The Best Pocket Knife in this year

If you’re looking for the best pocket knives to up your everyday carry game, you’ve come to the right place. 

In this post, we’ll review the best pocket knife in 2024 and go over some of the competitors. 

We have lots to cover. So let’s get started!

The Winner: CRKT Drifter

We must give the winning prize to CRKT Drifter, the best folding knife of 2024. With the blade length and total length of 2.875-inch and 6.5-inch, respectively, Drifter has the most fantastic ratio for such a small, compact knife to allow for better control and grip.

Drifter features an 8Cr14MoV drop point hollow-grind blade. 8Cr14MoV is a flexible mid-grade stainless steel that can perform exceptionally well when adequately sharpened. 

What makes Drifter a high quality pocket knife is its deployment. Drifter can be easily opened and securely closed with one hand thanks to its small size, thumb stub and liner lock. 

The design allows such a buttery smooth operation that we thought we were trying out an $80-100 pocket knife and were shocked to find Drifter sells for only $40. You cannot find a more comfortable, well-designed pocket knife at this price range.

Lefties won’t find Drifter user-friendly, and that’s the only drawback we found. The pocket clip is fixed on the right side. This lack of customization is not a dealbreaker, not until we noticed the blade shape that bends slightly backward, because a recurve blade is harder to maintain.

Economical Pick: Sanrenmu 710

We’d recommend the Sanrenmu 710 to all EDC newbies or anyone looking for an affordable backup pocket knife. You might not have heard a lot about Sanrenmu, but we guarantee you the 710 is the best pocket knife for the money.

For less than $20, you’ll get an all-metal body pocket knife, whose blade is a 2.75-inch flat grind piece of 8Cr13MoV steel. We’ve put it through some gruesome tests, and it performed as we expected.

8Cr13MoV isn’t a premium type of steel with high edge retention so after cutting up hundreds of cardboard boxes, the edge got slightly blunt. It’s not a bad thing: 8Cr13MoV is a budget-steel that we’d recommend to any beginners, not just those of everyday carry but knife sharpening because it’s easy to sharpen. 

If you like CRKT Drifter’s small, low-profile look, you’d love the 710 because they share the same minimal footprint to live in your front pocket comfortably. Deployment is a quick-and-easy one-hand operation assisted by thumb stud, and the solid frame lock nicely secures the blade.

We like the thin, sleek all-metal design on the 710 but it’s slippery when wet. We couldn’t properly handle it peeling an apple. Sanrenmu could’ve done better with a textured grip.

Upgrade Pick: Benchmade Mini Griptilian 556

We can all agree Benchmade makes the best pocket knives in the world, from the Bugout and Mini Bugout to the Griptilian and now the Mini Griptilian 556. 

We wouldn’t recommend the Mini Griptilian to an EDC beginner, mostly for the hefty price tag. At about $110, the Mini Griptilian 556 is the perfect investment for those who are experienced and comfortable wielding a blade. 

So, what comes with such a luxurious upgrade? A 2.91-inch drop point flat grind blade made of CPM-S30V stainless steel. 

We’ve chopped twigs, sliced thick rope and peel apples with this blade for days without having to resharpen it because CPM-S30V is a high-end that has high edge retention and corrosion resistance.

You can expect most of Benchmade’s hallmarks on the Mini Griptilian 556, such as the AXIS lock mechanism, one-hand opening thumb stud, and ambidextrous configuration of the deep pocket clip.

Those classic features are what make Benchmade the manufacturer of the best rated pocket knives ever. And you’d look like an efficient million bucks, swiping the blade out with one hand.

If you’re into customizing your knife, Benchmade offers different handle colours and blade finishes. If your budget allows, go for the blacked-out version to get the trendy matte black look.

Further Reading: 5 Best Pocket Knives for Everyday Carry: A Comprehensive Guide

Handyman’s Pick: Victorinox Super Tinker

You cannot find a review on world best pocket knives that doesn’t mention a Swiss Army Knife. We bet it’s either a Compact or a Super Tinker.

They are the good pocket knives from Victorinox. Both have amazingly high-quality blades and tools, but we went for the Super Tinker in this close call. 

Since Super Tinker and Compact share the same blade length and blade counts - one main long blade and one mini backup blade, it comes down to their tools that make the difference.

The Super Tinker features 14 tools, one fewer than on the Compact, but most of them have a good reason to be there. 

The Super Tinker features a Phillips screwdriver ½ instead of a corkscrew, which is more practical and useful than the corkscrew. The screwdriver is horizontally placed so you can generate serious torque from the two ends of the Super Tinker.

So if you fancy a classic red pocket knife to gear up your everyday carry, you can’t go wrong with the Super Tinker.

One thing we would complain about is the steel. The Super Tinker, as well as the rest of the Swiss Army knife line-up, has the standard stainless steel. They are all good quality pocket knives, but it’d be a smart business move if Victorinox offers different steels leaning towards the premium end like the CPM series.

Best Heavy Duty: Gerber StrongArm and DeWalt DWHT10912

Gerber StrongArm

Heavy-duty tasks would typically call for a fixed-blade knife due to its ability to support dependable cutting blades. We’d recommend the StrongArm fixed blade knife by Gerber. 

This knife features a 4.8-inch black ceramic finished 420 HC steel blade and a textured handle. If you’re looking for a survival military-grade knife, this legacy knife is for you. Gerber is well-known for making the coolest folding knife, and the same goes with their fixed blade. We were sold on StrongArm’s sleek blackout blade with an accent handle look.

Strictly speaking, it’s not a folding pocket knife, so you’ll sacrifice the low-profile look and size. But the modular sheath system allows for various carrying options so that you can achieve an ‘alternative’ portability.

DeWalt DWHT10912

If carrying a fixed blade looks too intimidating, you can go for DeWalt Premium Spring Assist DWHT10912 pocket knife. 

We’ve used this knife to carve wood and scrap paint, but the 3.2-inch blade still retains the edge incredibly well, thanks to the premium 8CR13MOV stainless steel. 

We think this knife is a must-have on any job site because the handle ends with a glass breaker, a feature rarely integrated on a knife to take advantage of the heavy-duty grip. Also, don’t expect this knife to be lightweight.

Hence, we say the DWHT10912 is one of the best quality pocket knives for heavy-duty tasks on the market right now, if not the best due to its lifetime warranty.

Selected For You: https://thekinglive.com/how-to-sharpen-a-pocket-knife.html

Final Words

So, what do you think?

We stand by our verdict that CRKT Drifter is the best pocket knife overall of 2024. But if you have specifics in mind, be sure to check out the other great pocket knives.

Let us know what you think in the comment section below. 

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