Daily Steel — EDC Folding Knives

Best-of lists

All lists →

under $100

Listicle The 9 best EDC knives under $100 that'll outlast your excuses

Vosteed Raccoon leads. Nine knives that earn their keep. The list the market needed.

Apr 2025 · 8 min

above their price

Listicle 7 knives that punch insanely above their price tag

The Knafs Lander leads the conversation. Because $100 shouldn't mean settle.

May 2025 · 6 min

gift guides

Seasonal Holiday gift guides: under $75, under $150, under $250

Three tiers, fifteen knives, zero filler. Something for every person on your list.

Nov–Dec 2025 · 3-part series

Our current top 5

Full rankings →

01

Vosteed Raccoon (Nitro-V)

The daily carry benchmark at $72. Button lock, Nitro-V, aluminum. Outperforms knives costing twice as much.

$72

02

Knafs Lander 3 (clip point)

S35VN, clutch lock, brown paper micarta. Ben Petersen's best knife yet.

$128

03

CJRB Pyrite

AR-RPM9 and a ceramic ball bearing button lock at $57. The market hasn't priced this correctly yet.

$57

04

GiantMouse ACE Riv (MagnaCut)

The finest sub-3" folder available. Italian-made, Ansø + Voxnaes, MagnaCut steel.

$175

05

Kershaw Bel Air (MagnaCut)

USA-made MagnaCut at $155. The knife that finally gave Kershaw a place on this list.

$155

Guides & opinions

All writing →

Guide How to buy your first EDC knife: the Daily Steel version

Starts where you actually are, not where the industry wants you to be. The answer is a Raccoon Cub or a Pyrite.

Apr 2026 · 5 min

Guide Blade steel 101: what the spec sheet actually means for your carry

The metallurgy you need to know. Everything else is noise.

Jun 2025 · 7 min

Opinion Why the clip-side snob wars are exhausting and pointless

Tip-up vs tip-down is a vibe, not a philosophy. Let's all move on.

Jun 2025 · 4 min

Guide The pocket clip is the most underrated spec — here's how to read one

Everyone reads the blade steel. The clip is what you interact with fifty times a day.

Oct 2025 · 5 min

Opinion Carry culture vs. collector culture: the knife you open is the only one that matters

Both cultures are real. One of them is the reason this site exists.

Mar 2026 · 5 min

Opinion Why Chinese-made knives aren't what they were — and why people still pretend otherwise

The dismissal is a decade out of date. The market has moved. The conversation hasn't.

Sep 2025 · 5 min

From the archive

Full archive →

Opinion Year in carry: what we actually had in our pockets in 2025

Dec 2025 · 5 min read

Review ZT 0308 long-term review: six months, no apologies

Aug 2025 · 7 min read

Listicle Summer lightweight carry: 5 folders under 2oz that don't compromise

Jul 2025 · 5 min read

Opinion Is a $300 knife worth it? An honest answer

Aug 2025 · 6 min read

Listicle Cold weather carry: 5 folders that work with gloves

Nov 2025 · 5 min read

Series Size Matters Vol. 1: the case for sub-3" folders

Ongoing series · Vol. 1–2 available

Gear that earnsits place in yourpocket.

Best-of lists

Our current top 5

Guides & opinions

From the archive

Gear that earns
its place in your
pocket.