(SHOT Show 2022 Presented by KnifeCenter) Hey everyone, David C. Andersen KnifeCenter
coming at you from SHOT Show 2022. here to check out some best tech
knives with Eric and Carlos, how you guys doing?
We're fantastic. Look, David, first and foremost, I just want to say thank you very
much. I am a big fan of your channel been watching you for a long time. And so it's
actually an honor to be sitting here. Oh, I
appreciate that.
I know Carlos,
you're not going to be able to actually butter me up.
Hey, I got to give you the props when it's due. So
we're not here to talk about me. We're going to talk about you guys.
I absolutely agree. So thank you. Again, this is Bestech 2022 lineup,
there's a lot of things here on the table, we're going to go through it. Now. There are a number
of variants that actually we didn't bring here today. But you're going to see at least a little
bit and piece of each one of these. The very first model we're going to talk about
this is the BT 2201. This is the vigil. This is designed by kombu, who is an outside designer
from Poland. He is fantastic. If you talk to kombu he's going to tell you himself,
he likes to kind of overcomplicate things at times, but at the same time,
just some beautiful lines. Fantastic construction this year is titanium on ball bearings. This
is M 390. And combo is fantastic. This is the first model from the BT premium lineup.
Definitely striking. I really like this backspacer here, a lot of detailing going
on there while giving you that pass through if you want to put a farm or something on it.
And I The other thing I really like about this is the angle of this blade going on kind of straight
back. But you get it gives you that bit of kick up. So if you're doing any kind of surface work,
great, great for that sort of thing, whether it's food prep, or craft
projects, that sort of thing. That's going to be really cool.
So again, that's the BT 2201 vigil
was put together great. Just like any best text premium stuff. Really cool. Really nice.
Alright, well, Carlos next, why don't you take it over? This is the BT 2202 supernova.
Now, I wouldn't call this basic by any means. But
compared to the visual and it's a little bit more scaled down.
Not quite as busy. We'll say if that's what we mean by basic Yeah,
exactly. Now, and the reason why I wanted to say a distinct in this particular case is because
Bestech decided to go ahead and use zirconium on this particular model, you'll go ahead and
find some zirconium on the bolster, as well as the pocket clip for this one. This is the supernova.
And it currently comes in two flavors. This is actually the one that we brought here to
the table. If you notice M 390 steel, you'll have the stonewash flats with the satin finish
blade. And it's a slightly smaller handle then the visual, but it does also come with
the the lanyard attachment here in the back so that if you have some larger than medium hands,
you can go ahead and attach a nice lanyard with a bead, make it yours
and just kind of get that nice grip on it. It's a beautiful flow and execution from the handle
all the way to the tip of the blade and very nice high quality on the supranormal. Yeah,
it feels good. I like the radius slight here. It's not just a flat scale going on. Even without any
kind of file, I mean, you're talking about you're slightly over medium hands, I've got my slightly
larger than average myself. Yeah, I don't get a full grip with my last Pinkie. But as opposed
to my first Pinkie, you know what I mean? But it feels good. It does not feel like it's about
to slip out of my hand. I gotta say that really elegant, great gentleman's knife pattern right
there. I love that blade shape. It's just a good utility shape. And
I'm a big fan. I think that's a beautiful night.
I liked it with a liner lock on this, the inset liner there, because you get that same
feel on the backside instead of the frame locking nature gone. Very cool.
So again, that's the BT 2202 supernova. Very nice. So moving forward, I'm going to break out
the caster. This is something that debuted at SHOT Show 2020 Carlos and I were able to cover
this at the bestech booth in 2020. And what you'll notice is this is in the BT premium lineup. Now,
it's beautifully done, but unfortunately for some people, it just punches outside of their
price range. So best tech doing something really cool this year. They've actually brought some of
these outside designers that typically design into the BT premium line. Well,
now they're coming into the big which is the budget line and I hate to say budget.
It's only budget by comparison. Yeah, yeah.
