Ontario Knife Company just revealed the Old Hickory Outdoors Folder, the first folding in their Old Hickory lineup. According to OKC the OH-O not only breaks new ground in the Old Hickory catalog, but suggests new directions for the company in the months to come.
The mainline OKC knives partake of modern design tropes and materials; the Old Hickory line, as the rustic name suggests, opts for traditional iconography instead. Thus the OH-O is very much a classic slipjoint jack knife, the EDC of generations of people before the term was even coined. The OH-O’s blade runs to 2.9 inches long, keeping it capable while remaining in the running for carry even in more restrictive locales. OKC tells us that the blade steel is 1075 – the same high carbon steel that many of the Old Hickory fixed blades are made from.
Opening, as you would guess from a description of the OH-O, is strictly two-handed, done with a cutout at the knife blade’s nose. This, along with the fact that the OH-O is a non-locking, clipless slipjoint, means that the knife is completely ambidextrous. The handle lines are deeply traditional, with a slight dip towards the back of the handle to leave more of the blade cutout exposed for easy opening. The scales are not hickory but walnut wood, with brass liners underneath and brass rivets holding everything together.
The OH-O is the first folder to be added to the Old Hickory corral. In addition to their old school sensibilities, the Old Hickory knives also share a domestic point of origin, made in New York state. This means that the OH-O is the first domestically made OKC folder for many years, and the only US-made folder in their current active lineup – but more may follow. In the reveal post on Instagram OKC says that the OH-O “represents a new horizon for Ontario Knife Company,” and, while they haven’t elaborated further at this time, the statement seems to imply some exciting things are on the way for 2022 and beyond.
Price and availability for the OH-O are still TBA – Ontario says it will have more information at the end of January, presumably to coincide with SHOT Show 2022.
Knife in Featured Image: Ontario Knife Company OH-O Slipjoint
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