Olive Knives is fairly new to the scene. It was founded in New England by Andre Buy, inventor of the Byrna Non-Lethal Self Defense System. Andre has always been a “knife guy”, so after selling that company, he gathered a team around him who shared his passion for innovation and outdoor pursuits.
Initial Thoughts…
The Arbor comes is a nice, foam-lined cardboard box. Included as well are a “manual” and a small book of camp recipes, an on-brand touch as many are South African in origin.
The knife isn’t cheap, but it is a big old horking chunk of Elmax, my second favorite knife steel after CruWear.
Comfortable out of the box, it has the feel of a tool one can rely on. It is sharp as heck from the get go. The handle fills the hand, and it is comfortable in multiple grip styles.
The most noticeable facet of the knife is quite literally its facets.
The grind follows a Fibonacci pattern. Why? I will let them explain…
The Fibonacci Solution
To understand why the Fibonacci Grind works, it helps to know what the usual options look like. A full flat grind becomes progressively thinner from the spine to the edge. It slices easily, which is why it excels in food prep and fine work, but it can flex or take damage when pushed hard.
A convex grind curves smoothly toward the edge, giving it the strength needed for splitting wood, chopping, or heavy pressure. The trade-off is even sharpening, which requires significant skill to perform. Hollow grinds sit on the opposite end of the spectrum, producing razor efficiency at the cost of durability.
Each of these designs does one job well, but none delivers all-around performance.
The Fibonacci Grind uses a series of precisely machined facets to approximate the structural curve of a convex blade while retaining the clear, flat geometry of a full flat grind. Think of it as a controlled sequence of planes that create both stability and cutting efficiency.
These facets taper from spine to edge with measured consistency. Material is removed exactly where needed, directing force toward the edge while preserving enough thickness for durability. This gives you convex-like strength without the sharpening headaches. (Source: OliveKnives.Com)
But does it work?
We will get to that, but first, a little about the knife…
Specifications:
According to my contact at Olive, the knives are ground in South Africa, and assembled in the United States.
Sheath:
Kydex with a cordura dangler.
The holes do line up for a Tek-Lok if that is your preference.
There is great retention, with no “battle rattle”, but if you would like even more, there is a rubber spacer which can be tightened further.
Ergonomics:
Frankly, fantastic. The rounded spine on the handle, the thickness of the scales, and fit to my hand between the guard and the pommel made the knife pleasant to hold, with no hotspots throughout testing.
I have a medium size hand. If you have a gigantic paw, the fit might be a little snug.
The proximal portion of the spine is rounded for comfort, before transitioning to a 90 degree bevel for a ferro rod.
Testing:
Culinary:
I tested the arbor on onion, tomato, and apples.
Peeling a cocktail tomato yielded an impressive result.
And the slices were thin and fairly uniform.
It absolutely killed slicing an onion, and the knife cut without wedging.
Pretty. uniform results for a non-culinary knife.
Finally, I made and apple crisp. The Arbor did a fantastic job with both peeling and slicing the apples.
It did split/wedge the cuts slightly more than it did in the onion, but as you can see from the pictures, it wasn’t jagged or smashed.
The apple crisp was delicious. In case you were wondering.
Woodcraft:
The Arbor had no problem with a fuzz-stick…
and the right-angle spine portion was effective with a ferro rod.
Ethan Becker once told me he could learn everything he needs to know about a knife by making a tent stake with it. In fact this was the one task he used his Original Kephart Knife for, before putting it back in safekeeping.
So I made a tent stake…
The knife’s neutral balance and lightweight doesn’t lend itself well to chopping, though the hooked pommel allows for some choking down. I used a baton and tapped both sides of the trunk.
I pounded straight through to make an even striking head/platform.
Sharpened the point and cut the notch.
I am impressed with how efficiently the Arbor performed the various actions required to fabricate the stake.
I wasn’t as surprised as I was with the Arbor’s culinary chops. The knife struck me as having good woodcraft chops, and it didn’t let me down.
Cardboard:
As my wife has raided my box supply for holiday shipping, I didn’t have enough to test the edge to degradation, but I did slice enough to notice a couple of things.
As expected, the thickness of the blade makes the Arbor not the ideal cardboard slicing implement. And, as you can see, it has a tendency to wander. I would attribute this to the knife’s unique Fibonacci grind, however said grind allowed for less friction and the cuts themselves were clean and tear-free.
Conclusion:
When I received the Olive Knives Arbor, I wasn’t sure of what to think. The Fibonacci grind gives the knife a unique appearance. It seemed thick, but the quality was evident. Great fit and finish. Clever, thought out details like the sheath spacer, partially rounded spine, and pass through hardware abound.
The knife is pricey. I understand that there is economy of scale at play, and Olive Knives is new and small. . Being made in South Africa, and then assembled in America means 3 different countries and their tariffs, regulations, and red tape are in play. There are a lot of startup costs with any business, and knife manufacture is no different. There is a lot of machining that goes into that Fibonacci grind, and partially rounded spine. Elmax is expensive steel, and this is a big piece of it. The mix of high end materials and well executed fit and finish, justifies a premium price. However, with a $400 price tag, they are competing with custom fixed blades in addition to factory.
Does it work? I would have to say “yes”. I have used plenty of knives that “do a reasonable impersonation of a boat anchor”, and my expectations going into the culinary tests in particular were not stellar. However, geometry is the most important part of a cutting edge, and the Arbor nails it.
I like the Arbor. It has great ergos. It cuts well. It is a rock solid full tang construction, and unless you are planning on doing a lot of chopping, perfect for a wide range of wood processing and camp kitchen tasks.
If you would like to find out more, you can find Olive Knives online at www.OliveKnives.com
The Arbor’s product page is: https://oliveknives.com/products/olive-knife-one
You can find them on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliveknives/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliveknives
X: https://x.com/oliveknives
If you don’t want to take my word for it, you can see what Aaron at Gideon’s Tactical has to say…
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