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Real Steel to Release Banshee Utility Hawkbill

March 21, 2018

Real Steel Knives’ latest release, the Banshee, fits into a growing trend of hawkbill-style utility blades. The fixed blade knife, which will be available later this week, helps usher in RSK’s new direct-to-consumer business strategy and a year of new collaborations.

The unusual Banshee, is expected to retail for $75 and will sport a 3.35-inch hawkbill blade on the business end of an oversized, full tang handle. According to RSK’s Jamie McKenna, the knife aims to be a unique and widely functional utility cutter and comes equipped with D2 for long-lasting edge retention. “This knife is best suited for cutting tasks that need a fair degree of power behind them like cutting safety tags, opening thick industrial packages,” he explains. “It can also be held similar to a karambit, with reverse, forward and pistol grips.”

Knifemaker Jakub Wieczorkiewicz, of Poltergeist Works, is the mind behind the Banshee design. Bringing the Polish bladesmith on board was part of RSK’s larger initiative to promote the work of international designers. “Asking Jakub to join the team represents our continuing direction of cooperating with talented European designers,” McKenna says. “Essentially, he has a vision of what the knife wants to be and we simply make it with him, it’s a really fun and rewarding experience.”

McKenna notes that as RSK’s name continues to spread, their list of potential collaborators grows and will soon include some well-known knife celebrities. “Over the last year or so we have had a long list of designers wanting to work with us. In late May/early March we’ll see a new collaboration with two very talented household name American designers.”

Alongside the expanded collaboration plans RSK opened up its direct-to-consumer US digital storefront, Real Steel Knives USA. McKenna believes the development will help cement RSK in the minds of US consumers. “We know shipping directly from China can be a costly business,” he says. “The USA website provides a local distributor and hands-on team in the US to deal with this.”

Customers can expect to see any new RSK model debut through their storefront first, starting with the Banshee and the Gardarik. McKenna would like to see similar region-specific stores crop up in the UK and in Russia, where RSK enjoys the lion share of its popularity. “They are big hot spots for RSK fans and we hope in the coming year we can bring an RSK UK, or RSK RU, to the fans in these regions.”

Knife featured in image: Real Steel Knives Banshee

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