Review: Vosteed – Nightshade LT

A german version of this review can be found in the german Tacticalforum.

Introduction

The Vosteed Nightshade was a knife I was not familiar with. When looking into the company I was surprised about their product line-up as well as their designs. In the last few months I had the chance to take a closer look at the Nighshade LT – one of the first designs of Vosteed. Needless to say it is worth taking a closer look at and present another one of my knife reviews. So with that being said, let’s go through the overview and the spec for those in a hurry, before looking at the knife in more detail.

Overview

The Vosteed Nightshade LT is a Flipper folding knife for EDC use, inspired by the Shilin Cutter of Guangdong province, China. It is a multipurpose working knife and is made of 154CM steel with G10 scales as handles. A deep carry pocket clip offers a tip up carry right side. With a length of 190mm and a comfortable weight of 118 g it is an ergonomic and reliable companion for everyday tasks. Materials and manufacture result in a high quality knife with several neat details.

Specs:

Overall Length: 190 mm
Blade Length: 82.7 mm
Handle Length: 107.3 mm
Blade Thickness: 3.0 mm
Steel: 154CM
Handle Material: G10
Hardness: HRC 60 +/- 2
Weight: 118 g

Background of the knife design

The design of the Nightshade is the result of a formative experience of Vosteed’s co-founder and knife maker Yue. When visiting his aunt in Taipei, he witnessed her using a so-called Shilin Cutter for preparing meals.

The distinctive leaf-shaped blade of the knife dates back over 100 years and is a traditional form found in the Guangdong province of China. He was so fascinated by the slip joint Shilin design that he brought it with him. Unable to obtain another original after losing the one of his aunt, he decided to create his own design after becoming a knife maker. However, Yue did not only use the Shilin as an inspiration, but also the well known Kukri blades. The Nightshade is one of Vosteed’s first designs and has this multi-purpose ability in mind – offering the user a knife that can be used for all kinds of everyday tasks, just like cooking.

The Vosteed Nightshade LT

The distinctive leaf-shaped blade of the Nightshade LT is full-flat ground and an excellent slicer as a result. Made of 154CM steel it is made of a well-known and reliable steel. It features comfortable jimping on the spine for a better grip of the thumb and comes razor sharp out of the box.

When looking at the lever of the flipper, one will find jimping as well, providing a secure hold of it.

The flipper itself provides jimping as well

The pivot itself features several details such as a non-rotating pivot screw set, a pivot collar of contrasting G10 material as well as ceramic ball bearings. A combination of these ball bearings, the excellent detent and blade weight, result in a strong flipping action with a confident opening sound.

The handle itself is made of G10 scales on a skeletonized stainless steel frame and liner lock. At the back of the handle two Torx screws hold everything in place on both sides. The deep carry clip is made of stainless steel as well and cannot be changed to the other side. A lanyard hole provides the option to use some paracord or other lanyards. All the spacers are milled concavely to give the blade as much room as possible when closed.

A strong liner lock secures the blade and it is easy to open, as there is enough room for the fingers to reach the lock. Adding to that, some jimping is helping the opening process further. The lock itself is firmly centered, when securing the blade. When closed the blade of the knife is perfectly centered.

Manufacture

The level of manufacture is magnificent to say the least. When looking at the handle, one will find no sharp edges, a nicely finished G10 scale and tight tolerances. A high quality blade steel, ceramic ball bearings, G10 and the stainless steel parts all come together as a clean manufactured and well designed knife.

Especially in this price range, one is surprised about such quality.

The Vosteed Nightshade LT in use

Handling the Vosteed Nightshade is a pleasure. For me personally it fits in my hands perfectly. As already mentioned, the action of the knife is impressive: the detent has a strong catch and the ball bearings run smoothly and without any scraping. The size of the blade surely helps, but nonetheless it really flips out strongly, making it a pure joy.

Both the forward as well as reverse grip are comfortable and the jimping on the spine is an excellent balance of grip and comfort, as the edges are not sharp. The G10 handles are not polished to a plain and slick surface, but have a slight grip to them as well. As a result the knife doesn’t slip as easily.

The blade itself comes razor sharp out of the box and the angle of the tip makes the knife a valuable tool when cutting and slicing. Both push and draw cuts are performed easily by the Vosteed Nightshade and the wide blade makes shoveling cut food as easy as one can expect from a knife this size.

Speaking of size. The medium sized flipper carries comfortable in the side pockets. The deep carry clip isn’t too tight with its tension and won’t rip your pants apart. All in all the knife is a reliable companion.

Conclusion

Vosteed knives are new to me, so I did not know what to expect. The materials used and the level of manufacture speak for themselves however. While the leaf-shaped blade is certainly not for everyone’s taste, I quickly grew fond of it.

Used as an everyday companion, the knife proved to be not only an elegantly looking design, but also a very functional one.

For those interested in more traditional, far east designs, the Shilin Cutter inspired Nightshade by Vosteed is certainly worth considering, especially since the bang for the buck factor is incredible with this knife.

With that being said, I hope I was able to give you a decent impression of the knife. If you are interested in obtaining one, I can offer you the following discount codes:

$5 off for Nightshade: PS5
$20 off for combo sale (Nightshade+ prybar): PS20

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this article. Many thanks to Vosteed, who made it possible to present this particular model!

Take care!