Gary Portman 
CIVIVI is what happens when a factory known for expensive folders decides to build cheaper ones. WE Knife launched the brand in 2018 for affordable everyday carry knives, and the parent company shows in the details: ceramic ball bearing pivots, … Read more
Most people buying a multitool look at the number of tools on the box. That number is the least useful thing about it. What decides whether you’ll carry a multitool, and use it, is how much it weighs, whether the … Read more
A santoku is the knife for cooks who chop straight down instead of rocking. Its flat edge lands on the board from heel to tip, the dropped tip keeps your fingers clear, and the shorter blade feels nimble on a … Read more
A whetstone is the one sharpener that works on every knife you own, from a soft German chef’s knife to a hard Japanese gyuto to the folder in your pocket. Pull-through gadgets grind a fixed angle with carbide or ceramic … Read more
Damascus steel is the knife world’s most beautiful marketing word. True Damascus today means pattern-welded steel: two or more steels forged together, folded and etched so the layers show as waves. It can make a great knife or a pretty, … Read more
Most people buy the wrong machete for their yard. They pick the thickest, meanest-looking blade on the shelf, then find it tires their arm in ten minutes and bounces off green vines. For brush, weeds and blackberry canes, a long, … Read more
Ontario knives are good if you want honest, low-cost working tools: machetes, carbon steel kitchen knives and military-pattern fixed blades that Ontario has made in Franklinville, New York, for generations. They’re not the brand for polished fit and finish or … Read more
HENCKELS knives are good value, and of all its lines I’d buy Classic: fully forged, made in Spain, and close in feel to the far more expensive ZWILLING knives from the same company. The stamped sets (Statement, Solution) are fine … Read more
The Tumbler is a good sharpener for people who want sharp kitchen knives and will never learn to use a whetstone. You stick the knife to a magnetic block that sets the angle, roll a diamond disc along the edge, … Read more
Most people who search for the best kitchen knives are really asking which knives to buy, and the answer is fewer than the block sets suggest. A home kitchen runs on a chef’s knife (or a santoku), a small paring … Read more