On paper the Benchmade Pika II knife should be a hit. Great price, adequate steel, good blade shape, decent handle, and a nice clip. But its notat least with Nutnfancy. Thats because the Pinkachu has some surprising misses even at its affordable price point. Take for instance the Pika IIs overly strong blade retention due to perhaps an overly strong back spring. That makes this Pokemon a slow deploying blade, by comparison, that requires good thumb tension and wrist technique to get it out …

The planets have aligned in the SOG Aegis and a nearly perfect lightweight tactical and larger sized EDC blade has been created by SOG. It is no secret that I advocate LIGHTWEIGHT, well-built, fast deploying, solid folders that use good materials. Oh yeah, I want these knives to look cool, have a deep, tip-up pocket clip, and have an affordable price. It sounds like a lot to ask for but it really isn’t. In this quest to promote these design criteria I haven’t relented and indeed my high …

Offering near-perfect balance, speed, and quality, the Benchmade Mini-Griptilian 556 is an excellent utility or every day carry (EDC) knife choice. Various steels are used in the Mini-Grips, like that the 440C and limited edition D2 Cabelas models shown, but current versions are offered in the very useful 154CM steel. Blades have various finishes and grinds as well but my favorite is the bright finished plain edge clip versions. Mini-Grips are good looking and functional blades with …