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Best Pocket Knife: 19 Folders Tested from $6 to $373
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More head-to-head tests from Tools & Workshop / Cutting & Sharpening
Nineteen folding pocket knives, from a $6 AOSILEY to a $373 Boker, were put
through the same sequence of measurements. A certified sharpness tester scored
every factory edge, then each knife made back-and-forth passes across osage
orange under 5 lb of load and was scored again. All nineteen were then
resharpened to the same aggressive 17-degree edge, run 50 passes across a
bamboo cutting board, and scored a third time. A scale measured the force to
open each blade and to release each lock, a dial indicator measured
side-to-side play 3.5 in from the pivot, 25 lb of downward force was applied to
every lock, and each knife was dropped tip-first onto mild steel from about
four and a half feet.
On the sharpness scale used here, lower is sharper: a double-edged razor blade
reads 50 to 75, a utility knife blade 150 to 200, and a good kitchen edge 250
to 350. Price buys blade steel and very little else. The $265 Zero Tolerance
held its edge best once every blade started from the same 17-degree grind, but
a $40 Harbor Freight ICON opened with the least force of anything here and
finished second behind it, while a $30 Civivi came out of the box sharper than
either of them. Every lock held 25 lb without slipping, cheap ones included.
Held the sharpest edge of any knife through the osage orange test at 210, sharpened to 105, finished the bamboo board at 130, and came through the tip drop looking new. At $373 it is the most expensive knife tested.
The pick for everyday carry. Second overall at 4.2 and the sharpest knife out of the box at 130, weighing 79 g, opening with 11 g of force, and holding 4.36 mm of blade play.
Opens with the least force in the lineup at 7 g and lost only 10 sharpness points across the bamboo board, finishing second at 125. Blade play of 5.34 mm is fourth tightest here.
The top overall finisher, and the most expensive knife here. A 62-63 HRC blade on a ball bearing pivot, light at 91.67 g. It arrived at 140, held the sharpest edge of any knife through the osage orange test at 210, finished the bamboo board at 130, has 4.2 mm of blade play, and its tip survived the drop onto steel looking new.
The sharpest knife out of the box at 130, and second overall. D2 steel on a ceramic ball bearing pivot with a G10 handle and liner lock, and light at 79 g. It opens with only 11 g of force, has 4.36 mm of blade play, and its tip took only a small amount of damage from the drop onto steel.
The cheapest knife here by a wide margin, with an aluminum handle and a liner lock. Its factory edge measured 190, better than several knives costing five times as much, and the blade tip took only a small amount of damage from a direct hit onto steel. It is stiff to open at 105 g and very loose at 10.45 mm of side-to-side play, but after resharpening it held 145 across the bamboo board, ahead of every other knife under $16.
A spring-assisted flipper in 440 stainless with a liner lock, weighing 105.63 g. Its lock is the third easiest to release in the lineup at 1.37 lb. The factory edge measured 205 and fell to 310 after the osage orange passes, and at 10.9 mm it has the most side-to-side blade play of any knife tested.
A 440C partially serrated blade in an aluminum handle with a liner lock, at 117.76 g. It arrived at 215 and dulled to 315. It also resisted sharpening, topping out at 125 after repeated attempts at a 17-degree edge, then dulled to 210 across the bamboo board. The blade tip took a lot of damage in the drop test, a sign of soft steel.
A G10-handled folder with a thumb stud, weighing 118.96 g. It came out of the box sharper than anything else under $16 at 165, but lost the most sharpness of any knife in the osage orange test, ending at 350. Its lock takes 4 lb to release, and the blade tip took more damage than the two cheapest knives here.
At 145.63 g this is one of the heavier folders here, and it has the lightest lock release in the lineup at 0.85 lb. It opens with only 28 g of force. The factory edge measured 170 and held up better than most through the osage orange test at 240, and it sharpened to a 100 — tied for the keenest edge achieved on any knife. Side-to-side play is loose at 10 mm.
A 3.5 in harpoon blade with a flipper tab and a liner lock, and one of the heaviest knives in the lineup. Its factory edge was the dullest measured at 235, but after resharpening to 115 it lost only 20 sharpness points across the bamboo board, one of the smallest losses of the test. It opens easily at 33 g and has 6.19 mm of blade play.
