Kansept does some in house designs, but like many other companies out there, collaborations are their bread and butter. I love in house just as much as anyone else, but when a company taps into the huge wealth of talent in the industry, and brings those designs to life, that benefits everyone.

Morgan Koens is a custom fixed blade maker. He has a lot of experience in designing and making fixed blades, Morgan has teamed up with Kansept to release a design of his in a folder. His designs are the mixtures of utility and aesthetic. Morgan's designs are both works of art and work horses at the same time.

Kansept Knives was started by Kim Ning, a former production manager and designer at Kizer Cutlery. Kim has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, and his small team has similar expertise. Kansept's goal is to offer high-quality knives at affordable prices. Their lineup is certainly impressive, and I've had the opportunity to check out their new Model 6.

The Model 6 was designed by a retired law enforcement officer, Nick Swan. He needed a knife that he could trust his life on, not only as a last line of defense but as an everyday tool. The Model 6 was designed to be a working knife that could be used for various task daily but could instantly be deployed as a self-defense tool. To me the Model 6 doesn't scream self-defense, but maybe that's the point.

Back in 2020 Gerber launched a new series of tool that was meant to be an in-between in their product lineup, somewhere between a pocketknife and a full-fledged multitool. Gerber want to create something like your Swiss Army knife, and it would help prevent users from abusing their pocketknives.

Gerber launched with the Armbar Drive and the Cork, they seemed like a pretty good launch for the company and were followed up by the Armbar Slim Drive and Armbar Slim Cut in 2021. For 2023 Gerber adds two new models to the successful Armbar lineup, the Scout and Trade.

One company that's always grabbed my attention is Giant Mouse, formed by two Danish knife makers (Jens Ansø and Jesper Voxnaes (Vox), along with an American friend of theirs Jim Wirth, they decided to build a better mouse trap so to speak. Their goal was to create a knife brand that would have incredible designs, and amazing production quality while at a fair price.

When I think of those famous designs produced by the Danish duo, I see a knife like the Ace Grand. One look at it and you know who the designers are, and it's iconic in the industry. The name comes from a favorite hotel of the two designers, The Grand Hotel Nuremberg. It's an old hotel with a long history and a great name for a knife of this statue.