Pocket Knives I Own, in the Order I Would Tell You to Buy Them

Knife laws differ by state and city, including on blade length and how a knife may be carried; check your own before you buy.

Which one to buy first: my ownership order

This is the order I would buy them again. That is a different question from which is "best." It is weighted by time in my rotation, because two years of use says more than any spec sheet.

1. Kizer Sheepdog C01C Mini (in my rotation since September 2024). A 2.63-inch S35VN sheepsfoot with a thumb hole and no flipper, 2.61 ounces; the tall cleaver profile cuts like a bigger knife. Mine is discontinued — the C01C 275 is the successor. Two-year review.
2. Kizer Drop Bear (since January 2026). A 2.97-inch Nitro-V blade at 60–61 HRC, 3.28 ounces, Kizer's adjustable Clutch Lock. Light, office-friendly, butter smooth. The acrylic scales are smooth too, which is the one place I did not want it. Review.
3. CIVIVI Vision FG (since June 2024). The longest blade on this list: 3.54 inches of Damascus reverse tanto on Snecx Tan's Superlock, ivory G10, 4.35 ounces. The lock is unusual enough that this knife gets picked up more often than almost anything else in the drawer.
4. Kizer Mini Militaw (since March 2026). The plainest knife here: a 2.82-inch liner-lock front flipper. I own it twice, once in D2 with brown and green G10, once in Nitro-V with an aluminum handle. Make of that what you will.
5. KANSEPT Mini Korvid (since February 2026). A 1.45-inch titanium frame-lock cleaver at 1.38 ounces — keychain class, not a knife you plan a day around.

Long-term: two years in my rotation

Tested: in my rotation since early 2026

How small is small: the drawer to one scale

Blade length is the number people search for and the hardest one to picture. So here is the drawer drawn against a single scale, longest at the top. Every figure is the maker’s published blade length, checked against at least two retailers. The L, Lefty OK and R pills are the lefty label: which hand the whole knife was built around, not just whether the clip reverses. The 16 under 2.5 inches get their own page: small pocket knives.

The nine blade shapes in the drawer, and what each is for

Shape decides what a knife is good at far more than steel does, and it is the part of a spec sheet nobody explains. These are the nine profiles across the collection, drawn the same way as the ladder above.

The spec table: eleven knives, the maker’s numbers

Every figure is the maker's published spec, read Sep 4, 2026 on Kizer's, CIVIVI's and Kansept's product pages, plus this site's two reviews. My scale and calipers have not been on these, so every number is the maker's, not mine. The Vision FG row is the C22036-DS1 I own: Damascus blade, ivory G10, 58–60 HRC core per CIVIVI; other Vision FG variants run Nitro-V and 3.5–4.5 ounces.

The steel ladder: what these eleven knives are made of

Six blade steels plus one that is not a grade, each with the source I actually read. The numbers belong to Knife Steel Nerds and the mills, not to me: I have not run edge-retention counts or sharpening tallies on any of these.

• 154CM (Banish). Crucible developed it in 1959 with the Air Force's Wright Air Development Center: 1.05% carbon, 15% chromium, 4% molybdenum. Larrin Thomas's 154CM history puts its toughness on par with 440C, its edge retention ahead because it runs harder, and credits the molybdenum for better salt-water corrosion resistance.
• 14C28N (Microbe). Alleima's data sheet: 0.62% carbon, 14% chromium, 0.11% nitrogen, recommended 55–62 HRC, easy re-sharpening; Kizer runs the Microbe at 58–59. Knife Steel Nerds' nitrogen-steels article explains the trick: carbon swapped for nitrogen keeps more chromium in solution, giving toughness near AEB-L (which he calls the toughest stainless) in exchange for low wear resistance.
• D2 (the G10 Mini Militaw). About 1.5% carbon and 12% chromium, patented in 1927 and a die steel by the 1930s. Per the Knife Steel Nerds D2 article, roughly half that chromium is locked in carbides, which is why D2 is only semi-stainless. His tests found its toughness "not very impressive" and its wear resistance above 154CM and 440C but below S30V and M390. The one steel here worth wiping dry after wet work.
• Nitro-V (Drop Bear, the aluminum Mini Militaw). New Jersey Steel Baron's product page describes it as AEB-L enriched with nitrogen and vanadium. Knife Steel Nerds' Nitro-V testing measured toughness a little below AEB-L (about 22 versus 33 ft-lbs at 61 HRC) but far above powder steels like S35VN. It expects AEB-L-class edge retention, below CPM-154 and S30V, and calls the corrosion resistance probably slightly better than AEB-L.
• S35VN (Sheepdog Mini, Mini Korvid, Varatas, Pioneer). Crucible's rework of S30V: 3% vanadium, 0.5% niobium, no nitrogen. The S35VN data sheet claims 15–20% more toughness than S30V with no loss of wear resistance. The Knife Steel Nerds S35VN article cites a CATRA study at roughly 132% against 149% for S30V and sums it up as a steel that excels nowhere and fails nowhere. Easier to sharpen than S30V.
• S45VN (Original 2). Chromium raised to 16% with 0.15% nitrogen. The S45VN data sheet lists toughness of 11.0 ft-lbs against 12.0 for S35VN and CATRA edge retention of 143% against 140%. The Knife Steel Nerds S45VN article puts its corrosion resistance closer to M390 and 20CV and calls it an incremental advance that is still an upgrade overall.
• Damascus (Vision FG). Not a grade at all: pattern-welded layers, etched to show the pattern. CIVIVI publishes a 58–60 HRC core for this blade and names no alloy, so nobody can tell you where it sits on this ladder — including me. Buy the Damascus for the look, not the cutting.

