Hey everyone, David C. Andersen here coming at you from the KnifeCenter and today we're
taking a look at the best EDC ultra light pocket knives that you can get your hands
on right now in 2020.
Let's check them out.
Now a beefy overbuilt folder is definitely going to have its place, but sometimes you
just want something that you can slip into your pocket, and you never notice it's there,
it makes it very easy to carry every day since it's not going to weigh you down, and the
easier something is to carry the more likely you'll actually have it on you when you need
it.
Now everything we've got on the table today is very capable but it weighs next to nothing
to keep everything very easy to carry we're going to make sure none of these go over the
two and a half ounce mark.
We're going to start with what I think is the forefather of a lot of the modern ultralight
knives here today, it's not overly impressive by today's standards but when this knife was
released, there was nothing else like it on the market.
This is the Gerber LST definitely a game changer then, and even now still being made in the
USA can still pack a decent punch.
There's two sizes, we've got a 2.6 inch bladed version that weighs in at 1.2 ounces, or even
smaller.
This would probably be relegated more to a key chain knife.
We've got a two inch blade version and that one barely moves the scales at all at point
six ounces.
The steel is for 20 Hc stainless which is decent for the price, considering you're only
paying 16 bucks for the small version or 20 for this larger one.
The handles are liner listen they're made from glass filled nylon so that it's strong
and lightweight got pinned construction with a back lock for safety and really simplicity
is key to the success of this knife and the template the Gerber laid down has been picked
up by other companies, and it's still going strong today.
Which brings us to Spyderco, they're certainly very well known for their lightweight lockback
models, and we can't talk about Spyderco lightweights without starting with the dragon fly too.
It's a bonafide classic in their lineup, and it perfectly embodies one of the best tricks
in their playbook.
And what I mean by that is they're able to take a small knife and make it perform like
a bit bigger knife when needed, you're still able to get all four fingers onto the handle
of the dragon fly to, but it comes in only at 1.2 ounces, they achieve that grip length
with one of their key Hallmark features got this finger choil around the pivot, that gets
rid of some of the dead space that's usually there in a folder, and it makes room for your
index finger to grab onto the whole blade length measured from the tip to the scale
is just over two and a quarter inches but you really feel like he can do a lot more
with it than the size would suggest and that's down to the control you have thanks to that
handle the grip certainly doesn't let you down, we've got frn with multiple color options
and what Spyderco likes to call bi directional texturing, you've got these peaks surrounding
the center that provide traction in both directions forward and backward.
We've also got easy one hand opening thanks to that spider hole there a mid mounted lock
back with the David Boye dent helps prevent accidental closure and a wire pocket clip
that is reversible.
Now at this point in 2020 these models start at $66.50 for the base version with a Vg 10
blade, but like Spyderco loves to do so often there are a range of steels available.
This one comes with K 390 steel which frankly offers an insane amount of edge retention,
which is impressive when you consider that the price with this exotic material is still
actually pretty decent only about 98 bucks.
But no matter which steel you choose almost all of them feature this full flat grind on
Spydercos instantly identifiable leaf shaped blade, which provides excellence in the slicing
department.
Now there's plenty of other lightweight lock backs from Spyderco to check out, especially
a big fan of the Chaparral lightweight, with its ex HP blade a little bit larger than the
dragon fly, but even thinner blade stock, and even the classic Delica clocks and right
at our two and a half ounce limit.
So just because I pick the dragon fly for this list I certainly didn't forget about
the others.
Of course Spyderco aren't the only ones doing ultralight lockbox these days so we've got
a couple more.
The first here is the KA-BAR Dozier folder which of course was designed by Bob Dozier.
These definitely sit at the more affordable end of the spectrum.
There's a couple of different blade shapes and finishes, but they all sit a few dollars
on either side of 20 bucks.
And my personal favorite is the three inch spearpoint model and that one clocks in at
2.2 ounces so you got a lot of capability, and it's still nice and lightweight and the
handles are zytel and this one they call a Kelly green color but again, there's a bunch
of different colors available for the handles as well.
And it's textured for a nice amount of grip.
And what's really cool about this design is it has a neutral shape to the handle so that's
going to fit pretty much any hand size out there, the spear point blade is made from
Aus8 steel which is a very solid choice, especially when you consider the price.
It's stainless easy to maintain and gives you pretty decent edge holding as well, in
a way you can kind of think of this design, especially in the smaller configurations as
opposed to this three inch version here, sort of a more modern incarnation of the Gerber
LST, with the addition of a right side thumb stud and a reversible pocket clip.