A 2.9 in high carbon stainless drop point with a wood handle and a back lock, and light at 87.8 g. That back lock takes 7.35 lb to release, the most force of any knife tested. The factory edge measured 195 and it lost 110 sharpness points on the bamboo board, ending at 215. The blade tip is soft and took quite a bit of damage in the drop test.
A 2.8 in high carbon stainless blade with a frame lock and two interchangeable thumb knobs, at 99.37 g. The frame lock is stiff, taking 6.62 lb to release. Its edge went from 185 to 290 through the osage orange test and to 205 after the bamboo board, and a direct hit on the tip left it noticeably bent.
Arrived at 205 and dulled to 320 through the osage orange test. It sharpened to 120 and fell back to 195 across the bamboo board. Blade play is better than average at 6.7 mm, but the tip proved soft in the drop test and took quite a bit of damage.
A frame-lock folder with a removable pocket clip, at 132.5 g. Its factory edge measured 175 and it matched the Stein Brook at 240 after the osage orange test. It also tied for the keenest edge of any knife when resharpened, at 100, but gave that back quickly on the bamboo board at 180. The tip took quite a bit of damage from the drop.
A black oxide coated blade in a bright orange handle with a liner lock and a window breaker, at 121.6 g. It arrived at 160 and held its edge well in both wear tests, at 235 and then 135, and its blade tip came through the drop test looking durable. The weak point is side-to-side play at 10.7 mm, second worst in the lineup.
An AR-RPM9 blade in a stainless handle with a button lock and dual thumb knobs, at 112.71 g. It opens smoothly at 18 g and has tight 5.8 mm blade play. Edge retention is where it falls apart: 185 to 295 through the osage orange test, and after resharpening it ended the bamboo board test at 265, the dullest result recorded.
The heaviest knife in the lineup at 197.64 g, with a 5Cr stainless blade, a flipper, and a liner lock. It arrived with the dullest factory edge of any knife here and takes 187 g of force to open, by far the stiffest. It answers well to a stone, though, sharpening to 100 and holding 150 across the bamboo board, and its tip survived the drop onto steel looking new.
The lightest knife in the lineup at 61.85 g, built on German-made Nitro V steel with a flipper and a liner lock. Its lock releases with the second lightest touch at 1.26 lb and it opens with only 13 g of force. The factory edge measured 225, but resharpened to 105 it finished the bamboo board test at 155 — still sharper than it was new — and its tip held up well.
Sold at Harbor Freight, with a D2 blade just over 3 in long running on ceramic ball bearings and secured by a liner lock, at 109.15 g. It opens with the least force of anything here, 7 g, and has 5.34 mm of blade play. It lost only 10 sharpness points across the bamboo board, from 115 to 125, finishing second behind the Zero Tolerance.
A cryo-treated 440C blade with assisted opening and a liner lock, at 127.66 g. It arrived very sharp at 155 and finished third after the osage orange test at 225. Resharpened to 115, it lost only 15 sharpness points on the bamboo board to end at 130, and its blade tip came through the drop test looking new.
20CV steel on a titanium handle with a glow-in-the-dark carbon fiber overlay and a KVT flipper, at 141 g. It has the tightest blade in the lineup at 2.86 mm of play and the best blade steel measured here: after resharpening it lost only 10 sharpness points on the bamboo board to finish first at 115. Its factory edge, at 220, was duller than average.
Price
Lower is better
Seventeen of the nineteen knives cost $40 or less, and the spread between the cheapest and the most expensive is more than sixtyfold. The Zero Tolerance and the Boker sit far above everything else at $265 and $373, and they are the only two knives here not made in China.
