Blade Show 2023 Roundup: 12 Knives and EDC Picks Worth Your Attention

Introduction

Blade Show always brings a flood of new gear, and this year’s haul was bigger than usual: more than two dozen knives plus a table’s worth of accessories. Rather than dump everything into one giant list, we’ve pulled out the picks that are actually worth your attention, organized from the non-knife highlights to the folders and fixed blades that stood out the most.

A quick note on how this list was assembled: every item here was either purchased at the show, released around the show, or sent over for long-term testing. Prices are listed where they were confirmed, and anything still in prototype status is flagged as such.

Non-Knife Picks That Earned a Spot

Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust

If you liked the original Precision Adjust, the Professional Precision Adjust is the version that fixes most of its limits. The wider abrasives are easier to swap and make sharpening faster, edge finish comes out more consistent, and an included angle guide keeps you precise. The small knife table is the standout: it lets you sharpen very small blades, like a Victorinox or even certain OTF knives, that other systems struggle to clamp. This one has been selling out repeatedly, so if you want it, be ready to move fast on restock days.

Big Idea Design TI Ultra

The TI Ultra is one of the most adaptable pens around. Out of the box it is a fountain pen, and with the included conversion parts it runs as a ballpoint, rollerball, or fountain pen, with a spare nib included. It is bigger than the brand’s Fountain EDC, but the flexibility is the draw: one pen body, three ink styles.

CWF Peanut

The Peanut from CWF is the successor in spirit to the Micro Arcadian Click, scaled up slightly to a one-inch diameter body running an 18350 battery. It is extremely compact for its output, seriously bright, and has a programmable red secondary that can be set to blue or green. It has only been available briefly, so full details are still thin, but it is already among the best compact flashlights around.

Benchmade’s New Releases

Benchmade Narrows

The Narrows is Benchmade’s new ultra-thin folder, roughly the same width footprint as a Bug Out but about a quarter inch thick, with M390 blade steel. Benchmade changed up the Axis lock here: no Omega spring, replaced with ramped buttons instead of studs that are easier to actuate. The catch is price, with an MSRP of $580 (around $522 at some retailers), which is steep for a non-integral Benchmade. The clip tension is light, which makes it easy to shake open, but after carrying it for months, it is easy to recommend if the budget fits.

Benchmade Auto Immunity

The Immunity family is essentially an aluminum-handled Bug Out with a shorter modified sheep’s foot blade in M4 steel. The Auto Immunity is fully automatic, and the Partial Immunity is a California-legal auto with a slightly shorter blade. All three share the same compact, lightweight handle that fits smaller hands well, with a lanyard included for larger grips. It was the knife grabbed first after getting home, which says a lot.

Pro-Tech Rockeye SBR

The Rockeye SBR, short for Short Blade Rockeye, pairs a bronze aluminum handle with a pearl button that looks genuinely striking. The full-size Rockeye is a tank of a knife, but the SBR is the better everyday scale. This was the first knife purchased at the show, and the bronze aluminum finish is a big part of the appeal.

Arcform’s New Titanium Frame Lock

Arcform soft-launched a new titanium frame lock folder at the show with only about 30 units across four colorways, so information online is still scarce. The design leans heavily into Sebenza territory: a flat slab frame lock, slightly more tapered, running on bearings with M390 blade steel and an almost leaf-style sheep’s foot blade. The action is phenomenal, it feels great in the hand, and the black-and-gold version with those distinctive thumb studs is a looker. This is only Arcform’s third model, and it is a strong step forward.

Glow Rhino Fermi

The Fermi’s hook is tritium: glowing inserts on both sides of the handle plus a glowing thumb stud, so the knife is findable in the dark without ever charging anything. Blade steel is D2, which draws complaints at its roughly $100 price, but large tritium vials run around $7 each at retail, so the built-in glow is effectively pre-paid aftermarket value. It runs on bearings with a deep carry clip. If tritium appeals to you, this is one of the more accessible ways in.

Superlative Matador

The Matador is the latest release from Superlative, the three-way collaboration between Enrique Pena, Jared Oeser, and Javi Garcia. It is a very large knife with a steak-knife-like profile and a futuristic layered look: a subframe under a scale that removes the need for a lock bar stabilizer. The odd part is the hexagonal thumb disc, which is slick in the up-push direction and clearly meant to be pushed outward instead. Retail is around $320.

Jack Wolf Knives Gunslinger Jack

The Gunslinger Jack is Jack Wolf Knives’ first locking knife, breaking away from their high-end slip joint roots, and it may be the single best pickup of the whole show. It is a front flipper in a traditional style with a long fuller that doubles as a nail nick, and it opens just about every way you can imagine: Spidey flick, thumb flick, front flip, over-the-top front flip. The sound alone is worth hearing. The carbon fiber scales are unusually tasteful for non-carbon-fiber fans. This is modern traditional done right.

