I was on a roll there for a bit and seem to have slowed down some. Dealing with some health issues as well as mental junk, took me some effort to put this together. If I sound a bit English in some parts, I'm listing a podcast with an English guy and I think it's rubbing off on me some.
The EDC landscape has changed alot in the last decade, and among those changes are the sheer number of newcomers to the industry. I absolutely love finding these companies, what they offer, what their ethos is, and how are they going to complete in what feels like an oversaturated market. It takes a lot to stand out above the rest, let alone be heard in all this noise, one company that has grabbed my attention is Tekto Knives.
The company was born out of an outdoor excursion in the backwoods of Maine in 2016. Some of the companies early partners were disappointed with the way their knives performed in the northeastern environment. The conditions left the teams knives chipped, dull, and unreliable. This experience spawned a development project that became what is now Tekto. They wanted to created products that would handle harsh environments, and be reliable for those who depend on their equipment.
The company is known for their automatic knives, but I wanted to check out something that would be friendlier to most areas. The F2 Bravo is very simplistic in it's lines and appearance, but under the hood are some premium features that are found on high end knives today. The Bravo's dimensions pack a lot in a small form factor, coming in at 4.40" closed and 7.80" open, it seems like this would be a pretty big knife. The thin profile combined with those premium materials, create a knife that light, and capable.
I for one always like to talk about the handle first, it's what we interact with the most, and it can make it break a good knife. The 4.40" handle provides more than enough purchase for even those with meaty mitts. It's a very simplistic design, straight with some faceted scales, but it does the job nicely. What surprised me the most about it is the weight. Tekto uses a forged carbon fiber for its handle, and not only is it striking in appearance but helps reduce the weight down to a mere 2.4oz. I wasn't sure what forged carbon was, so I had to look it up. Seems it's a carbon fiber that is made from short, randomly oriented carbon fiber strands. The strands are fused and hardened using resin. It's quite attractive and the way the light refracts off of it is sure to grab some attention. The company's website claims there's some G10 in the mix, but it's hard to tell visually. Lastly on the handle design we have a stylized pivot, this seems to be common these days and I quite like it. Having a one sided bolt help keep it from rotating during disassembly, and help add to the overall appearance of the knife.
The thin blade on the F2 is made from D2 steel, I feel like D2 has become more of a staple in the import category then any other. This doesn't detract from its reputation for being easy to sharpen, yet being able to take a good edge, and hold it well. The blade is 3.10" long, and can handle a variety of chores quite easily. The slim profile is reminiscent of a scalpel, and performs a lot like one. The blade is opened via a flipper tab, and combined with the bearings in the pivot, this thing pops out very quickly.
The knife performed really good over the last few months, it's so light that I don't realize it's on me, and the blade tackled every task I put it to without complaining.
The F2 Bravo ticks a lot of boxes, making it a great slim EDC that is super attractive. The light weight, iridescent handles, and agile blade, make this a winner.
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