Weight
Grams; lighter is easier to carry
Carry weight spans more than a threefold range. The Kaiser is the lightest at 61.85 g and the Civivi is not far behind at 79 g, both under 3 oz. The Gerber is in another class entirely at 197.64 g, roughly the weight of three Kaisers, and the Stein Brook and Zero Tolerance are the next heaviest at 145.63 and 141 g.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Kaiser
61.85
2
Civivi
79
3
Oldtimer
87.80
4
Boker
91.67
5
Smith & Wesson
99.37
6
Albatross
105.63
7
ICON
109.15
8
CJRB
112.71
9
GW
117.76
10
Mossy Oak
118.96
11
Kershaw
121.60
12
SOG
127.66
13
AOSILEY
129
14
Buck Knives
132.50
15
Zero Tolerance
141
16
Stein Brook
145.63
17
Gerber
197.64
Factory Edge Sharpness
Sharpness score as delivered; lower is sharper
How sharp each knife was straight from the package, measured as the downward force needed to cut through the tester's media. The $30 Civivi leads at 130, sharper than the $265 Zero Tolerance at 220 and the $373 Boker at 140. Price is a poor guide here: the $6 AOSILEY at 190 beats the Zero Tolerance, and the Crescent is the dullest measured at 235.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Civivi
130
2
Boker
140
3
SOG
155
4
Kershaw
160
5
Mossy Oak
165
6
Stein Brook
170
7
Buck Knives
175
8
ICON
175
9
Smith & Wesson
185
10
CJRB
185
11
AOSILEY
190
12
Oldtimer
195
13
Albatross
205
14
CRKT
205
15
GW
215
16
Zero Tolerance
220
17
Kaiser
225
18
Crescent
235
Opening Force
Grams of force at the blade midpoint; lower is smoother
Force applied at the midpoint of the blade to swing it open, which keeps assisted knives from getting a head start. The Harbor Freight ICON is effortless at 7 g, with the Civivi and Zero Tolerance next at 11 g each. The Gerber is the outlier at 187 g, twenty-six times the ICON and nearly twice as stiff as anything else here.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
ICON
7
2
Civivi
11
3
Zero Tolerance
11
4
Kaiser
13
5
SOG
13
6
Boker
15
7
CJRB
18
8
Stein Brook
28
9
Crescent
33
10
Mossy Oak
44
11
Kershaw
48
12
GW
81
13
Smith & Wesson
82
14
Buck Knives
89
15
Oldtimer
91
16
Albatross
97
17
CRKT
98
18
AOSILEY
105
19
Gerber
187
Blade Lock Release Force
Pounds of force to unlock the blade; lower is easier to close
Force needed to release the lock so the blade can be folded. For a lock that releases under the lightest touch, the Stein Brook comes out on top at 0.85 lb, with the Kaiser second at 1.26 lb and the Albatross third at 1.37 lb. The Oldtimer's back lock and the Smith & Wesson's frame lock are the two stiff ones at 7.35 and 6.62 lb, enough to be awkward one-handed.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Stein Brook
0.85
2
Kaiser
1.25
3
Albatross
1.37
4
Kershaw
1.62
5
ICON
1.75
6
Civivi
1.79
7
SOG
2
8
Crescent
2.08
9
Boker
2.10
10
Zero Tolerance
2.65
11
CJRB
2.67
12
CRKT
3
13
Buck Knives
3.42
14
Gerber
3.97
15
Mossy Oak
4
16
Smith & Wesson
6.62
17
Oldtimer
7.34
Blade Side-to-Side Play
Millimeters of movement measured 3.5 in from the pivot; lower is tighter
A loose blade is hard to control for detail work. A dial indicator 3.5 in out from the pivot measured how far each blade could be pushed sideways. The Zero Tolerance earns its name at 2.86 mm, with the Boker second at 4.2 mm and the Civivi third at 4.36 mm. The Albatross, Kershaw, and AOSILEY all move more than 10 mm, and the Kershaw is otherwise one of the stronger knives here.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Zero Tolerance
2.86
2
Boker
4.20
3
Civivi
4.36
4
ICON
5.34
5
CJRB
5.80
6
Crescent
6.19
7
Gerber
6.52
8
Kaiser
6.52
9
Mossy Oak
6.63
10
CRKT
6.70
11
SOG
7.37
12
Buck Knives
7.41
13
Smith & Wesson
7.77
14
GW
8.10
15
Oldtimer
8.58
16
Stein Brook
10
17
AOSILEY
10.45
18
Kershaw
10.70
19
Albatross
10.90
Sharpness After the Osage Orange Test
Sharpness score after loaded passes across osage orange; lower is sharper
Each factory edge was dragged back and forth across osage orange, an unusually hard wood, under 5 lb of load. The Boker is the sharpest survivor at 210, with the Zero Tolerance at 220 and the SOG at 225. Because the knives did not start from the same sharpness, the more telling numbers are the losses: the Zero Tolerance gave up nothing at all, while the Mossy Oak went from the sharpest edge under $16 to the dullest blade in the test at 350.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Boker
210
2
