A knife is one of those pieces of EDC gear that can have meaning beyond being a tool. Picking the knife you use daily can be a strangely personal experience. Like a quality watch or even a wallet, a good knife can become a symbol of the person using it. With that in mind, the Summit Knife by The Ridge is an excellent option for EDC as it is both a functional tool and a symbol of doing more with less. When it came out in 2018, it was only available in a lightweight 3k Carbon Fiber Weave material. Starting today, it’s now available in new color options and materials to better match your story (and Ridge’s product lineup).
The Ridge is best known for its use of unique and robust materials. That same attention to the quality metal you find in its metal wallets shows in the Summit Knife. The 2.75″ blade uses D2 steel: a solid option for EDC that hits the sweet spot between durability and affordability, which you can learn more about in our beginner’s guide to blade steel.
The Summit Knife also has good edge retention, which is essential in a daily knife. This means that if you follow best practices and sharpen your knife every once in a while, it stays sharp for longer. It combines increased resistance to wear and tear with a drop point blade shape that makes it a solid option for everyday use. Whether you’re chopping, slicing, or shaving down, the drop point blade has long been a go-to blade shape in the EDC community, and this is another example of that.
Depending on your style, there are different kinds of handle materials you can choose from. The original Summit Knife was only available in 3k Carbon Fiber Weave before, but now it comes in new materials to better match some of Ridge’s most popular wallets and key cases. You can still opt for the carbon fiber if you want, but now you can also get it in Aluminum Black, Forged Ember, Aluminum Navy, and Aluminum Gunmetal.
This team at Ridge sketched up and built this knife with EDC in mind, and its build and design reflect that. It’s a compact knife that emphasizes being lightweight and easy to use. When closed, it measures 3.7” x 0.8” x 0.5”, which is a perfect size for most pockets or bags. Plus, having a blade length of 2.75” is ideal for EDC considering most cities have laws prohibiting larger blades. That said, check your local laws to ensure you comply with local regulations.
The Ridge Summit Knife follows the same design principles that the company prides itself on regarding its wallets. A simple design and robust build materials make an effective product. It features a rectangular body that, when closed, can easily slip into your pocket without getting snagged on something. The stainless steel pocket clip is roughly the same width as the handle, which keeps it attached and prevents it from jostling around too much.
While that’s all good and well, how it feels in the hand matters. The minimal design makes using the Summit Knife pretty straightforward. The knife also has a thumb stud on the blade that makes one-handed deployment a breeze. Depending on which color knife you get, the thumb stud will also have a different accent color which is a nice touch. It gives the blade a touch of color to add some personality to your EDC without drawing attention.
The knife has a smooth action when deployed, and it snaps into place thanks to the liner lock system. It can take a few tries to get used to it when you first take it out of the box, but opening and closing the knife with one hand becomes second nature. Deploying the blade is easy to do when you need it, but the resistance of the liner lock system is also strong enough that you don’t need to worry about it accidentally opening. Plus, good knurling along the blade’s spine gives you a place to rest your thumb and guide the knife for serious cutting jobs.
Keeping it simple can go a long way regarding everyday carry. When a tool is overengineered, it becomes complicated and loses its effectiveness. That isn’t a problem here. The Summit Knife keeps it simple, sticking with a tried-and-true design and trusted EDC materials to offer a tough knife that will last. Whether you’re looking for your first knife, looking to upgrade from a cheap knife you found at the dollar store, or looking for something that can handle daily tasks, so you don’t need to pull out your custom build blade for every little thing, the Summit Knife can find a place in everyone’s kit. The new colors only give you more options to choose from with what is already a premium knife.
