The world of knives is all about the details, the little things that tend to make big waves. It’s also about staying relevant by carving out a niche. The knife market is so saturated that a brand is better off building on the appeal of a product that has proven success.
Vosteed Knives gained market share because it makes quality knives at reasonable prices. And it continues to offer variations of the knives its customers love. The brand’s Shilin Cutter is one example, though an unusual design, its strong demand has resulted in 13 different iterations—half of which are currently sold out. But Vosteed’s most popular knife, by far, is the Raccoon. Like the Shilin, Vosteed created several versions of the original, but to keep it at the top of the popularity pile, the brand made a sequel.
And it’s all about the little details.
The Raccoon 2.0 harbors subtle changes from the original. You could hold both versions of the Raccoon next to one another and, unless you’re really looking hard, you might not see the big difference between them. A change in knife steel, slight changes in geometry, and an overall increase in strength, these things are enough to make something more relevant than ever.
In short: The Vosteed Raccoon 2.0 is a hard-working, affordable folding knife for the person who needs a reliable blade. At $70, the 2.0 allows a wide range of prospective users to experience a knife that generally costs twice the price. This makes it great for both indoor and outdoor use, or a hearty mix of both.
Specifications
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Updated geometry for easy deployment, use, closing, and carry.
- Flexfree framework
- Crossbar locks are the best in the business
- Nitro-V steel is scary sharp
Cons
- There are a lot of versions to pick from
- Maybe too many
Vosteed Raccoon 2.0 Review
Design & Features
The Vosteed Raccoon 2.0 is the quintessential EDC folding knife, built for strength, adaptability, and dependability. For the 2.0, Vosteed aimed to give users a better overall experience opening, carrying, using, and maintaining the knife. Changes in steel, thumb stud positioning, the liners, and even the pocket clip all confirm that they met that goal.
With an overall length of 7.59 inches, the Raccoon 2.0 is a medium-sized, four-finger knife meant to work with all hand sizes. It has Micarta scales that keep your hand in place on the handle in all conditions, and a 3.17in Nitro-V drop-point blade that adapts to a wide variety of tasks. Nitro-V is a solid steel with high toughness and corrosion resistance. It scores lower on edge retention, but that also makes it easy to resharpen. Best of all, Nitro-V allows the overall price to stay below $100, while giving users a taste of the premium knife blade experience.
For the 2.0, Vosteed moved the thumbstud back a smidge on the blade to give it better leverage and upgraded the crossbar on the crossbar lock to a single piece of steel. These two features working together give you a smooth and frictionless opening experience, and a secure lock-up. Additionally, where the original Raccoon had milled handle scales and inset liners, the 2.0 features full scales and exposed liners for added strength.
First Impressions
While I like the overall size, design, and build of the knife, I am perhaps most impressed by the opening action and the ease of sliding it into my pants pocket. A modern folding knife will either open easily, by the thumb stud or by pulling back the crossbar lock and flicking your wrist. Typically, the two options do not feel equally satisfying.
Yet, here we are. This double-whammy makes the 2.0 quick to deploy and put away, and it all feels organic. No strain and no stretching.
Additionally, there is absolutely no flex in the handle or blade. By sandwiching the liners between the handle scales and the pivot, Vosteed gave the Raccoon a foundation that is more structurally sound than knives 3-4x as expensive as it is.
In The Field
Three weeks with a knife is a general goal for me; however, I can tell you that this last week with the 2.0 has been both the most demanding and the most satisfying.
We’re in the eye of autumn here in Connecticut, and that means I’m outside as much as I can be. I’m either picking apples, hiking trails, or starting a fire in the fire pit. For this, the Nitro-V proved very slicey, which helped me process both cardboard and branches for starting a fire starting.
Over this past weekend, though, I took my kids on a short vacation up to Vermont, and I only brought the Raccoon 2.0 with me. If you didn’t know, kids eat a bunch of snacks when traveling. The 2.0 was excellent for slicing open bags of dried fruit, trail mix, and chips while driving through the backroads, attempting to see as much foliage as possible. The knife’s ability to flip open and closed and slide smoothly back into my pocket, all while I was driving, was a delight.
Though I never had the original Raccoon—but studied all the specs and reviews to evaluate this new version—I find the sequel to be on par with performance accolades. Reliability and ease of use are paramount in an EDC folder, and the 2.0 gets a gold star in both categories.
Conclusion: Who’s it For?
Anyone looking for an affordable EDC pocket knife will benefit from the Vosteed Raccoon 2.0. And as a bonus, this knife punches above its weight class, exceeding my expectations of a day-to-day knife.
While many of the upgrades to the 2.0 won’t reveal themselves until you start using the knife, even simple things like swapping out the Micarta backspacer (from the Raccoon 1.0) for an aluminum one with jimping (in the 2.0) improve the overall functionality of the knife.
The structural upgrades alone put this knife in the heavy-duty use category. Everything else Vosteed did, even simplly moving the thumb stud back on the blade, allows this version of the Raccoon to tide both Vosteed and its customers over for some time—at least until 3.0 hits the scene.
