EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Sometimes, carrying around a cheap, “beater” pocket knife feels kind of liberating.
Frequent readers of this space know I am a budget knife guy at heart, but I also like quality and try to blend the two — price and craftsmanship.
But sometimes, it really feels great to carry around a cheap knife that you can use, abuse and maybe even lose without breaking your heart.
Recently, I got such a knife from my friend Tom over at YouTube channel Knife Delights. Tom wanted me to give it a try, jot down some thoughts and participate in a group project that he created.
I like to kid Tom that he and several other friends and mentors are helping me earn a Ph.D. in pocket knives. Everytime I communicate with him or watch one of his videos, I learn something new about this hobby that I have been involved in off and on since I was a boy.
Here is some background on this knife and project.
Tom over at Knife Delights recently did a four-part series which he dubbed “the ultimate knife review.”
He purchased a dozen identical Frost Cutlery copperhead knives with blue jigged bone covers from retailer Cutlery Corner Network.
The idea was to check out the quality control and consistency for Frost Cutlery, which is a well-known budget brand. Tom took a look at every aspect of these knives over four meticulous episodes on his channel.
Tom also did some quick math and figured out that each knife cost roughly $7.
Well, Tom from Knife Delights sent these knives out to myself and other content creators to get us involved in the project and hear what we think.
As I started to carry this Frost Cutlery copperhead around as my secondary knife, I had to remind myself not to be too harsh on it. After all, it is just a $7 knife.
My initial impressions are as follows.
There are some minor workmanship issues. The blue bone handle is a bit rough and ragged around the Frost shield, which itself seems to be a bit off-center.
There are some minor gapping issues between the bone handles and the bolsters.
And there is a rough spot along the back springs.
I’m not sure if the bone handles are really bone or if they are some sort of synthetic that is a clever masquerade.
But it does have a nice look, especially with the jigging that gives the knife an old-time feel.
A copperhead is a type of traditional knife that has an elongated bolster – like the canoe knife – but only at one end.
The elongated bolster is meant to help keep the blade mechanism cleaner and keep it from snagging on your pocket when you take the knife in and out.
This Frost knife is on the small side – 3 ¼ inches when closed. It is small enough where my closed fist nearly conceals the closed-up knife.
This knife has two blades – coming from the same end – a clip point and a smaller pen blade. Both have nail nicks that can be used to open them up.
The walk and talk – the way the knife opens and closes – is a bit on the spongy side. The secondary blade – the pen blade – seems to have more snap than the main blade.
Both knives are sharp enough to cut paper and adequately take care of some other EDC tasks, but they aren’t razor sharp. Again, a $7 knife.
Overall, the Frost Cutlery copperhead is a cool little knife. Whatever issues it may have are not major and certainly won’t keep it from serving as a backup carry in a pinch.
Here are links to the “ultimate knife review” on Knife Delights:
Here is a link to J.O. Ventures Outdoors and his take on the Frost Cutlery copperhead as part of this same project.
Here are some other YouTube channels on knives and EDC gear that I find informative and entertaining.
The Cutting Edge (Formerly Last Chance Knives)
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