The baseline concept behind everyday carry is to craft a small complement of necessary tools to get you through your days. By this definition, even people who are unaware of the term EDC still participate, so long as they carry a set of pocketable/stashable gear with them — usually things like a phone, wallet, keys, etc. However, there are those of us who have made it a hobby, expanding what we carry — most typically to include alternative items, like folding knives, multi-tools, flashlights and even fidget toys — and sometimes even collecting multiple of those items.
It’s this latter group who may get to a point where they’re looking to expand, perhaps picking up something(s) others might call opulent or unnecessary. Sure, there are die-hards who will own one knife and one knife only and use it every day. But most of us, I think, feel some draw to keep searching for that one perfect blade — the holy grail of EDC knives. And while that apex folding knife is going to be different for each and every person, there are a few production knives (and available customs) that fit the bill — and we’ve rounded them up here for your collecting pleasure.
Products in the Guide
What is a ‘grail’ knife exactly? Here’s our criteria
It’s worth noting that most knifemakers — we’re talking individual artisans over brands or larger companies — will offer completely custom knives, for a price. That being said, these knives are almost always one-offs that were built exclusively for a single individual. And they almost never make more than one (and even when they do, it’s still often limited to single-digit production numbers). While these are probably the truest ‘holy grail’ knives for single specific persons, they’re not something you can just go out and buy and, therefore, don’t suit our goals here.
For our purposes, we’re focusing on commercially available knives — ones that are either smaller production runs or model-specific customs — and currently available one-offs without owners, which you can actually buy right now. You might recognize some and may be unaware of the existence of others, but we’ll do our best to elucidate their worthiness. These are still knives made with some of the highest-quality materials and mechanisms crafted by the most skilled hands (and they have price tags to match) — they’re just not so unique as to have required a custom order.
