When it comes to everyday carry pocket knives, there are a ton on the market. All of them have various features for you to choose from. Vosteed makes a good selection of knives to fit whatever you are looking for. The Vosteed Thunderbird is one of those edc knives that has plenty of features. The Thunderbird’s features will rival knives that are priced much higher.

Vosteed’s Thunderbird is a unique knife. Not in the way it looks, or the materials used, but in the way it opens. The Thunderbird uses Vosteed’s “Trek Lock” opening system. Trek Lock is a multi-opening system that allows one to open the knife in 4 or 5 different ways. One is by using the thumb hole. Another is using the normal flipper, located on the spine of the knife handle. And yet another way to open it, is to use the front flipper, located on the lower front of the closed Thunderbird. Then, since the knife uses a button lock mechanism, one can push the button and flip the blade out. Lastly, which isn’t really a flip method, is to just fold the knife out like you would an old school lock blade. To close the blade, just push the button and close it however you see fit. I would like the button lock to be a little harder to push. I just feel that little bit of extra might help keep the blade from wandering out when in the pocket. Not that it did this, but I can get the blade to open by just flicking the knife downward, something I can’t always do with button lock knives. If you like to fidget with your knife, the Thunderbird can’t be beat for that. I even find myself opening and closing it for no reason. As you may, or may not know, I am a big proponent of multiple ways to open a knife. Mainly because if you need to open a knife in some odd place, or body position, your main way of opening it might not work. So the Thunderbird is a dream come true for me.

Blade steel is an important quality of any knife. The steel Vosteed chose for the Thunderbird is top tier. This particular Thunderbird uses M390 steel. M390 is pretty much labeled a “super steel”, at least for knife making. It is super tough and durable with high edge retention, which leads to a high wear resistance. What that means for you is that the Thunderbird’s M390 blade will stay sharp for a very long time. M390 also has high corrosion resistance. So when you are actually using it, if it gets blood, or other bad stuff on it, it won’t damage the blade as quickly. One downfall to all of this, is that it takes a lot more effort to sharpen the Thunderbird. I’m okay with this trade off since the knife stays sharper longer. Vosteed also offers some versions of the Thunderbird with Elmax or S35VN blades. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the blade steel offerings of the Thunderbird.

The handle of a knife is also important. Vosteed chose a Laminate GT-Mascus, or in simple terms, a G10 handle with a topographical pattern. This topo pattern is a black background with blue topo lines. Besides looking great, the Thunderbird’s handle shape is useful. The handle's spine has a slight curve to it. This makes it fit the hand fairly nice, even though it is a fairly sleek knife. It also has a decent choil built into the handle. That way you can really dig into the handle for a tight grip. The back flipper tab also meets up with this choil, extending it out a tiny bit farther. One notable thing is that the flippers jimping is slightly noticeable in the front of the choil. This gives the knife a little better grip on that index finger. The handle doesn’t have any real texture to it, but being G10, it still gives a great grip. Vosteed also designed the Thunderbird with a deep pocket clip. The clip’s mounting is inlaid so it doesn’t bind up when putting the Thunderbird in your pocket. It is reversible, but both options are tip up carry. Lastly it has a brass spacer at the rear. The spacer also includes a place to install a lanyard. The brass nicely sets off the color scheme and helps balance the Thunderbird out nicely.

The last important design of the Thunderbird is the blade profile. Vosteed gave the Thunderbird a curved tanto style blade. It also has a harpoon style top structure. These two designs give the Thunderbird a really good “piercing” ability. More important to me, is that the tanto’s tip melds nicely with the belly of the knife. This makes it more useful than a regular tanto style blade. On the spine of the blade there is some jimping. The jimping is the Thunderbirds one downfall. It is fine and not deep enough to really aid in use. The Thunderbird also uses a shallow hollow grind, which gives it some good slicing ability. I typically don’t like tanto style blades, but the Thunderbird made me believe that there are good style tanto blades out there.

Even though I haven’t had the Thunderbird for very long, I have used it. It is really good at just about everything. From slicing gummy bears, which is the real test of a knife's sharpness, to scraping off stuff from hard surfaces, the Thunderbird just performs. As Vosteed states, this is the fidget king when it comes to knives. The knife is SHARP. It also stays sharp thanks to the M390 blade steel. I’ve cut a lot of cardboard too, and the Thunderbird keeps slicing through it like soft butter.

If you are looking for that do all edc knife, the Vosteed Thunderbird might be it. It has an excellent blade material and shape. There are multiple ways to open it, thanks to its Trek Lock. It feels good in the hand and has a silky smooth action thanks to its ceramic ball bearings. At $135, it is priced far below what you would expect to pay for something of this quality. So go check out the Vosteed Thunderbird, they probably make a version that you’ll like..

Firearms Insider Reviews - Key Points

Claim to Fame:

EDC knife with quality blade steel and multiple ways to open

Target Market:

Anyone wanting this style of quality in a folding knife

Features & Benefits of this product:

Trek lock opening - Front Flipper | Back Flipper | Thumb Hole | Fuller
Blade Length: 3.25" | 82.55 mm
Overall Length: 7.73" | 196.34 mm
Blade Width: 1.10" | 27.9 mm
Blade Thickness: 0.118" | 3.00 mm
Blade Material: M390
Blade Grind: Compound
Blade Style: Tanto | Harpoon
Blade Finish: Black Stonewash
Hardness: HRC 60±2
Handle Length: 4.48" | 113.79 mm
Handle Width: 1.17" | 29.72 mm
Handle Thickness: 0.472" | 12 mm
Handle Material: GT-Mascus (G10 topo pattern)
Weight: 3.34 oz | 94.70 g
Pivot Assembly: Caged Ceramic Ball Bearing
Pocket Clip: Tip-Up Reversible | Stainless Steel
Knife Type: Manual Folding
Backspacer Material: Brass
Button Material: Stainless Steel

What other aesthetic options or finishes are available?

https://www.vosteed.com/collections/thunderbird

What others are saying?:

4 out 5 stars at Vosteed.com

3.25" m390 thunderbird

Very pleased with this knife. I also have a Vosteed Gator that I love. I like this smaller version of the thunderbird and find it the perfect size for daily carry. Every deployment option works exactly as it should. The knife came sharp (although I sharpened it to my liking) and perfectly centered. No issue with the button lock unscrewing or with the "spine whack" test that have been a topic for the previous thunderbird model. I wish the detent was a little stronger; however, it is a great knife that will perform well for daily tasks. Highly recommend it.