15 Favorite EDC Knives of 2023: Fixed Blades, Budget Picks, and Premium Folders

Introduction

A lot of knives launched this year, and a handful of them genuinely stuck out. This roundup breaks the year’s best into three groups: fixed blades, budget folders, and premium folders. Each pick earned its spot for a concrete reason, whether that is a blade shape that works for food prep, an action that feels effortless, or a price-to-performance ratio that is hard to beat.

Fixed Blades

Pocket fixed blades have been a big theme this year, and these six cover everything from small kitchen-style utility to full working knives.

Big Idea Design Lookout

The Lookout is a new small fixed blade from Big Idea Design that feels a lot like a paring knife: small, very utilitarian, and genuinely enjoyable to carry. The initial USA-made versions are produced in Chattanooga, with a limited run in MagnaCut, and a production model in M390 headed to Kickstarter with a different configuration. The USA-made versions were priced at $300 at Blade Show, and the production version is expected to land closer to $200. The version shown here comes with a Kydex sheath with a titanium UltiClip for pocket carry, while the Kickstarter model will ship with a deep carry clip.

Vero Axon

The Vero Axon is a very different take on the pocket fixed blade, with a lot of blade relative to the handle and a warm cliff profile built around a long flat edge. That shape makes it excellent for food prep and box opening, and it carries better than its size suggests thanks to a tight one-sided sheath. The clip, sold separately, is what really makes the package work, retaining well in the pocket. Scale options are extensive, including marble carbon fiber in various finishes and G10, so you can configure the look however you like. It has basically stayed out of stock since launch, which says a lot.

Knives by Nudj Wicket XL

The full-size Wicket XL released mid-year and is arguably the best version yet. It comes in multiple configurations, including a Primitive version and a scandy grind in A2 or CRV2, plus a full flat grind in Nitro V, with various colorways and even themed editions. The ergonomics are exceptional, and it is simply a great working knife at a good size and shape. The stock sheath is fine, but pairing it with an aftermarket ambidextrous sheath and a discreet carry clip is what turns this into one of the best pocket fixed blades around.

Wesson Knives Boris

The Boris is a traditional-style work knife in S35VN, priced around $180, currently available for pre-order with shipping slated for fall. It comes in green G10 or a very attractive Rosewood handle option, with your choice of a Kydex sheath or a leather belt sheath. It is made in Sweden, and the name honors the family ancestry behind the brand, which gives it a nice bit of history. It is a three-finger knife, so if you prefer larger handles this may not be for you, but as a small, simple, nondescript knife that just gets the job done, it is underrated.

Schwarz Knives Overland

The original Overland has been one of the standout food prep fixed blades in a long time. It uses a sheepfoot-leaning utility blade shape that excels at kitchen and camp tasks, though it is intentionally not an EDC-first knife. What sets it apart from most makers is the configurator: on the website you can pick your hardware color, collar, scales, blade finish, sheath, and even sheath hardware, similar to a customizer experience.

Schwarz Knives Overland Sport

The Overland Sport is the same winning formula scaled down for better pocket carry, and it is a genuinely smart move. It ships with an UltiClip and a pancake sheath, and it is priced at $265. If you want to save some money on either version, discount codes are often available from reviewers. Between the two, the Sport is the one that works as a daily carry while keeping everything that makes the blade shape great.

Budget Knives

Anything under roughly $100 counts here, and this year produced some of the best value folders in recent memory.

Kershaw Iridium

Kershaw had felt stagnant for a while, and the Iridium changes that. For roughly $50 to $60 depending on where you buy, you get aluminum handles, an orange-bronze backspacer, a deep carry clip, and genuinely good action: centered, drop shut, and smooth. The steel is D2, which is the expected trade-off at this price and perfectly adequate for nearly all cutting tasks. The blade shape is a drop point with some belly and a large swedge that took a little warming up to, but it grows on you. For the money, it feels as good as knives costing far more.

Civivi Sokokei

The Sokokei is a Ray Laconico design and quintessentially so: thumb studs plus a big front flipper, a very ergonomic handle, and a slightly bushcrafty feel. It is affordable, consistently well made, and solid enough that it stayed in personal carry for weeks after first testing. The stock bent deep carry clip is the weak point, easily swapped for an aftermarket option, and beyond that this is close to budget perfection.

Best Overall Budget Pick: Sencut Vision FG

The Vision FG is a more affordable version of the Vision R, both designed by SNCK, and it might be the single best budget knife of the year. It uses a super lock on the back that is similar in spirit to Demko’s shark lock, very strong and extremely fidgety. The blade shape mirrors the Vision R’s popular profile. Where the Vision R runs 20CV with titanium and a spine clip, the FG steps down to Nitro V steel, Micarta handles with liners, and a standard deep carry clip. The base version lands around $78 on Amazon, with higher configurations like Damascus pushing past $100. At that price it is exceptional.