The Sheepdog's successor sits outside the ladder on AEB-L, the fine-grained parent that 14C28N and Nitro-V descend from.

All of these on one chart of 61 rated steels, with my drawer ringed: the knife-steel page.

Lock types across the collection

Six of the lock types in my drawer, with some of the knives that use each. Definitions paraphrase Knafs' lock-type guide unless linked otherwise. I have not measured play or lock wear on my own units; this is how each one works.

• Frame lock — Varatas, Mini Korvid. The lock is cut from the handle, so the handle is the spring. Strong when made well; your finger crosses the blade path to close it.
• Liner lock — Sheepdog Mini (per Kizer's frame pages), both Mini Militaws, Pioneer. The same idea with a separate spring-steel liner; lighter, and the most common lock in production knives.
• Button lock — Banish. A spring-loaded button engages a cutout in the tang; press and fold, and your finger is never in the blade's path.
• Kizer Button Liner Lock — Microbe. Per Blade Forge's explainer, the spring-steel liner does the locking and the button only pushes it aside: a liner's snap with a button's finger-safe release.
• Kizer Clutch Lock — Drop Bear, Original 2. Kizer's own write-up calls it a new type of crossbar lock: a Clutch bar and two omega springs whose ends sit in one of five holes per liner. That gives five positions (Kizer counts the combinations as twenty-five). Knife Informer rated the Drop Bear's action the best crossbar they had handled; see that review.
• Superlock — Vision FG. Snecx Tan's design: Gear Patrol describes a spring-loaded bar housed in the spine that drops into a detent on the blade and releases with a small tug, fingers out of the path. Knife Informer notes CIVIVI fixed the lock-bar wear of the original WE Knife Vision.

First impressions: the five from August, not verdicts

Five Kizers came in from Kizer direct in August 2026. They get their published specs and one line each. No verdicts: none has had enough time in my rotation.

• Kizer Varatas Ki3637A1 — delivered Aug 17, 2026. Jacob Lundquist's 3.27-inch S35VN blade on a titanium frame lock, front flipper and thumb hole, 3.03 ounces. Mine arrived with a quality-control flaw. Kizer issued a partial refund and I kept the knife.
• Kizer Original 2 Ki3605.2SA1 — delivered Aug 31, 2026. A 3.19-inch S45VN sheepsfoot at 60–61 HRC, hollow ground, matte DLC-Ultra finish, titanium Clutch Lock frame, 3.38 ounces. The highest edge-retention number on the steel ladder above.
• Kizer Pioneer ZX-FK03A2 — delivered Aug 31, 2026. A 3.20-inch S35VN clip point at 60–62 HRC on a liner lock, in what Kizer's spec page calls a "Blue Canyon & Titanium" handle, 3.56 ounces. At 0.14 inch, the thickest blade on this page.
• Kizer Microbe V2742A6 — delivered Aug 31, 2026. Maksim Epifantsev's 2.19-inch 14C28N drop point at 58–59 HRC on the Button Liner Lock, vortex-pattern micarta, 2.18 ounces. The smallest Kizer here.
• Kizer Banish V2676C1 — delivered Aug 31, 2026. Lundquist again: a 2.30-inch 154CM sheepsfoot on a button lock, thumb hole and front flipper, micarta, 2.24 ounces. A steel from 1959, which is not an insult.

Utility blades and maintenance

Two utility knives share the drawer: the PICHI G9 brass and its aluminum sibling, CNC-unibody bodies with a button lock and quick-change blades. I own both and carry the brass: it is like a laser beam through boxes. Same mechanism, two metals: PICHI G9 brass vs aluminum.

Most new knives here get the same bottle: Kershaw Knife Oil, reviewed here. It does the trick, though I would recommend KPL over it, based on what I've been hearing and seeing online from other enthusiasts. The Sheepdog Mini sticks a little when flicking it open at times, which could be because it needs a good cleaning.

Beyond my own drawer: which brands sharpen for free, who owns which brand, which brands sell a true left-hand model and when the knife shows are. On YouTube: the eighteen knife YouTubers I've watched a bunch of videos from and what they carry.

Common questions

Is Kizer a good brand?

Ten of my thirty-three are Kizers, which is an answer of sorts. Kizer's own page says it started making knives in 2013 and was among the first Chinese makers to challenge US quality. Knife Informer dates it to 2012 in Guangdong and calls its output some of the finest production knives made in China. My one quality-control miss in ten, the Varatas, ended in a partial refund.

S35VN or Nitro-V?

S35VN holds an edge longer; Nitro-V is tougher and easier to sharpen; both resist rust well on paper. My Nitro-V CIVIVI Baby Banter 2 still picked up a bit of rust on the exposed edge, which buffed out. Sharpen rarely and cut a lot: S35VN. Enjoy sharpening or beat on a thin edge: Nitro-V. Which wins in my pocket is a question I have not finished answering.

Why buy the successor to a discontinued knife?

Because the geometry is the product. What made the Sheepdog Mini work for two years is the tall sheepsfoot on a short handle, and the C01C 275 keeps that in AEB-L with a button liner lock. You give up S35VN's edge retention for an easier-sharpening steel; the shape that earned the spot is unchanged.

Does D2 rust?

It can. D2 has 12% chromium, but Knife Steel Nerds shows about half of it tied up in carbides, which is why it is called semi-stainless. Wipe it dry after wet work.

Which lock should a first pocket knife have?

A button lock or a crossbar lock keeps your fingers out of the blade's path when closing, which is the mistake new owners make. Frame and liner locks are strong for their weight, but your index finger crosses the edge to release them. The Drop Bear's Clutch Lock is the one here I would point a first-timer at.