2022 test15 productsHand Tools
Which Pocket Knife Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 15 pocket knife options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Budget pick
SOG Twitch II
Price shown in test: $46
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Weight | Initial Sharpness | Blade Lock Release Pressure | Opening Smoothness | Ironwood Edge Durability | Sharpness After Uniform Sharpening | Hedge Apple Edge Durability | Blade Tip Drop Test | Blade Lock 25lb Test | Corrosion Resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Smith and Wesson$13 | 101 g | 165 (lower = sharper on the sharpness tester scale) | 1,359 g (about 3 lb) - this figure appears immediately before Ka-Bar is explicitly named as the next knife tested; it likely belongs to Smith and Wesson (first in testing order) but Opinel's own release-pressure result is never stated, so this number could instead belong to Opinel. See videoNotes. | 126 g, described as very stiff | started at 165, cut at 260 after 100 passes on ironwood with 5 lb weight; held up really well | 125 (from a new/factory 165), even sharper than new | started at 125 post-sharpening, dulled to 230 after 30 hedge apple passes; struggled | no visible damage from the 48 inch drop onto mild steel; rated among the best (rating of one) | easily handled 25 lb of downward force, lock still performed fine | covered pretty much entirely in paint, which really seemed to help |
| 2Opinel$18 | 45 g, lightest knife tested | 280, described as not very sharp | not clearly stated in the transcript; see videoNotes on ambiguity with Smith and Wesson's figure | 122 g, slightly better than Smith and Wesson | started at 280 (relatively dull), cut at 370 after ironwood test; needed sharpening | 145 (from a new/factory 280), sharper than new | started at 145 post-sharpening, cut at 215; performed slightly better than Smith and Wesson | tip visibly broke off from the impact; quite a bit of damage | FAILED - lock could not handle the pressure, only made it to around 7 lb before failing | experienced more rust than most of the other brands |
| 3Ka-Bar Dozier Folding Hunter$21 | 65 g | 275, only slightly sharper than the Opinel | 2,096 g (about 4.5 lb) | 155 g, takes even more pressure than Smith and Wesson | started nearly as dull as the Opinel (~275), cut at 325; held an edge much better than Opinel | 145 (from a new/factory 275), a lot sharper now | started at 145 post-sharpening, cut at 200; performed slightly better than both Smith and Wesson and Opinel | small bend to the blade tip, held up a little better than Opinel | passed, no lock failure | performed about the same as the Ontario |
| 4Ontario OKC RAT II$24 | 79 g | 185, moves into second place behind Smith and Wesson | 1,155 g, moves into the lead, about 200 g less pressure than Smith and Wesson | 28 g, very smooth | started at 185, cut at 270; almost as sharp as Smith and Wesson at that point | 125 (from a new/factory 185), just as sharp as Smith and Wesson | started at 125 post-sharpening, cut at 240; not enough to take the lead | really bad bend to the blade tip, about as much damage as Opinel | passed, no lock failure | performed about the same as the Ka-Bar |
| 5CJRB$35 | 76 g | 215, did fairly well but not nearly as sharp as some other brands | 1,178 g, nearly as well as the Ontario | 15 g, moves into the lead over the Ontario | started fairly dull at 215, cut at 225; the dull start helped it hold up | 115 (from a new/factory 215), the sharpest knife yet at that point | started at 115 post-sharpening, cut at 190; moves into the lead | small bend, about the same damage as the Ka-Bar | passed, no lock failure | performed a little bit better than the Ka-Bar |
| 6CRKT Endorser$42 | 87 g | 230, performed about the same as CJRB | 1,007 g, moves into the lead | 25 g, very smooth but CJRB holds the lead | started off pretty dull at 230, cut at 250; held up really well | 120 (from a new/factory 230, relatively dull when new) | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 225; moves into third position behind the Opinel | quite a bit of damage, pretty bad bend, worse than CJRB | passed, no lock failure | some rust visible coming through the paint coating |