Big Knives, Big personalities

Artisan Cutlery Accelerator

The Accelerator was a Blade Show exclusive in its frag-pattern handle form, and it is enormous: wider and slightly longer than even the Matador. The flipping action is a guillotine, backed by an S90V blade on bearings with a titanium frame lock and a harpoon swedge. It is not for everyone, but the ergonomics and presence make it a fun purchase for anyone drawn to oversized folders.

Tactile Maverick

The Maverick runs MagnaCut on washers with a hydraulic action, and the choice of washers over bearings is a genuine plus for real use since it stays cleaner under hard work. The tapering keeps the knife fairly thin even though the clip and standoffs look bulky up close; in person it is less imposing than it appears in photos. It is one of the show favorites among the folders.

We Knife and Svord Picks

We Knife Hyphen

The Hyphen is a Gavko design with thumb stud deployment, a frame lock on bearings, a milled-and-bent clip, a big harpoon swedge, and a generous choil. Around $240 to $250, it is simply a really sharp-looking folder with an ergonomic notch that works for thumb or finger.

We Knife Vision R

The Vision R, a Snacs design, is one of the most unusual folders around thanks to its Recoil lock, a spring-actuated lock bar (the same mechanism Demco uses) that you pull back to release. The 20CV blade has hole openings that not everyone will love, but the small porthole window lets you watch the lock working, which is genuinely fun. The tucked-away clip keeps the knife low in the pocket, though it means the knife comes out facing the wrong way and needs a flip. Roughly $240, and highly sought after.

Monterey Bay Knives Sea Otter

The Sea Otter, in MagnaCut, is an understated workhorse. It runs on washers with a smooth hydraulic motion that drops shut slowly, and the stonewashed finishing on handle and blade gives it a restrained, premium feel. Think smaller, lighter PM2 energy without being a clone. Around $400 at the show, with a front flip option if that is your thing. Easily one of the favorite pickups.

Vero Engineering Synapse

The Synapse needs little introduction for folder fans, and this all-black DLC version with marbled carbon fiber scales is the stealthiest take on it. Flipper tab, front flipper, and a rear pocket for Spidey flicking give you every opening style. It comes in mini, regular, and XL sizes. The Axon Mini frame lock, also shown in DLC with stonewashed titanium, drops the flipper tab but keeps the pocket and front flip options.

Beg Knives Goes Production

Beg Knives is moving from high-end customs into production, and the results are genuinely impressive. The Galaxy is a button lock with a big hole opening, a harpoon swedge, rolling aluminum back spacers that feel almost like magnesium, a green G10 inlay on a black handle, and a decorative pivot collar, all with the satisfying tent-ball clip. The Diamichi, a flipper with a liner lock on bearings, is arguably the smoothest knife of the entire show: polished to the point of feeling like it runs on glass, close to Grimsmo Rask levels of refinement. Both folders run D2 steel in the roughly $100 to $150 range, with the Galaxy near $150 and the Mini Glimpse at $100.

Fixed Blades Worth Carrying

LT Wright Frontier First

The Frontier First was picked specifically as a tiny backpacking fixed blade, and it fits that brief perfectly. Small, very lightweight, and small enough to wear as a neck knife or on a belt without getting in the way. The configuration here is MagnaCut with python Micarta, and these run around $120 depending on setup. A great size for anyone who wants a fixed blade that disappears in carry.

Best Small Fixed Blade: TCAL Piranha

The Piranha is one of the top three picks of the whole show. It is a very small fixed blade in ADCRV2 steel with phenomenal ergonomics, and the sheath is what elevates it: a one-sided design with a discrete-carry clip that pushes in and pops out with one motion, no threading through a pancake sheath. For an EDC fixed blade, the sheath can make or break the knife, and this one gets it right. The Piranha is out now, currently between restocks, at $150.

Overall Buying Advice

With this much new gear, matching the knife to the use case matters more than chasing hype. If you want a slim, premium flipper folder, the Benchmade Narrows is the most refined new design, but only if the price works for you. For pure value and character, the Glow Rhino Fermi, We Knife Hyphen, and the Beg Knives Diamichi all deliver well under $250, with the Diamichi offering the best action-per-dollar at the show. Fixed blade fans should look hard at the LT Wright Frontier First for lightweight carry and the TCAL Piranha if sheath convenience matters, which it should for anything clipped inside the waistband. And if sharpening your collection is part of the hobby, the Work Sharp Professional Precision Adjust is the upgrade worth waiting for a restock.

Conclusion

Blade Show 2023 delivered an unusually strong mix: Benchmade experimenting with its lock design, Arcform and Beg Knives stepping into serious production, Jack Wolf branching into locking knives with style, and small fixed blades like the Piranha proving that a great sheath can be the deciding feature. Whether you are upgrading a daily carry or building out a collection, there is something in this lineup that earns its place.