EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Have you ever lost or misplaced a key piece of gear or a pocket knife in the dark?
It doesn’t matter whether you are on a camping trip or in the garage at home, it can be annoying.
Michigan-based Glow Rhino, however, offers a solution. They have been making “glow” fobs, pocket knives and other gear that can stand out in the dark.
They use tritium, a low-grade radioactive substance, to give their gear a glow-in-the-dark effect. Don’t worry: It’s safe.
For several days, I was able to carry around one of the company’s pocket knives – the Glow Rhino Fermi. Well-known knife company Bestech makes this knife for Glow Rhino.
This knife features black G10 handles and a blacked-out D2 blade.
Normally, an all-black knife would be the last one I would take out on a camping trip or outdoors after dark.
But this knife has three tritium accents – one on each handle and the other on one of the thumb studs.
That gives the knife three spots that glow in the dark and makes it easy to find, even with its all-black look.
Tritium doesn’t need to be charged up. It automatically glows in the dark or low-light conditions. The company says tritium has a half-life of 12 years but can maintain its glow for longer than that.
Here is a link that explains how tritium works and other frequently asked questions.
The tritium accents are a nice feature, but they wouldn’t mean much if this wasn’t a fully functioning pocket knife.
Let’s take a look.
First off, it looks really sleek and clean with its blacked-out look. There is a small Glow Rhino logo on the blade that can be seen when it is closed. The two handle accents with tritium also break up the black look.
One of the thumb studs also contains some tritium for that glow-in-the-dark effect. You can choose from five different colors to give that thumb stud a slight pop against that all-black background of the rest of the knife.
The one I have been able to check out – on loan from my friend JB at Big Red EDC – has a pop of red.
The black G10 handles have some slight texturing to increase its “grippiness.” The knife also has a black metal back spacer and deep-carry pocket clip that does not appear to be reversible (sorry, my left-handed friends).
The blade is deployed using ambidextrous thumb studs, which really rocket the blade out when used.
The locking mechanism is a liner lock, giving the knife a little bit of a traditional feel.
Here is a look at some numbers, though they tell only part of the story.
The D2 drop-point blade is 3 inches long. The knife is 7 inches long when fully open and it weighs in a touch over 3 ounces.
The knife is definitely on the small side. When it is closed, it barely extends beyond my closed-up fist.
Despite the small size, I can get four fingers around the handle easily and the knife feels natural in hand.
My verdict: This is a cool knife that definitely feels like it could be regularly carried as part of my EDC. I am intrigued by the tritium accents too. Seems like a cool innovation.
Here is a link to the Glow Rhino home page and one to the Fermi pocket knife. The knife is currently listed for $99.99 on the company website.
Here are some YouTube channels I watch and enjoy on pocket knives and other EDC gear.
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