I just got my Baby Banter in Ben Blue and can't stop playing with it! I'm new to the scene and I think Ben is the perfect introduction to the knife world. Great review!
Haha, that's exactly what he's trying to be, too, and I agree -- he's nailing it. He's a huge dork in the best possible way, and he's super passionate about bringing people into the community. His Knafs company and related projects (like the Baby Banter) are certainly a business trying to make money (it's now his family's main source of income), but it's also just an avenue for making approachable, purpose-driven tools for everyday people available in the market.
I bought the Baby Banter for my girlfriend as her first knife. It worked out that her favorite color is purple, and they had a purple model. What I was NOT ready for was how wonderful this knife was, and how sad I was to let it go.
It's a surprisingly well-done knife, both in design and execution. I'm consistently impressed with how well it fits into my hand every time I hold it -- it's such a small knife that it continues to catch me off guard! But there's lots of little things they did right! The finger choil is well done -- they kept the full thickness of the blade stock the entire way, meaning you're not squeezing your finger into a super thin sheet of metal. Often that would mean the sharpening choil is garbage, but the plunge grind on it is spectacular, meaning there's a decent amount of room to sharpen. I think they could have pulled the location of the plunge back a mm or two, but it's great as-is.
Love the baby banter for a backup/fifth pocket blade. Operates quite fluently for such a small tool. Ben strikes again! And you picked the right color way. Purple was tempting for Halloween season , but come New year might have lost its novelty . Excellent Nerdery 🦉
I hadn't thought about the purple being good for Halloween, but you're right! I probably picked the most "boring" of the colorways, but that's kind of a positive on this knife -- it's the very definition of an unobtrusive, non-flashy, non-threatening, "it's just a tool and no one will think otherwise" knife. But it was also just my favorite colorway, so 🤷🏼♂️ Glad you liked the video and thanks for the support!
I bought one but it sure if I want to keep it. I like everything about it except it doesn’t have a sharp tip. What would you recommend for a knife that’s 2”-2.4” and under $80? I’m thinking the Kershaw scallion or spyderco dragonfly 2.
Ah, yeah, if you're looking for a piercing tip, the Dragonfly 2 is a fantastic option. The standard version comes in VG-10, which is a solid steel st that price range, but it's also not hard to find versions in other fun steels for not much more (especially if you buy on secondary). The only one I'd definitely avoid is the Salt version in H2 -- nobody likes H2! I wouldn't personally recommend the Scallion, just because I don't personally like assisted knives (do they come in non-assisted? All the ones I've seen are assisted) and for that price point you can do better than 420HC.
@@KnifeNerdery I think I probably will keep the BB. Too much hassle to return it, but it’s not a bad knife, pretty solid all around. Just need to find a cheap sanding stone when it dulls itself. Is 2000 grit enough to make something sharp?
I don’t like small knives but I’m stuck on this one.. I wish the other colors had matching color Ti thumb-studs but I want the black g10 anyways and this one looks great.
Yeah, with the choil set up the way it is, this is one of those small knives that still can give you a full grip. And yeah -- it's surprising they didn't do a pop of color on most of the other colored scales, but I guess they're anodized Ti, so they're kinda limited in the colors they can hit. No true red to match the red scales, for example. Sure would look cool, though.
@@KnifeNerdery To be fair, most of the s35vn coming out of China is better than most of the m390 coming out of China. I can't wait to try one of these though. Nitro-V is one of the best pure user steels. I gotta say, you're probably the best knife reviewer on UA-cam. I know that's usually a "nicest trailer in the trailer park" situation (seriously, how can these people sell a knife they "reviewed" as LNIB a week later) but your reviews are genuinely amazing.
@@CNYKnifeNerd that's a really good point -- most Chinese makers have figured out how to do S35VN well, while many are still struggling with (or just lazily avoiding) good heat treat on M390. They'll come around eventually, but for now we're in that "it's starting to be everywhere, but how much is good?" phase. And hahaha, those are very kind words, so thank you! You probably already sub them, but I highly recommend you check out @beardedgear and @neevesknives for solid reviews from folks who use their knives, think critically about them, and explain those thoughts well on camera. There's quite a few other good ones out there, but they're two of my favorite.
