Hey everybody, I'm Seth V for the KnifeCenter. And today,
we're talking fastest knives. Let's check them out.
(KnifeCenter.com)
Okay, so before we jump into the knives, I kind of wanted to put
some fence posts around this idea, because when we're talking
about speed, I think it should become pretty obvious pretty
quickly. That That depends on how you open the knife. And let
me show you what I mean. Here, for example, is the new
KnifeCenter exclusive CJRB crag a manual flipper, that opens
very fast, very fast. I mean, you know, I'll try to shoot some
slow motion video to post on Instagram later of all these
knives opening so we can actually see which one is
fastest. But I would not be surprised if this one is up
there, especially if you really give it some some force this
knife to also a very fast knife, but not exactly what I was
trying to get out with this video with the shark lock on
this ad 20.5 from Andrew Demko. You can flick it open fast. You
can kind of kinetically open it. But as you saw with that first
little flub, it depends on user error. And that is kind of what
we're getting to here. Because these knives aren't just fast,
they get something a little more actually useful, which is that
they require minimal user input in order to get in to readiness.
And that's where an assist comes in like on this CRKT m 16.
deadbolt. This is running D2 steel and goes for about $119.
On the website at the moment, we've got kind of a combination
of two of CRKT's new flagship features one is the deadbolt
lock, super strong, easy to use, just push the button on lock.
And the other is their new torsion bar assist, much like
SpeedSafe in the past, this is a little bent bar that sort of
pushes the blade, it helps you to open it right you get it
started. And then the spring takes over and flings the blade
the rest of the way out. Let's see that again. I picked this
one. In fact, as you can see through the holes in the handle
to where the spring is actually working. There we go. That's
fast. And that extra speed is really useful when you don't
want to have to think about your blade. That's where this comes
into play. If you have adrenaline flowing, maybe you're
a first responder, maybe you're just in a stressful situation
and you need your knife fast. You don't want to have to use a
very specific and intricate set of muscles. To get your knife
open, you want that gross motor control, pull back on the tab
with whatever finger you can use to touch it and know that that
blade is going to be in place. At a torsion bar system works.
It's very reliable. But I don't think it's the fastest one out
there. The fastest assisted system. I'm going to give the
fastest assist crown to SOG with their AT series of knives. This
is the very appropriately named Flash. Flash AT has D2 blade
steel costs about 74.95 on the website and check out how fast
this assisted system is. Boom, there's comparatively much less
movement you have to do to get that plane started. Basically
just push the thumbs downs a little bit and it rockets open.
That's actually because of the way that SOG makes their
assisted knives. Instead of using a torsion bar like in the
CRKT or Kershaw SpeedSafe assist systems SOG uses a little coil
spring around the pivot, which is a type of setup that you
normally only see on button fired automatics.
That coil spring gives you that immediate takeover that super
fast speed to knock that blade open quick. In addition to that
speed, this this sock has a couple other features that I
think help it make it feel faster in use. The ambidextrous
crossbar lock feels very quick to use. It's just so simple to
operate, you know, moves your hands out of the path of the
blade so that you can easily push that blade closed. Even
though you counter some resistance with the assist. It's
very easy to do. Once you touch that thumb stud that blade is
coming open and for that reason For a little extra security,
this also features a safety, spine mounted also ambidextrous,
very thoughtful design. But once that safety is engaged can't hit
that thumb stud knife is safely closed. Click it open can see
that pop of red for the safety meaning it's ready to go. Boom
knife is over. So faster than an assist. We have to go to
automatics and an automatic blade. Is there an easier way to
deploy a folding knife, I mean simply push the button and it's
open. That is speed right there. And this of course is a pro tech
made Boker USA. Burnley kwaiken. This one is running 154 cm
steel, aluminum handles for $199 right now. Super cool knife. The
kwaiken has been well has become I think a modern classic one a
book Booker's most successful designs. I mean, just look at it
super, super clean. When closed, curvy and pointy when opened.
