The folks at CRKT have teamed up with a seasoned green beret, Jeremy Valdez to bring a dream of his to life. Jeremy is highly decorated, he’s been recognized with two purple hearts, six bronze stars, one for valor, and the Special Forces Philip Neri award. Well known knife designer Bill Harsey stepped in to help Jeremy fulfill his dream of designing his own knife, and the result is the Septimo multi tool.

The Septimo is a strange beast, it features an adjustable wrench, screwdriver, bottle opener, glass breaker, and a knife. I've handled a lot of strange and interesting tools over the years, some good, some bad. The Septimo kind of rides somewhere between those two categories. Let's do a breakdown of this agglomerate of tools.

Kansept does some in house designs, but like many other companies out there, collaborations are their bread and butter. I love in house just as much as anyone else, but when a company taps into the huge wealth of talent in the industry, and brings those designs to life, that benefits everyone.

Morgan Koens is a custom fixed blade maker. He has a lot of experience in designing and making fixed blades, Morgan has teamed up with Kansept to release a design of his in a folder. His designs are the mixtures of utility and aesthetic. Morgan's designs are both works of art and work horses at the same time.

Kansept Knives was started by Kim Ning, a former production manager and designer at Kizer Cutlery. Kim has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, and his small team has similar expertise. Kansept's goal is to offer high-quality knives at affordable prices. Their lineup is certainly impressive, and I've had the opportunity to check out their new Model 6.

The Model 6 was designed by a retired law enforcement officer, Nick Swan. He needed a knife that he could trust his life on, not only as a last line of defense but as an everyday tool. The Model 6 was designed to be a working knife that could be used for various task daily but could instantly be deployed as a self-defense tool. To me the Model 6 doesn't scream self-defense, but maybe that's the point.

Back in 2020 Gerber launched a new series of tool that was meant to be an in-between in their product lineup, somewhere between a pocketknife and a full-fledged multitool. Gerber want to create something like your Swiss Army knife, and it would help prevent users from abusing their pocketknives.

Gerber launched with the Armbar Drive and the Cork, they seemed like a pretty good launch for the company and were followed up by the Armbar Slim Drive and Armbar Slim Cut in 2021. For 2023 Gerber adds two new models to the successful Armbar lineup, the Scout and Trade.

One company that's always grabbed my attention is Giant Mouse, formed by two Danish knife makers (Jens Ansø and Jesper Voxnaes (Vox), along with an American friend of theirs Jim Wirth, they decided to build a better mouse trap so to speak. Their goal was to create a knife brand that would have incredible designs, and amazing production quality while at a fair price.

When I think of those famous designs produced by the Danish duo, I see a knife like the Ace Grand. One look at it and you know who the designers are, and it's iconic in the industry. The name comes from a favorite hotel of the two designers, The Grand Hotel Nuremberg. It's an old hotel with a long history and a great name for a knife of this statue.

Rihe Designs have been a design house for knives since 2018. Like many others in the industry, they decided to branch out on their own and offering knives under their own branding. They started with a handful of models, offering designs that would challenge the norm, and offer them at a competitive price. We're taking a look at one of those models that they launched with, the RH288 model.

Revo Knives have kicking around a few years and have been bringing new and interesting designs to the industry. They believe that no one should be without a high-quality tool. They feel too often someone will go with cheap low-quality knives because they feel quality knives mean a higher price tag. Revo has been out to change that, with a high-quality product with focus on maximum value. Combined with that their team is comprised of not just knife enthusiasts, but people who have been users for decades. Today we're checking out a design they've had out for a little while, it's time tested, and popular with consumers, the Ness.

The Rexford RUT has been around since 2011 and has been used and loved by many. Todd designed the RUT not as a replacement for your pocketknife, but more as a companion for it. Todd says that he abuses razor blades and uses them like they are free. He wanted a small blade that you could get in those hard-to-reach places, and not worry about getting it nasty. Using a blade that's small like a razor may be all you need, even though popping open your knife is satisfying it can be overkill, plus the smaller blade can be used in public without raising eyebrows.

Some companies have a unique visual style, I love being able to identify a knife based on pocket clips, handle shape, etc. Finch Co. is one of those companies, founded in 2019, Finch follows a design style that harkens back simpler times, and have a vintage feel to them. The company loves traditional folders, they have infused that feel with modern materials to produce products that are visually stunning yet warm and nostalgic.

One of those modern traditionals is the Flint, the knife gets its name from a single-shot muzzle loading firearm that used flint to create a spark that ignited gunpowder to propel a lead ball. This Flint doesn't possess any explosive properties, but it's sure to get your attention. Let's check out the Finch Flint.