Blade Show is full of important traditions, not least of which are the twin Knife of the Year award events, one for production knives and another for the custom stuff. Today we’re giving you a rundown of the production winners, and later this week we’ll take a look at the custom pieces.
UG Tools Tiny: Overall Knife of the Year and Imported Fixed Blade of the Year
German manufacturer Utsch & Gierse made a major impression this year with their Tiny fixed blade – and it’s easy to see why. The central element of the Tiny is its handle, made from a single piece of hollow, 3D-printed titanium.
Benchmade Dacian: American-Made Fixed Blade of the Year
No surprise in this category: ever since we first laid eyes on Benchmade’s handsome EDC fixed blade last summer, we knew it was designed to add an award or two to the company shelf.
Vero Avid 1: Best Imported Folder
Vero Engineering has been carving out a niche for itself in the competitive produciton scene, and the hard work is paying off: their mid-size Avid 1 EDC knife snagged the Imported Folder award this year at Blade.
Heretic Knives Wraith Auto V.4 American-Made Folding Knife of the Year
Autos have been on an upward trend across the industry the last few years, and Heretic’s haunting Wraith isn’t the only example of one to pull in a big Blade award.
Work Sharp RMX: Most Innovative Imported Design
Work Sharp’s first ever folding knife managed to win big! The RMX comes with a special pivot that allows it to swap between manual and automatic deployments.
Sleeping Tiger Tigress: Most Innovative American Design
The Tigress looks like something out of a video game or an action movie: it’s a watch-like accessory that, with a flick of the wrist, launches a puck into your hand – which can then be pressed to deploy a smal self-defense hawkbill blade.
QSP Glyde Lock Penguin: Best Buy of the Year
The industry is rife with Axis-like mechanisms now – they’re even showing up on budget/entry-level knives, and that’s no bad thing at all. The QSP Penguin comes with the company’s Axis-like, the Glyde Lock, at a very reasonable price.
Shirogorov Knives/Charles Marlow RKMP: Knife Collaboration of the Year
Meanwhile on the complete other end of the spectrum, Shirogorov and custom maker Charles Marlowe teamed up for this extremely luxe high-end production folder. Marlowe is kind of a balisong guy so it’s cool to see him working outside of that genre.
Shirogorov Stellar BCD: Investor/Collector Knife of the Year
Shiro came home with three Blade Show awards this year, and this is no. 2. Knives may not be the most sensible investment from a pure profit perspective, but they are definitely the coolest, and the Stellar-BCD is sure to make some high-end collectors very happy for years to come.
ZT 0556: Automatic Knife of the Year
Again, no big surprise here, but good news nevertheless. ZT is not a company known for its automatics, but it looks like the 0556, the only auto in the company’s active lineup, checked all the right boxes for enthusiasts.
Shun Shiranami: Kitchen Knife of the Year
An elegant, Japanese-style chef knife from Shun, a company known for their elegeant, Japanese-style chef knives. The Shiranami is a cut above though, with its all-stainless Damascus cutting edge.
Shirogorov Knives: Manufacturing Quality Award
Last but not least, we have the third and final award for Shiro. The company’s reputation for super high standards is well-deserved, and has been on display with every release they put out.
Knife in Featured Image: Work Sharp RMX
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