@@KnifeNerdery I like Jared's videos. TwoSuns aside, his knife preferences seem to run parallel to mine. I watch a ton of Russian knife UA-camrs. They tend to have a completely different approach/philosophy to the way they review and even look at knives in general. Much more in line with your own style as opposed to the "SOOPER DROP SHUTTY" echo chamber that the vast majority of the community is happy to reside in.
I have the exact same knife/finish. I really like, but something about it makes me wish I had the space(ie garage) to modify it. The edge and portion that accepts my fingers is just about perfect, but I could see myself liking it more if I were to bring down the spine and possibility modify where my palm rests. Other than that, I would consider removing banter from the clip. Overall, I have no complaints, but I definitely with I could mod it ever so slightly to make is an incredible win.
Maaaaaaaan do I wish I had a full-on workshop and the tools (.... and the skill) to make all the little modifications I wish I could make to knives. There's very few knives where I wouldn't make at least a tiny change to better suit my specific taste/needs. Glad you're enjoying the knife overall, though! I know I am.
I *did* say "on secondary"! When people say that or otherwise talk about "the secondary market", they're talking about a variety of ways and places that people buy and sell previously-owned knives. There's a ton out there, but some popular places include: 1) Reddit's r/Knife_Swap 2) A variety of Facebook groups, including "Knife Trading Sales & Feedback" 3) In Instagram, perhaps via the @knives_on_secondary account 4) various Discord channels (I'm not a member of any knife sale/trade Discord channels, so can't reference any in particular). 5) there's a new dedicated knife secondary market website called knafsale.com that some folks in the community started up recently. 6) Blade Forum has a full B/S/T section
Huh, that's never once impacted me. But I have relatively thinner fingers, so that could be it. But it would definitely bug the heck out of me if that jabbed into my finger every time I held it!
That's great to hear -- I'd love to meet him some day! And yeah, WE/Civivi is located in Yangjiang, which borders the ocean in southeast China, about 140 miles SW of Hong Kong. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangjiang)
They are but don’t let it scare you. I haven’t seen a Civivi that wasn’t awesome. All mine have come sharper then a $150 Spyderco I bought and also way better EDC cause the 14c28n refuses to corrode in any way and is tough as I’ve over seen. All this on $50-$75 knives. Their Micarta is a strong point too, these feel like they’d cost hundreds of dollars but you can buy two of them for a hair over $100. Looove Civivi, WE and Sencut.
🤣 That made me actually lol. But yipes, that's not what you want! I've not had any issues with that myself, but I'm sorry to hear that. Have you reached out to Civivi? I've never dealt with them on customer service stuff myself, but I've heard pretty decent things about them sending replacement parts and similar.
These are groovy and all but we've got to stop buying all this Chinese stuff. Especially when there are U.S. alternatives, which are becoming more and more rare.
I don't personally think we need to stop buying Chinese-made knives, but I do wholeheartedly encourage _also_ buying American-made knives where possible. I definitely think America needs more knife production and especially more OEM options so designers like Ben could partner with domestic companies to have his knives made if he wanted to. I've heard some very promising rumors about some American OEMs that might exist in the near future, but right now that space is kind of just... empty.
Awesome review! Keep up the good work. This review pushed me over the edge to get the bb banter.
Oh fun, what color did you get? I hope you like it!
I just got my Baby Banter in Ben Blue and can't stop playing with it! I'm new to the scene and I think Ben is the perfect introduction to the knife world. Great review!
Haha, that's exactly what he's trying to be, too, and I agree -- he's nailing it. He's a huge dork in the best possible way, and he's super passionate about bringing people into the community. His Knafs company and related projects (like the Baby Banter) are certainly a business trying to make money (it's now his family's main source of income), but it's also just an avenue for making approachable, purpose-driven tools for everyday people available in the market.
I bought the Baby Banter for my girlfriend as her first knife. It worked out that her favorite color is purple, and they had a purple model. What I was NOT ready for was how wonderful this knife was, and how sad I was to let it go.
