REVIEW – We love our knives here at the Gadgeteer. Most of the time, when a knife comes up for review, several of us reviewers are chomping at the bit to get our hands on it. This time around I’m not sure if everyone else was asleep at the wheel or just didn’t know what was being offered when not 1, not 2 but 3 Kansept knives became available. I, myself, had never handled one or even seen one in the wild, but I am familiar with the brand because I watch way too many knife reviews and unboxings on YouTube. Just from the brand name alone, I knew I wanted to review them. Yes, Kansept is a Chinese company and if you’ve had your head in the sand for the last few years, they are one of several companies making excellent knives with high-end materials and great fit and finishes. For these three, Kansept collaborated with different designers and came up with 3 very different and fantastic knives. So, if you’re a fan of geat cutlery, read on to see what I found when handling these beauties.
What is it?
The Kansept Collaboration Collection consists of three different knives with designs from three different designers built with high-end materials, like titanium and shredded carbon fiber, along with some very good steel.
What’s in the box?
- The knife
- Soft protective case
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- Warranty information
Hardware specs
Click to expand
Kansept Baku
- Overall length 7.27″ / 184.88mm
- Blade length 3.2″ / 81.4mm
- Blade Thickness 0.118″ / 3.0mm
- Blade Material Satin CPM-S35VN
- Blade Style Clip-point
- Blade Grind FlatBlade
- Finish Satin
- Handle Material Plain Titanium
- Color Gray
- Lock Type Liner Lock
- Weight 3.35oz/95g
- Model Name Baku
- Model Number K1056A3
- Designer Greg Schob
Kansept Tuckamore
- Overall Length 8.12”/206.15mm
- Blade Length 3.54‘’/89.82mm
- Blade Thickness 0.118″ / 3.0mm
- Blade Material CPM 20CV
- Blade Style Wharncliffe
- Blade Grind Flat Grind
- Blade Finish Satin
- Handle Material Titanium + Shred Carbon Fiber
- Color blackLock Type Frame Lock
- Weight 3.63oz/103g
- Model Name Tuckamore
- Model Number K1052A1
- Designer Jonathan Styles
Kansept Nesstreet
- Overall Length 8.06”/204.6mm
- Blade Length 3.58”/91mm
- Blade Thickness 0.14″ / 3.5mm
- Blade Material Damascus
- Blade Style Drop Point
- Blade Grind flat
- Blade Finish Damascus
- Handle Material Shred Carbon Fiber
- Color Black
- Lock Type Frame Lock
- Weight 4.55oz/129g
- Model Name Nesstreet
- Model Number K1039D1
- Designer Karambit Maker
Design and features
First up is the Kansept Baku designed by Greg Schob, a Coast Guard veteran and fellow Southerner. The Baku is named after a Japanese spirit that devours nightmares.
This version of the Baku has titanium scales that look perfect. They look to be bead-blasted and have a satiny matte finish. The pivot is d-shaped so it doesn’t spin when you take it apart to maintain it and uses a number 8 Torx screw. Meanwhile, the handles are held onto the steel liners with number 6 Torx screws.
The steel back spacer has a lanyard hole integrated into it for those of you who like to add lanyards and beads. The Baku uses some aggressive jimping on the blade and flipper tab for very positive traction. The detent is pretty strong on this one. It’s certainly much easier to deploy using the flipper tab than the thumb studs. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but it is harder to deploy the blade using the thumb studs. I’m sure that’ll work itself out over time.
The blade is made from S35VN steel which is known for its toughness and edge retention. The maker’s mark is a bird skull, his brand is Sparrow Knife Co., and I think you can definitely see a bird-like influence on this knife.
The blade shape is pretty interesting. Kansept says it’s a combination Persian/Tanto style but list it as a clip point in the specifications. My thoughts are it’s more of an elongated tanto. The Baku has a compound edge grind with the curved portion of the blade edge coming to a point where it meets the straight, bottom edge. It looks and cuts perfectly. My issue with it is when it comes to sharpening it. I use a stone most of the time and my concern is losing that sharp point where the two differing edges meet.
Lock up on the Baku is rock solid. There’s no wiggling or rocking at all. As you can see below, you get about 50% lock up on the lock bar.
The problem I have here is when I go to unlock it the bar is flush with the handle scales, making it a little difficult to unlock the blade. It would’ve helped to have a little bit of a thumb notch cut into the scales so I could get my big, fat thumb in there a little better.
Blade centering is dead on straight out of the box.
