> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Initial Review: BFE Labs UltraLight Kit Knife

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2/2/11

Initial Review: BFE Labs UltraLight Kit Knife

I have been looking for a good wallet knife for a while now. The Shivworks Lil' Loco that I have rigged up in the wallet survival kit post worked well in that wallet, but I've switched to a smaller and thinner credit card wallet, where the Lil' Loco was much too bulky. I went wallet knife-less until I recently came across the BFE Labs UltaLight Kit Knife.
The kit knife is a great little slicer. Note that the sheen is moisture from
slicing the apple, not a problem with the finish.

The UltraLight is remarkable in its thinness. It's roughly the same thickness as a credit card, and mine shipped from BFE Labs inside a standard letter envelope. Because it is so thin, the UltraLight fits where other knives can't--inside a wallet, under an insole, inside a pocket survival kit or wherever you can squeeze it. 

Despite its diminutive size, I find the UltraLight to be fairly comfortable in-hand; certainly better than the Ritter RSK Mk5. While the UltraLight is certainly not full-size Spyderco-like in its comfort, it's not bad at all. You could pad the handle with some kind of cordage/tape wrap if desired, and there's a hole for adding a lanyard, though I haven't found the need for either yet. 

The UltraLight is also deceptively tough. I was anticipating a fairly bendy, delicate little knife. The high-speed toolsteel is pretty tough, with no flex during normal use. If you put it into a vice and started bending it (as BFE Labs did during their testing), it will certainly bend. During normal use, this should not be the case--the knife is pretty strong.

The Kit knife does not come with a sheath, which is fine given the price point of this little guy ($15) and the use scenarios. This is a little knife that you hideaway for last-ditch use, so fast and regular access is not a priority, and most sheathing materials would add too much bulk to the design. I have rigged up a simple sheath using a piece of folded over cardstock wrapped in some Gorilla Tape. It's not much to look at, but works fine for me. 

The little blade arrived shaving sharp and has held up well to the initial use I've put it through. Obviously, this is not going to replace your EDC knife or a large fixed blade in a wilderness situation, but it will stand up to real chores. The grind is nice and even and the UltraLight should re-sharpen easily. My knife threw great ferro rod sparks out of the envelope.

The blade is 1.75" in length, with an overall length of 3 5/8". It fits perfectly inside an Altoids tin, without the need to turn it diagonally like the RSK Mk5. And again, the thinness means they take up minimal space inside a kit. They could easily be taped to the inside lid of an altoid tin.

Each UltaLight Kit knife is hand made and hand finished by BFE Labs, so each knife gets a high level of attention. $15 is a steal as far as I'm concerned. I'm planning on buying up a few additional UltraLights knives to stash in other kits. They come in two blade profiles, clip point and skinner. The one pictured here is a clip point blade.

The UltraLight Kit knife has become a part of my every day carry wallet, riding alongside a set of Bogota picks and a miniature ferro rod. I'm a sucker for tiny fixed blades in general, but I have become huge fan of UltraLight Kit knife in case you couldn't tell. I'll be posting more updates and pictures in the coming weeks.

The UltraLight Kit Knife is ONLY available from BFE Labs, who I've found are great to work with. Get more pictures and ordering information here >