It’s August, which means it is that time of year again. I have done this for sixteen years in a row on one site or another and there is no reason to buck tradition. In case you aren’t familiar, here are the four price brackets. This year there are a lot of newcomers and upheaval in a list that has been pretty static for a few years. The BOSS 35 is no more as it is no longer in production. Spyderco released the best knife they have made in decades. Exceed Designs is throwing down. And there is a ton of activity in the High End knife market as small batch production stuff has really caught on fire.
The conceit here is that you are trying to make a foundation for your EDC outside the stuff that everyone carries—the phone, keys, wallet, etc. The items should be pretty balanced in terms of performance and price, unless there is a really compelling reason. In a change from the past entry, all items have to be in production as of the writing of this article. What point is there in recommending things you can’t find?
As an interesting note, my phone ate my wallet and keys in the past two years (keys last year and wallet this year). So I am really down to four items: a phone, a watch, a knife, and a light. And it is pretty nice.
Here is the 2024 list. Note that the following winners from the last few years are all out of production now: Sofrin SC01, the Overready BOSS 35, and Wegner Aphid II. Also, I don’t like any of the current iterations of the DF2 as the ZDP-189 version is OOP and the 20CV version was a sprint run. K390 is good, but for me, living in New England, it does get a little tarnished over time.
I still am rocking my thrunite single AAA. The knife changes daily.
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