Vosteed Corgi Review

Vosteed boasts its 2.99” blade length mainly because of the 3” blade limit in the State of Chicago including most of the US States. Therefore, keeping it at 2.99” makes it very practical and legal to carry everywhere.

The blade shape is drop point with a full flat grind that thins towards the tip of the blade. The blade thickness of 0.118” is also pretty standard for an EDC knife. However, there is a false swedge at half of the front of knife with a flat edge at the top of the flat grind. This makes the knife less pointy and sharp at these edges, and looks like waste of space. However, it does give shape to a good knife geometry for precise piercing cuts without the need for roll cuts. At the same time, it lacks any significant belly with the entire edge sitting at the lower boundary of the blade.

Nevertheless, the blade comes with a small sharpening finger choil at the back of the blade for a comfortable hold. The blade being stonewashed also gives it a good look with a bead blasted blade. You will also find the Corgi with a satin finish if you go for red, grey, blue, pink, purple, jade, or copper handle. I prefer the stonewash more because it eliminates possible scratches right out of the box, enhancing the blade’s appeal.

It is not powdered metallurgy steel but a high-performance ingot-formed steel capable of performing more than just EDC tasks. Instead, it comes with fine blanking press cut into a proper shape for faster production. Its carbon content may not look like much, but 0.62 is enough for EDC-level hardness. The 14% chromium makes it corrosion resistant, while the 0.11% nitrogen makes the blade tough. It also balances out its edge retention, capable of making precise cuts. I would say that despite not being powdered metallurgy steel, it is a great budget blade material you can get in just $59. It makes it competitive among other high-end knife brands.

It is also easy to sharpen and does not get stained or rusty easily. It is also able to hold its edge for long.

Vosteed has a history of vowing its customers with outstanding handle designs, especially because they have a team of designers who ensure an attractive knife look. Micarta is no exception. Although it is an excellent material for knife handle, its geometry is equally impressive. It holds far too well in the hand, kind of like it’s asking to be held just by its demeanor. The brass inlays that surround the pivot from both sides and the button release on the lock bar are all seamless. Nothing protrudes out of place to give way to pointy edges.

The oblong and rounded rectangle shape collect a patina with natural tarnish of the inlays is another excellent idea. It absorbs the skin oils, sweat and dirt to become darker round the edges. There is an old metaphor that knife enthusiasts use – like holding a pair of soft old denim jeans. It signifies comfort and the sense of cleanliness you feel around the handle despite regular use. It is a very attractive feature of the handle.

The textured cross-diamond hatch pattern on the handle also adds to its appeal. It makes it appear to be untarnishable. The triangular pivot screws hold the entire knife together perfectly straight and perpendicular to the liners. The blade also hides entirely inside the handle, which is a deliberate design detail. The spine’s top also levels perfectly with the liners when in a closed position, with only the flipper tabs that protrude outside from the handle’s edge. Hence, the ergonomics on the Corgi are flawless and excellent.

The loop over deep carry pocket clip is a fine polished stainless steel with the Vosteed logo etched on to it. It is safely secured in a slot on the handle by two vertically screwed oriented screws. It shows the attention to detail to the design and the manufacture, which is spectacular. And although it is configured only for right tip-up carry, you can also carry with left tip-up as well.

The backspacers sit inside between the liners and the rear handle with metal pin cutout lanyard hole that passes through the top rear handle’s corner. It also makes the knife appear very well-made with attention to detail. At this price point, the handle geometry is excellent.

All the layers of the handle, the liners, the backspacers, the pocket clip and lanyard hole fit seamlessly together, not just aesthetically, but functionally as well. However, there is only a slight uneven edge grind that is barely steeper on the lock bar than on the front side with slightly rougher finish. But it is not a major flaw, just worth mentioning.

Vosteed Corgi has good knife grip. Its worth mentioning that it has skeletonized stainless steel liners with drilled holes into them to reduce the knife’s overall weight. It is also another attention to detail that must not go unnoticed.

The pivot screw is Chicago-style with pivot barrel on lock side and threaded screw on the front side of the knife. The pivot and the body screws are both Torx T8, while the pocket clip screws are Torx T6. The threaded screw is enough to open the brass inlay, since it holds the spring lock together. The spring will rise into action if you remove the screws. It is worth mentioning if you decide to clean the knife by unlocking it.

The Trek Lock is pretty much a button lock or plunge lock designed by the knife designer himself – Yue Dong. He was also involved in the development of Kizer Cormorant. It is very familiar to the Trek Lock and pretty simple. All you have to do is press the button to disengage the blade. The spring inside springs the blade into action and back in lockup position. Once you button open the blade, the plunger engages a cutout in the blade tang, springing it open.

I must say the lockup on the Vosteed Corgi is excellent. It won’t open accidently unless you purposefully press the button to flick it into action. The button is also well-placed that it does not come in the way while cutting. Many knife designers are starting to install the button lock on manual folders like William Henry and Hogue Knives. It is because of this lock mechanism’s simplicity.

For deployment, the knife uses a set of flippers – finger, front, and thumb. It easily flicks open from the front, the back and with the help of a thumb seamlessly. It also does not require much wrist action. A single flick of the index finger is enough to open the blade.

You apply enough pressure on the plunger using the coil spring that closes the blade in detent and dropping it into round cutout. It differs from a regular plunge lock in terms of its placement. The placement of deployment on Corgi is much better.

