If you want an Amtac Blades Northman with a special edition, Rhodesian Brushstroke Belt Firesheath and Storage Sheaths, you are going to have to be on your toes. These special Northman knives will hit the Amtac Blades shop at 1000 PST today (11/5/2021).
These knives are in stock and will ship immediately. They will likely sell out quickly, so warm up your credit cards.
Welcome to Bargain or Just Cheap? This series will review budget friendly knives for a variety of uses in a short format. All of the knives will cost less than $50 (in most cases, much less) and will be purchased out of my own pocket. I’ll buy them, carry them, and use them in an attempt to determine if the knife is a bargain or just cheap.
I carry a fixed blade knife every day and there are times when unsheathing it just to trim a loose string or cut open a box feels more than a little conspicuous. So, I typically also carry some kind of small folding knife as a companian. The Jesper Voxnaes designed CRKT Pilar is excellent in this role.
Jesper Voxnaes has a real knack for designing small knives that still manage to fill the hand – “little big knives”, so to speak. The Pilar is both large enough to get a four-fingered grip and small enough to fit easily in the coin pocket of your jeans. This is thanks to a generous finger choil that helps complete the grip when the knife is opened.
The 2.4″ blade lends itself perfectly to utility cuts and offers excellent control of the surprisingly useable tip. The tall flat grind leaves plenty of meat behind the edge while still offering reasonable slicing performance. The 8Cr13MoV steel on my example sharpens easily but can’t compete with some of the more premium steels offered on some models but I like it for how inexpensive it is.
The Pilar offers right-side tip-up or tip-down clip positions. The clip is relatively low profile. It also doesn’t get in the way much when the knife is being used.
If the Pilar has a glaring flaw, it’s weight. The regular, plain-jane Pilar comes with stainless steel scales on both the show and the frame-lock side of the knife. This compact, svelte, sleek little knife is surprisingly a bit of a porker at 4.2 ounces! That said, I like the knife so much I invested in a micarta scale for mine which greatly reduced the weight.
That micarta scale brings up another great thing about the Pilar. It is so darn popular that it is available in several special versions with different materials and there is a ton of aftermarket support. The basic Pilar can be a cheap canvas that you can customize to your heart’s content.
Finally, I want to mention that I think this makes a good first folding knife. In fact, that is exactly what I bought for my oldest daughter. The frame lock is secure and easy to operate. It is compact enough for kid pockets. The choil offers a safe, tactile, and secure grip. It also doesn’t break the bank so you don’t sweat it when your kid leaves it in the woods, never to be seen again.
This one is definitely a bargain. It is an ergonomic wonder, a design that oozes style, and a functional EDC knife. It is small enough to be inconspicuous and large enough to do real work. At less than $40 shipped, it’s a bargain all day long.
I am using Amazon as the price baseline for this series. All knives were purchased by me from Amazon: CRKT Pilar
For those who want a slightly larger option, I also own and like the Pilar II though not quite as much as the original.
Our goal is to represent knives for a variety of uses from EDC, to outdoor, to tactical knives. Do you have a favorite affordable knife? Let us know about it in the comments!
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Black Triangle posted a sneak peek of an upcoming addition to their Midnight Creeper line. The new MK4 features a flared pommel with symmetrical finger choils designed to give the user immediate feedback on grip position. It is dimensionally similar to the MK1 which is an excellent tool.
You can expect the MK4 to be available near the end of November. You can learn more at the Black Triangle Blog: BlkTriangle.com
The Skylark series of knives from WELmade Knives consists of a single design in multiple finish options. It’s design is both practical and radical… brutish and refined. It’s a very visual knife that is aimed squarely at the everyday carry (EDC) market and comes with everything you need to add it to your EDC right out of the box.
The Skylark is crafted for WELmade knives by Dauntless MFG. If you are familiar with Dauntless MFG, you’ll know they bring a custom level of fit and finish to both the knives and sheaths that they craft.
