2017 New Knives

Several of the big names have released their new knives just ahead of the SHOT Show.

It looks like the Ritter Griptilian is being replaced by a knife Benchmade is calling the Freek - http://www.benchmade.com/catalog/product/view/id/15691/s/560/category/371/.

Spyderco is bringing back the A.T.R. - https://www.knifecenter.com/item/SP...nife-s30v-satin-plain-blade-black-g10-handles. Even though going to G10 over steel liners construction of the new version has shaved off 7/10 oz of weight, I think it lacks the cool factor of the original, all steel, A.T.R - http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details/C70/Spyderco-ATR-Stainless-Steel/118.

What new knives for this year have caught everyone else's eyes?

Yo Mama said:

Unfortunately, 2016 and going into 2017 both Spyderco and Benchmade lost me, due to both companies loosing their collective minds! Between garbage designs that forget anything about ergonomics, overinflated pricing, and materials not matching the money they are asking....I'm out.

Click to expand...

I thought Benchmade prices were a bit on the high side for mostly offering conventional ingot 154CM blades at their prices, and their prices for anything with an M390 / 20CV / 204P blade have been really high. Their new new "Freek" at $110 MAP for an Axis lock with 3.6" S30V blade looks to be a huge step in the right direction for them in getting price competitive.

I've had a few QA/QC issues with Spyderco, but I've always felt they offered a good value for the blade steels and other materials offered. I've also always thought that the ergos on Spydies like the Dragonfly, Native 5, Manix 2, Sage series, and Domino were great too.

All of that written, I'm still carrying a ZT 0562CF (CTS-204P blade, solid CF scale, made in USA) because I thought it was a better value than the Domino (comparable CTS-XHP blade, but made in Taiwan with a CF sticker over G10 scale).

JudgeHolden10 said:

As someone who like Zero Tolerance, I was underwhelmed for the second year with the new ZT releases. ZT seems to have developed a penchant for funky blade shapes.

Click to expand...

Yeah, "cool and unique" is a fine line between "meh, boring, plain" and "whoa, that's a little too different".

Yo Mama said:

The biggest problem I have with the Freak is that they cancelled the Ritter Grip, and rebranded the exact knife. They are doing the same with the HK line up where the price difference is stark.

Click to expand...

The price on the Freek is lower, and they did revert back to S30V from M390 blade steel, but they also improved the grip with texturing and an inlay. The HK line looks to have huge price increases with, in some cases, slight steel upgrades. We'll see how the market responds.

hso said:

The price on the Ritter was based on the one outlet for them and then the difference with a Freek is only a few dollars. BM made them solely for Ritter and stopped. Making a fundamentally similar knife and no longer making the Ritter simply means BM is no longer on my buy or recommend list.

Click to expand...

Hso, you're probably still more plugged into the industry than I currently am. Have you heard anything from Les (or someone close to him) as to why Benchmade abruptly stopped making the Ritter, HK, other outside branded knives?

Kershaw has gotten me rather interested.

They've taken the classic Leek and dressed it up with carbon fiber scales and a CPM-154CM blade:


They've also expanded the US made economy line with the rather Leek-like Dividend series:


Knife Center has a pretty comprehensive list with pricing - https://www.knifecenter.com/listing/new-2017-zt-and-kershaw-products.

Old Dog said:

That Dividend is reminiscent of a Sinkevich designed ZT flipper ... if it comes with a good edge, looks to be competitive with the 0450 and at that price, you can get four of 'em for the price of one ZT ...

Click to expand...

The specs are there. It's a 420HC blade liner lock with aluminum scales. The specs and pics make it look like a slimmer version of the Link. Based on what I've seen with the Link this should be a nice knife. Based on experience from long term ownership (and extensive use) of both a Kershaw Hinderer and a ZT Hinderer, I wouldn't consider the Dividend to be competitive with the 0450, but it'll probably be a gateway knife into ZTs and higher end Kershaws.

Old Dog said:

I've gone through a number of the Kershaw Emerson designs and been moderately pleased ...so, yeah, I think Kershaw's putting out some respectable products.

Click to expand...

If you like the Kershaw Emersons you should try a ZT Emerson. The quality you get from a ZT does make it worth the price.