The New Knife from an Award-Winning Designer Boasts Some Choice Ingredients

Five long years ago, a 33-year-old mountaineering and photography enthusiast named Denis Simonutti took the knife world by storm. Hailing from the Friuli region of Italy, known for the stunning Dolomites as well as white wine vineyards, Simonutti had nine years of cutlery experience when he designed a clever little folder for Fox Knives called the Radius.

It featured a stud set into a cutout that arced around the top of the pivot screw, enabling the user to open and close the modified Wharncliffe blade with a flick of the thumb. The unique look and fidget-friendly mechanism so impressed judges at the 2019 Blade Show, the Radius won Overall Knife of the Year and Imported Knife of the Year.

Now a bit older and wiser, Simonutti is turning heads again with his latest design, the Oniro. While it boasts some cleverness of its own, the Oniro is perhaps most notable for what it’s made of.

Viper

Viper Oniro UT

• $217 at Viper

Viper Oniro

Produced by Viper, knifemaking face of Friuli-based company Tecnocut, the Oniro is the brand’s first knife to carry an Axis-style cross-bar lock. Slide the thumb studs back to release the blade, give it a flick and let them go to lock it in the open position, then reverse the motion to return the blade to its sheath.

Not the first of its kind, but a fun mechanism nonetheless. And though the deep carry pocket clip is permanently affixed to one handle, because there are thumb studs on both sides, the knife is largely ambidextrous/lefty-friendly.

Viper

But like we said, we are more excited about the materials this Oniro packs. Chief among them is the fat-bellied 3.16-inch drop-point blade, which is made of the hottest steel around, MagnaCut, valued for its uncommon blend of toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance — and priced to match.

The Oniro’s pocket clip consists of shaped titanium, and when it comes to the handle, you’ve got your pick of choice materials. Six different versions of the knife are distinguished primarily by their scales, which run the gamut from green canvas micarta, orange G10 and ultem (the translucent yellow material shown at the top of this page) to brown burlap, dark matter gold (see detail shot above) and light carbon fiber (see product shot below).

Availability and pricing

The Viper Oniro is available now, with six different price points based on handle material, ranging from $215 for micarta to $274 for carbon fiber. (Figures are approximate, as we converted from Euro pricing.)

While we don’t anticipate the Oniro rocking Blade Show quite like the Radius did, its eye-popping looks and high-end materials still make it a vincitore in our book.

Viper

Viper Oniro FCL

• $274 at Viper

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