Vosteed Nightshade Lt Knife Review
Vosteed is a new company in the EDC game and has dropped the Vosteed Nightshade Lt Knife. This flipper is a “Shilin-inspired” knife ideal for EDC!
Official Specs
Here’s a link to the Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife product page.
Versions
Four versions of the Nightshade appear to have been made. Two are this “Lt” version – one black (seen here) and one gray. Both of those are full G10 scales. The other two options have either brass or copper appointments in the pivot area. Brass has G10 scales, but the copper option uses Micarta.
Price
The Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife sells for $69. There’s a package that can include a pry bar made by Vosteed, too. That package runs $108.
I do have coupons for both of those, though!
Z5 – $5 off – Nightshade Only
Z20 – $20 off – Nightshade and Prybar combo
Short Review
Anyone who knows me knows that I prefer small knives. I wouldn’t really call the Vosteed Nightshade Lt a small knife. So I’m evaluating it from the standpoint of someone who probably likes knives bigger than the “small knife” category. Thus, while this knife might not be my favorite, it could still be yours. There are quite a lot of things to like about the Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife, anyway. The build quality is great. Flipping this knife open is joyous – you don’t even have to do it quickly or force it, because there’s enough weight in the blade that it’ll swing under its own weight once you get it going. I love that. I also love the pocket clip. It’s nice and properly deep carry.
Long Review
Package and Manual
Inside that slipcover is this metal box. It’s a nice little box.
But inside is even more packaging – there’s a zipper pouch, too!
There’s not really a manual, per se.
What’s Included
- Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife
- Zippered carry pouch
- Metal carry box
- Informational cards
Look
The G10 on this Vosteed really stands out. Also, you’ll note the shape of the knife spine – there’s a lot of beef there, and it does stick out over the handles quite a bit. That’s by design and adds weight that helps with flip, as I mentioned above.
Who knows what a Shilin Cutter is? I didn’t. I couldn’t find a ton of information on those, but I did find this one that was once for sale at arizonacustomknives.com. Based on that one, I’d say this one by Vosteed is a very nice modern production of the Shilin Cutter.
I love that big flat blade!
Per the design language, this knife has a bow from tip to tail. Apparently, this is great for slicing.
Vosteed describes the Shilin blade shape as “leaf-shaped” and I’d say that’s quite accurate.
Open / Close / Lock
The Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife is a liner lock knife.
It also has full metal liners, which add to strength. I didn’t compare these in thickness to any other knife, but Vosteed’s page describes these as “thicker liners,” and I’m inclined to believe that.
Build and Feel
One thing I love about this knife (even despite its size) is the G10 handles. I’ve had other – smaller and thinner – knives with much grippier scales that tore my pockets up. Not so on this Nightshade Lt. These G10 handles are quite smooth (“polished” as Vosteed describes them) and slip in and out of the pocket effortlessly.
Blade centering is on point, too! The build quality here is really good.
As a backspacer, Vosteed just uses these two metal standoffs. They work well, of course.
Another thing I like about the Nightshade is that there’s minimal branding, and what branding there is is quite subdued. Take the brand and model – it’s just a light imprint on the handle end of the blade.
Vosteed’s logo is also subtle, with just a tiny icon just under the jimping.
Speaking of jimping, the blade does have it. On a knife shape like this, I’m not sure how important jimping is, but if you use this (or any) knife that way, it’s as good on this knife as it is on any knife.
Size
Overall Length 190 mm | 7.48 inch
Blade Length 82.7 mm | 3.26 inch
Blade width 30.7 mm | 1.21 inch
Blade Thickness 3.0 mm | 0.118 inch
Handle Length 107.3mm | 4.22 inch
Handle Width 22.6 mm | 0.89 inch
Weight 118 g | 4.16 oz
Here’s the Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife beside another of my favorites – the Civivi Elementum. If you want to see a bunch more photos of that knife, check out my post about the Civivi Elementum here.
One thing I wanted to point out about these two knives is the clip. They’re styled very similarly, but the hole spacing is not the same. Civivi uses a might tighter hole pattern. I’d probably call the Vosteed clip a bit higher quality, too.
Steel / Cut / Oats
Vosteed uses 154CM steel on this Nightshade knife.
I really don’t know too much about steel, but Wikipedia says this:
Crucible 154CM is a modification of martensitic stainless steel type 440C to which molybdenum has been added. It was originally developed for tough industrial applications and combines three principal elements: carbon, chromium, and molybdenum.
knifeup.com says about 154CM that
it’s a commonly used steel for a higher grade knife.
Does any of that matter much to me? Nah, to be honest, it doesn’t. This knife cuts, I will likely never sharpen it, and it carries well. Good enough!
Retention
As stated above, the pocket clip is a nice, deep carry clip. The clip is held in place by two “over/under” TORX screws (around T6, I think). The clip can not be moved to any other position but what you see below. That does probably mean the knife will be backward for you, southpaws out there!
Also included on the Nightshade is a hole where a lanyard could be attached. This hole is on the same end as the pocket clip and can be seen in the photo above.
Conclusion
The Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife has great build quality. At $69 (or $64 with a coupon), it seems like a nice deal. I’d love to see a smaller knife by Vosteed. But for days when I want to carry a bigger EDC knife, this Vosteed Nightshade Lt knife will be a top choice.
Notes
- This knife was provided by Vosteed for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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3.26″ blade: certainly not small! 154CM is about the best budget steel around (tougher than VG10, but doesn’t take quite the same edge). It’s the bottom end of acceptable, in my book. Here’s more info on the knife that inspired this one: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-magnificent-shilin-cutter.1535399/ Looks pretty good!