The Nitecore NTK10 is a particular folding knife that resembles a cutter for both the engineering and the replaceable blades; however, the materials used are of high quality.
It’s amazing to see a top-of-the-range knife with a replaceable blade. After using the Nitecore NTK10, you will agree on the high quality of this product, especially if you don’t want to care about sharpening the blade, or accidentally damaging it. 
Replaceable
Coltelleria Collini (www.coltelleriacollini.it) distributes in Italy Nitecore products, such as high performance flashlights and accessories like batteries and chargers. The NTK10 is an unexpected high tech foray in their catalogue: it’s in fact a folding knife with titanium handle and replaceable blade.
Blade users who are looking for sharp and precise cuts, without need for particular mechanical robustness, often ask for replaceable blades. This solution is then sometimes adopted also in the knife world: the one we are are describing today is one of the best models ever made.
Structure
The handle is the key feature of this unusual Edc. Nitecore decided to make its life difficult by machining a single piece of titanium, showing excellent craftsmanship. The result is a folder with a sliding blade that closely resembles a cutter for the spring-slider, quite pointy, that allows to extract the blade and lock it in 13 different positions, besides the fully retracted one.
The handle design is simple and clear, as well as very handy and safe thanks to the three grooves that offer a firm grip. In the rear the small titanium block is decorated with various inclined flats, whereas the front extremity resembles a feline figure. This is not a mere aesthetic whim: when the blade is closed, the mouth of the stylised feline becomes a bottle-opener and its nose a glass breaker. The titanium has a perfect matte finishing, which is probably the result of beadblasting followed by a stone wash. This creates a beautiful contrast with the polished stainless steel of the blade.
Blade
The NTK10 features a OLFA CKB-2 blade, which is produced in Japan by one of the top manufacturers of cutting tools in the world. Specifically designed for carving woods, it’s harder and sharper than the blade of a normal cutter. When the edge wears off, you can easily replace it with a new one – the operation is simple and affordable. Not all knife enthusiasts will appreciate the replaceable blades, but this it the perfect choice for a Edc knife, especially if you don’t want to sharpen the tool, and you use it very often with the risk of breaking or damaging the edge. Obviously you can’t expect the same hardness and durability of a top-of-the-range knife.
If you look closely at the OLFA CKB-2, you can see it presents a straight-edge blade with a 30 degree angle that allows the best cutting stability and precision. The slightly lowered tip is hard and very practical, especially because you can easily adjust the blade length. The bevels are only 3mm long and have a different angle, more to the right, whilst the sharpening is asymmetric – the strap is visible only on the right side.
Carry
The Nitecore NTK10 is just like any other sport folding knife: on the right side there’s a titanium pocket clip and the handle ends with a wide triangular hole, perfect for a lanyard.
If you carry around the NTK10, always remember to check if you have properly closed the blade before putting it in your pocket: the slide system is different from the standard folders that have only two positions, closed and open.
Technical Specs
- Producer: Nitecore / www.nitecore.com
- Model: NTK10
- Blade: Olfa CKB-2
- Handle material: titanium
- Length when open: 165 mm
- Cutting edge length: 54 mm
- Blade thickness: 1,2 mm
- Weight: 68 g
- Lock type: slide lock
- Price: 150 euro (Italian market)
Pro: excellent manufacturing
Cons: pointy lock
Would you like to read some more folding knives reviews? Check our section dedicated to folding blade knives.