- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 58
Ok, ok, I know there's a bazillion vids and posts about Walmart's Ozark Trail line of folding knives which started with the orange "Wugout" (aka "the knife that broke the internet" in early 2025). But figured hey, why not another and give some credit where due. First off; I own dozens of folding knives from $180 Spydercos to $250 Monterey Bay Knives models to Vosteeds to Civivis to Buck to Gerbers... so a fair amount of exposure to mid range to budget pocket knives.
Orange "Wugout" (bugout clone): got this $10 on a whim after hearing about it. Is it good? For $10 yes it is. But compared to my $40 - $60 pocket knives, this one feels cheap and has some flaws. The FRN-like plastic scales feel like... plastic scales. Blech. Same feel as other FRN knives. Don't like it. Also the blade came very very slightly curved to the left towards the tip. Probably won't hurt basic EDC knife cutting tasks, but if this had been anything more pricey I would have returned it. Action is ok. Kind of mushy crossbar lock but works fine. Little tiny bit of lateral blade play that a quick adjustment to the pivot screw fixed. A few strokes on a strop and its D2 steel was sharp enough for basic knife stuff around the house. I thought, "hey for $10 it's got a few good features; reversible pocket clip, full steel liners with lightening cuts, ok steel... why not try another OT versions? Or two?
So I ordered the $20 "Valor" and the $25 "Elevation". Got to my house free shipping in less than 24 hours... not bad.
The Valor's matte blue anodized aluminum scales feel... pretty freaking nice. I think they look nicer than some shiny anodized aluminum scales on knives four times the price, and they feel rock solid. The Elevation's green G10 scales feel... very freaking nice. They have very subtle texturing on them. Whereas the orange Wugout has just barrel spacers, both the other knives have colored aluminum solid back spacers. Nice touch. The jimping on the two newer knives is more aggressive and better. The thumb studs on the two newer knives are better shaped and don't over-protrude like the ones on the orange knife. Even the crossbar lock "buttons" on the Elevation are re-designed to be nicer than on the orange knife. Little changes but shows that OT is improving their game even on very inexpensive knives.
The actions on both the Valor and Elevation feel...pretty freaking nice. The Valor's crossbar omega spring tension is a bit more than the Wugout, which takes away that mushy feeling I have with the Wugout. The Elevation's button lock works great; no lock stick in my example but there is a very slight metallic noise when the blade swings closed. My Kizer Drop Bear 2 has the same noise. No big deal.
Both the new knives' blades came sharp enough to cleanly slice thin paper. Not cold steel razor sharp, but sharper than the Wugout came and definitely sharp enough for normal EDC tasks. There is ZERO blade play side to side or up/down in either of the new knives'. I think part of that may be due to the fact that there appears to be small pins on either side of the blades that travel WITH the blades and seem to keep it all centered and tight. The blades swing open/close super smooth and both came centered in handle when closed. While the Wugout's black blade coating looks slightly cheap and may just be a paint for all I know, the Valor's bronze/brown coating seems to be smoother, even and a true PVD-like coating. Their site lists it as a "titanium coating".
Whereas the Wugout is D2 blade steel, the Valor is 14C28N (very decent budget to mid-tier steel used by lots of companies like Vosteed) and the Elevation sports 12C27 steel (a Scandinavian stainless knife steel). Blades are straight their entire length on both and grind lines look even. The blade markings; while I prefer almost no company markings on a blade, these are done relatively tastefully and I can't blame OT for wanting some name recognition on these knives. The two newer models don't list "China" on the blade like the Wugout does, but I don't think that is deceptive; lots of knife companies don't list China on the blades even when they are known to be very good quality knives (Civivi and Vosteed and Kizer all examples of this). The two new knives' come in nice boxes that clearly state where they are made so they aren't hiding anything.
Both of the newer knives' pocket clip screws are totally flush whereas the Wugout's are not. Nice tiny upgrade. My only serious gripe about the two new knives' is that on the Elevation (green G10 one), the blade has a very slight recurve to it, which after reviewing lots of other vids and photos on this knife, it is clearly an intentional design to the blade and not a grinding gone wild issue. Why they put that recurve in is a head scratcher as it will made sharpening a tad trickier.
