CobraTec Knives Rundown — Best Value Out There?

Knives are something I haven't delved into super deep on the channel, but last year I found a company I really, really like, and since then I've built up a bunch of their blades for all different purposes. This is the CobraTec rundown.

The one you've seen in my EDC videos is the Diablo — the knife I carry with me all the time. It's an automatic folder with a safety switch and a push button: disengage the safety and the blade pops right up. I really like having that safety, because this thing lives in my pocket and the last thing I want is it lying open on me. Stonewashed D2 blade, G10 scales, about 8 inches overall with a belt clip. I have literally been carrying this exact knife for almost a year and haven't found anything I'd rather have in the pocket. These run right around $60-70.

I also picked up a couple of the more classic-styled options. There's a manual folder with a woodgrain-look G10 grip — super skinny, bearings so smooth the action feels like glass — that I run as my secondary carry when I want to switch things up. And then there's the Trapper with the stag inserts, an old-school looker like the knife my dad used to carry, except better made. It's not a pull-out; you push a little slide on the side and up pops a polished D2 blade. It makes an impression when you pull it out, and it's right around a hundred bucks.

The Ryker is my range knife, in the same desert tan as my Diablo. It's another auto with a safety, a bigger footprint than the Diablo at about 8.75 inches and 5.9 ounces, and the textured grip on it is awesome — your fingers fall right into the grooves. I've only had it a month or two and it's quickly working into the rotation because of how good it feels in the hand.

Then there's the Kingpin — my battle knife, and I own it in two colors on purpose. One rides on my belt, one on my kit, because when you're training with a knife you want to be grabbing the same blade every time, not relearning your draw. It's a full-tang, fixed-blade drop point in D2 with cut-in G10 scales, around 7 or 8 ounces, and it comes with a Kydex sheath with an adjustable Blade-Tech-style belt attachment — multiple mounting holes, adjustable to your belt width, and the draw is crisp and clean. About $120, and it doesn't get much classier looking for a battle knife. Only oddity: my two Kingpins came with different belt attachment hardware, and I'm not sure why.

The whole package seals it. The boxes give me straight G.I. Joe-versus-Cobra flashbacks, every knife includes a signature build card with the initials of the person who made it, and they all carry a lifetime warranty at price points from about $50 to $150. One honest note: CobraTec is probably best known for their OTF — out-the-front — blades, and I'm just not an OTF guy. I don't even know why I don't like them. Maybe that changes as I get deeper into knives, but everything here serves a purpose for me, and every one of them is very, very well built.