Knives

Olight OKnife Warren Cliff Review: A Historic Blade Design Done Right

Olight's newest OKnife revives the Warren Cliff blade, a largely misunderstood design from the early 1800s, with a dual grind and thoughtful ergonomics.

Published: 10/2/2026 Updated: 10/2/2026

Olight OKnife Warren Cliff folding knife open on a concrete surface

Introduction

Olight has a new OKnife on the market, and it takes a direction that few modern folding knives dare to touch: the Warren Cliff blade. This is a large, lightweight folding knife with heavily textured G10 scales, a rifle stock-style handle shape, an overbuilt aluminum anodized pivot with blue highlights, deep jimping on the flipper and spine, and a deep pocket clip.

But the feature that truly stands out is a small arced cutout in the blade. That detail tells you Olight understands exactly what this knife is for.

What Makes the Warren Cliff Blade Different

The Warren Cliff blade is probably one of the most misunderstood blade designs in knives. It was designed back in the early 1800s, reportedly commissioned by Lord Warren Cliff, and it is built around one key idea: a straight edge that maintains full blade contact through its entire length as you cut.

Folding knife with textured G10 handle and blue anodized pivot resting open on a wooden desk

Many modern blades, like a traditional drop point, slowly or heavily roll the spine toward the edge. With a drop point, the blade has to cut its own way in as you push, because the spine no longer forces the blade deeper. The Warren Cliff instead keeps a flat blade along its full length, then drops from a relatively sharp spine down to meet the tip. When the blade moves through material, that inclined plane forces the cut deeper from the beginning of contact all the way out to the point, rather than rolling along the surface.

That is why the Warren Cliff is positioned as a self-defense oriented design rather than a general-purpose utility blade.

A Dual Grind Built for Real Use

Pure Warren Cliff blades have a couple of powerful uses and then tend to fall apart. They are limited for tasks like field dressing game or whittling, much like a utility blade. Olight clearly recognized this and built a dual grind into the blade.

Close-up of a dual grind knife blade showing hollow grind near the handle and flat grind toward the tip

The section near the handle uses a hollow grind, which is similar to what Buck uses on most of its blades: extraordinarily sharp, but not as strong. Moving out toward the tip, the blade transitions to a traditional flat grind that maintains mass to support the tip. That means when you engage something heavily, there is enough material up front to hold together, instead of tapering into a fragile fine point that could break off.

Handling and Everyday Carry

This is a very light knife but also a very big knife, which gives it a distinct personality compared with typical EDC folders. The flipper is heavily jimped, the spine carries deep jimping as well, and there is a thumb ramp indentation above the fuller and the hollow grind that gives a surprisingly effective grip once the blade is out.

Person holding a folding knife with a deep pocket clip attached to a jeans pocket

One practical note on deployment: releasing the detent slightly before flicking the blade out lets you establish full control of the handle immediately. Flicking from the blade itself leaves your hand stuck in a position that is not a safe or functional grip.

A word of caution is warranted here. Sheepfoot-style blades are among the safest blade shapes, while the Warren Cliff is arguably one of the most dangerous. There is a good chance you will love playing with this knife, but also a good chance you will cut yourself if you are careless.

Who Should Buy the Warren Cliff

The Warren Cliff suits a specific buyer: someone interested in a purpose-driven self-defense oriented folder, or a collector who appreciates a historic blade design executed with modern materials. It is not a bushcraft workhorse, not a friendly everyday drop point, and not a cleaver-style utility knife. It has a few distinct purposes, and those purposes are narrower than most EDC knives.

If you have been carrying drop points, cleaver-style flippers, or smooth organic stone-feel designs and want something genuinely different, this is one of the more interesting departures to hit the OKnife lineup. Kudos to Olight for pushing out something this different in knife creation.

Folding knife standing open on a concrete workbench in soft afternoon light

Conclusion

The Olight OKnife Warren Cliff is a bold, well-considered take on one of knife design’s most misunderstood patterns. The dual grind makes it far more functional than a pure Warren Cliff blade, the construction is genuinely overbuilt, and the small arced cutout shows the designers knew exactly what this knife is for. If you understand and respect what this blade was designed to do, it is a rewarding and distinctive carry.

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