It's nice and sturdy and it actually sits in a pocket in the handle, which allows them
to get away with just a single screw that actually screws in from the opposite side.
And that probably helps to keep weight down just a little bit so you don't have multiple
pieces of hardware.
All right.
How about a classic design that's been reimagined as an ultra light lockback, and that's the
Buck 112 Ranger slim select.
Now this hits right at the top end of our weight ceiling and a full two and a half ounces.
Actually it's very similar to the delicate in that regard, both in its size and its weight.
But despite the low weight it's still feels robust, made in the USA and it rings up, it
only about $24 right now.
Of course, everyone knows what the classic 112 and the bigger brother 110 look like got
brass bolsters and wooden scales, but the slim select ditches Those in favor of color
to GFN, and they add dual foam studs, and a reversible deep carry pocket clip.
The blade gets a few updates as well in terms of the shape, especially the clip point shape
has been made a little bit more EDC friendly, in my opinion, thanks to the straight clip
profile, rather than the more aggressive scoop of the original.
It also gets a nice stonewash texture for a nice rugged longevity.
It's still got their same great 420 Hc steel however, and with their heat treat many regard
book is having the best performance out of this steel of anyone out there.
Now upgraded versions of this knife are available with s 30 v for even more edge retention and
those come with micarta or G 10 handles where the more.
20 however there's a limited edition version for about 120 bucks that also features s 30
v, and an upgraded clip, and that one has beautiful marbled carbon fiber handles that
brings the weight right back down into our range.
Now of course your knife doesn't have to be a lock back to be ultralight, and there's
a lot of other locks that can join in on the fun to, and representing the liner lock on
this list is the excellent CRKT CEO weighs just 2.1 ounces and is going for 40 bucks
to beautiful and affordable slim executive knife features and almost quakin style blade,
it's got this nice thin and elegant shape which gives it a lot of precision.
As far as blade link we're a little bit over three inches got 8 cr 13 mov blade steel which
is roughly equivalent Aus8.
It gives you a really good bang for the buck and the action is really good on this knife
too.
IKBS ball bearings in the pivot combined with a perfectly placed thumb stud that grants
a real mechanical satisfaction when your thumb flick that blade open.
And one of the things I really like you'll see as I fold this back up again, is that
its size pretty much like a compact ink pen as the blade completely disappears within
the handle.
Now the handles are glass reinforced nylon which helps keep the cost down, but they were
able to make it look a little bit more premium almost like carbon fiber in fact that's thanks
to the subtle patterning on it, that also adds a little bit of grip as well as that
visual interest, and it's going to look just as classy in the pocket too and that's thanks
to the nice deep carry pocket clip is right side only.
Unfortunately, but that's the same as the thumb stud as well.
Now as I was pulling this list together.
I was actually able to get a few frame locks onto this list that came in under those two
and a half ounce that two and a half ounce limit I said, which is kind of surprising
because a lot of the good frame locks, bring a lot more weight to the table.
But the first knife gets around that a little bit.
This is the Kershaw Natrix XS with their patented subframe lock.
It weighs just 1.9 ounces and runs for 40 bucks just like that CRKT, although at least
for right now when we post this video.
This one is on sale for about 30 bucks so make sure to check that out.
It's got a really cool design with a very striking blade shape 2.75 inches of 8CR steel.
It's even got some really nice action to and that's thanks to kvt bearings in the pivot
and a manual flipper for blade deployment.
Now it's not quite as unobtrusive as that CEO, but it's still a great size for a compact
EBC with that sub three inch blade and are reversible deep carry pocket clip.
Now the way that the subframe lock gets around the weight penalty that most frame locks carry
is by anchoring the full size lock bar to whatever material they wish.
In this case, g 10.
This means they can get that same strong contact patch of a frame lock, but they don't have
to use metal for the entire back at this price point there would likely be stainless steel
which isn't exactly lightweight, and it also lets them bring that red sculpted g 10 from
the front onto the back.
This next frame lock gets around that weight penalty in a completely different way.
They've actually ditched the metal lock bar altogether.
And I'm talking about the top end versions of the Italian made Fox Suru flipper which
is a Jesper Voxnaes design, and it uses entirely carbon fiber for both sides of the handle
and that includes the lock bar itself, where it's only got that small steel insert at the
end to provide the actual lockup with the blade.
