Honey Badger Knives came into being in 2014 by Marc Ager in South Africa. It produces an affordable range of high-quality, practical and durable EDC knives. Honey Badgers are known for their strength and toughness. They were named after Africa’s toughest animal.
Honey Badgers found their way into the affordable EDC market of the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, etc. All these markets prioritized high-quality and exceptional value in their EDC knives and among knife enthusiasts worldwide.
The company also sells a full range of spare parts and knife accessories including black fittings, screws, clips, machined G10 handles and backspacers. You can use these parts to customize and upgrade Honey Badger knives. All Honey Badger Knives are superbly designed to be tough, hard-wearing, and competent in varied long-term usage. They have smooth, almost frictionless opening and closing action facilitated by two opposing roller bearings that contain 18 ball bearings.
The Honey Badger Knives range is produced and manufactured in Johannesburg, South Africa, and even China. The Honey Badger Large Linerlock being reviewed today was made in China, and sells at an affordable price range.
Honey Badger Large Linerlock Review
Honey Badger comes in medium and large sizes. The large one extends up to 8.3” when open with a closed length of 4.63” and a blade length of 3.63” made from drop point flat grind plain edge satin finish D2 tool steel. It consists of black textured GRN (Glass Reinforced Nylon) scales with an extended tang, pocket clip, lanyard hole, and a thumb pull.
The knife opens using a smooth washer pivot system, and vanishes into the pocket with deep carry pocket clip with recessed screws.
Summary of Honey Badger Large Linerlock:
The Blade of Honey Badger Large
The drop point blade shape with a convex spine on the Honey Badger Large curves down from the handle to the point. It creates easily controlled point and bigger belly for slicing. Drop points are great for general purpose use and ideal for hunters. This blade style has been the most popular and best-selling in Honey Badger knives range.
The blade length being greater than 3” with a 3.5” cutting edge and flat grind with a blade stock thickness of just 0.12” makes it a great EDC slicer. The satin finish is well-done on this knife, which looks more like stonewash.
The knife has no finger choil. The reason as stated by the knife manufacturer was to yield longer, usable blade length. Whether or not that was the right decision remains to be seen. In our opinion, there should have been at least a small forward finger choil or a sharpening choil for ease of grip. The blade has enough usable cutting edge running along the grind lines that are visible vertically.
The D2 tool steel is often referred to as semi-stainless as it falls short of the 13% chromium content in it. Yet it provides a good amount of corrosion resistance, and is much harder than other steels. It has good edge retention and edge holding but is not that tough, and exponentially tougher to sharpen. In fact, it may even require a professional master sharpener to get a fine edge on D2. But the Honey Badger is surprisingly easier to sharpen owing to its even blade geometry and flat grind.
The blade of Honey Badger however, does have an external stopping or beak to prevent your finger from sliding down towards the blade. It also acts as a flipper for knife opening. It also has jimping along the spine of its blade, but is uncomfortable and sharp. It makes handling the knife challenging. However, it is great for fine detail work like slicing or skinning. But using it in a sawing motion does not work so well, as it tends to get stuck.
The Handle of Honey Badger Large
The Honey Badger’s handle consists of GRN/FRN honeycomb textured and patterned scales that are strong yet lightweight and ergonomically friendly, and configured for multi-directional grip. The exaggerated bend on the handle near the spine gives full exposure to the large thumb hole to make opening the knife easier, and for comfortable handling. You can hold the knife easily while working on chopping something on a cutting board without letting your fingers get in the way. The handle is also well-contoured, is 1” wide and 0.5” thick for comfortable gripping.
The Honey Badger’s handle consists of GRN/FRN honeycomb textured and patterned scales that are strong yet lightweight and ergonomically friendly, and configured for multi-directional grip. The exaggerated bend on the handle near the spine gives full exposure to the large thumb hole to make opening the knife easier, and for comfortable handling. You can hold the knife easily while working on chopping something on a cutting board without letting your fingers get in the way. The handle is also well-contoured, is 1” wide and 0.5” thick for comfortable gripping.
The GRN (Glass Reinforced Nylon) is durable and super rugged yet flexible, but does not feel as solid in the hand like G10, Micarta, or alloy handles. The black color is also not easily tarnished, and will weather extended usage. It is also easy to grip with wet or gloved hands. In fact, it is one of the best materials to hold with gloved hands owing to its super ergonomics and its ability to absorb moisture. That also makes the knife low maintenance.
The handle also has an extended tang in addition to obscuring the blade fully inside the scales. It also has liners that secure the blade’s tip and frame. The thumb stud protrudes out in a closed position, and so does the large thumb hole. That makes the deployment easier, and shows attention to detail with no unnecessary parts showing in the closed position.
The knife also features a stainless steel reversible tip-up deep pocket carry pocket clip. It is well-placed and made of good quality steel, also with the satin finish. The stainless steel pocket clip against black scales is a good option and makes the clip visible, while making it obscure in deep pocket carry. It also feels lightweight and does not feel like you are carrying anything.
Although the handle is 4.6” long, you can extend it further by attaching a lanyard to the lanyard hole. It remains open whether the knife is open or closed without anything getting in its way.
The scales are screwed together with tiny and subtle satin finished screws, two at the bottom, one on the rear end, and one large pivotal anodized screw, holding together the pivot washer ball bearings.
Lockup and Deployment of Honey Badger Large
The Honey Badger is a flipper with a thumb stud and comes with a large thumb-hole for deployment. The knife is very deliberately designed to keep the lockup and deployment in mind, nothing extra. The thumb stud lies at the back of the knife, while the thumb hole is at the front. So you can open the knife manually using either of the two mechanisms.
The knife is popularly known as having a frictionless opening and closing action facilitated by two opposing roller bearings containing a total of 18 ball bearings. That is what makes the deployment action smooth and flawless. The blade does not get stuck in the middle and flips open with one swift motion. It also automatically locks itself in the open or closed position without any blade play. It is very easy to open and close the knife.
The Honey Badger features a typical liner lock that works with the detent ball, a stop pin, and the liner lock itself. The detent on Honey Badger is just right, not too light and not too stiff. It uses the blade’s liners to initiate a spring action, which springs open the blade while locking it into position. It works in perfect harmony with the flipper and the thumb-hole action.
Pros & Cons of Honey Badger Large Linerlock
PRO’s
Con’s
Comparison
Honey Badger Large vs Medium
Honey badgers come in medium and large size and with different steel blades and knife handle materials. The medium has a blade length of 3” with an overall length of 7.125”. Meanwhile, the large Honey Badger has a 3.625” blade with an overall length of 8.375”. The medium version is more compact, lightweight, and easier to carry. The larger Honey Badger is more suited to carrying out medium to heavy-duty tasks.
There is a slight difference between the prices of the two knives, but the preference depends on mode of usage.
Conclusion – Honey Badger Large
We found the large Honey Badger to be a good EDC option that also acts as a good kitchen knife. Its lockup is exceptionally smooth and comfortable. The flipper and the thumb-hole work in perfect harmony with each other, and the linerlock locks the blade in place and prevents it from locking up on its own.
The honeycomb textured scales provide an ergonomics and slip-free grip. You can also hold the knife with gloved or sweaty hands. Although it does not have a choil, it is easy to sharpen. But the jimping is sharp and uncomfortable.
However, overall, it is a good budget-friendly flipper folder capable of performing everyday cutting tasks with its sharp and concise blade. The blade geometry is really good, and the D2 tool steel is solid and tough, and relatively easier to sharpen.
