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One of 2026’s Best Fixed Blades Gets Even Better as an Affordable Folder

Retaining the qualities of the Blade Show Texas winner while adding pocketability makes for a surefire revamp.

Close-up of a black textured folding knife handle with a clip and the word "Loki" on the blade against a red background.Tenable Knives
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By Steve Mazzucchi

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This past spring, budget-conscious knife brand Tenable emerged from big bro Kansept’s shadow when its Loki was named Best Fixed Blade at one of the year’s biggest knife conventions, Blade Show Texas.

In addition to being a feather in Tenable’s cap, it demonstrates just how well the brands’ one-two punch of offering the same nameplate in different variants at multiple price points really works.

Four folding knives with textured handles in purple, tan, black, and green, two blades open showing patterned and black finishes, on wood and stone surfaces.
Tenable’s Loki Liner Lock comes in four variants, with all but the $90 Damascus-bladed version costing $60.
Tenable Knives

After all, Tenable’s $40 backcountry beast is a spinoff of a Kansept offering with the same name, a popular frame-lock folder costing roughly four times as much. 

Now, in an Inception-like twist, Tenable drops its own folding Loki, with a price tag and specs that might just make it the best of the bunch.

Do you feel Loki, punk?

As much as we romanticize fixed blades, the reality for most of us is that a folder is a much more practical EDC option. 

As GP’s own Hayley Helms has pointed out, most of us do not really need premium blade steel either.

Folding knife with a stonewashed blade and textured purple handle standing open on a wooden surface.
This $60 option features a stonewashed Nitro-V blade and handle scales made of micarta.
Tenable Knives

That’s what makes the new Loki Liner Lock such a compelling combo; it brings the best features of Kansept’s high-end folder and its own fixed blade together in one affordable $60 package.

Though the size and shape are similar, the blade is not identical. In addition to lacking a full-tang (a quality of dubious value for everyday use), the 3-inch Wharncliffe is made of Nitro-V rather than D2. 

Four folding knives with textured handles in tan and green, two with blades open and two closed, displayed on a wooden surface.
The award-winning fixed blade Lokis (center) and the new folding versions clearly share some color palettes.
Tenable Knives

While you can place these two steels in the same general class, their best qualities are a bit different: D2 offers excellent wear resistance and edge retention while Nitro-V’s strengths include toughness, corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening.

I’d give Nitro-V the slight edge for everyday use, and Tenable clearly does too. 

For those who want something special without breaking the bank, one of the four variants swaps out Nitro-V for Damascus steel, which offers great strength and sharpness plus the classic rippling pattern.

Folding knife with a patterned Damascus steel blade and a textured tan handle on a black surface.
The Damascus-bladed version hits a price point of $90, which is still much less than you’d pay for a Kansept Loki.
Tenable Knives

In addition to the blade steel, the Tenable Loki blade differs from Kansept’s in that the thumb slot is a nail nick-like indentation in the blade, rather than the typical hole, but it still offers one-handed deployment, from what I can tell. 

The cut-out appears on both sides, ensuring ambidextrousness backed up by the reversible tip-up clip, which makes this knife easier to tote in your pocket than the Kydex-sheathed fixed blade.

Two folding knives with textured handles, one black with a black blade and one purple with a silver blade, on a textured surface.
Like Passenger 57‘s John Cutter, I always bet on black; I’ll leave the purple-handled option to the Joker and Grimace.
Tenable Knives

As far as the handle is concerned, you have your choice of Micarta and G10. That’s another coin-flip scenario, as both are fairly grippy and durable, meaning it may come down to color preference. 

My favorite take on the Steven Dunnuck design is the black-on-black B1058A1, but hey, to each their own.

Availability and pricing

The Tenable Loki Liner Lock is available now in four different variants starting at $60.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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