You know what I'm saying? It's high value, great construction. But now here this particular caster,
this is the BG 45 But again, a kombu design. And here you see very simple
compared to what you get in the BT lineup. So Carlos, let's talk about some of the specs,
definitely. Now, before we get into the specs, I do want to talk about, you know, the feeling in
the hand, like the caster of old, or I guess you can say, of recent, there are a variety of hands,
you know, ways that you can hold this particular knife, it does have this finger tool, that's
great, I mean, most of the time you get a finger tool on a knife. And it's kind of a hybrid between
a sharpening tool and a finger choil. This one is a true finger tool that you can kind of choke up
on the blade a little bit and use some of this jimping to get up, you know, for those kind of
closing, he got a little bit more detailed cuts. But if you are used to the standard neutral grip,
you can go ahead and come right back here and you get a nice purchase on there. And you can get that
full use of the blade for you know, even away from the finger tool. So that's something I did want to
go ahead and point out about this. Now, the G 10. On this, aside from the fact that it has the black
g 10. With the red G 10 inlay for that little pop, you also have these lines that are actually milled
into the G 10. Here, which add not only some comfort, but some extra grip, because you can
even a little bit of visual flow to that as well definitely accentuates that motion.
Definitely that flair is something that not only provides some visual, you know,
acceptance and that visual look, but it also provides some practicality, especially when you're
using this for EDC Tasco. Most of the people when they were picking up the cost of they're like,
Wow, it's a great knife. But that looks like more of a collector's piece, especially at the
pricing commands. So this is something that you'd be able to go ahead and use. It's running 154 cm,
it's a nice quality steel, and it's going to go ahead and give you some great performance
that you'd feel a little bit more comfortable using than the actual cost of current
Yeah, but without giving up that visual distinction or distinctiveness of that
original model, you definitely, I'm assuming Yeah, a couple different color combos, I'm
sure you're going to get that. And they have lightened that a little bit, if you'll notice that
does have skeletonized liners in there, they did go with the liner lock. But if you notice also,
the liners are a bit beefier than then you would normally see for some of the budget folders. And I
like that it gives you a nice secure lock. And it also has just like the standard caster or
the the caster from the BT line. It has the flipper and it has the finger hole so that if you
choose to go ahead and use a finger deployment, whether it's with your thumb or your index finger,
up the middle finger and I always err, we go,
Hey, I'm more of an index finger. Yeah,
I do. But they challenge me to get better at that.
There you go. You can go ahead and deploy it that way. It's a nice snappy deployment,
even though it does run on the boltaron kit.
So you know, one thing I want to bring up that I think is pretty important.
This is the big lineup again, the we're not gonna say budget anymore, right? But the 154 cm steel,
you know, best tech really listening to customers who are saying that they're sick of D two, well,
I understand that. I gotta tell you, I'm a big fan of 154 CM MAN,
I would put that on a premium knife and have no problem with it. So the
fact that Bestech's going down this road and the budget line that's telling you something,
it's definitely solid material American made material to really nice.
So again, that's the BG 45 caster. Excellent. So moving forward here, I'm going to see if you
know and you are going to know, but let's just hand it to you. Anyway, this is the BG40. But
who do we have here? Look at it a little close. See if you know who we have in our hands.
Would this be a smart design? No. Oh, dang it. I don't know then what do we got?
So this is
Todd Knife and Tool. Okay, yeah. So oh, I should have looked at the pivot, huh?
There was kind of interesting. It's subtle, but when you look at it, you go okay,
all right. I see and what I like again, we have the outside designers punching into the BG
lineup. So here you're holding the BG 40 Carlos. I'm going to give you the BG 41.
Now you guys talk it through. You got a couple of differences in the blades here,
but you also have some differences in the Steel's, why don't you check them out? Well, I'm
looking at a canvas micarta handle on this particular one, one, or sorry,
14 c 28. And good Sandvik steel right there. bout a three inch blade more or less.