Awesome knife. And that coil spring around the pivot is going
to give you more than enough speed. In fact, you can feel the
inertia of that blade smacking against the stop pin. Every time
you hit the button it really flax. I mean, people talk about
protect knives for their speed and they are well known for
being some of the snappiest autos in the business. So faster
still, than a button fired auto isn't out the front. This, of
course, is the Microtech Ultra Tech, I had to pull one of
these, if we're talking about fast knives, I mean, not only is
it fast and open, it's fast on the close to check that out.
Moving out the front, the blade has a fair bit less travel than
it does swinging all the way out the side. So this is the fastest
way to deploy a non fixed blade, for sure. Preload that spring a
little bit, and then boom, it's open. It's almost like a binary
action, you know, open closed 0101 It simply is or isn't open.
And that's what makes it feel fast. So Microtech rolls these
through with different blades deals from batch to batch, this
one in stock at the moment has m 390. These are going for $294
Made in the USA, of course, super sweet. You know, being
able to close your knife quickly is a big part of the perception
of speed. You can have your knife out, open, use it to make
a cut, closed and back in your pocket. Before just about
anybody knows even had a knife out in the first place. It's
really, really cool to be able to just use a knife this
quickly. Alright, so I can't talk about fast knives and not
mention the Emerson wave. The Emerson wave is this little hook
shaped feature here at the front of the blade kind of doubles as
a blade guard. But what it's best known for as a pocket
deployment hook. So carried tip up in your pocket against the
seat of your pants. You use this hook to Auto Deploy the blade as
it comes out. So pulling out of the pocket. And the knife is
out. This is great once you get the hang of it takes a little
practice to reliably catch that hook on your pocket. And some
designs work a little better than others. Once you get it the
knife is open before you even have it fully in your grip. And
that is very fast. In fact, this blade I think really shows off
what is legitimately useful about having a knife that opens
so quickly. So if I'm if I'm this happens to me a lot.
I think I'm working on a project that involves some cutting
occasionally. And then a bunch of other stuff in between, you
know, whether I'm trimming a plant or I don't know, cutting
out shipping labels, right? I'm not cutting constantly, I'm
putting the knife down picking it up again. And if I'm doing
that a lot in and out of my pocket, it's great to skip the
opening every time it's it's almost like skipping a cutscene
in a video game. It's just straight to the action. A knife
that works in a similar way to the Emerson wave. But that isn't
even really advertised as having a wave deployment is this year
Katie provoke so this is the first of several ring knives on
the table and I picked these ring knives because they are so
fast to deploy. You know if This berries quite deeply in your
pocket. But as soon as you get a fingertip in that ring, you just
have to pull it out, push here with your thumb. And the blade
is out. Unlike a traditional karambit that rotates open this
one sort of springs forward. And it doesn't have an assist
exactly, but it does have, it feels like a bit of momentum.
When it opens, it wants to open and it feels very fast. So if
you bury this in your pocket just right, you can actually use
that spot where your thumb goes as a wave like feature to deploy
it straight out of your pocket. So just like that Emerson, this
is a knife that opens before it's even in your grip and is
ready to go as soon as you grab it. So as any fixed blade fan
will point out, I'm sure there's nothing faster than a knife. You
don't even have to unfold. This is the bastianelli picker. This
little thing is super wicked and super fast. At first, I thought
it was a little bit like a cure Dashi, but this edge here is
also sharpen. So it's kind of a crazy tanto thing going on here.
But this is just a single piece of very nicely rounded N690 CO
steel, made by Fox knives in Italy for bastianelli. So this
little ring knife designed in collaboration with Doug marqeta
is very fast. Part of the reason I picked this is it sighs I
think a small knife kind of naturally feels faster, it just
doesn't weigh your grip down. Another reason is this sheath
here it comes with an ulti clip that really clamps it to your
pants, or belt or inseam or whatever you put it on to. So
that all you have to do to get this blade out is bouldering.
And you're good to go. It's in your grip already. You can of
course use it in the around the first finger, you could use it
around the pinky, not like that. You can use it around the pinky.
And what we've got here is kind of just a little utility blade
make a great box cutter that also has that instantaneously in
hand factor that makes it all that more useful to carry. I
don't believe I mentioned the price on this yet. It is $150.