It's a surprisingly well-done knife, both in design and execution. I'm consistently impressed with how well it fits into my hand every time I hold it -- it's such a small knife that it continues to catch me off guard! But there's lots of little things they did right! The finger choil is well done -- they kept the full thickness of the blade stock the entire way, meaning you're not squeezing your finger into a super thin sheet of metal. Often that would mean the sharpening choil is garbage, but the plunge grind on it is spectacular, meaning there's a decent amount of room to sharpen. I think they could have pulled the location of the plunge back a mm or two, but it's great as-is.
Same here since I got her the wood/bronze version and had to get a second one for myself because of how much I fell in love with it
Love the baby banter for a backup/fifth pocket blade. Operates quite fluently for such a small tool. Ben strikes again! And you picked the right color way. Purple was tempting for Halloween season , but come New year might have lost its novelty . Excellent Nerdery 🦉
I hadn't thought about the purple being good for Halloween, but you're right! I probably picked the most "boring" of the colorways, but that's kind of a positive on this knife -- it's the very definition of an unobtrusive, non-flashy, non-threatening, "it's just a tool and no one will think otherwise" knife. But it was also just my favorite colorway, so 🤷🏼♂️ Glad you liked the video and thanks for the support!
Super awesome review! Just ordered the Double Black version off Amazon, they're currently 15% off!
Oh cool, wonder why they're on sale!
Love this knife and love your review. I wouldn’t have reviewed it any differently.
Thanks for the kind words!
I just got the all Black BB and today just got the Odium and wow! Small edc is the ticket.! Good vid KN-Snubbed!
Nice choices!!
It's a cool design. I grabbed one to give my wife for her birthday. Great video 👍
What color did you get her? Everyone I've shown it to has loved it so far, so hopefully she will too!
@@KnifeNerdery the purple and black. It's one of her favorite colors
@@jeremyspaulding7735 yeah I expect that one won't have as wide an appeal, but the folks who will like it will really love it!
I bought one but it sure if I want to keep it. I like everything about it except it doesn’t have a sharp tip. What would you recommend for a knife that’s 2”-2.4” and under $80? I’m thinking the Kershaw scallion or spyderco dragonfly 2.
Ah, yeah, if you're looking for a piercing tip, the Dragonfly 2 is a fantastic option. The standard version comes in VG-10, which is a solid steel st that price range, but it's also not hard to find versions in other fun steels for not much more (especially if you buy on secondary). The only one I'd definitely avoid is the Salt version in H2 -- nobody likes H2!
I wouldn't personally recommend the Scallion, just because I don't personally like assisted knives (do they come in non-assisted? All the ones I've seen are assisted) and for that price point you can do better than 420HC.
@@KnifeNerdery I think I probably will keep the BB. Too much hassle to return it, but it’s not a bad knife, pretty solid all around. Just need to find a cheap sanding stone when it dulls itself. Is 2000 grit enough to make something sharp?
I was on the fence about buying a Spyderco dragonfly, but ultimately landed on the baby banter (s35vn)
I didn't even realize they made an S35VN one! How are you liking it?
I don’t like small knives but I’m stuck on this one.. I wish the other colors had matching color Ti thumb-studs but I want the black g10 anyways and this one looks great.
Yeah, with the choil set up the way it is, this is one of those small knives that still can give you a full grip. And yeah -- it's surprising they didn't do a pop of color on most of the other colored scales, but I guess they're anodized Ti, so they're kinda limited in the colors they can hit. No true red to match the red scales, for example. Sure would look cool, though.
The original is in s35vn bro!
Ah! I knew m390 felt wrong. Then it's even a smaller step down to get to Nitro-V. Thanks for the info!!
@@KnifeNerdery
To be fair, most of the s35vn coming out of China is better than most of the m390 coming out of China.
I can't wait to try one of these though. Nitro-V is one of the best pure user steels.
I gotta say, you're probably the best knife reviewer on UA-cam. I know that's usually a "nicest trailer in the trailer park" situation (seriously, how can these people sell a knife they "reviewed" as LNIB a week later) but your reviews are genuinely amazing.
@@CNYKnifeNerd that's a really good point -- most Chinese makers have figured out how to do S35VN well, while many are still struggling with (or just lazily avoiding) good heat treat on M390. They'll come around eventually, but for now we're in that "it's starting to be everywhere, but how much is good?" phase.