This lets them bring the weight down to just 2.1 ounces on this model, and most of that
is down to this broad blade, which has a decent bit of thickness to it and just about 2.3
inches of length, and it's made from M 390 By the way, which is pretty much the go to
for performance on premium knives these days.
Now definitely carries a price premium to this is about a $270 knife right now, but
it's a uniquely high end experience with a locking interface like nothing else out there,
but it still performs as any knife should the flipping action is quite good ball bearing
flipper.
After all, and it even pulls a similar trick from Spydercos back with that full size finger,
oil there for me even with my slightly larger than average hands I can still get all four
fingers on this knife carbon fibers got a really nice feel in the hand too It's almost
like a peel ply, and it's set off by this gorgeous pocket clip with this zirconium ball
at the end.
So now we come to the crossbar lock and there's two designs I want to share.
The first is probably what a lot of people think of first these days when it comes to
ultra light folders.
The made in the USA, benchmade bugout family.
This knife is famously known for offering a full medium sized blade, about three and
a quarter inches of reach.
Bigger than pretty much everything we've looked at so far, yet it still weighs only 1.85 ounces.
Now there's a few different color combos and blade finishes to be had this Ranger green
version with the smoked gray chromium nitride coating runs for about $144.50 right now,
but the full size bug out starts at $127.50.
Now in addition to that they've also released a mini version of the bug out and that weighs
even less just one and a half ounces and with that, you get a 2.8 inch blade.
If I had to pick one knife on the table that I thought was really the modern successor
to the Gerber LST it would be the mini bugout.
It's scarcely any bigger only weighs point three of an ounce more, but I think it's pretty
obvious when I hold the two up next to each other.
Moving back to the full size the handles here are made from Grivory and they're nice and
slim, but still pretty comfortable because of the shape to it, but they've also got a
new CF elite version that's also available, and that material is impressively both lighter
and stronger than the Grivory still manages to shave off just a fraction with an ounce
more on the final weight to the blade steel is s 30 v so you've got really Solid Edge
retention and the drop point shape is not only versatile but it's also highly efficient
it's slicing thanks to a high flat grind and appropriately thin blade stock.
As for pocket carry the mini deep carry pocket clip is reversible and it holds the knife
very securely.
And then at the heart of it all is Benchmade's axis lock.
You've got your ambidextrous crossbar that runs through both sides of the handle makes
for easy wrist flicking of the blade open or closed.
Crucially it also allows you to keep your fingers completely away from the edge when
you're closing the knife for extra inherent safety.
Now in addition to Benchmade SOG is also doing an ultralight crossbar locking knife with
their ultra xR, which is a recent upgrade to their cash card money clip knives and it
comes in about 125 right now.
Now wait on these is a mere 1.2 ounces, and they mostly do this by specking all the materials
as thin as possible.
We've got liner lists carbon fiber handles that are only millimeters thick and the blade
is also very thin in the cross section, keeps the slicing performance up in addition to
keeping the weight down the blade steels s 35 vn and it comes in just under the three
inch mark so that you're not going to have to worry too much about carrying it most places,
that's got a TiNi coating in two different finishes the graphites probably been the most
popular but I think I like the gold version even more.
This knife has a reversible pocket clip it's nice and wide, and it's deep enough to fit
a few cards or bills, or you can use it just as, you know, a pocket clip.
Or you could even go a step further and remove this, and then you could slip this knife virtually
anywhere and it's really going to disappear until you need to cut something.
Alright, we're going to go back to Spyderco briefly, because I think you would all probably
beat me up if I didn't talk about the Para 3 lightweight.
It's got a lot of the same great characteristics as the other lightweight models we've looked
at earlier, except this one.
And here's the last lock into our list today and that's Spydercos compression lock this
operates kind of similarly to a liner lock, except that it's disengaged from the spine
side of the knife, rather than the belly side.
Because of this, it actually retains both the flexibility and the finger clearance as
the crossbar lock models that we just looked at.
Now the blade on this one is just a hair under three inches and it's made from BD1N stainless
steel.
It's a pretty solid material it's very easy to maintain generally not as long lasting
and edge is something like s 30 v, but it's a definite step up from the OSS aids and the
ACR as we looked at earlier.
So there's a kind of cool comparison between the pair three, and that ultra, but the blade
edges are virtually the same on these two knives, but the difference in the handles
is pretty astounding.
And more than perhaps anything else in Spyderco's lineup.