Zero Tolerance
220
3
SOG
225
4
Kershaw
235
5
Stein Brook
240
6
Buck Knives
240
7
Gerber
260
8
Civivi
265
9
Smith & Wesson
290
10
ICON
290
11
Oldtimer
295
12
CJRB
295
13
AOSILEY
300
14
Albatross
310
15
GW
315
16
CRKT
320
17
Crescent
335
18
Mossy Oak
350
Sharpness After Resharpening
Sharpness score after a 17-degree regrind; lower is sharper
Every knife was reground to a deliberately aggressive 17-degree edge — diamond stone to raise a burr, then 200 through 1,000 grit and 30 passes on a leather strop — to put the field on equal footing before the second wear test. All nineteen ended up sharper than new, between 100 and 125. The Stein Brook, Buck Knives, and Gerber took the keenest edges at 100, while the GW, Mossy Oak, and CJRB resisted sharpening and maxed out at 125.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Stein Brook
100
2
Buck Knives
100
3
Gerber
100
4
Albatross
105
5
Oldtimer
105
6
Civivi
105
7
Kaiser
105
8
Zero Tolerance
105
9
Boker
105
10
AOSILEY
110
11
Kershaw
110
12
Crescent
115
13
Smith & Wesson
115
14
SOG
115
15
ICON
115
16
CRKT
120
17
GW
125
18
Mossy Oak
125
19
CJRB
125
Sharpness After the Bamboo Board Test
Sharpness score after 50 passes on a bamboo cutting board; lower is sharper
This is the cleanest read on blade steel, because every knife started this test between 100 and 125. The Zero Tolerance finishes sharpest at 115 and the ICON second at 125, both giving up only 10 sharpness points; the SOG and Boker tie at 130, the SOG having lost just 15. At the other end the CJRB collapsed to 265, and the Oldtimer shed 110 points from a 105 edge.
Full results table
Rank
Product
Result
1
Zero Tolerance
115
2
ICON
125
3
SOG
130
4
Boker
130
5
Crescent
135
6
Kershaw
135
7
AOSILEY
145
8
Civivi
150
9
Gerber
150
10
Kaiser
155
11
Buck Knives
180
12
Albatross
185
13
Stein Brook
195
14
CRKT
195
15
Smith & Wesson
205
16
GW
210
17
Mossy Oak
215
18
Oldtimer
215
19
CJRB
265
The Verdict
The Boker is the best knife in this comparison, with the top overall record
across the whole test. It arrived at 140, held the sharpest edge of any
knife through the osage orange passes at 210, took a 105 edge on the stone and
still measured 130 after 50 passes on the bamboo board, has 4.2 mm of blade
play, opens with 15 g of force, and weighs only 91.67 g despite a 62-63 HRC
blade. Its tip came off the four-and-a-half-foot drop onto mild steel looking
untouched. The catch is the price: at $373 it is the most expensive knife
tested, more than sixty times the cheapest.
The Civivi is the value pick and the one to carry every day. It finished a
close second overall at 4.2, arrived as the sharpest knife in the lineup at
130, weighs 79 g, opens with 11 g of force, and has the third tightest blade at
4.36 mm — all for $30. For $10 more the Harbor Freight ICON is the other
standout: the easiest opener here at 7 g, 5.34 mm of blade play, and a bamboo
board finish of 125 that put it second only to the Zero Tolerance. The SOG is
worth a look at the same $40, arriving very sharp at 155, finishing third after
the osage orange test at 225, and coming through the tip drop looking new. And
at $6 the AOSILEY is a genuine surprise — a 190 factory edge, only minor tip
damage, and a 145 on the bamboo board that beats every other knife under $16 —
held
back by 10.45 mm of blade play and a stiff 105 g pull to open.
The Zero Tolerance has the best blade steel of anything here and the tightest
blade in the lineup at 2.86 mm, and it would have won outright with a keener
factory edge; at 220 out of the box it started duller than average and spent
the first test recovering. Among the cheaper knives, judge the steel rather
than the fittings. The CJRB opens smoothly and locks up tight but ended the
bamboo board test at 265, the dullest result recorded, and the GW and Mossy Oak
both resisted sharpening and then dulled fast. The GW's tip took heavy damage
on impact, the CRKT's and the Oldtimer's proved soft as well, and the Smith &
Wesson's bent badly. The
Oldtimer and Smith & Wesson locks also need 7.35 and 6.62 lb to release, which
makes one-handed closing a chore, and the Kershaw — strong nearly everywhere
else, including one of the most durable tips in the group — carries 10.7 mm of
side-to-side play. Every lock in the lineup held 25 lb of downward force
without failing, so the differences here are about edge quality and fit, not
safety.