And that kind of modified sheepsfoot shape, flag qualify grind almost a cool thought
if we were actually talking about that off camera
and I was talking about it being more of a wharncliffe style. He was saying
the sheepsfoot sound we settled on sheepsfoot Thomas What do you think
she's? She's could probably have gotten away with calling that a reverse tanto
that's one of those things. We did a thing like what's the difference?
Where do you draw the distinction between the two
Sometimes it's hard like, because there's no hard and set rule all the time. But anyway,
so when when Terrell was working on the design for this over at Todd knife and tool, he had a
few things in mind. And that's why Bestech went ahead and they executed different night seals on
the different versions. If you notice on that one that is the Sandvik, 14, C 28. And steel with the
canvas micarta. On this version, it has that updated kind of a bowie stuff the point with
the fuller but this is actually running 154 cm. Okay, and this one actually uses linen micarta.
Now, there are G 10 offerings, there's actually a very bright yellow g 10. That goes with the
sheets clip that I personally liked me is that you don't see too many nice bright yellow.
You know, you guys have done a few over the years, there's been a few good Bestechs
with that yellow gap deaf Texel, Eye of Ra things coming that good color. Yes,
yes. Actually, those are two of the budget line that I love. I mean, I think
especially I think is a great night, it kind of has that sheepscliffe thing.
Exactly, yeah. So they took that yellow, that's known from, you know, the Bestech logo, and
they incorporate it into the G 10. Scales every now and again. And Terrell said, You know what,
let's go ahead and put it on. You know, the syntax. And so you will see that, but these are
the the M4 premium, and in my personal opinion, my preferable variant, I love micarta. So whether
it's the canvas micarta, or the linen micarta, you're going to get a great quality design
from Todd knife and tool. They have that three whole signature design. So you're going to see
it on the pocket clip as well as the night. But I do understand where you came by thinking that
it was probably the Kevin smock design, because I do see that element in there, especially when
you're on this call and I wasn't ready for it. So yeah, definitely.
One other thing that I'd like to point out and I like where Bestech is going
with this. And again, listening to the customers. Here, you'll see the deep carry pocket clip.
And on most of their big line even with a dip deep right pocket clip,
they haven't gone with the recessed screws, but in this case, they have done that to cut
down on some pockets snag and you know that's what people are gonna like. So
it's a really good move. And I'm glad to see more and more companies out there
really paying attention to that because you've got the not just the recessed screws,
but the clip itself sits inset into the body. So nothing in the level of zoom
out. Yeah, they're doing a nice job and glad to see it. So again,
this is the BG 40 and the BG 41 syntax
all bearings in the pivot on this one as well. Yes, sir. Yep. Excellent. Nice.
So moving forward, another outside designer, this one here. This is called the Titan.
This is the BG 49 This is designed by Keanu Alfaro. So this is an interesting taken, you know,
Carlos, um, I'm gonna hand this one off to you again, to give a little color commentary on this.
At the end, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little scared about getting something incorrect on
this one because I don't want to get snapped out of existence. And
there you go. Now, this is actually a design that Keanu based on fantasies signature weapon, when he
was fighting the Avengers on Titan in Marvel's Avengers. Now, this is also 154 cm, it's going
to come in a variety of flavors scale and play wise, as far as finished, this one is going to
stay at the 154 cm. But the one that I have here in my hand, it is a G 10. And carbon fiber layered
presentation side and flip side, but it's purely G 10 and the carbon fiber on one side to kind of
have that weight reduction. And on the liner lock side, you have that nested liner, so that gives
you that opportunity to go ahead and have that sturdy liner lock without thickening the knife,
just keeping it nice and perfectly balanced, as he said, as all things should be right.
So there you go. So are the layers on that on the G
10. Carbon fiber is we've got black and red layers going through our each of those
black layers carbon fiber or is it just on the surface layer, do you know they are
actually all carbon fiber nice. It's a very thin layers of the
red G 10 and carbon fiber that are going into there. So then
once they go ahead and they do that and they start to mill the carbon fiber on the top,
it has that nice little that that line that's not only for aesthetics, but it feels great in the
hand and it gives you a little bit extra purchase when you're going to go ahead and use it's
really easy to get out of the pocket to me for wearing gloves and get that little extra
kind of serrations feeling going on. That's not like a blade serrations but
you'll get that extra surface area and traction. We got to draw the knife to
definitely cool a detail.
