The MATRIARCH 2 with the Emerson Opener has a very aggressively serrated Reverse “S” blade that does an amazing job of cutting through harnesses, web belts, etc. It is an ideal tool for our EMS folks. The Emerson Opener snags the pocket as the knife is pulled and deploying the blade.

The AQUA SALT™ was love at first sight for me. Obviously a fixed blade design with an excellent drop point and a very stylish and conservative belly. This knife is a slicer. The hollow ground blade terminates in a very fine razor sharp edge. The blade material is an H1 steel. The AQUA SALT is a general purpose design covering a vast range of user needs.

The SZABOHAWK™ is a Laci Szabo design that requires some explanation. To begin, the tomahawk  is made from a single piece of D2 tool steel that is not skeletonized. The handles curvature serves a couple of meaningful functions; first, it isolates the hand from impact and secondly it provides a handle that can be used to drag. I’ll explain.

Note the two holes on the tomahawk, you can easily slip rope through them and terminate the bitter ends in a large figure 8 knot, also referred to as a stopper knot, then use it to pull or drag. Great idea!

At the end of the handle Spuderco and Szabo provide a pry bar. The business end of the SZABOHAWK uses a faceted edge to keep the cutting edge from binding.

The REVERSE is a design collaboration  between Spyderco and edged-weapon trainers Craig Douglas (aka “Southnarc”) and Michael Janich.  What is very cool about this defensive design is that the knife’s two-piece G-10 handle can be reversed to yield mirror-image “edge-out.”

These knives will be available in Q1 and early Q2 2015.