The pair three lightweight is the small knife to get if you like the feel of a bigger knife,
and that's thanks to the size of its handle which truly offers a very hand filling grip.
Because of that characteristic this knife actually makes a perfect transition to the
next ones I want to show you, because sometimes you actually do need a bigger knife.
Now the first bigger ultralight knife we're going to look at is the zero tolerance 707
American made and available for just under 250.
We've got a three and a half inch blade with a titanium frame lock, but they keep the weight
down by going with a nice slender profile and carbon fiber on the front side of their
knife and the tips the scales at just 2.3 ounces.
This knife is also a fantastic gentleman's knife if you're okay carrying something this
large and a quote unquote gentlemanly setting, but it's also made with ZT is typical rugged
build quality, so it's tough enough to work very hard.
We've got a three and a half inch blade of CPM 20 cv steel, which is analogous to M 390
it's just the American made version.
It features some curvature here at the heel of the blade and comes down to a very fine
tip, almost reminds me of the patata style or Sardinia knives from that region in Italy.
This kind of shape has a good amount of power and a lot of precision too which should make
it pretty good for a large EDC knife got enough girth here at the heel of the blade to push
through some heavier cuts, but a lot, a lot A lot of fine detail with that tip.
The action is excellent as well rockets out with a press on that flipper tab.
That's partly due to the kvt bearings in the pivot, but also to ZT is new tuned detent
system, and with a lot of frame locks if you put too much pressure on the lock bar can
actually make it harder to engage the flipper ZT gets around this, because they place the
detent on the carbon fiber side of the handle, rather than being part of the lock bar itself.
What this means is you can put a pretty good amount of pressure on that lock bar without
impeding the action, running out this knife is a reversible deep carry pocket clip, and
it's actually mounted from the inside of the knife.
This helps to keep the knife on the outside looking clean since they can maintain that
reversibility without having any, any exposed screw holes on that side.
They've also kept the clip nice and minimal and sleek so it really blends in when it's
clipped in your pocket, offering even more reach than the zt is another frame lock.
It's the boker plus urban Trapper grant.
Now this Brad zenker design offers 3.8 inches nearly four full inches of blade length, and
a titanium frame, and in order to bring the weight down it's been heavily drilled along
the front gets this knife down to just 2.43 ounces.
That's especially impressive considering something like that buck from earlier weighs a little
bit more at 2.5.
And the price on these knives are just under 140 bucks, although if you don't need quite
so much length there are cheaper and shorter variants in this series, there's a three and
a half inch standard version you can get those with some inlays too, not just in this drilled
out motif.
You can also get a petite version with two and three quarters of an inch of blade length,
and that one way is just 1.1 ounces of the blade itself flips open quite easily.
And despite the size.
It's got an almost delicate field of the action I mean that in a good way.
Maybe refined is a better word for it.
And we've got Vg 10 stainless steel and other solid offering.
I wouldn't say it's identical to performance as the BD1N on the Spyderco, but I would put
these Steel's in roughly the same competitive set.
Now there's some premium touches on this knife that helps set it apart a little bit, and
again would make this a great larger gentleman's knife.
We've got a nice stylized pivot here.
We've also got a nice horizontal satin finish on the blade and that mimics a hand rubbed
custom finish also got a crown spine here at the back for both comfort and visual interest.
Now despite all the size and capability you get with this knife.
This is actually one of the easiest knives to carry on this list, you've got a deep carry
clip which is on the right side only.
And it keeps the knife, nice and deep in the pocket.
Even insert it into the frame and use flush screws, so it's completely smooth there's
nothing to snag when you're taking it in or out.
This design is also narrow when it's closed up just like that CEO from earlier, and it
takes up virtually no space side to side.
Plus it's even flatter than that knife so that when you slip it into the pocket.
It's gonna sit nice and snug and barely even print on the outside of your clothing, even
on thinner dress slacks.
Alright so that's it for my list of the best ultralight EDC folding pocket knives, you
can get right now in 2020 love to hear what you thought.
Make sure to let us know your favorite down in the comments or if you've got a another
suggestion for this list, I'd love to hear it.
In the meantime, if you want to get your hands on any of these knives.
As always, we're gonna leave links in the description to take you over to knifecenter.com.
And while you're over there make sure you sign up for a knife rewards program because
you're going to buy one of these knives, you might as well earn some free money to spend
on your next one.
I'm David C. Andersen from the KnifeCenter signing off.
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See you next time.