What's So Special About Harbor Freight's Icon Knife? Here's What The Reviews Say

From carpentry to cooking, knives are some of the most versatile tools out there. Sure, they may exist almost solely to cut, shave, and chop objects and materials, but the situations in which they can come in handy are numerous. They don't require much upkeep, either, predominantly needing to be cleaned and sharpened now and again — or in the case of laser-bonded titanium knives, once every 25 years. Among the finds that can help you survive in the wild, Harbor Freight features a wide assortment of knives designed to handle all kinds of tasks, though one in particular is receiving a head-turning amount of attention.

The ICON drop point knife is getting lots of praise online for a number of reasons. For instance, on Reddit, u/fienen made an entire thread about the $39.99 Harbor Freight favorite, highlighting its solid geometry, durable make, and sharp straight-from-the-factory blade. "I'm most impressed by the blade geometry, like you said. It just seems to work really well. It feels like a bigger knife than it is," added u/Ok-Calligrapher1756. At the time of this writing, the ICON knife's Harbor Freight review section has it at 4.8 out of five stars with an astounding 455 of its 512 reviews being five out of five stars.

While much of the buzz surrounding this ICON knife is positive, there is a bit of controversy sprinkled in as well.

To those not in the know when it comes to knives, the ICON knife from Harbor Freight may look like any pocket-sized knife. There's a blade, a handle, and a clip. However, those with extensive knife knowledge likely recognize that the design is a highly specific one. Tenured knife maker Todd Begg previously released a similar model under the Glimpse name. Though the colors are different from the ICON knife, the contours of the blade and the shape of the handle are a pretty close match — a fact that folks have made some noise about online, expressing belief that this isn't mere coincidence.

"This 'Icon' knife is a blatant knock-off of a legitimate knife designer's work. If it was an original design that they didn't steal, I'd be a lot more inclined to try it out," wrote one Redditor about the alleged stolen design. Over on YouTube, cutlerylover even put the two knives side-by-side, further driving home the similarities between the two. Though some, like Redditor u/Chemical-Thing2113, have pointed out that Begg's design isn't owned by him and that his patent has expired, evidently, it doesn't sit right with some that the ICON seems to take so many design points from the Glimpse.

The ICON drop point knife has caused quite a stir on the Internet, and surely knife enthusiasts will continue to debate its efficiency and the ethics behind its creation for a while yet. One has to imagine that many will continue to boycott it and call it a Begg knock-off, while others will attest to it being one of the best Harbor Freight finds for under $50.