| 7SOG Twitch II$46 | 72 g | 125, by far the sharpest yet, very impressive | 2,281 g, required the most pressure yet, about 180 g more than the Ka-Bar | 38 g, very smooth at midpoint but a little stiffer near fully open | started extremely sharp at 125, still very sharp at 200 after ironwood; the best result yet at that point | 120 (from a new/factory 125) | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 160; performed by far the best yet | no visible damage, held up extremely well | passed, no lock failure | small amount of rust, similar to the Civivi |
| 8CIVIVI Elementum$50 | 81 g | 180, third sharpest knife yet | 1,089 g, about 82 g short of matching the CRKT | 17 g, nearly as easy to open as the CJRB | started pretty sharp at 180, dulled to 245 after ironwood | 115 (from a new/factory 180), a two-way tie with CJRB for sharpest at that point | started at 115 post-sharpening, cut at 230; about the same as CRKT | pretty significant amount of damage to the blade tip | passed, no lock failure | small amount of rust, similar to the SOG |
| 9Spyderco Tenacious$60 | 115 g, heaviest yet at that point in testing | 150, moved into second position behind the SOG | 1,811 g, pretty stiff, about 400 to 500 g more than the other liner-lock knives | 92 g, takes more effort than a lot of the other knives | started pretty sharp at 150, cut at 225 after ironwood; performed fairly well | 120 (from a new/factory 150) | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 150; did a great job holding an edge, moves into the lead | no visible damage, held up just fine (robust blade) | passed, no lock failure | paint did a pretty good job of blocking rust - position in the corrosion recap makes this most likely the Tenacious rather than the Para 3, but the transcript only says 'the Spyderco' without disambiguating; flagged as uncertain |
| 10Buck 110 Folding Hunter Lockback$60 | 209 g, by far the heaviest of all knives tested | 145, even sharper than the Spyderco Tenacious | lockback refused to release and overloaded the original scale; retested on a different, larger scale at right at 13 lb | 356 g, extremely stiff, by far the most pressure to open of all the knives | started even sharper than the Spyderco Tenacious at 145, cut at 220; held an edge just as well | 120 (from a new/factory 145), sharper than new | started very sharp at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 145; tied with Spyderco Para 3 and Kershaw for best edge retention | quite a bit of damage; narrator attributes this to the knife's heavy weight | passed, no lock failure | some very superficial rust |
| 11Kershaw Link$80 | 137 g | 175, performed very well but not quite as sharp as some other brands | 944 g, performed the best yet at that point, very impressive | 45 g, performed better than average | started at 175, cut at 265; performed fairly well | 120 (from a new/factory 175), sharper than new | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 145; did a great job holding an edge, tied with Buck and Spyderco Para 3 | pretty bad bend at the blade tip; narrator notes it is relatively heavy | passed, no lock failure | coating did not do a very good job of blocking rust |
| 12Cold Steel AD-10$128 | 202 g, nearly as heavy as the Buck | 185, nearly as sharp as the Kershaw | also needed the larger scale like the Buck; took 12 lb | 54 g; large heavy knife but performed fairly well | started at 185, cut at 205; delivered excellent blade edge retention | 125 (from a new/factory 185) | started at 125 post-sharpening, cut at 160; held up really well | extremely small chip to the tip, held up just fine | passed, no lock failure | not independently quantified; the transcript only states the Spyderco Para 3 performed slightly better than the Cold Steel |
| 13Spyderco Para 3$147 | 95 g | 120, took the lead from the SOG, very impressive | 1,318 g, about 350 g more than the Kershaw | 38 g, takes a little less effort to open than the less expensive Spyderco Tenacious | started off a little too sharp at 120, which hurt it; cut at 265 | 120 (from a new/factory 120), just as sharp as when new, no change | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 145; three-way tie for first place with Kershaw and Buck | held up really well, looks nearly as good as new, no visible damage | passed, no lock failure | performed slightly better than the Cold Steel |
