This Stunning New EDC Knife Taps Into One of the Year’s Hottest Trends

As the very old, very strange saying goes “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Similarly, and much more practically, there’s more than one way to lock a pocket knife blade.

We’ve tackled a number of knife lock topics here at GP, including a guide to the most common types and an explanation of the difference between a frame lock and a liner lock.

But one thing we’d love to further explore is one of the more popular locking mechanisms of late, the button lock. Thankfully, a cool new knife just appeared to serve as an example: Artisan Cutlery’s Cleo.

Artisan Cutlery

Artisan Cutlery Cleo

• $149.99 at Artisan Cutlery
  $199.99 (25% off)

Hot button issue

It is worth noting that AC created the Cleo in collaboration with Johan Jordaan, a rising South African designer. We’ll get into the specs and features of this good-looking EDC folder shortly, but first, let’s unpack the en vogue locking mechanism. 

In the context of a pocket knife, a button lock involves the use of, yes, a push button that allows a deployed blade to click into place and stay there until the button is pressed.

Artisan Cutlery

Sometimes, especially with a number of automatic knives, the knife can be opened and closed with the touch of a button. 

However, with many manual and assisted-opening knives, there are alternative methods of deploying the knife, such as thumb holes and flipper tabs. With the Cleo, thumb studs on either side of the base of the blade hold the key to deployment. 

To bring the blade back in, the user need only to press the button (on the Cleo and most other button-lock knives, it’s located near the top of the handle), and — depending on the knife’s orientation and design — use gravity and/or a quick flick of the wrist to return it to its nesting spot in the handle.

Johan Jordaan

Now, beyond being fun to fidget with, what sort of advantages do button-lock knives like the Cleo offer? They are typically quicker and smoother to operate than liner locks. While frame locks offer the simplicity of being built right into the handle, many button locks are still easier to use. 

Additionally, button locks tend to offer something a lot of knives employing other mechanisms do not: the ability to open and close the knife with a single hand.

More to offer

Of course, that sweet button lock isn’t the only selling point of the Cleo. Like most knives designed by Jordaan, the Cleo has a pretty distinctive blade with function to match its form. It’s a full-bodied 2.54-inch wharncliffe modified to the point of resembling a cleaver.

Artisan Cutlery

The blade is made of SV90, a nicely balanced high-end super steel. Its finger choil, together with a bit of jimping and that groove on the handle and, should make this knife quite detail work-friendly. Slicing and chopping, whether we’re talking box tape, veggies or something else entirely, should be smooth and satisfying.

The overall length of this knife is 5.91 inches, and it weighs 2.36 ounces. Rounding out the features — and helping to justify the mid-range price tag — is a textured full titanium handle and a reversible titanium pocket clip with a rounded silhouette that’s nice to look at when you’re done obsessing over the locking mechanism.

Availability and pricing

The Artisan Cutlery Cleo is available now for $149.99.

Artisan Cutlery

Artisan Cutlery Cleo

• $149.99 at Artisan Cutlery
  $199.99 (25% off)

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