PDW Designs Kitchen Knife Set for Overlanders

Prometheus Design Worx is taking an outdoorsperson’s approach to kitchen cutlery with their latest Special Projects Division release, the Field Kitchen Knife Set. Instead of focusing on tools for an in-home kitchen, PDW created a pair of blades knives for overlanders.

The FKKS comprises two different knives: a 6-inch chef’s and a 4-inch paring knife. Both feature blades made from CTS-BD1N steel, a nitrogen-enriched all-around performer, ensconced in maple handles. “Our pursuit of the Field Kitchen Knife Set was an intentional decision based on something we wanted to use when overlanding and group camping,” says PDW Founder Patrick Ma. ‘Overlanding’ is a type of camping that usually involves an off-road vehicle. Ma describes the FKKS as “A product that was commensurate with the care and effort we applied to all of our curated and carefully considered gear and equipment, to our 4x4s themselves when engaged in vehicle-based camping.”

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To that end, the included maple carrying case also serves a second important function: once opened and emptied, it can be turned upside down and used as a cutting board. “In this instance, what is equally notable was integrating a finely made cutting board that doubled as a carry case,” Ma explains.

The two-knife setup keeps the overall footprint small while still playing into another consideration: food safety. “When in the field, you typically don’t have hot running water to conveniently wash blades after cutting meat and moving to vegetables or fruits,” Ma points out. By smartly scheduling your cutting tasks, allocating one set to the big knife and another to the small, you can get a lot of prep done in a sanitary manner when you’re far away from convenient cleaning methods. “This way you could ensure to not contaminate your raw fruits and vegetables with any potentially stomach cramp-inducing bacteria from raw meat by using the same blade.”

We might associate PDW with its edged products, but really the company’s aim is to become lifestyle brand, with a customer base outside of its core demographic of knife nerds. Whether they’re making shemaghs, titanium chopsticks, or chef’s knives for the great outdoors, Ma says the design process is the same. “Many of our new product directions are based on our own observations of what we would like to use when in the field. While is is truly a challenge to “reinvent the wheel”, we do often see opportunities to make improvements on certain types of existing products.”


Knife featured in image: PDW Field Knife Kitchen Set