Vosteed Thunderbird PEI

While Vosteed is on a tear putting out fresh and innovative knives, including outstanding collaborations with makers like TuffKnives, as well as their recent hit with the Ankylo’s V-anchor pivot lock, my favorite knife from the brand still has to be the Thunderbird. On paper, it shouldn’t be; it’s a larger blade than I generally prefer at 3.25″, tanto isn’t always my first choice for a shape, and the Trek Lock also isn’t technically fully ambidextrous (though operates fine as a lefty).

But then all it takes is to flip the Thunderbird open a few times to truly understand what it’s about. The knife is incredibly fun to use and deploy across all six of its possible deployment methods between its thumb cutout, fuller, and flipper tabs. The larger blade lends itself to an extremely satisfying heft as it swings out on caged ceramic ball bearings. The Thunderbird’s original G-10 handles are grippy and lightweight, its titanium handles sound amazing with a satisfying ring when deploying the blade, and now its latest iteration with PEI handles hops on trend with the popular material. You get the lightest version of the knife yet at 2.88 ounces, while also a peek into its mechanism and skeletonized liners. Is this the best version of the Thunderbird yet? That remains to be seen, but in the meantime, one I’m excited to get my hands on and add to the rest of the flock.