I'd like to add it I think it's pretty important. This particular variant here again in the 154 cm
but they also offer it in a D two variant and then also a nice Damascus. That's pretty cool,
I think to put that type of detail in again into the budget line just shows where best
Tech's trying to go and the diversity they're trying to bring for their fans. So
do you know what? What composition to Damascus they're using is?
I don't I don't know offhand, but I'm sure we can get you those deals
I always like to ask. Yeah. So again, the BG 49
Titan. Very cool.
So last but not least, this is something I've been particularly looking forward to checking out
most uphills new kitchen knife design.
Yeah, so the Xin care line of kitchen knives is something that Bestech's been working on
now for a couple of years. We're starting to see over the past year, a number of different models
coming out and again, reaching out to their outside designers to bring some inspiration
into this particular line. What a lot of people don't realize about best tech, they are actually
behind the scenes, an OEM manufacturer, so they have experience in all kinds of different knives,
not just the folders that you see with the best tech lineup. So there's Xin car of knives now,
coming into the kitchen lineup, and again, and also upheld design. So Carlos.
Now, pass it over to me, because I personally, I'm a huge fan of Ostap Hel's designs.
But one thing that really, really struck my attention on this one is immediately when
you go ahead, and you put it into your hand is the absence of any, you know, pins, any screws,
anything like that, that could potentially create a hotspot when you're using a knife
for extended periods of time in the kitchen. I don't think a lot of people realize it. But
usually I come across people that have beautiful knives in their pocket. And when you go into their
kitchen, it's usually you know, 10 $15 cutlery. This is cutlery that not only functions well,
but it feels great in the hand. And whether it's the version that is with the stainless
variant at 14 C 28, and steel, or the heart shape Damascus that I believe is proprietary to Bestech
at the moment, um, you're going to get some good quality performance out of this chef's knife.
And aside from that, I mean, you have the choice of the white or the black G10 handles with the red
handle of the red bolster right here, that inlay that really, really is striking. I think that it
gives it that nice little pop. And it allows you to be able to see that full tang construction,
the way that it's been designed in this particular scenario. Go ahead and check that out.
I'm a big, you know, I do a lot of cooking myself. And I'm happy to see more
more kitchen knives out there that aren't just like the big brands that like you can get it
any department store, whatever like that. Like this a lot. The balance is very nice
in that kind of standard pinch grip, kind of the facets on this handle, to me, it really helps you
move that blade around in the kitchen, because it gives you those kind of control surfaces
going on. And it's really comfortable. Got a crown spine crowned section here at the back.
So nothing's gonna bite you when you're doing those grips. Love it. Definitely very cool. Is
this a is this a Damasteel product? Or is this something they're putting together themselves?
I'm not 100% Positive. All I know is they call it their heart, Damascus. And when
you look real close, you can clearly see Yeah, the heart pattern. It is very cool.
It looks like we've got a core steel between the Damascus layers, we'll try to get a spec for that
when these go up on the website definitely looks great. I mean, the 14 C 28. N is a great steal
for a kitchen knife especially because it got some really good toughness. So you're
cutting through like chicken bones or something
like that. You don't want something real chippy or fragile. So very cool.
So this is the model. XC 126. When you look at the Xin Care line, they do have a number
of different models at this point. And so these are one of the early offerings for 2022.
Very, very nice. Thank you, sir.
Absolutely.
Well, that's all we've got to show you for the moment. If you want to get your
hands on any of these, there'll be a link in the description to take you over to KnifeCenter.com.
If this stuff isn't there yet, it should be shortly. Let us know what you think of these
times in the comments and keep sticking around for more great SHOT Show coverage. Gentlemen,
thank you. Thank you very much, very much for your time. My pleasure seeing you here.