7 Most Common Pocket Knife Brands
Pocket knives come in handy when you have to carry a knife for your everyday use without risking any injury. The foldable blade ensures safety while its small sizes make them compact and easy to carry in your jeans or jacket. However, evaluating your purpose and choosing the best knife brand for you is often very difficult as there are tons of options in the market to bemuse you.
So we have discussed the quality of the 7 best pocket knife brands and picked some best options for you from each brand.
How To Select The Best Pocket Knife Brand?
The best way to choose top brands is to get acquainted with knives from different brands. However, we won’t have that time or chance always. A number of considerations will help you select the best pocket knife brands.
When choosing the best pocket knife brands, you should consider a number of things. The first thing is your purpose. The brand or knife you should go for depends on what you exactly want from it. There are multiple blade knives along with single-blade knives. For everyday carry, single blade ones are best as they are compact and easy to carry. While multiple blade knives offer variety, they are not as strong as their counterparts. You can go for plain-edged or serrated-edged knives. For clean and push cuts plain edge is good. But they won’t work well in pull cuts or on wood like the serrated ones.
The blade length can be anywhere from small to large according to your preference. Another important factor is the opening and locking mechanism. Manual opening requires you to open the knife while there are knives that open automatically with a switch. The assisted opening has been a new addition to the opening mechanism. Conversely, linear, frame, crossbar, and Lockback are some of the common locking mechanisms. Finally, the material of the blade and the handle is crucial. Stainless steel, steel, and carbon steel are the most commonly used materials for pocket knives. If you are to frequently cut abrasive materials, consider a stainless steel-made knife. Thus your purpose will determine the knife for you. Handles are also made of aluminum, wood, G10, micarta, etc.
Although these considerations help, let’s look at the top brands at a glance.
7 best pocket knife brands
1. Kershaw
Kershaw always stands out for its innovation and easy automatic or assisted opening. Opening the spring-assisted Kershaw knives is a breeze. This company was started in Oregon city in 1974 by Pete Kershaw who primarily designed these knives and eventually it became s worldly-known company. However, they source products from all over the world.
You’ll get a huge variety of knives as the company uses a variety of steels in the blade and different materials for the handle. Kershaw is likely to have a version of any style whether it is function forward, EDC(everyday carry), sport, or tactical. Although the opening action is really smooth, sometimes people complain about its lack of robustness. The best Kershaw knives include Leek, XCOM, and Reverb(1220). Leek knives have a Sandvik blade while Reverb is a lightweight one weighing only 1.6 ounces. The price of these knives ranges from 24 dollars to 46 dollars.
2. Benchmade
Benchmade knives were first made by Les De Asis in California in 1979. Its initial name was Bali-Song and it became Pacific Cutlery Company in 1986. However, in 1988 this brand reappeared as Benchmade overcoming the financial difficulties it faced earlier. Now the company has its base in Oregon, US.
They are well known for their premium quality and AXIS lock. There are three classes of Benchmade knives- blue for standard knives that you use for everyday works, gold for knives made with exotic materials, and black for extreme duty ones. So this brand will never fall short of your expectation no matter whatever your purpose of the use is.
Some of their best knives include Bugout 535 which is lightweight and great for everyday use and Griptilian 551 for hikers. However, the price talks about the quality. Hence the price is seemingly higher than other average knives. For instance, these two knives cost almost 150 bucks.
Spyderco
Starting in 1981, Spyderco has become one of the favorite brands for EDC knives. They are famous for their innovation and experimental use of different blade materials. Their first knife Co1 Worker set the standard for one-handed ambidextrous blades. It also had a pocket clip and a serrated blade. Eventually, Spyderco introduced Spydie Hole and super steel material. While doing such experiments, they never compromised their quality and functionality. They are durable and reasonably priced. You’ll get an amazing finish along with the blade steel.
Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and Manix 2 are two of the best everyday carry knives you will find all over the world. If you want a budget option, you can go for a Tenacious folding knife. Native, Dragonfly, and Delica are also great ones. These knives can cost anywhere between $55-$200.
Cold Steel
Cold Steel was founded in Ventura, California in 1980. They claim to manufacture the strongest and the sharpest knives in the world. Although they may not be as magnificent as they claim, they are quite decent and their reasonable price for high quality make them a great choice for users. Again, the myriads of design you’ll find in Cold steel knives are extraordinary. You can see some of their unconventionally designed knives on the internet. Their Tri-Ad blade locking system can support up to 800 pounds of hanging weight which is praiseworthy.
The drawback can be them not being exceptional. But they offer great value as a mid-priced knife. Tuff Lite, Master Hunter, and SRK are some of their best knives. You can purchase them for $30.
CRKT
Columbia River Knife & Tool, Inc. (CRKT) is a renowned American pocket knife company established in 1994 and currently based in Tualatin, Oregon, United States.
The company produces a wide range of fixed blades and folding pocket knives.
This company owns fifteen patents including the Outburst assist opening mechanism, Lock Back Safety (L.B.S.) mechanism, Veff-Serrated edges, and the Deadbolt Lock. One of the pocket knives like the CRKT Drifter has the smoothness of the blade’s pivoting action. The handle with light texturing is contoured in a way to fit both big and small hands. However, it can be costly.
Buck
Buck Knives is another American knife manufacturer founded in Mountain Home, Idaho, and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. From 1902 to the present, it has a long history. Buck Knives primarily manufactures sport and field knives.
If you prefer a more classic look and style, we recommend the Buck Knives 55 for its unquestionably age-old feel design. It also has a pocket clip, a one-handed open and close, and a textured handle. However, you will need two hands to open and close this blade.
Leatherman
Leatherman is again an American brand of multitools and knives made by Leatherman Tool Group of Portland, Oregon. This brand offers portable hand tools with multiple functions.
Leatherman Skeletool KBX is a lightweight stainless steel folding pocket knife suitable for everyday tasks as well as heavy-duty work. Its locking blade feature ensures that you stay safe while using the KBX.
Conclusion
If you are looking to buy a pocket knife, go with any of these brands without hesitation. They are some of the best brands available. We have also included some of their best knives. However, other knives from these brands are also very good. When buying a knife, make sure the specs of the knife meet your needs.
