Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards Archives

NEW BLADE Show Site Easy To Use/Navigate

Joe Kertzman

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February 15, 2013

NEW BLADE Show Site Easy To Use/Navigate

The brand-new BLADE Show website makes learning about the show, buying tickets, seeing exhibitor and sponsor lists and getting updates on the seminars schedule easier than ever!

As most knife enthusiasts have already discovered, if you like seeing new knives first-hand, and buying, collecting, selling or just talking everything knife related, then the BLADE Show is the place to be. Nearly every major knife manufacturer worldwide exhibits at the show, and more than 600 custom knifemakers display their handmade pieces. The BLADE Show truly is the world’s largest knife show, and the ultimate knife show experience.

Read news and information about the new Living Ready Expo held in conjunction with the BLADE Show. Be prepared. Relevant and timely, the Living Ready Expo is designed to educate those interested in preparing themselves and their families for all kinds of real-life survival scenarios. Get practical advice and tips on preparedness, debunk urban survival myths, learn from survivalist experts and network with other urban preppers. It is the best knife show and survival show, all for one ticket!

BLADE MAGAZINE 2012 AMERICAN-MADE KNIFE OF THE YEAR®

Steve Shackleford

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September 14, 2012

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The late great purveyor J.W. Denton said the best-looking knives were shaped like sports cars, and the Microtech Socom Delta—the Blade Magazine 2012 American-Made Knife Of The Year®—is one J.W. would have loved to take around the block for a cut or two.

MICROTECH SOCOM DELTA

•Pattern: Single-action folder

•Blade steel: Powdered CPM S35VN stainless

•Blade length: 3.75”

•Handle material: G10/carbon fiber

•Closed length: 5.25”

•Weight: 4.2 ozs.

•Special stuff: Carbon-fiber handle has a titanium lockbar w/removable insert to hold the blade securely in place; ceramic bearing system provides smooth, fast action

•MSRP: $330

•Available: Now

The Blade Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards are voted on each year at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) by the show’s exhibiting booth holders, plus a panel of five special judges, the latter whose votes count double. The 2013 BLADE Show will be held May 31-June 2, once again at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.

For the latest knives, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, and much more, subscribe to BLADE® Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. Click on http://www.shopblade.com/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us/?lid=blss091712

Blade Magazine 2012 Most Innovative American Design

Steve Shackleford

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September 27, 2012

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The AUTONOMY, by SPYDERCO

•Designer: Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Sal Glesser

•Pattern: Automatic folder

•Blade steel: H-1

•Blade length: 3.65”

•Blade pattern: Sheepfoot/rescue

•Blade grind: Hollow

•Blade finish: Satin (and a future DLC-coated version)

•Edge configuration: SpyderEdge

•Handle material: G10

•Closed length: 4.92”

•Operating/locking mechanism: Modified button lock

•Weight: 5.5 ozs.

•MSRP: $350+

The Blade Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards are voted on each year at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) by the show’s exhibiting booth holders, plus a panel of five special judges, the latter whose votes count double. The 2013 BLADE Show will be held May 31-June 2, once again at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.

For the latest knives, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, and much more, subscribe to BLADE® Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. Click on http://www.shopblade.com/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us/?lid=blss092712

2025 Knife Of The Year® Award Winners

BLADE Staff

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June 9, 2025

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The 2025 BLADE Magazine Knife of the Year® Awards proved tougher—and tighter—than ever before.

As the years go on the BLADE Magazine Knife Of The Year® Awards only get sharper. The 2025 chapter, held during the June 7-9 BLADE Show at the Cobb County Galleria, is a case in point.

Hosting among the largest fields to date in the factory knife competition, the contents had roughly 350-400 entries vying for the title of “Best” in their respective categories. Add-in production knives are reaching an unimaginable height in both design and manufacturing quality, the event was as tight as ever. Speaking to the stiffness of the competition, two categories produced contender finishers—an honor meant to recognize a creation that is nearly on par with the category winner.

The winners were selected by a panel of four judges, experts drawn from different backgrounds in the knife industry. Below are their selections of knives that are more than worthy of calling themselves Knife Of The Year®.

BLADE Magazine Overall Knife Of The Year® & Imported Fixed Blade Of The Year®

UG Tools Tiny

UG Tool Tiny BLADE Magazine Knife Of The Year® — JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY

American-Made Fixed Blade Of The Year®

Benchmade Dacian

Best Imported Folder

Vero Avid 1

Best Imported Folder Contender

Anso of Denmark Toko

American-Made Folding Knife Of The Year®

Heretic Knives Wraith Auto V.4

Most Innovative Imported Design

Work Sharp RMX Reverse Tanto

Most Innovative American Design

Sleeping Tiger Tigress

Best Buy Of The Year®

QSP Knife Glyde Lock Penguin

Knife Collaboration Of The Year

Shirogorov Knives/Charles Marlowe RKMP

Shirogorov Knives/Charles Marlow RKMP — JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY

Knife Collaboration Of The Year Contender

Lionsteel/Emerson LEOne Mid

Investor/Collector Knife Of The Year®

Shirogorov Knives Stellar-BCD

Automatic Knife Of The Year

Zero Tolerance Knives 0556

Kitchen Knife Of The Year®

Kai USA Shun Shiranami

Manufacturing Quality Award

Shirogorov Knives

Knife Accessory Of The Year

Ulticlip APH Clip

Best Of The Rest

Tactile Turn Switch

See More Award Winners:

BLADE Magazine 2012 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards

Steve Shackleford

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June 11, 2012

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Named at this past weekend’s 2012 BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, the Blade Magazine 2012 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards went to the finest production knives the world has to offer.