Fox Knives Vulpus

The Vulpus is technically a multi-tool, but it is one of the most surprising releases of the year: effectively a premium Swiss Army knife competitor, something that has never really been done properly. Higher-end versions use an M390 blade, titanium scales, and genuinely refined tools, including a can opener sharp enough to grab your finger. Versions range from around $30 for a single-blade slip joint up to roughly $90 for the full titanium model. A pocket clip or a slightly larger size would make it even better, but as-is it is a very good deal.

Premium Folders

This is where 2023 really showed off, from hard-use slip joints to high-end steels and customizer ecosystems.

Tactile Knife Company Maverick

The Maverick is impressive on paper, and this year’s experience with it is worth talking about honestly. Early units had some QC issues, and one sample never quite got better no matter how much it was cleaned and tuned. A later unit, however, is phenomenal: smooth, well built, and carried constantly ever since. The clip looks oversized in photos but is not egregious in person and is very strong. Tactile is actively working on quality and improving, so if an earlier purchase disappointed you, the current production is worth another shot. When a good one lands in hand, it is easy to see why this made the list.

Wear Knives Wolf P

The Wolf P is quintessential Wear design: small handle, big wide blade, and a hollow grind. It runs M390 with a frame lock, and this bronze anodized version with Zircascus accents on the pivot collars, clip, and backspacer looks fantastic. Compared to the earlier Lucas P, which was decent but heavy and a bit clunky, the Wolf P is by far the more refined Wear knife. Action is good, the wharncliffe-adjacent profile is distinctive, and it stands as a really strong production knife.

Monterey Bay Knives Rosalinda

The Rosalinda is a Ray Laconico design re-released as a production model through Monterey Bay Knives. The action is among the best ever seen in a production knife, a true finger guillotine every time, and while it was not designed as a front flipper, it can be front flipped. You get laminated ZDP-189 at 66-67 HRC, where the lamination adds toughness to an extremely hard steel, plus a textured bead-blasted finish and M390 clip hardware. For the price, the action and performance are almost ridiculous.

Fanium Arcade

The Arcade is a shark lock folder in S35VN that made this year’s gift guide for good reason. What makes it special is the customization ecosystem: Fanium specializes in scales, backspacers, screws, and thumb studs, and you can buy those parts directly from the maker at any time. Unlike a configure-at-purchase customizer, you can keep swapping the look whenever you want, as with the swapped brass inlay and brass backspacer on this one. The drop point blade shape is a great choice, the shark lock keeps it fidgety, and the deep carry clip rounds out a really nice package.

SNX Workhorse

The Workhorse comes from a custom maker’s silver line of production versions, designed as a front flipper with a liner lock in this configuration, or a frame lock in full titanium. It has been one of the most carried knives of the second half of the year, and it lives up to its name: it feels ready for work. The Micarta liner lock version feels lighter and a touch warmer than the titanium frame lock, which was the surprise of the two. Availability was still ramping up at year end, with this configuration planned as a dealer exclusive alongside other dealer releases.

Superlative Crusador

The final slot came down to two knives, and the Crusador, formerly known as the Infidel, took it. This is a hard-use tactical slip joint, a real beef cake with a thick blade that calls to mind how substantial certain premium folders feel. It runs CPM M4 steel in a drop point profile, and it has a very hard pull that makes it feel like a worker despite being a slip joint. One of the coolest details is the custom Micarta developed with a composites partner, called Multi Canvas Black, which looks like a camouflage pattern but is built from canvas Micarta. It is one of the sickest slip joints of the year.

Jack Wolf Knives Big Bro Jack

The Big Bro Jack is the polar opposite of the Crusador and very nearly took the final spot itself. It runs S90V steel with a full hollow grind, so it is super slicey, with a big clip point and a hard-edged modern traditional look. The pull strength is remarkable, noticeably stronger than any other slip joint on hand, which some people will not love but many will. This is the definition of a modern traditional slip joint, and the wear marks from real carry show it gets used. If you want a slicey modern traditional, this is the one.

Overall Buying Advice

If you want one knife from this list, match it to your actual use. For kitchen and camp food prep, the Schwarz Overland or Overland Sport is the clear play. For pure value, the Sencut Vision FG at around $78 is hard to argue with, and the Kershaw Iridium covers a similar lane at even less. For premium daily carry, the Wear Wolf P, Rosalinda, and Fanium Arcade each justify their price in different ways: steel and fit, action, and customization respectively. Slip joint fans get two excellent directions: the hard-use Crusador or the slicey Big Bro Jack.

Conclusion

This year delivered across every price tier, from sub-$60 folders that feel far more expensive to premium fixed blades and customizer-friendly shark lock folders. Any pick here is a confident buy as long as it matches how you actually carry and cut.