Bestechman’s five G10 folders are a clean way to see how many different answers there are to one question: how should a pocket knife open? A flipper, a flipper behind a button lock, thumb studs, a thumb hole, and a crossbar-style B-Lock all show up in this one lineup, at prices running from $42.90 to $59.90 in Bestechman’s own store. Every one of the five is marked down from its list price as I write this.
The shared ground is simple. All five wear G10 scales, all five ride on deep-carry clips, and the blades cluster between 2.92 and 3.54 inches in two steels, D2 and 14C28N. What separates them is the control layout and the weight: the lightest knife here is a little over half the heaviest one’s mass. We covered Bestechman’s Cicada’s Wing-TL on its own earlier this month; this is the rest of the bench, compared properly.
Pick by the opener, not the blade
Four of the five blades sit within a third of an inch of each other, so the real decision is what your thumb does, not the blade. A flipper tab is the fastest and most fidget-friendly of the group. Thumb studs are the old standard, easy with either hand. A thumb hole is slower and surer, and it works with gloves. The locks split the same way: a liner lock, two true button locks, a button that works a liner lock, and the B-Lock, Bestechman’s crossbar entry. Choose the control layout you’d still like after a month of carry, then check the weight, because that’s the number you’ll feel every day.
Mini Dundee: the 68-gram flipper
Ostap Hel designed the Mini Dundee, and it’s built around disappearing. The handle is 3.97 inches, the shortest closed package in this group, and the listed weight is 68.3 grams. The blade is 2.92 inches of D2 in a satin-and-stonewash finish, run by a flipper tab and held by a liner lock. The pink G10 is the loudest color Bestechman sells and the easiest one to find at the bottom of a bag. The deep-carry clip mounts on either side. If your knife lives in a fifth pocket or rides in a jacket all day, this is the one that stays out of the way.
Price: $42.90 $51.90 (save $9, 17% off)
Where to buy: Bestechman
Velix: 3.3 inches of blade at 82 grams
The Velix is also an Ostap Hel design, and it plays the opposite trick: more blade, barely more knife. The 3.315-inch blade is the second longest here, yet the whole thing weighs 82 grams, closer to the Mini Dundee than to anything else in the set. The steel is 14C28N, the stainless option, where the D2 knives ask for a wipe of oil now and then. A flipper fires it and a button lock holds it, so opening and closing are both one-handed, and the deep-carry clip reverses. At $59.90 it’s the priciest of the five, and the price buys blade length per gram, the best ratio in the group.
Price: $59.90 $69.90 (save $10, 14% off)
Where to buy: Bestechman
Ronan: the B-Lock heavyweight
The Ronan is the work knife of the five, and it doesn’t hide it. The blade is 3.26 inches of 14C28N at 3.5mm thick, hardened to 58-59 HRC, running on ceramic ball bearings with thumb studs to drive it. The lock is Bestechman’s B-Lock, a crossbar setup you pull back with thumb and forefinger, and the clip is a mini deep-carry piece. The bill for all that hardware is 123.9 grams, half again the Velix’s weight with a hair less blade. That trade only makes sense one way: you want the crossbar lock and the thick stock, you’ll accept the pocket weight to get them, and the knife gets used hard every day.
Price: $51.90 $63.90 (save $12, 19% off)
Where to buy: Bestechman
Goodboy: the long one, on thumb studs
The Goodboy, designed by Keanu, is the biggest knife here: a 3.54-inch D2 blade on a 4.65-inch handle makes 8.19 inches open, the longest reach in the group. Thumb studs do the opening and a button lock does the holding, with the blade in a flat satin-and-stonewash finish and the scales in light blue G10. It weighs 98.2 grams, honest for its size, and the deep-carry clip flips sides. Pick it if your hands are large or your cutting is the kind that uses the whole edge. The studs need a deliberate push, and the size rewards it.
Price: $53.90 $63.90 (save $10, 16% off)
Where to buy: Bestechman
Firebird: a thumb hole and a button that works a liner lock
The Firebird matches the Goodboy’s 3.54-inch D2 blade and then changes everything else. The handle is shorter at 4.33 inches, the open length is 7.87 inches, and the blade stock is 3.0mm, the thinnest here, so it slices with less wedging than the Ronan. You open it with a thumb hole. The lock is the interesting part: it’s a button-actuated liner lock, where the button releases a liner, a different mechanism from the true button locks on the Velix and Goodboy. Black G10, a reversible deep-carry clip, 96.5 grams, and at $45.90 it’s the second-cheapest knife in the set.
Price: $45.90 $54.90 (save $9, 16% off)
Where to buy: Bestechman
The five, side by side
| Model | Blade | Open length | Weight | Steel | Opener and lock | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini Dundee BMK03B | 2.92 in | 6.89 in | 68.3 g | D2 | Flipper, liner lock | $42.90 |
| Velix BMK07A | 3.315 in | 7.756 in | 82 g | 14C28N | Flipper, button lock | $59.90 |
| Ronan BMK02A | 3.26 in | 7.91 in | 123.9 g | 14C28N | Thumb studs, B-Lock | $51.90 |
| Goodboy BMK04B | 3.54 in | 8.19 in | 98.2 g | D2 | Thumb studs, button lock | $53.90 |
| Firebird BMK05A | 3.54 in | 7.87 in | 96.5 g | D2 | Thumb hole, button-actuated liner lock | $45.90 |
Read the weight column against the blade column and the group sorts itself. The Velix gives up almost nothing in blade to the two 3.54-inch knives and weighs 14 to 16 grams less than either. The Ronan is the outlier: thickest stock, most weight. And the Mini Dundee is in a class of its own for carry: nothing else here is within 13 grams of it.
Which Bestechman should you buy?
Start with the Mini Dundee if the knife has to vanish in a pocket, and start with the Velix if it doesn’t. The Velix is the balanced buy of the five: stainless steel, a real button lock, and the most blade per gram. Take the Ronan for the B-Lock and the thick stock, and take it knowing you’ll feel the weight. The Goodboy is the big-hand, big-job pick, and the Firebird is the value pick with the cleverest lock in the group, at $45.90. Two store notes: Bestechman’s store takes PayPal only, and US-stock knives ship by USPS in about 4 to 10 business days. The markdowns are the store’s own list-price cuts, live tonight.