KAI USA and its knife divisions of Kershaw, Zero Tolerance and Shun dominated the awards, taking home four of the honors: Overall, Best Buy, Knife Collaboration and Kitchen Knife. DPx Gear was a first-time winner, and Chris Reeve Knives and William Henry Studio continued their long-term dominance in the respective categories of Manufacturing Quality and Investor/Collector Knife. Other winners included Microtech, Columbia River Knife & Tool, Spyderco and Wicked Edge. Knife Rights and the American Knife & Tool Institute each won Industry Achievement Awards for their diligence in working to have pro-knife legislation passed in a number of states this year.

The winners by category:

Blade Magazine 2012 Overall Knife Of The Year®: ZT 0888 by Zero Tolerance/KAI USA (pictured at top)

Blade Magazine 2012 American-Made Knife Of The Year®: Socom Delta by Microtech

Blade Magazine 2012 Imported Knife Of The Year®: Onion Foresight by Columbia River Knife & Tool

Blade Magazine 2012 Most Innovative American Design®: Autonomy by Spyderco

Blade Magazine 2012 Most Innovative Imported Design®: DPx HEST T3

Blade Magazine 2012 Manufacturing Quality Award: Chris Reeve Knives

Blade Magazine 2012 Best Buy Of The Year®: Cryo by Kershaw/KAI USA

Blade Magazine 2012 Knife Collaboration Of The Year®: ZT 0600, a collaboration between Zero Tolerance/KAI USA and R.J. Martin

Blade Magazine 2012 Investor/Collector Knife Of The Year®: B12 Freedom by William Henry Studio

Blade Magazine 2012 Kitchen Knife Of The Year®: Taiyo by Shun/KAI USA

Blade Magazine 2012 Accessory Of The Year®: Precision Sharpener Pro-Dash II by Wicked Edge

Blade Magazine 2012 Industry Achievement Awards®: Knife Rights and American Knife & Tool Institute

For the complete story on the winners and the knives, see the November BLADE®.

Read About Previous Winners in BLADE Magazine Back Issue Bundle

Read all about previous Knife-Of-The-Year® winners in the History of BLADE Magazine bundle. It contains DVD-ROMs for your computer to read all BLADE issues from 1973 to 2008.

Click to order this digital BLADE back issue bundle for just $60 (normally $100).

BLADE SHOW 2025 Custom Knife Award Winners

BLADE Staff

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June 9, 2025

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BLADE SHOW 2025 Custom Knife Award Winners

Craftsmanship Crowned: Winners of the 2025 Custom Knife Awards at BLADE Show

The 2025 Custom Knife Of The Year® Awards once again took center stage at BLADE Show, held June 7–9 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. As always, the event drew some of the finest custom makers in the world—and this year’s field was especially fierce.

A panel of expert judges had the unenviable task of selecting standouts across a range of categories, recognizing the blades that best embodied design, innovation, and craftsmanship. From elegant folders to bold fighters, here are this year’s winners—including the coveted Hugh Bartrug Best in Show.

Best Of Show And Best Custom Art Knife

Jean Louis Regel

Best Custom Kitchen Knife

Louis Gustavo Goncalves

Best Custom Bowie

Dionatam Franco

Best Custom Collaboration

Rhidian Gatrill/Jeremy Yelle

Best Collaboration — JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY

Best Custom Damascus

Gabe Fletcher

Best Custom Fighter

Louis Gustavo Goncalves

Best Custom Fixed Blade

Julian Antunes

Best M.A.C.K.

Richard Rogers

Best Custom Folder

Javier Vogt

Best Custom Handle Design

Pedro Fornari

Best New Maker

D. Kramp Knives

Best Custom Sword

Vince Evans

Best Custom Tactical Folder

Sinkevich Design

Best Custom Utility Hunter

Zane Dvorak

Best Utility Hunter — JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY

Best Custom Miniature

Rhidian Gatrill

Best Custom Slip Joint

Daniel Keown

Most Innovative Design

Gus Cecchini / GTC Knives

Custom Innovative — JFRASIER PHOTOGRAPHY

Best of the Rest

Julian Antunes

See More Award Winners:

2022 BLADE Show Knife-Of-The-Year® Award Winners

BLADE Staff

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June 6, 2022

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2022 BLADE Show Knife-Of-The-Year® Award Winners

See who took home the hardware at from the BLADE Show Knife-Of-The Year® Awards.

Winners were determined in 11 categories at BLADE show in Atlanta, by an expert pannel of judges. Awards ranged from Knife Of The Year to Best Kitchen Knife and everything in between.

The 2022 Overall Knife of the Year® was the Pro-Tech Malibu Operator. Pro-Tech would go on to win in two other categories. The world’s largest knife show featured attendees and exhibitors from around the world showing off the best and newest in all things knives.

Below are this year’s factory award winners from this tremendous event.