| 14Zero Tolerance 450CF$196 | 69 g | 240, isn't very sharp compared to most of the other brands | 822 g, moves into the lead over the Kershaw, very impressive | 4 g, ball bearing opening, extremely smooth, moves into the lead (best of all knives tested) | started at 240, cut at 290 | 120 (from a new/factory 240), extremely sharp now | started at 120 post-sharpening, cut at 150; performed nearly as well as the Spyderco Para 3 | very small chip to the tip; narrator notes it is a very light knife | passed, no lock failure | very little rust |
| 15Benchmade 940BK$258 | 82 g | 170, performed very well but not nearly sharp enough to move into the lead | 526 g, required the least amount of pressure of all knives, very impressive, came out on top | 22 g, very smooth but not quite as smooth as the Zero Tolerance | started off very sharp at 170, lost quite a bit of sharpness, cut at 290 | 115 (from a new/factory 170), a three-way tie for sharpest with CJRB and Civivi | started at 115 post-sharpening, cut at 165; very sharp but 20 points behind the leaders | very little visible damage, handled the impact very well; narrator notes it is a lightweight knife | passed, no lock failure | performed very well |
How it was tested
- initial factory sharpness on a Best Certified Knife Sharpness Tester
- blade lock release pressure (downward force to release the blade lock, in grams or pounds)
- opening smoothness (force required to move blade from midpoint to fully open, in grams)
- edge durability on ironwood: 100 back-and-forth passes with 5 lb of weight, factory edge, sharpness measured before and after
- uniform re-sharpening of all knives to a 17 degree angle on a progressive diamond/grit system, sharpness measured before (factory) and after
- edge durability on hedge apple: 30 passes after uniform sharpening, sharpness measured before and after
- blade tip drop test: dropped 48 inches through a guide pipe onto mild steel, damage assessed
- blade lock strength test: 25 lb of downward force applied to the open blade to check for lock failure
- corrosion resistance: soaked in a salt water, hydrogen peroxide, and vinegar mix to accelerate rust, checked after a few hours
“So, which knife is the best? In my opinion, it's very close between the Benchmade, the Zero Tolerance, as well as the Spyderco Para 3.”
Data notes and caveats
15-knife showdown across 6 test categories (initial sharpness, blade lock release pressure, opening smoothness, edge durability before and after a uniform re-sharpen, blade tip drop, blade lock strength, corrosion resistance); no single overall winner is declared. The narrator instead gives three price-tier picks: best of the three priciest knives (Benchmade, Zero Tolerance, Spyderco Para 3 called 'very close') goes to the Zero Tolerance; best value under $50 goes to the SOG Twitch II; and for a rock-bottom budget pick he suggests the $13 Smith and Wesson performed very well for the price. Only the Opinel failed the 25 lb blade lock strength test (failed at ~7 lb); all 14 other knives passed. Two data gaps: (1) Opinel's blade-lock-release-pressure figure is never clearly stated; a single number (1,359 g) appears before Ka-Bar is explicitly named, and it is ambiguous whether that number belongs to Smith and Wesson or Opinel, so Opinel's true figure is unrecoverable from the transcript. (2) One line attributed to 'the Spyderco' in the corrosion resistance section ('Paint on the Spyderco did a pretty good job of blocking the rust') does not specify Tenacious vs Para 3; based on testing order it is assigned to Spyderco Tenacious here but flagged as uncertain. A later recap line reads 'The Zero Tolerance also performed well at 822 1,007. And CIVIVI 1,089 g' - this is a caption run-on that drops the CRKT brand name between two numbers; cross-checked safely against individually-stated earlier figures (Zero Tolerance 822 g, CRKT 1,007 g, CIVIVI 1,089 g all match exactly), so no data was invented, only the recap line's missing brand label was inferred from the main body.