Pocketknife Information

Introduction to pocketknives

The first folding knife with a locking blade was invented in Spain in the 1600s, but it would take over 300 years for the lock blade pocket knife to become a standard fixture in the world of cutting tools. (Grind is the blade's shape when viewed head-on.) The best knives for everyday carry are full flat grinds, meaning the knife is a simple wedge from edge to spine.

Last week, I explained how to navigate the crowded, overly complicated world of multitools and buy a simple, effective model As part of that advice, I suggested you avoid multitools with blades and instead carry a standalone pocketknife.

The handle features a super low riding clip that allows the knife to be seated very, very low in one's pants pocket. Gerber builds folding knives and pocket knives with different locking mechanisms: lock back, frame lock, liner lock, plunge lock, and wedge lock among others. The whole time, we paid attention to things like how the blades held up, how easy they were to handle and transport, and overall construction quality.

The lockback's blade locking mechanism is a refinement of the slipjoint design; both use a strong backspring located along the back of the knife handle.

But as Dan P. writes in his in-depth review of the Rat II , "Steel snobs may turn their nose up at AUS 8, but my own testing and use has proven again and again that AUS 8 takes a great edge, is super easy to maintain, doesn't chip out easily, and resists rust and corrosion." We found the same thing: even after beating up the Rat II with all of our tests, it was still one of our sharpest knives, cutting through paper nearly as well as it did out of the box.

The North Fork's handsome dark wood handle won us over immediately (it's also available with a G10 handle, a high-pressure fiberglass laminate); it's a nice reprieve from the sea of tactical black and cold steel that dominate pocket knife design.

Our online selection of different pocket knives and folding knives consist of industry leading brands such as Benchmade Knife Company, Buck Knives, Kershaw, Swiss Army and much more.