I LOVE remarkable products and I am always searching to find ways to reduce weight of our kit without giving up performance. When I met Nathan Creech, the owner and founder of Kestrel Knives at our grand opening in April, we instantly hit it off talking about backpack hunting, kit, weight and gear.
Nathan showed me a prototype titanium knife he had designed and I could not believe how light it was. It solved all the issues and shortcomings of replacement blade knives and weighed less. I asked Nathan if we could work together to design and build a line of knives exclusively for KUIU. Nate and I have been working through different designs and testing the knives since June.
Together we have designed the lightest set of fixed blade knives ever made. They weigh only a few grams (less than one ounce), and stay sharper longer due to the tungston carbide edge and give you all the utility of a fixed blade knife without the weight.
We developed 3 styles:
Skeleton EDC
-17 Grams
– 6.5″ Long
– 1″ High
– 2.5″ Blade
– 3″ Cutting Edge
– 3 3/4″ Handle
– .080″ Thick
– 6AL-4V Titanium
– Tungsten Carbide Edge
– Convex Edge
Price $149.99
- Kydex Sheath $25.00
- Ultralight Velcro Sheath $8.00
Skeleton Caper
-14.5 Grams
– 6.5″ Long
– 3/4″ High
– 2 3/4″ Blade
– 2 7/8″ Cutting Edge
– 3 5/8″ Handle
– .080″ Thick
– 6AL-4V Titanium
– Tungsten Carbide Edge
– Convex Edge
Price $149.99
- Kydex Sheath $25.00
- Ultralight Velcro Sheath $8.00
Skeleton Skinner
-29 Grams
– 7 1/4″ Long
– 1 5/8″ High
– 3″ Blade
– 3 5/8 Cutting Edge
– 4 1/4″ Handle
– .080″ Thick
– 6AL-4V Titanium
– Tungsten Carbide Edge
– Convex Edge
Price $209.99
- Ultralight Velcro Sheath – $12.00
- Kydex Sheath – $40.00
Inside Kestrel Knives
Nathan Creech is an avid hunter, fisherman, and backpacker. Born and raised in Northern California, Nathan attributes his love for all things outdoors to growing up amidst the wonders of The Golden State. Early in his youth, he discovered a passion for hunting, ultralight backpacking, and nature in general. That passion has only matured over time. As a seasoned outdoorsman, Nathan often found himself frustrated when working with knives that weren’t as sharp as he wanted them to be. In teaching himself how to sharpen, he turned a hobby into a successful knife business: KnifeMods.com. Through his company, Nathan modifies and sharpens high-end knives for an international community of knife users and aficionados. Always looking to expand his horizons, he is now bringing us a line of ultralight knives designed to be the world’s lightest and most functional knives available. Specifically geared towards lightening the pack of the ultralight hunter, backpacker and mountaineer, the Kestrel Knives lineup promises to deliver top notch cutting performance at an ultralight weight.
Knife Info
The knives are made of 6AL-4V Grade 5 Aerospace Grade Titanium which is known for its strength, lightness, and corrosion resistance. It is commonly used in aircraft turbine engines, aircraft structural components and high performance auto parts due to its high resistance to hot and cold. Titanium will not break in subzero temps whereas a steel knife would if you dropped it on something hard. The corrosion resistance is a huge positive of titanium as it will not rust or corrode even in salt water. These things combined make titanium the perfect choice for an ultralight low maintenance knife.
Titanium is 45% lighter than steel and has the highest strength to weight ratio of any metal. This makes for an extremely light and tough knife. You can carry the KUIU Skeleton caper, skinner and boning knife and they weigh less than the weight of a single knife made of steel. The knives are so light that you will forget you are even carrying one.
Titanium alone will not hold a great edge in order to remedy this issue, a layer of tungsten carbide is electronically impregnated onto one side of the knife. Tungsten carbide is one of the hardest materials on earth coming in right behind the diamond. The tungsten carbide, coupled with the softer titanium, creates a micro-serrated edge that cuts for a very long time. As most of you know a toothy edge is great for breaking down an animal and cutting up meat. The edges on these knives will stay toothy for a long time enabling you to cut longer without sharpening. The edge is also somewhat self sharpening because as the edge is used the softer titanium wears away and exposes more carbides. Since the grind on these knives will be a full convex, getting the edge sharp is accomplished by sharpening only the titanium side of the knife in the same manner you sharpen any convex edge knife. Kestrel Knives recommends the mousepad/sandpaper/strop method and will be doing a series of videos on how to sharpen your new knife and will also be offering a sharpening kit. If you run your thumb or fingernail lightly along the edge of the blade you will feel the micro serrations which means it is ready to start cutting. Sharpening a titanium knife with a carbide edge is much easier than a steel knife and once you have it down you will see what I mean. I have gone weeks without sharpening after cutting everything from sheetrock to composite wood and the knife would still slice a tomato at the end of each day.
Jason and I designed these knives to be as lightweight as possible. This meant that we would be giving up scales and skeletonizing the tang. There are no other fixed blades or folders in existence that come close to the weight of this line. These are the lightest fixed blade knives in the world.
There is a 1/4″ hole at the rear of the knife for a lanyard. These knives are designed to provide the user with an ultralight knife that can handle daily cutting tasks and backcountry trips, all while be easy to sharpen and maintain.
Each knife will come with a few different sheath options. A kydex (thermal molded) sheath(top and middle in photo) or a minimal Velcro sandwich sheath (bottom photo) meant to be thrown in your pack for the ultimate lightweight knife setup. 
Ultralight Velcro Sheath
Kydex Thermal Molded Sheath
HOW TO ORDER
We will introduce the KUIU Skeleton Knives in mid-November with a limited initial run of each knife.
I want to offer blog subscribers the 1st opportunity to place their orders as this is a hand made product and the volume will be limited.
To place your Pre–order please click on the link below. PLEASE fill out the information AND the knife style you would like AND sheath option. KUIU customer service will contact you next week to collect payment information. Orders will be taken on a 1st come 1st serve basis.
Click Here to Pre-order
The 1st order will begin to ship in mid-November.
Building KUIU 