Up next The Ultimate Wheel and Tire Guide for 2024! Published on August 01, 2024 Author Tim Stetzer Share article Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Mail 0 Cutting-Edge Blades: The Best New Knives for Every Occasion Newest Knives for Cooking, Camp, and Carry Dogwood Custom Knives Echo-3 Dan Eastwood of Dogwood Custom Knives recently released a production version of his custom Echo-5 fixed-blade field knife. The production knife, dubbed the Echo-3, has a 4.13-inch, flat ground blade of S35VN stainless steel with a stonewashed finish, a skeletonized full tang, and either G-10 or Micarta handles, offered in a variety of colors. Material quality is on par with most custom knives, but you’re saving some money with a production knife versus one that’s handmade, one at a time. The Echo-3 comes with a quality leather sheath from JRE Industries. The Echo-3 is a great way to get a custom designed knife without the wait time to get a full custom, or the price tag. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter Specifications: Blade Length: 4.13″ Cutting Edge: 3.94″ Handle Length: 4.49″ Overall Length: 8.62″ Blade Material: CPM-S35VN Stainless Blade Thickness: 0.125″ Blade Style: Clip Point Blade Grind: Flat Blade Finish: Stonewashed Handle Material: Micarta or G-10 Handle Thickness: 0.75″ Sheath: Brown Leather JRE Industries Weight: 5.36 oz. Weight with Sheath: 7.41 oz. Designer: Dan Eastland Made in USA MSRP: $199 www.dogwoodcustomknives.com KABAR State and Union F01 State and Union is KA-BAR’s custom shop, and it’s doing some interesting takes on some of the traditional KA-BAR designs, as well as coming out with new things of its own. The F01 folder is one of the latter, and it’s the first all-USA-made folder produced by KA-BAR in over 50 years. The F01 is a one-hand-opening, lock-back design with a 3.25-inch blade of S35VN stainless steel. It has a low-profile wire pocket clip and G10 handles. It’s available in Ghost Jade with purple anodized hardware, Battleship Gray with teal hardware, and Olive Drab with orange hardware. It’s a simple, yet very functional design, but built with exceptional quality, and offered in some unique color options that make it stand out from the crowd of EDC folders. Specifications: Blade Length: 3.25″ Blade Steel: S35VN Steel Rockwell Hardness: 60-62 Blade Thickness: 0.16″ Blade Width: 0.85″ Grind: Hollow Shape: Drop point Color: Ghost Jade, Battleship Gray or Olive Drab Handle Material: G-10 Lock Style: Lockback Overall Length: 7.35″ Weight: 0.2 lb Manufactured In United States MSRP: $175 www.kabar.com UCO Gear Ingalls, Nason, and Tinkham UCO is best known for outdoors and camping gear, especially mess kits, lanterns and fire starting gear. Now the company has its own line of folding knives too. They use D2 steel blades, Glass Reinforced Nylon handles that have a terrain contour pattern on them for both looks, and texture. They’re available in Ocean blue, Coal gray, and Tiger orange colors. The two biggest models, the Ingalls and Ingalls Switch-LOK, and the mid-sized Nason are slipjoint designs. The little Tinkham is a liner lock with a flipper opener. The Ingalls Switch-LOK also has a secondary push button lock located at the pivot pin in case you want an extra degree of safety during use. The Nason incorporates a great set of scissors and a sturdy pair of tweezers making it a great EDC choice. MSRP’s run from $69.99 for the Switch-LOK down to $39.99 for the Tinkham. Ingalls Specifications: Open Length: 7.2″(182 mm) Closed Length: 4.5″ (115 mm) Blade Length: 2.6″ (67 mm) Blade Thickness: .10″ (2.5 mm) Knife Weight: 3.5 oz (99 g) Blade Material: D2 stainless steel Blade Shape: Straight back Blade Finish/Color: Stonewash Handle Material: Glass reinforced nylon MSRP: $59.99 www.ucogear.com Gerber ComplEAT Cutting Board Set Camp cooking is a skill unto itself, but having the right gear can certainly make things easier. ComplEAT Cutting Board Set gives you the tools you need for food prep in a handy, easy to store package. The set includes two dual-sided outdoor cutting boards, one bamboo and one polypropylene, a 3.25-inch paring knife, and a 6-inch chef knife. It all snaps together and nests in a storage tray that can also be used to hold food or other kitchen accessories during meal prep. It’s the perfect companion to the Gerber 16-piece ComplEAT Cook Set too, which is a great set of pots, pans, dishes and bowls, which also nests together for convenient storage. Specifications: 9.6″ x 15.6″ bamboo cutting board 8.9″ x 14.3″ polypropylene cutting board Two-sided cutting boards w/ juice grooves 4116 German stainless steel stonewash blades, corrosion resistant Glass-filled polypropylene knife handles w/ lanyard hold Rubber over-mold textured handle grip Removable inner and base trays Heavy duty locks Dishwasher safe Limited lifetime warranty MSRP: $110 www.gerbergear.com White River Knives Ursus Cub A good compact fixed blade is hard to beat for an all-around outdoors knife, and the White River Ursus Cub is an exceptional example of the style. It’s a more compact version of the company’s Ursus 45, for folks who want the design and quality, but don’t need as much blade or bulk. The Ursus Cub has a 3.5 inch blade of CPM Magnacut stainless steel with a drop point profile. It’s available with Brown or Black Burlap micarta, or OD and Black Micarta handle scales. It comes with a Kydex sheath and ferro rod making it ready to go for your next outdoor adventure. Specifications: Blade Length: 3.5″ Blade Thickness: .130″ Overall Length: 7.6″ Steel: CPM MAGNACUT Hardness: Rc. 62-64 Weight: 4.9 oz. Sheath: Kydex Made in USA MSRP: $200 whiteriverknives.com TOPS Frog Market Special Another entry in the camp cooking category is the unique TOPS Frog Market Special. The Frog Market Special (FMS) was designed by my first editor and mentor, Steven Dick, based upon knives he saw being used by butchers and fishmongers in Vietnam. The FMS uses a 5.25 inch long, 1095 High Carbon Steel blade that’s just 1/16th of an inch thick. The thin blade has a bit of flex, and steep blade curve make it an exceptional slicer, while the fine tip is designed for boning meats. The FMS is a full tang design and has handle scales of Tan Canvas Micarta. It comes with a Kydex sheath and is made in the USA. While definitely design with camp kitchen use in mind, it’ll also work well for general utility chores as well. If you like the Frog market Special there’s a bigger XL version, and a new neck knife/paring knife sized version available as well. Specifications: Overall Length: 9.50″ Blade Length: 5.25″ Blade Thickness: 0.060″ Blade Steel: 1095 RC 56-58 Blade Finish: Tungsten Cerakote Handle Material: Tan canvas Micarta Knife Weight: 3.5 oz Sheath Included: Yes Sheath Material: Black Kydex Sheath Clip: Rotating spring steel Designer: Steven Dick Made in USA MSRP: $235 www.topsknives.com Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared in TREAD Sep/Oct 2024
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