Why a ceramic blade? A ceramic blade has a few advantages over steel, though strength isn't one of them. Let's get that out of the way. You don't want to use a ceramic blade to pry, smash or chop anything. While it isn't stronger, it is harder and hardness is a two-way street; hard blades will hold an edge longer than a softer edge, but hard edges are brittle and they will chip if abused.

Sharpness: Ceramic blades retain their original sharpness up to 10-15 times longer than steel blades thanks to their hardness. This is tempered by the fact that the knife will likely need to be professionally sharpened with a diamond or silicon carbide wheel grinding stone when the times comes.

Zero Maintenance: Ceramics won't rust and are impervious to just about everything. This means the blade needs very little maintenance and it can be cleaned with just about anything. If you use the knife in the kitchen, it won't turn sensitive foods brown (as happens to lettuce edges when cut with a metal blade) and acids and oils won't effect it.

Lightweight: Ceramics are less dense than steels. I'm not a scientist. I take this for granted.

The knife itself opens smoothly with its rounded thumbstud and locks up securely. The serrated locking bar is easy to catch with a thumb for safe, one-handed closing. The blade-top jimping improves grip and is positioned perfectly to get that little bit of leverage needed for fine cutting work when using the tip of the CNC machined ceramic custom Tanto style blade. The overall length of the knife is 7.875" and the blade alone is 3.5".

The non-reversible clip is set up for tip-up carry,

In a few weeks of daily use, the blade lives up to the ceramic hype. Opening box after box and cutting down cardboard that would thrash the edge of a nice S30V steel blade has had no effect on the F-1's blade. At first, I was very careful about cracking or chipping the blade, but after a few days of regular (but smart) use, I stopped worrying about it. I'd say if you're reasonably careful, you're unlikely to have a problem.

Sadly, I wasn't able to find a porcelain Glock 7 to accompany the F-1 in the photos so the dapper little Glock 42 will have to do.

Multitasker will start with an individually numbered run of 150 knives in the late spring that will cost about $180 each.

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