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Mikkel Willumsen Caters to Knife Laws Everywhere with the Red E WL

November 5, 2020

Mikkel Willumsen has returned, bringing a new project to Kickstarter. Willumsen aims to make a production, widely legal slipjoint version of his Red E custom knife, called the Red E WL.

If you’re familiar with the Red E custom, this latest model is in many ways a very different beast. The custom was a knife in the classic Willumsen manner, with a bold look and correspondingly large dimensions: its blade was a full 3.5 inches long and quite wide. It opened with a ball bearing-powered flipper tab and locked up with a titanium frame lock. In short, it was a knife designed (custom collectability aside) to power through and withstand the bigger folding knife cutting chores.

This new Red E, on the other hand, is small, EDC-centric, even cute. Its blade is 2.76 inches long; the general leaf-ish drop point shape is retained, but a forward choil has been added to provide additional control for detail-oriented cutting tasks. The blade steel is 14C28N – a stainless steel from Swedish manufacturer Sandvik that scores respectably in all the main performance criteria while still being affordable.

The sole opening method is a nail nick, making this Red E strictly a two-handed affair. That decision, in conjunction with its overall size and slipjoint nature, give the knife its “world legal” status; Willumsen says the Red E is ready for duty in 156 different countries.

The ergonomics do mimic its bigger brother’s, with multiple cuts and cants following a general arcing, tapering shape from pivot to butt end. The scales are made from G-10 and available in black or olive green colorations. Willumsen renovated the pocket clip from the custom, creating a deep carry, loop over clip that can be switched to the off-side, making the knife completely ambidextrous.

The Red E WL project is up on Kickstarter now; the lowest donation tier that will nab you the actual knife is 449DKK – about $70 USD.

Knife in Featured Image: Willumsen Copenhagen Red E WL

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