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Pro-Tech Runt 5 is the Latest Version of Company’s Signature Design

August 2, 2021

Pro-Tech is on the cusp of releasing the latest version of one of its most longstanding knife designs, the Runt. The Runt 5 brings some notable changes to a model that has been around as long as Pro-Tech itself.

In knife company years, Pro-Tech isn’t that old; it was founded in 1999 by Dave Wattenberg, well after other mainstays like Kershaw, Spyderco, and Benchmade had established themselves. Most Pro-Tech fans know the story of Wattenberg making the first Pro-Tech knives by hand on a kitchen table: that first model was the original Runt. The design has been a longtime favorite for its compact, EDC-flavored take on the automatic knife genre, which certainly at the time was dominated by tactical philosophies. And while Pro-Tech certainly made some models in that vein as well, the Runt has persevered, with each successive version bringing tweaks and refinements its venerable design.

Comparing the Runt 5 to its immediate predecessor, the Runt J4, it’s easy to see that it has had its handle design overhauled. It’s more square, with more hard angles compared to the arched, pistol grip-like handle of the Runt J4. Textured aluminum is still the material of choice for the two-piece handle, which has texturing beneath the blade spine reminiscent of jigging on a traditional knife. The pocket clip has been completely redone: instead of the tip-down clip on previous Runts, the Runt 5 has a tip-down, deep carry clip.

The Runt 5 is available in two different blade shapes

We’ve seen the Runt in several different blade shapes throughout the years; the Runt 5 is releasing in both wharncliffe reverse tanto versions. In either configuration we see the same 1.96-inch length – which means that the Runt 5, like all of its predecessors, is legal to carry in California. The update with the most direct impact on performance is the blade steel, CPM-20CV, which offers a marked jump up in performance relative to the 154CM of previous Runt lines.

The Runt 5 debuted at Blade Show in June, in a limited, handmade version with bronze aluminum scales. The first batch of full production Runt 5s is set to arrive this, first in the wharncliffe version, with the reverse tanto to follow in September.

Knife in Featured Image: Pro-Tech Runt 5

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