And hahaha, those are very kind words, so thank you! You probably already sub them, but I highly recommend you check out @beardedgear and @neevesknives for solid reviews from folks who use their knives, think critically about them, and explain those thoughts well on camera. There's quite a few other good ones out there, but they're two of my favorite.
@@KnifeNerdery
I like Jared's videos. TwoSuns aside, his knife preferences seem to run parallel to mine.
I watch a ton of Russian knife UA-camrs. They tend to have a completely different approach/philosophy to the way they review and even look at knives in general. Much more in line with your own style as opposed to the "SOOPER DROP SHUTTY" echo chamber that the vast majority of the community is happy to reside in.
Nitro-v is pretty great. Gets razor sharp and is tough but best of all, doesn’t corrode like shitty D2.
I have the exact same knife/finish. I really like, but something about it makes me wish I had the space(ie garage) to modify it. The edge and portion that accepts my fingers is just about perfect, but I could see myself liking it more if I were to bring down the spine and possibility modify where my palm rests. Other than that, I would consider removing banter from the clip. Overall, I have no complaints, but I definitely with I could mod it ever so slightly to make is an incredible win.
Maaaaaaaan do I wish I had a full-on workshop and the tools (.... and the skill) to make all the little modifications I wish I could make to knives. There's very few knives where I wouldn't make at least a tiny change to better suit my specific taste/needs.
Glad you're enjoying the knife overall, though! I know I am.
You said you bought it not brand new but from where? Did you say "on secondary" ? Is that a web site?
I *did* say "on secondary"! When people say that or otherwise talk about "the secondary market", they're talking about a variety of ways and places that people buy and sell previously-owned knives. There's a ton out there, but some popular places include:
1) Reddit's r/Knife_Swap
2) A variety of Facebook groups, including "Knife Trading Sales & Feedback"
3) In Instagram, perhaps via the @knives_on_secondary account
4) various Discord channels (I'm not a member of any knife sale/trade Discord channels, so can't reference any in particular).
5) there's a new dedicated knife secondary market website called knafsale.com that some folks in the community started up recently.
6) Blade Forum has a full B/S/T section
@@KnifeNerdery thank you for taking the time to reply and for all the good information. I appreciate it.
The back end of the blade is bare and connected to the choil and the edge always hits my index finger. Why doesn't everyone else seem to mind this?
Huh, that's never once impacted me. But I have relatively thinner fingers, so that could be it. But it would definitely bug the heck out of me if that jabbed into my finger every time I held it!
Met Ben at Shot Show, beautiful person! Is Civivi made in mainland China?
That's great to hear -- I'd love to meet him some day! And yeah, WE/Civivi is located in Yangjiang, which borders the ocean in southeast China, about 140 miles SW of Hong Kong. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangjiang)
@@KnifeNerdery Thanks for the reply and the info.
They are but don’t let it scare you. I haven’t seen a Civivi that wasn’t awesome. All mine have come sharper then a $150 Spyderco I bought and also way better EDC cause the 14c28n refuses to corrode in any way and is tough as I’ve over seen. All this on $50-$75 knives. Their Micarta is a strong point too, these feel like they’d cost hundreds of dollars but you can buy two of them for a hair over $100. Looove Civivi, WE and Sencut.
He definitely nailed the Lock Rock. Very disappointed with this purchase.
🤣 That made me actually lol. But yipes, that's not what you want! I've not had any issues with that myself, but I'm sorry to hear that. Have you reached out to Civivi? I've never dealt with them on customer service stuff myself, but I've heard pretty decent things about them sending replacement parts and similar.
✨🧸✨ 👶👏
Thumb stud only deployment, nope
Yeah that's definitely not my top favorite either, but it reverse flicks fantastically too, so I definitely like fidgeting with this one!
These are groovy and all but we've got to stop buying all this Chinese stuff. Especially when there are U.S. alternatives, which are becoming more and more rare.
I don't personally think we need to stop buying Chinese-made knives, but I do wholeheartedly encourage _also_ buying American-made knives where possible. I definitely think America needs more knife production and especially more OEM options so designers like Ben could partner with domestic companies to have his knives made if he wanted to. I've heard some very promising rumors about some American OEMs that might exist in the near future, but right now that space is kind of just... empty.