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Is This Robust, Multi-Deploying EDC Knife the Best-Looking $50 Folder Yet?

The most wallet-friendly brand in the We Knife family proves high style and low prices need not be mutually exclusive.

Black folding knife with a textured handle and a partially visible serrated stainless steel blade, resting on a wooden surface.Sencut

By Steve Mazzucchi

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Not unlike, say, Honda/Acura and Toyota/Lexus, the knife world has its fair share of brand duos offering different classes of products for different budgets.

So it is that we have Artisan Cutlery/CJRB and Kansept/Tenable, to name a couple.

A hand holding a black folding knife with a textured handle and a matte black blade. The blade has the brand name "SENCUT" printed on it. The background features a wooden surface with a tree ring pattern and some blurred natural fibers.
Of the three Slybolt colorways, this blacked-out treatment is almost unquestionably tops.
Sencut

Then there’s We Knife/Civivi, which actually has a third, super-affordable family member that gets much less buzz. 

It’s called Sencut, and over the past couple years, it has quietly been releasing some pretty damn dependable knives at value. 

The latest to catch my attention offers not only great functionality and a low price but stunning good looks. Meet the Slybolt.

Business end basics

Cutting to the chase, one of the most eye-popping elements here is the blade, a beefy 3.59-incher with a delightfully contoured clip-point silhouette.

With its full belly curving up to a precise point, it’s game for a range of everyday tasks, from opening boxes to slicing apples to the undignified strawberry sometimes required to pierce the defenses of clamshell packaging. 

Close-up of a folding knife with a partially serrated stainless steel blade and a blue handle, resting on a wooden surface. The blade has the brand name "SENCUT" etched near the base.
Ambidextrous thumb studs and major jimping make for smooth deployment and safe detail work.
Sencut

That last job is added by not only the incredible secure locking mechanism (more later) but also by the jimping that fully occupies the back half of the spine.

The blade is also outfitted with ambidextrous thumb studs. A big step up from thumb slots, they make one-handed deployment as easy as flick and snap.

As for the blade material, that’s the number one factor keeping this knife’s price down, for better or worse.

A close-up of a hand holding a black folding knife with a textured handle. The knife blade is matte black and has a sharp, pointed tip. A tan and black patterned rope is looped around the blade. The background is blurred with a wood surface and coiled rope.
Made of one of the better budget steels, the 3.59-inch blade can dispatch a lot more than paracord.
Sencut

It’s 9Cr18MoV, a high-carbon stainless steel that resides near the top of the budget knife steel class, above 8Cr13MoV thanks to its superior hardness, toughness and edge retention. 

In other words, it’s no MagnaCut but as you may have read on these very pages, super steel is not a prerequisite for solid performance, which this blade most assuredly delivers.

Loaded and locked

Beyond the blade, the Slybolt offers mechanics that are somewhat rare for its pricepoint, headlined by a crossbar lock. 

In addition to strength and ambidextrousness that make it the go-to style for no less a knife name than Benchmade, the crossbar lock offers something extra. 

Three folding knives with textured handles are displayed on a wooden surface. One knife has a black handle and a dark blade, another has a blue handle with a silver blade, and the third has a black handle with a partially visible silver blade and a metal clip. The blades are marked with the brand name "SENCUT.
The sturdy crossbar lock and reversible clip ensure safe and secure pocket carry.
Sencut

Pull the tabs down and flick your wrist and bingo-bango, you’ve got a de facto bonus deployment as you can see at the tail end of Sencut’s TikTok promo.

The reverse of that motion swings the blade smoothly back into its handle on a caged ceramic ball bearing, of course. 

Speaking of the handle, it’s no slouch. Ergonomically shaped, complete with a forefinger groove, it’s made of grippy and durable canvas micarta.

Three folding knives with textured handles are displayed on a wooden surface. The left knife has a blue handle and a silver blade, the middle knife has a black handle and a silver blade, and the right knife has a dark gray handle with a black blade. Each blade is marked with the brand name "SENCUT.
No matter which colorway you choose, you’re getting a helluva deal.
Sencut

Last but not least, a reversible tip-up clip keeps this 3.65-ouncer safely in your pocket. 

After all, just because it didn’t cost you a fortune doesn’t mean you want to lose this EDC winner, right?

The Sencut Slybolt is available now in three colorways starting at $48.

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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