I’ve admired a lot of Vosteed’s designs for years now, but somehow hadn’t gotten around to spending any real time with one. That changed at SHOT Show this past January when I finally connected with the folks from Vosteed and went home with a Raccoon TiSlim.
Being a knife guy, and especially being a knife reviewer, I tend to rotate through what I’m carrying. That means I don’t necessarily have the same knife in my pocket every day for months at a time. It also means I like to give a knife enough time in the rotation before writing about it that I actually know how it carries and works. I’m not particularly interested in doing an unboxing, cutting a couple pieces of cardboard and calling it a review.
I’ve had the Raccoon TiSlim for about seven months now. It’s been part of my regular EDC, traveled with me on a couple road trips and ridden along on shifts at my police job. At this point, I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like to live with one. And I like it a lot.
A Slimmer Raccoon
The Raccoon is one of Vosteed’s established designs, but the TiSlim takes the basic concept and pares it down into a thinner, lighter package with titanium construction. The result is a knife that looks classy enough to qualify as a gentleman’s folder but is built well enough that you don’t have to treat it like one.
The Raccoon TiSlim has a 3.18 inch drop point blade made from 154CM stainless steel with a flat grind and satin finish. Blade thickness is just 0.087 inch. Overall length is 7.55 inches, with a 4.37 inch titanium handle.
That titanium handle is only 0.315 inch thick, and the complete knife weighs just 2.69 ounces. Those two numbers probably tell you more about the TiSlim than anything else on the specification sheet. It’s an extremely unobtrusive knife to carry.
The blade rides on caged ceramic ball bearings and locks open with Vosteed’s crossbar lock. Dual thumb studs give you conventional one-handed opening from either side, but you can also pull back on the crossbar and flick the blade open. The lock is completely ambidextrous and has provided solid lockup throughout my time with the knife. The titanium pocket clip is reversible for left or right hand tip-up carry.
Subtle Style
I particularly like the aesthetics of my gray and satin TiSlim. The gray titanium scales and satin blade are understated, with the blue thumb stud providing just a little pop of color without making the knife look gaudy. It’s a clean, classy design.
That’s why I’d be comfortable calling the TiSlim a gentleman’s folder, although that description can be a little misleading. Gentleman’s knives sometimes bring to mind delicate little folders intended more for opening envelopes than doing actual work. The Raccoon isn’t that.
The titanium construction, crossbar lock and straightforward drop point blade make this a perfectly capable working EDC knife. It just happens to clean up nicely.
Seven Months in My Pocket
Where the TiSlim really won me over wasn’t on a cutting bench, it was in my pocket. At 2.69 ounces and barely over three-tenths of an inch thick, there simply isn’t much of it to notice. I’ve carried it as part of my normal EDC, taken it on road trips and carried it while working as a police officer. With all of the other stuff that tends to accumulate in my pockets and on my belt, I appreciate anything that doesn’t add unnecessary bulk or weight.
The Raccoon carries flat against the pocket and stays out of the way. In fact, it’s easy to forget it’s there until you need it. The pocket clip deserves some credit for that too. It holds the knife securely and keeps it low profile, but Vosteed got the tension right. It slips on and off the pocket easily without feeling like you’re fighting the clip every time you put it away. At the same time, I’ve never had any concern about the knife coming loose.
Just as importantly, it hasn’t spent seven months chewing up the edge of my pockets. That’s something you tend to appreciate after carrying enough knives with overly aggressive clips.
Putting the Raccoon to Work
My use hasn’t involved any elaborate torture testing. It’s been the sort of mundane work that an EDC knife actually sees. The Raccoon has opened a myriad of boxes and packages, sliced tape, cut cordage and handled the usual assortment of everyday chores. I used around the house and outside when planting a couple of trees and and other plants too. It’s even been pressed into some impromptu kitchen duty from time to time.
It came with an excellent factory edge, and that edge has held up well throughout my use. The thin blade stock and flat grind also make it a very good slicer, which is arguably more useful for an EDC knife than having a thick blade built to survive abuse that most folders will never encounter.
Despite its thin profile, the TiSlim doesn’t feel flimsy in use. The titanium handle gives it a solid feel in the hand, and the crossbar lock has remained positive with no issues with lockup. That’s really the trick Vosteed pulled off with this knife. It feels like considerably less knife when it’s riding in your pocket than it does when you’re actually using it.
What About 154CM?
On the steel side, Vosteed went with 154CM. Once upon a time, 154CM was considered a premium blade steel. These days there are plenty of newer, more exotic steels for knife enthusiasts to debate, but 154CM didn’t suddenly stop being a good steel just because newer options came along. It’s a proven stainless steel with a good balance of edge retention, toughness and corrosion resistance, and it’s worked just fine for everything I’ve asked of the Raccoon over the past seven months.
I’ll admit I’m pretty much the reverse of a steel snob anyway. For the sort of everyday cutting most of us actually do, I’m much more interested in how a knife performs than whether it uses the latest hot steel. If using a proven steel like 154CM helps keep the price reasonable while Vosteed puts the money into the titanium construction and overall fit and finish, I’m perfectly fine with that tradeoff.
And the fit and finish on my TiSlim have been excellent. Everything is cleanly machined, the blade action is smooth, lockup is solid and nothing has loosened up or given me reason for concern during seven months of use.
A Lot of Knife for $135
There are an awful lot of good folding knives competing for your money these days, and $135 certainly isn’t inexpensive. On the other hand, I think the Raccoon TiSlim delivers a lot for that price. You’re getting titanium construction, a proven ambidextrous locking system, caged ceramic ball bearings, a reversible titanium clip and proven 154CM blade steel in a knife with excellent overall fit and finish.
Vosteed also backs its knives with a warranty that’s valid for the life of the product for the original owner. If something does go wrong, the company directs owners to contact its support department with pictures or video of the problem so they can determine an appropriate solution. After seven months, I haven’t needed to test that part of the package.
What I have tested is pretty much everything else that matters to me in an EDC folder. The Raccoon TiSlim carries exceptionally well, cuts well, locks up solidly and has shown excellent build quality throughout my time with it.
There are plenty of knives to choose from these days, including plenty at both lower and higher price points. At $135, though, I think the Raccoon TiSlim hits an excellent balance of thoughtful design, quality materials and real-world performance. After seven months of rotating it through my EDC, the best compliment I can give it may be the simplest one: it keeps finding its way back into my pocket.