The Kansept Baku is a perfect mix of elegance and style with only a couple of small issues. With an overall length of 7.27″ and a combination of titanium and s35VN steel it makes it perfect for either casual or more formal situations. Even though it’s the smallest of the three, I can still get a four-finger grip on it and with its finger choil, I can even choke up on it a bit.
Next up on the chopping block is the Kansept Tuckamore designed by Jonathan Styles from Newfoundland Canada.
The model I received, as you can see, has titanium scales with shredded carbon fiber inlays. The fit of said inlays is perfect. I found no gaps or areas where the inlay sat proud of the scale. I think they look amazing and feel that way too.
The blade style is a Wharncliffe giving this knife an all-over bird of prey feel. There’s a very generously sized thumbhole in that recess, making it very easy to roll out, thumb flick, or reverse flick. It’s very much fidget-friendly.
With an overall length of 8.12″, I can easily get a four-finger grip on the Tuckamore, and even though the jimping isn’t as aggressive, there’s still enough friction there to not worry about slipping.
One of the standout features of this knife is the timascus pocket clip. Normally, I don’t particularly care for pocket clips. Usually, I just shove a knife in my pocket. I don’t necessarily want everyone to know I have a knife. But look at this thing.
Is that not gorgeous? It looks like volcanic lightning. The juxtaposition of those colors against the grays and blacks of the shredded carbon fiber and titanium is a chef’s kiss. MWAH! Another nice little design choice is the blue washers around the pivot that coordinates.
The blade is CPM 2oCV which has excellent corrosion and edge retention properties but may make it a little more difficult to sharpen. The beauty of that blade shape should help though, considering there are no curves to worry about.
The only other steel components on this knife are the stand-off spacers. There are no steel liners on the Tuckamore. Being nit-picky here, the screws are number 6 and 8 torx screws. It would’ve been nice to have 8s throughout.
Lock-up is solid as a rock. Absolutely no lock rock to speak of. Lockup is about 3o to 4o% on the lock bar which is integrated into the handle scale along with a steel insert. And there’s a recess in the handle scale for your thumb to access the lock bar, making it easy to unlock it.
Again the blade is centered perfectly.
There’s a lot to like about the Tuckamore.
Finally, we have the Kansept Nesstreet designed by Greg Wegrzycki, AKA Karambitmaker. This thing is just as gorgeous as the previous two. Obviously, the first thing to grab my attention was the Damascus blade.
Just look at that beautiful raindrop pattern. Kansept says the blade shape is a drop point that was inspired by a traditional Nessmuk, which explains the belly on the blade.
And those shredded carbon fiber handle scales. Man, they look and feel great in the hand.
Again, there’s the mixture of number 6 and 8 torx screws here and the liners and lock bar is steel. But just like the previous two, the lock-up is solid with about 50% of the lock bar and blade.
And again, blade centering is spot on right out of the box.
There’s no jimping or choil on the blade, but it is the biggest of the three so it allows for an easy four-finger grip. It really feels good in the hand.
The only thing that lets me down with the Nesstreet is the pocket clip.
This thing feels like an afterthought. It’s so generic. I feel like the design originally didn’t call for one, but somewhere along the way, someone other than the designer said it needed one. So, one was grabbed from the parts bin and slapped on.
I had almost as much fun taking pictures of these knives as actually using them so here are a few extra shots of them.
What I like
- All three knives have excellent build quality. Fit and finish are superb
- Varying but excellent blade steels
- Great use of titanium and carbon fiber
- That timascus pocket clip
- That raindrop Damascus
- Those satiny titanium handle scales
What I’d change
- Baku – easier access to the lock bar
- Nesstreet – more thought-out pocket clip
- Use of number 8 Torx throughout
Final thoughts
Kansept knives make some great blades and these collaborations prove that. All three knives incorporate fantastic blade steels and handle materials. It’s cool to see them working with knife makers from all over to bring custom blades to a wider audience. None of these are what I would call cheap, budget, or inexpensive knives, but think about if you were to try to purchase one straight from the designer. I’m sure they would cost more and there would be a wait list. These are available now from Kansept. Would I carry these every day? No. I have other knives I’ll use to open boxes and such. These three are more like works of art that I’ll carry on occasion to put a little pep in my step. Maybe someone will see it, maybe they won’t, but it’ll make me happy to carry them in my pocket. They are just that nice.
Price: Baku as configured $159.59, Tuckamore as configured $224, Nesstreet as configured $168
Where to buy: Kansept Knives
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Kansept Knives.
