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Chris Taylor’s First Production Collab is a Frame Lock Nessie

May 18, 2021

Knife maker Chris Taylor is releasing his very first production piece through Urban EDC Supply, the Urban EDC Nessie. This Nessie is a modern, frame lock folder version of Taylor’s custom of the same name.

In its custom incarnation, the Nessie was almost always a slipjoint, although Taylor did experiment with locking models in the past. “I made a few lockback versions as well,” he tells us. “[I’m] really excited to see it come full circle.” The transition from handmade custom to small batch production frame lock took a lot of work – and thankfully Taylor found the right partner for the job. Working by hand means that you can forgo some of the technical aspects that come with entering into the production realm, such as computer drawing. “I owe a huge thanks to Eric Luther for doing the CAD/CAM work to make this possible and a huge thanks to everyone at Urban EDC Supply for making this happen and putting faith in me to even consider the collaboration,” Taylor explains.

The Nessie frame lock’s blade maintains the bulbous, kukri-inspired blade shape that made its custom predecessor stand out from the pack. Taylor originally chose the shape for practical reasons, however. “The blade shape lends itself well to many things,” he notes. “Ideally it would be best suited for skinning and processing wild game. The large belly lends itself well for these tasks.” With a blade length of 3.25 inches, this frame lock Nessie is also more than capable for daily cutting chores. “Everyday cutting is also no problem for this style of blade.”

In any of its custom iterations, the Nessie had a distinct ‘modern traditional’ flair thanks both to its blade and handle shape. This frame lock Nessie comes with that same scalloped, modern handle shape, albeit scaled up for the lock on the back side. Like many of its titanium frame lock brethren, its locking arm is topped by a stainless steel interface cap. The sculpted clip is made from titanium as well. There are several options for the show side scale: with a titanium front scale, the Nessie weighs 5.5 oz.; the models with G-10 or Micarta front scales are half an ounce lighter.

The three Nessie variations

The Nessie is available for preorder now. We reached out to Urban EDC themselves to ask what else they have coming down the line. “We have a new Vox design scheduled, as well as some new material combos coming down the pipe for the Urban EDC F5.5,” they told us. “Also, the Urban EDC Half Delta, designed by Dustin Snyder, is en route from the manufacturer and making a splash in the coming months!”

Knife in Featured Image: Urban EDC Nessie

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