And if you're willing to sacrifice some of the fit and
finish that you get here, they're beautifully rounded
everything the quality materials, this cold steel bird
and trout knife gets you most of the way there for $17.95 I had
to show this one. This little thing is really cool. It is
built like a while the blade I should say is is very much a
traditional bird and trout style knife, short, thin slicey. But
that handle is made for speed, super light. And with that
fingering there, you're gonna get that grip and go kind of
action. One thing this sheet is a little slower to put away, you
kind of have to intentionally move this tab out of the way to
get it back. But you can just pull it straight up. No need to
do that on the way out. There's enough retention with this
sheath to carry it upside down. Or however this is gonna work
for you. Super lightweight, super thin, super fast. Next up
is one I actually had to pull from my personal collection
because we did not have one on the shelf the day these were
filmed. This is Le Duck. And this little fixed blade is what
kind of changed my mind on carrying fixed blade EDC and it
all comes down to this sheath. The sheath had the speed that I
needed to give a fixed blade a chance.
I would go as far as to say that this little fixed blade carries
better than at least some of my folders. It's just so
ingeniously designed. The knife fits in very flush, and then
this clip swings out of the way and holds it very sturdily in
place, but not too much that you can't just yank it out when you
need it. Kind of like these fingering knives. The beak on
the duck gives you some of that retention in hand as you draw it
from the sheath. The ergonomics here are strange, for sure. It
is feels very strange at first to have that beak in between
your third and fourth fingers. But because so much of your grip
strength comes from those fingers, it makes it feel very
hand filling and controllable in a way there's Nothing quite like
a duck, designed by Jerry Hossam and made by outdoor edge, this
little fixed blade, belt knife, neck knife, whatever is just
such a great carry package and it comes down to the way that
this sheath works. This sheath has the speed you need. Not only
does it hold the knife very quietly, it's plastic. So it's
quite lightweight, it's fully adjustable. So you can carry it
upside down horizontal, however you like. All you have to do to
get that blade out there is grab it exactly the way you'd use it.
And pull. And that's what makes it so fast. The fact that you
can get your hand around the handle in the same position that
you're going to use the knife before it's even out of the
sheath. That's the speed factor right there. That's what makes
this really, really pleasant to carry and use even though this
is an inexpensive knife $26.95 Even though the steel is nothing
special, 8CR 14 mov. The experience of carrying and using
this is really, really refined. Anytime you need a cutting tool,
you just feel your hands wrapped around that. And you're ready to
cut. Well, that about says it about the duck. But I wanted to
pick a big fixed blade to show off that you don't have to stay
small to still have speed. This is the Spyderco Fred Perrin.
This is Street Bowie? Yes, this is the Street Bowie the shorter
one is the Street Beat. This comes in at 121.45 right now,
with VG 10 steel. And just check out the way this sheath springs
off this knife. This is an injection molded sheath. You can
get that to happen with kydex too, of course, but your hand
being in the position that you're going to use the knife in
and being able to just pop that sheath off with your thumb. It
is so fast and easy to use. And with just about five inches of
blade to work with. That's a lot of knife at the ready. I really
liked these Spyderco streets series fixed blades, because
instead of having a separate finger guard, they kind of
integrate this finger scallop into it. So you feel super
locked in super safe from that edge and ready to go before the
blade is even out of the sheath. Well, I hope you enjoyed taking
a look at these super speedy knives as much as I did. You'll
find links to all of these types in the description, make sure to
sign up for our knife rewards program while you're on our
website. So when you put your money down on some of these
knives, you can get some free money to spend towards your next
one. Oh, and remember, if you're as curious about which of these
folding knives is actually fastest as I am, head on over to
our Instagram, I'm going to be taking slow motion video of all
of these and we will actually see which one really is the
fastest. My guess is going to be the Microtech OTF I just think
there's no beating it but let us know down the comments your pick
for the fastest night. We'll see who's right. Alright everybody.
Thanks so much. I'm Seth V. And I'll see you next time