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The longer I do this, the less I care about specs—and the more I care about feel. Blade steel, lock type, handle material... they matter. But they don’t tell the whole story. Sometimes there’s a stark difference between what sounds or looks good on paper and what actually earns its place in your pocket day in and day out.

We'll get into that, some industry news, and some sick upcoming gear in this week’s installment.

Let's do the damn thing.

Deep Cuts

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Carry of the Week

• Nice Guy Machine Co Mr NiceBar Pry

• Ti2 Design BoltLiner Grid Pen

• Nitecore EDC23 Flashlight

• Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Watch

• High Grain Designs Commander Leather Wallet

• Hypercut Manufacturing Cretin #26

• Zippo Brass Lighter

• Renegade Provisions Co Old Man Hank

On My Radar

Knife Steel Nerds' Interview

Larrin Thomas, the creator of MagnaCut steel, recently interviewed Bob Shabala of Niagara Specialty Metals. The interview covers what's happening with Crucible, AeroSteel, and the steels that are going away. Three steels are on the chopping block: CPM 154V, S60V, and 20CV.

Knafs Little Lulu

Our good friend Ben Petersen sent me a literal log in the mail. Inside—yes, inside the log—was the newest knife from Knafs and the very first knife made in-house: The Little Lulu. The Little Lulu features MagnaCut steel, green linen micarta handles, and a sheath with a belt clip.

Stay tuned for more info on the Little Lulu.

Tactile Knife Co. Redhawk Release

I've been getting tons of questions about the Redhawk, my design with Tactile Knife Co. I’m pleased to announce that we’re less than a week away from the launch—next Thursday, the 22nd, at noon Central.

There will be three configurations available through TKC, all in MagnaCut steel:

• Stonewash Blade with Green Micarta Scales

• Black Cerakote Blade with Black Micarta Scales

• OD Green Cerakote Blade with Natural Micarta Scales

We’re also releasing a Carry Commission exclusive version of the Redhawk with an FDE Cerakote Blade and Black Micarta scales, the configuration I’ve been carrying and showing off since Blade Show Texas.

Obviously, I’m very excited for these to finally land and hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have for the last several months. Mark your calendars and check here at noon Central on Thursday to grab yours.

McNees Dixon

McNees has released a new knife model called the Dixon. Frankly, it’s a damn pocket tank and I love it. That said, it did have to grow on me a bit. While it is quite large, even compared to the PM MAC 2 3.5, it carries very well. Rikki made a video about the Dixon, so give that a watch.

And if you want a Dixon for yourself, you’ll have to wait until Blade Show East—and you’ll have to be quick.

Tactile Rockwall Flipper

The Tactile Knife Co Rockwall Flipper returns—this time a little larger and a lot more refined. It has some very subtle contouring, a snappy action, and the dovetail inset liner lock that was previously featured in the Mariner 2.

We don’t have a ton of details on the Rockwall Flipper just yet, but keep your eyes peeled for the next few weeks for more info.

SOG Power Pint Hack

Finally, our friend @bushcraftkelso shared a cool trick on Instagram that incorporates one of my favorite EDC tools: the SOG PowerPint.

Using the integrated hex driver at the end of the handles, you can use an impact drill bit to turn it into a pocket-sized hand drill. The actual use case of this is likely very niche, but just goes to show yet another unique capability of such a small tool.

This same hack can be used with any Leatherman with an interchangeable bit driver, but you’ll also need the Leatherman or Galvanox bit extender, which converts from Leatherman’s proprietary flat bits to standard 1/4” hex bits.

Just One Question

Someone in the community asked a great question.

That’s a completely fair question. I’ve said for years that drop points are my go-to—but recently, I’ve designed one knife with a clip point and another with a reverse tanto blade.

Why?

Visually, I’m still drawn to drop points and clip points. They just timeless and the most aesthetically pleasing to me. But when it comes to everyday use, I’ve started to lean heavily toward reverse tantos—specifically ones with a bit of belly.

That shift really started with one knife: the TRM Shadow. To be fair, the Benchmade 940 has a similar blade shape in that it’s also a reverse tanto, but it’s a narrow blade with thicker blade stock. The Shadow, on the other hand, has more belly, a taller blade, and a notably thinner grind. This combination of features in a blade gives you a fine point, great sliciness, and a very well-rounded EDC utility blade.

To that end, there was actually another comment on the last Deep Cuts episode about my choice in the Keep, Trade, Toss segment. The comment comes from @weisslikesknives.

In that segment, which is like an EDC version of the age-old Fuck, Marry, Kill game, Rikki presented me with three options: the Kunwu Compadre, Oz Machine Company Roosevelt, and the Machinewise Sonora. I had to choose one I’d keep, one I would toss, and one I would trade (just hypothetically). I chose to toss the Sonora, trade the Roosevelt, and keep the Compadre.

If you want to know my reasoning behind the Trade or Toss selections, go watch the video. But the fact that I kept the Compadre—the only Chinese production knife of the bunch—surprised and even upset some people. But the true reason comes down to the very reasoning mentioned above: blade shape.

It’s not any deeper than that. I find myself gravitating towards reverse tantos with a little belly more and more. It’s why I designed the Tactile Knife Co Redhawk. It’s why the Yonder has been a very popular knife for Civivi. It’s a fantastic and extremely balanced blade shape that’s perfect for most everyday tasks.

Giveaway

Last week, Natham M won a Benchmade Mini Bedlam, and we said we’d give another one away. This week’s winner of a Benchmade Mini Bedlam is Ben Hytrek. Congrats, Ben!

Next week, we’re giving away a Benchmade Bugout 535-09—the Grey Redstone Aluminum and Richlite version.

Puzzle