting knife.
And honestly, it kind of reminds me of the old classic Green River hunter as well, which
is certainly a time proven design.
And this is just scaled up and modernized a little bit.
As for other camp tasks, there's enough of an offset to the angle of the GFN handles,
that some food prep on a cutting board should be pretty doable as well.
You've got enough blade length that you're going to be able to easily tackle things like
potatoes, onions and steaks quite easily.
And of course for all the other camp craft and bushcraft stuff you're going to need to
do carving wood preparing kindling for a fire making 10 steaks are going to be no problem
for this blade.
Now I usually like a little bit more of a thing.
regard on a blade just for a little bit more safety, but the heel of the blade here is
rounded over to avoid a sharp edge on your finger, which is just one of those really
nicely considered details.
The sheath too is really well designed, it clicks into place.
You've got a retention strap here and some versatility with the holes and the slots in
the side that you can attach it a number of different ways.
All the Kershaw Camp 5 is a great option for a camp knife for survival knife on a budget,
and it's honestly on my shortlist for one of the best new outdoor fixed blades of 2020
and this next knife actually make a pretty good outdoors companion to that Kershaw Camp
5, very complimentary.
In fact, the Victorinox farmer Swiss Army knife has long been a favorite for campers,
hikers and bush crafters.
It's a very popular model, which in addition to the blade comes with two tools well suited
to being out in the wild.
First got a nice sharp awl that can be used as a scraper, as well as one of the best multi
tool wood saws in the business.
It really does set a high bar
For this type of tool, now the version of the farmer I have here is new and improved
by adding an additional tool.
This is the Farmer X and it now comes with a pair of their spring loaded scissors, it's
going to be great for the more detailed or intricate cuts, then you might want to be
able to tackle with that namely, now the locks handles on this knife are a big part of why
outdoors people love the farmer.
They're sturdier than the classic red selador or plasticky handles, that aluminum construction
means that you get that much more rigidity.
Price on this also comes in about 60 bucks.
Now ever since we saw the mid size Endela from Spyderco split the difference between
the smaller Delica and the larger Endura have been looking forward to new versions beyond
just the base models.
I think the size of this knife is just right.
So I can't wait till we have just as many options on this as we do on those other models.
But here we have the Adela with an officially licensed Emerson wave pocket Deployer bringing
up at 96 bucks right now.
And for those of you not
familiar with the Emerson wave.
This hook on the spine is essentially a pocket Deployer that's designed to catch the hem
of your pocket when you angle it just right while you come out of your pocket, and then
it's going to rotate the blade open as you draw.
Not only does this make it faster to bring your blade to bear, but it's also more convenient
to but you can still deploy with the ambidextrous hole cut out if you prefer.
The handles are still at great FRN it's got their bi directional texturing radiating out
from the center offers your attention both for and rear directions, but they've got sort
of a gray color with just a hint of blue rather than black.
It's a subtle but appreciated difference if you've gotten a little bit tired of all the
black handled knives out there.
But otherwise the specs are pretty much the same as the standard Endela.
We've got VG-10 steel, although we've got a stout flat saber grind rather than a full
flat.
We also get their mid mounted back lock with the David Boye dent just designed to prevent
accidental disclosure when you really have the knife and a heavy grip.
And we've got that four position pocket clip as well.
With so many options and all the ambidextrous features, the Endela is the right size and
is designed to fit just about anyone.
All right, next up, we've actually got another Spyderco and this is the aforementioned endura,
as well as the Delica version as well.
Now this has the same features as the Endela essentially minus the wave opener Of course,
but the reason that this knife makes the list is this insane new handle option.
This is a new version of their Zome handles where the FRN they've taken an individually
hand dyed each one's that looks a little bit different and the dye completely permeates
the material too, so it's not going to wear off it makes each one special and unlike the
one the next guy is going to have.
Now the new version of this Zome handle on this one goes a step further with glow in
the dark base FRN rather than the brown or green based codes of previous versions.
Even without the glow pattern.
They do look really cool, kind of this camo pattern going on, but when you throw in the
glow, I think they're just fantastic.
Starting around 100 bucks.
There.
Going to be just as collectible as they are carriable.
All right, let's switch to the beefiest folder of the month.
There's the new SR1 Lite from cold steel, and it's not just beefy, but it's actually
budget friendly to it just under 60 bucks.
These are the most affordable versions of the standard SR1 which does come with G10
handles and S35vn steel.
These light versions get the price down with textured griv-ex handles and 8Cr steel.
Obviously, it's not going to hold an edge as long but you've still got plenty of toughness,
nearly four inches of steel a full three sixteenths of an inch thick.
It's ready to take on the world without taking all of your paycheck in the process.
You've got tanto or clip point profiles which can be had which kind of serve two distinct
uses.
You can pierce better with the more acute tip of the clip point or offer some more chiseling
utility with the tanto and more strength to boot.
