Bear & Son Expands 2021 Auto Offerings Yet Again
Bear & Son Cutlery is adding another new line of autos to their catalog this year. The A08 models blend the look and feel of early modern folders with the action of an automatic knife.
From an aesthetic perspective, Bear and Son drew on classic folder tropes for the A08. It visually hearkens back to the early days of modern knives, when the lines of traditional slipjoints were being adapted into larger, locking formats. It’s a style of knife that has remained a staple of Bear & Son’s lineup for years. The A08 in particular is an EDC-sized take on the format, with a 2.75-inch drop point blade for snappy resolution of day-to-day chores.
On the Bear OPS Bold Action 14, another new for 2021 automatic, the company broke away from its usual 440 steel for 14C28N; it looks like they returned to their old standby on the A08. 440 is undoubtedly an outdated steel, but it does have corrosion resistance in spades, and is as tractable a stainless as you could ask for, so there are some advantages.
The A08 does share a deployment method with the Bold Action 14: a press of a bolster-located button fires the blade and locks it into position. There’s no secondary safety, however, and instead of a button lock, the A08 actually has a separate back lock mechanism. Once open, the blade is disengaged just like its non-automatic counterparts: by pressing down on the lock spring and shutting the blade.
The handle design keeps it classic and simple, with a sizable guard and a roomy finger groove. Big bolsters cap both ends, and in between there’s a handle cover made from either rosewood, stag bone, or black G-10. Bear & Son did give this one an important modern convenience: a pocket clip for safe carry. The presence of a clip makes the A08’s weight of 2.9 oz. even more convenient
Bear & Son is one of several companies focused on the automatic category this year. The aforementioned Bold Action 14 debuted in March, with dimensions in accordance with California’s fairly restrictive requirements for legal auto carry.
Knife in Featured Image: Bear & Son Cutlery A08
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