This Affordable EDC Knife Almost Looks Too Good for the Money

The ergonomic design is made as user-friendly as possible, and the materials are impressive for the price.

Real Steel Spectrum knife standing up on black canvas with black background

Published December 13, 2024

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If you’re familiar with pocket knives, you can start to ballpark how much a knife might cost based on its appearance. Every so often, however, a design trumps expectations — sometimes for the better, other times for the worse.

Real Steel’s Spectrum, designed by Jakub Wieczorkiewicz, is one such knife. Thankfully, this surprisingly affordable design has definitively surpassed expectations.

Real Steel Spectrum knife on black desktop next to notebooks and credit cards — The Spectrum’s sleek design might have you expecting a premium price. You’d be wrong, though.

An exercise in ergonomics

While the Spectrum’s nearly seamless silhouette might look like an exercise in design prowess, the knife was actually crafted around user-friendliness.

The sleek blade connects to the ergonomic handle via a ceramic ball-bearing pivot, ensuring it opens smoothly and reliably every time you use it. The extended button lock was placed for both comfort and security. And the blade features a constant-radius grind to ensure simple and efficient sharpening every time.

But the most impressive part of the design might be the handle. Made from G10 (including the spacer), it’s self-supporting, offering strength and rigidity while remaining lightweight.

Closed Real Steel Spectrum knife on black notebook — From tip to tail, this surprisingly affordable knife is made to be user-friendly.

Bang for your buck

Wieczorkiewicz clearly put a lot of thought and consideration into his design. He’s done a great job blending the knife’s utility and style.

Honestly, it’s the kind of work we’d expect to pay a premium price for. Thankfully, Real Steel has surprised us yet again, pricing the Spectrum at just $80.

That’s near the MSRP of a CRKT Pilar III, our pick for the best EDC knife. For reference, the latter is older, has comparable materials, and has somewhat more commonplace features.

It’s no wonder Real Steel is so bullish about the Spectrum, describing it as a “groundbreaking EDC knife that balances innovative construction with practical utility.”

Available now

Though brand new, the Real Steel Spectrum is already being offered at a slight discount. You can score it from the brand’s site for $75 (down from $80).

This is an outstanding opportunity to get an affordable knife that punches well above its weight class.