That's not to say that the clip point is fragile.
I mean, come on.
It's three sixteenths of an inch thick after all.
The blades are backed up by Cold Steel.
TRIAD lock their incredibly strong locking mechanism that we're gonna have they don't
really restrict to just their higher end offerings.
The SR1 Lite definitely offers hard to beat strength for so affordable of a knife.
Alright, the opposite end now we'll go from the bruiser to the boardroom with the new
CIVIVI Exarch, a slim folder closely related to the chronic flipper from earlier this year,
and it comes in just under 50 bucks.
It's like follows that familiar CIVIVI playbook that we've all kind of come to expect at this
point.
You've got D2 blade steel ball bearing pivots and a liner lock flanked by G10. handle scales.
It's a formula that really works for them.
The major area where this knife differs from the chronic is that this lacks a conventional
flipper tab and uses a front flipper mechanism instead.
And honestly, I think it's tuned just about perfectly even for me, sometimes clumsy at
front flippers works very well with this knife.
This knife also features a hollow ground drop point blade instead of a clip point from the
Chronic and it
Looks great to my eye.
The handle itself is exactly the same shape.
It's slim and octagonal and cross section and the blade disappears almost completely
within it makes this a very pocket friendly design, especially since it's got a smooth
deep carry pocket clip as well.
I've got the black one here, but there are a few different color options for your G10.
Or you can upgrade to one that's got a carbon fiber overlay on the top layer.
And that version even comes with a stainless Damascus blade, which makes it even better
as a gentleman's knife and it's still a decent price at just over 80 bucks.
Now another new easy carrying champ is the new black and white Benchmade Mini Bugout.
And for those of you wanting a sub three inch bladed version of the bug out this is something
that fans have really been asking for ever since the original debuted.
In addition to the shorter blade, the handle is of course a bit shorter as well.
They've even gone so far as to make sure that it's small enough to fit inside an altoids
tin which is a popular container for making small DIY pockets survival kits and thanks
so much
pretty flat when it's closed up, especially if you remove that pocket clip, which is a
mini deep carry pocket clip by the way, it really does make this a viable option for
an emergency backup blade for that type of roll, it really takes up just about no space
at all.
Even so you can still get a pretty good amount of grip for control over this blade.
I've got about a three and a half finger grip myself, and you're able to actually bring
your index finger up very close to the heel of the blade so you really aren't having to
kind of stretch you've got a good amount of control there as well.
As you would expect this mini bug out is even lighter weight than the original this is only
a one and a half ounce heavy knife but the materials are otherwise the same.
Driver handles here are white and they've got this great stark contrast with all the
black elements, the lock bar, the barrel spacers that pocket clip, and of course that DLC coated
S30V steel.
The blade is just as thin as the original and it's got a high flat grind as well.
And this is going to be a very efficient slicer as a result it's going to be ready for any
light to medium duty cutting needs.
in your day to day use.
This last one is another knife that's been highly anticipated ever since it debuted at
SHOT Show earlier this year, the limited edition Legacy Collection of the Buck 110 slim, which
comes with several upgrades over even the 110 slim Pro comes with a price tag of 165.
And the most obvious difference that you can see quite readily is the use of carbon fiber
for the handles makes this a great formal knife for the modern gentleman.
The second thing you'll notice is a distinctive pocket clip.
Now it skips the deep carry clip you get with the base models and uses a design which has
a couple of posts to elevate the clip from the handle.
There really goes a long way to elevating the presence of this knife I think because
it's something you're usually more commonly see in the custom knife world rather than
production knives.
We've got another big substantive difference on this knife and that comes down to the blade
as well.
Features upgraded steel over the 420HC and S30V from other versions of this knife and
we get S35VN steel.
Each one of them is serialized
On the back as well, and you can see them right here that they're numbered out of 500
pieces make.
With all of these upgrades, it really does feel like the natural extension of the slim
updates that came to the 110 folding hunter that more closely reflect the way most people
carry and use their knives in the 21st century.
You've got that pocket clip of course and the slimmer build actually makes it pocketable.
No need for a belt sheath with this knife.
You've also got the dual thumb studs, which of course makes it more convenient to carry
and actually use.
It even has an adjustable pivot unlike the pin construction of the other versions of
these knives.
This is without a doubt the ultimate version of the 110 slim so you're going to want to
grab it before the limited run is gone.
So that's all I've got to show you right now these were definitely my favorite knives from
the last month.
Let me know if you agree or disagree down in the comments.
In the meantime, if you want to get your hands on any of them, we will leave links in the
description that will take you over to knifecenter.com make sure you sign up for a knife rewards
program while you're there.
If you're going to buy one of these cool knives you might as well earn some free money to
spend on your next one.
David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter I hope you're all staying safe, sane and sanitary
out there.
See you next time.
[KnifeCenter.com]