The stop pin and the lock pass through a semicircular tang of the blade that has the chamfered edge giving way to a close detent and flat circle. It locks open the blade. Pressing the button reverses the process and closes the blade. The internal stop pin operates in the open position only with a tang cut portion that allows the cutout to pass through. It is why the deployment and lockup works so smoothly – it is incredibly smooth. It also means that it would not work if abused or used too roughly. It is a delicate knife that works just fine with a simple open and close action.

The best thing about the lockup is that the blade will stay open or close regardless of how you hold it. You can hold it in several different positions with comfort without the fear of the blade disengaging or any blade play happening. It makes the knife rather superior at such a low price.

The Vosteed Corgi is excellent to hold and carry around. Its slim and seamless profile accompanied by deep pocket carry pocket clip weighs just enough. It has just the right blade length for regular EDC tasks. The edges of the knife that do not protrude out protect the knife from slamming against other things and the Micarta handle works fine no matter in what condition your hands are in when you hold the knife.

While the ergonomics of the handle seemed excellent design-wise, we found flaws in it in the field. The exceptionally flat profile did not bode well during practical use. In simple words, the knife did not provide any support to hold it. It kind of feels like a bar of soap that can easily slip out of your hands. There is no finger guard or jimping to hold the hand’s fingertips in place or a swell to grab on to.

However, it is great for punching holes into cardboard boxes to open packages. It has great edge retention and flicks open and close without difficulty. But you may want to have a tighter grip when using it consistently. Due to no jimping or finger guard, it feels like the knife can slip out of your hand at any point. It is also important to note that this isn’t because the handle material is slippery. The Micarta acts as an excellent absorbent of sweat and dust. It is more to do with the knife’s profile. Perhaps if the handle had knuckle holders, fine jimping or handle textures protruding out, it wouldn’t be so hard to hold it. At the same time, it is also good that the handle completely obscures the blade. Perhaps the back of the blade could be allowed to protrude out without blade play.

The blade on the other hand, does a fine job at cutting things. It easily cuts through ropes, tapes, paper, cardboard, and food material. You can also place the blade from front, back, center, and upward position to cut through stuff with ease. It is also an added point of the knife.

It would also have been better for this knife to have a little more belly. The width of the surface area of the blade could help make more precise and roll cuts.

Another good thing about Vosteed Corgi is that is easy to maintain and clean. You do not need to disassemble the knife to clean the pivot and lock since they are inside the blade tang and accumulate less dirt.

The blade material 14C28N does not hold edge retention as long as BD1N but works fine as an EDC. The bead-blasted stonewash finish is more prone to attracting scratches than a fully stonewashed finish would. However, it is better than the Satin finish that shows more blemishes after some use.

Vosteed Corgi vs Vosteed Raccoon

As you can see, the two knives very similar in profile, handle and blade material. They also share the same drop point blade shape, full-flat grind, button lock and deep carry pocket clip.

However, the difference in Raccoon is that its blade is longer at 3.25” with overall length of 7.6”. It makes the Raccoon much more proportionate in blade and handle length – something that is missing in Corgi.

Another apparent difference is in the knuckle holders in Raccoon. Unlike the Corgi, the Raccoon is easier to grip without letting it slip easily from the hand. Its finger choil is also more apparent and larger than that on Corgi. The jimping is also enhanced on the Raccoon, making it more ergonomically friendly than the Corgi. When it comes to price, Raccoon has the same price as Corgi, but comes with slightly better profile.

Therefore, when it comes down to it, the only area where the Raccoon takes points over the Corgi is its ergonomics, ease of use, and size geometry. Otherwise, Corgi is a perfectly good pocketknife with great handle and blade material and an excellent design.

Vosteed Corgi vs Kizer Fiest

Kizer Fiest also looks a lot like the Vosteed Corgi. It shares the same profile and Micarta handle as the Corgi. However, Fiest is slightly thinner than the Corgi and only has a front flipper with ball bearing pivot and frame lock. But it performs very well.

Kizer Fiest comes with 154CM 3.4” spear point steel blade material with exceptional cutting edge and performance. It also looks a lot like a traditional pocketknife than the Corgi. It also weighs only 3.1 oz. but extends up to 7.75”. It comes with a regular bent steel pocket clip and sports a sleek round spine blade. However, Fiest costs $90, which is a lot more than Corgi.

Therefore, both the knives are equally good and cater to the same knife market.

We found Vosteed Corgi to be an excellent EDC knife. The designer Yue Dong paid special attention to the design of the knife, making it aesthetically pleasing. The knife profile is incredibly smooth. However, its ergonomics are not so great. Its sleek profile makes it hard to hold on to. Although the Micarta handle is excellent and resilient when held with either wet, sweaty or dirty hands.

The blade steel 14C28N has everything a well-performing pocketknife blade should have – hardness, toughness, blade position, finger choil and jimping.

The flipper works from the front, back and index finger and is exceptionally smooth. The Trek Lock or the button lock comes with absolutely zero blade play and does not accidently open or close. It completely obscures inside the handle and is easy to clean and sharpen, and even disassemble. You only need to unscrew from one end to maintain it.

However, the field test did not go as well as we had hoped. As good a design as it has, it was functionally not as flawless. We could not hold it or perform cutting tasks for long because of its thin and slippery profile.

Compared to Vosteed Raccoon and Kizer Fiest, Corgi gives a tough competition. Although Raccoon is ergonomically friendly, Fiest is more expensive and thinner than Corgi. However, all three knives are worth EDC knives.