It features a 3.24″ long blade with a modified tanto/recurve shape that is ground from 154-CPM steel. This full-tang construction knife is 7″ long overall and weighs 5.5 ounces with the included kydex sheath. It is available with multiple handle scale options including the black G-10 over white G-10 liners on my example. The handle screws are blue anodized titanium.
The Skylark is a striking knife – not just in the design but also in the details. The shape is eye-catching and very unique. The stone-washed blade finish looks great and the handle treatment brings to mind a tuxedo. The pop of color from the screws is subtle depending on the light but it makes you take a second look when they catch the sun. I just like looking at it and I have told others that I am not cool or classy enough to carry a knife like this.
Thankfully, WELmade Knives intends for you to do more than look at this knife. The blade shape, while unconventional, is very useful. The recurve section catches things like twine and cuts it aggressively. The leading edge has a slight amount of belly and reminds me of a chef’s knife or a kiridashi in how it orients in the hand and lays on a cutting board. The high flat grind makes this knife surprisingly “slicey” and the swedge grind gives a very strong, useful, and acute point. I would probably prefer a flat section of edge to the small section of recurve but I can’t deny that this blade shape wants to work.
The handle on this knife looked small to me in pictures but looks are deceiving. WELmade Knives gave us some nice, thick scales. It is actually quite hand-filling while still remaining compact for carry. The handles are mostly round but with flats that prevent the knife from turning in the hand. The finger choil behind the well-rounded guard is somewhat compact but works well for my average-sized hands. It might be a little cramped for sausage fingers. I easily fit all 4 fingers on the handle and find it to be comfortable for edge-out and edge-in grips.
The sheath that is included with the Skylark is excellent. It is a fold-over, kydex sheath that is very compact. It is machined to fit the contours of the knife perfectly and the included Discreet Carry Concepts clip makes it very easy to clip on and go. It carries well in a pocket or on your belt line. Dauntless MFG is well-known for their sheaths and sheaths like this are the reason why that is. It’s very well designed.
There are a lot of thoughtful touches on this knife that really only come out when you spend time with it. It has a nifty shallow thumb rest on the top that falls naturally and comfortably under the thumb. This ramp provides just a little more control for cuts in both directions. I also appreciate how the shape of the handle sort of grips the first 3 fingers with a broad, shallow finger groove which also works in concert with the thumb ramp to provide more purchase for both push and pull cuts. The tapered shape of the handle lets the user orient the edge to a flat surface easily while providing clearance for the knuckles. Finally, the sheath itself has a clever offset rivet that makes it so the clip can ride more vertically and closer to the centerline. This is extremely clever and really improves how the knife carries.
Nothing is perfect. As good as this knife is, it could be even better. It works really well in a pinch grip so it would be nice if the scales were relieved just a little bit to better support this useful grip. The edges of the sheath were a little sharp around the opening and these edges can be pushed into your side when the knife is out of the sheath. I trimmed the sharp parts easily but it would be nice if that was already done.
This is a visually striking knife that is easy to carry and offers a ton of utility in a small amount of space. The quality and design touches exude pure class but the materials and shape beg for work. If you are looking for a unique fixed blade for EDC that is both gentlemanly and rugged, the WELmade Knives Skylark has to be on your radar.
The original Naga, from Empire Outfitters, was a compact self-defense knife with a distinctive Persian blade shape. It brought together a variety of purpose-driven features usually reserved for custom knives into a knife that was available immediately when in stock. The new Naga V2 carries on that legacy of a custom defensive knife with no wait and adds significantly more options.
The basic Naga V2 has some thoughtful changes over the original. The original Naga was available with an epoxy soaked nylon paracord wrap. This option remains for the V2 but you can also choose an epoxy soaked hemp or cord wrap. The new deep-carry sheath is produced by Offensive Industries and features a Discreet Carry Concepts clip.
In addition to the standard models, Empire Outfitters is offering a number of one-off models that include different grinds included swedge grinds, reverse edge grinds, and more.