Besides that, I am very very impressed with these knives. $20 for an aluminum-scale, 14C28N crossbar knife with all the features you'd want, and $25 for a G10 button lock with nice snappy action and all the features you'd want... while I can't speak to their true edge retention or long-term toughness yet, right now I have no problem saying that these are WELL worth their price tags.
Orange "Wugout" (bugout clone): got this $10 on a whim after hearing about it. Is it good? For $10 yes it is. But compared to my $40 - $60 pocket knives, this one feels cheap and has some flaws. The FRN-like plastic scales feel like... plastic scales. Blech. Same feel as other FRN knives. Don't like it. Also the blade came very very slightly curved to the left towards the tip. Probably won't hurt basic EDC knife cutting tasks, but if this had been anything more pricey I would have returned it. Action is ok. Kind of mushy crossbar lock but works fine. Little tiny bit of lateral blade play that a quick adjustment to the pivot screw fixed. A few strokes on a strop and its D2 steel was sharp enough for basic knife stuff around the house. I thought, "hey for $10 it's got a few good features; reversible pocket clip, full steel liners with lightening cuts, ok steel... why not try another OT versions? Or two?
So I ordered the $20 "Valor" and the $25 "Elevation". Got to my house free shipping in less than 24 hours... not bad.
The Valor's matte blue anodized aluminum scales feel... pretty freaking nice. I think they look nicer than some shiny anodized aluminum scales on knives four times the price, and they feel rock solid. The Elevation's green G10 scales feel... very freaking nice. They have very subtle texturing on them. Whereas the orange Wugout has just barrel spacers, both the other knives have colored aluminum solid back spacers. Nice touch. The jimping on the two newer knives is more aggressive and better. The thumb studs on the two newer knives are better shaped and don't over-protrude like the ones on the orange knife. Even the crossbar lock "buttons" on the Elevation are re-designed to be nicer than on the orange knife. Little changes but shows that OT is improving their game even on very inexpensive knives.
The actions on both the Valor and Elevation feel...pretty freaking nice. The Valor's crossbar omega spring tension is a bit more than the Wugout, which takes away that mushy feeling I have with the Wugout. The Elevation's button lock works great; no lock stick in my example but there is a very slight metallic noise when the blade swings closed. My Kizer Drop Bear 2 has the same noise. No big deal.
Both the new knives' blades came sharp enough to cleanly slice thin paper. Not cold steel razor sharp, but sharper than the Wugout came and definitely sharp enough for normal EDC tasks. There is ZERO blade play side to side or up/down in either of the new knives'. I think part of that may be due to the fact that there appears to be small pins on either side of the blades that travel WITH the blades and seem to keep it all centered and tight. The blades swing open/close super smooth and both came centered in handle when closed. While the Wugout's black blade coating looks slightly cheap and may just be a paint for all I know, the Valor's bronze/brown coating seems to be smoother, even and a true PVD-like coating. Their site lists it as a "titanium coating".
Whereas the Wugout is D2 blade steel, the Valor is 14C28N (very decent budget to mid-tier steel used by lots of companies like Vosteed) and the Elevation sports 12C27 steel (a Scandinavian stainless knife steel). Blades are straight their entire length on both and grind lines look even. The blade markings; while I prefer almost no company markings on a blade, these are done relatively tastefully and I can't blame OT for wanting some name recognition on these knives. The two newer models don't list "China" on the blade like the Wugout does, but I don't think that is deceptive; lots of knife companies don't list China on the blades even when they are known to be very good quality knives (Civivi and Vosteed and Kizer all examples of this). The two new knives' come in nice boxes that clearly state where they are made so they aren't hiding anything.
Both of the newer knives' pocket clip screws are totally flush whereas the Wugout's are not. Nice tiny upgrade. My only serious gripe about the two new knives' is that on the Elevation (green G10 one), the blade has a very slight recurve to it, which after reviewing lots of other vids and photos on this knife, it is clearly an intentional design to the blade and not a grinding gone wild issue. Why they put that recurve in is a head scratcher as it will made sharpening a tad trickier.
Besides that, I am very very impressed with these knives. $20 for an aluminum-scale, 14C28N crossbar knife with all the features you'd want, and $25 for a G10 button lock with nice snappy action and all the features you'd want... while I can't speak to their true edge retention or long-term toughness yet, right now I have no problem saying that these are WELL worth their price tags.
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