REVIEW: Nitch Designs – Ingress
Review Summary
It’s not every day that you see a new knife design drop that’s completely different than anything on the market and it takes courage to break the mold to produce something truly unique. Due to its unique design, the Ingress may be jarring to some at first look, but they’ll be pleasantly surprised once it’s in their hands. Nick spared no expense in fine tuning every aspect of the design and its evident the second it’s taken out of the box. Overall, a great option for those who are looking for a beefy knife with a design that will turn heads.
- Blade Steel: CPM-20CV
- Blade Finish: Belt Satin or Stonewashed
- Blade Style: Wharncliffe
- Blade stock thickness: 0.125”
- Handle Material: Stonewashed Titanium
- Clip Material: Stonewashed Titanium
- Blade Length: 3.25”
- Open Length: 7.48”
- Closed Length: 4.57”
- Weight: 4.44 oz
Pros
- Premium materials and finish at a cost-conscious price
- Excellent ergonomic handle geometry
- Long flat cutting edge with tall grind, perfect for sweeping cuts
Cons
- Large blade without a flipper
- Overall, knife could be smaller
Full Review: Nitch Designs - Ingress, a Beefy Knife with a Unique Design
- Updated: July 6, 2020
- By: Derrick Beil
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Starting as just a sketch back in March 2018, the Ingress has gone through several revisions over 2 years to bring us the final form I’m reviewing today. Designed by Nick Rogers of Nitch Designs and manufactured by WE Knives, the Ingress brings a brand-new take on knife aesthetics to the knife enthusiast community.
Depending on who you are and your individual taste on knives, the unique design will make it or break it for you. The Ingress isn’t just a rehash of the same drop point titanium framed knife you’ve seen 1000 times. Being a major departure from the norm, this knife is sure to turn heads when you have it out. The real question is whether the design is right for you… if the Ingress has piqued your interest then this review is for you.
Read on for my overall thoughts on the knife and whether you should take the plunge on the Ingress.
What You're Buying
Priced at $190, the Ingress sits comfortably within the mid-tier premium knife range. At this price point, premium materials and above-average fit and finish are a given. I’m happy to report that the Ingress easily delivers on this expectation with a Titanium frame and CPM-20CV blade. To add: you’ll find that knives with the same specifications as the Ingress are priced from the low 200’s all the way up to high 400’s making $190 feel like a real bargain.
Fit and Finish
Following the trend among other new knives to hit the market, the Ingress is designed here in the United States but is contract manufactured in China by WE Knives. Contract Manufacturing in China has become more popular in recent years. In fact, some larger custom knife brands such as Bull Knives and Brian Brown Knives have outsourced their mass-produced models to these manufacturers with a lot of success. Quality of the Ingress shouldn’t be a concern as WE Knives has a proven track record of producing high-quality products for many years.
Since it was a prototype, I did not disassemble my review sample, but from what I could tell the Ingress shows great fit and finish out of the box. The blade was centered perfectly and had zero lateral blade play. Bearings felt very smooth and the frame’s finishing was perfect.
I’ve handled a few WE Knives and they all have one thing in common: they are RAZOR sharp. If you’ve heard my previous reviews on knives with M390 blades, you’ll know that I’m only a fan of these knives if they are sharp out of the box (because getting them sharp at home is nearly impossible without the right equipment). CPM-20CV and M390 are equally difficult to sharpen, so I was ready to gripe if it wasn’t sharp out of the box. CPM-20CV is no joke, it takes time and skill to get this steel sharp and WE Knives crushed it. This knife cuts through cardboard like butter, which makes me very happy.
Carry Factor
The Ingress is a large knife. At nearly 7.5” long when open and 4.5” long when closed, the knife feels sizeable even in the most spacious pockets. This is not the knife for you if you’re looking for something slim. If a big knife is what you’re after you’ll be happy with the overall feel of the Ingress (more on that later). That said, overall the knife does feel a bit larger than it needs to be. I personally feel like the knife could lose a half-inch in pretty much all directions and still feel substantial (as intended) but more pocketable and usable for smaller hands.
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Ingress is the large blade ‘hump’ housing the finger deployment hole. I was concerned that this hump would make the knife feel a bit large in my pocket, but I honestly didn’t feel it negatively impact the ability to carry in a pocket at all. This is a good thing because the higher finger deployment hole makes this knife very flickable. Additionally, the raised blade spine provides a great place to position your thumb when choking up for finer cutting tasks.
Moving onto the frame of the knife, I found that they were contoured perfectly. The knife is extremely ergonomic, and I had a hard time finding a position that wasn’t comfortable during cutting tasks. The scales are machined with a diamond pattern that adds a distinct look and a little more grip than if they were smooth. I was also really happy to see a dedicated finger choil in the handle as it made the Ingress feel very stable in my hand when working through high-power cutting actions like breaking down boxes.
Overall Styling
When it comes down to it, fit, feel, and material construction are on par (and above) what you’d expect for $190 folder. What’s likely to be the deciding factor for your purchase is the styling. Nick took a big risk and deviated significantly from the rest of the pack and brought us something truly unique. Personally, the knife wasn’t my favorite design when I saw photos of it but it grew on me quickly as I carried it around.
Overall, I found the styling a little ostentatious – but the same could be said for other popular knives with Timascus accents or bright colors (*cough* *cough* Blue Benchmade Bugout). It’s begging for attention and that’s kind of the point. You don’t buy this knife (or any other with bold styling) for it to be subdued and chilling in your pocket. You buy it because it makes a statement and the styling speaks to you. I often find myself marveling at the designs of my knives and this was no different for the Ingress.
Final Thoughts on the Ingress
If the aesthetics of the Ingress are your thing, I’m positive that you’ll be highly satisfied with this knife. Its super ergonomic handles and tall grind have made this knife into a real workhorse that performs really well in all cutting tasks. I highly recommend checking this knife out even if you’re on the fence due to its unique design language.
2 Responses
Can I still buy one of these?
Unfortunately, you cannot. The Kickstarter failed to reach funding and the knife was never made. 🙁