Shop Hogue Knives
The Hogue knives shelf holds thirteen SKUs from $36.71 to $206.96. Twelve are knives. The thirteenth is a sheath, which the catalog files here, and we would rather say so than let you count it as a knife.
Of the twelve, seven fold and five are fixed blades. Every one is made in the United States. This is a narrow range compared to the big traditional brands in this warehouse, and that is the point: Hogue makes a small number of designs and puts serious steel in most of them.
The Deka is the folder most people come to this shelf for, and there are five of them. All five share the same frame: 4.25 inches closed, a 3.25 inch blade, a polymer handle, a thumb stud, a lanyard hole, a pocket clip and 3.5 ounces on the scale. All five run CPM MagnaCut. What separates them is finish and blade shape.
The nine dollar step between the tumbled and Cerakote versions buys a coated blade rather than a bare one. Cerakote adds corrosion protection and scratch resistance on the flats, though the cutting edge itself is bare steel on any coated knife. With MagnaCut underneath, corrosion is not a problem you were going to have anyway, so treat this as an appearance and wear-mark decision rather than a performance one.
This shelf carries an unusually wide spread of blade shapes for twelve knives.
If you are buying one knife to do everything, take a clip point or drop point. The hawkbill and scalpel are specialists and they are frustrating as general-purpose blades.
Five knives here do not fold, and they split into two groups.
The Extrak in black or orange G10 is $206.96, 7.38 inches overall with a 3.25 inch Cerakoted CPM-M4 clip point, full tang, removable handle scales, a nylon blade guard, an UltiClip and a Kydex belt sheath. Removable scales matter more than they sound: it means you can clean under the handle, which on a full-tang knife is where grime and moisture actually collect.
The Ex-F03 Hawkbill at $165.71 and the two Expel Scalpel knives at $139.46 are the smaller, more specialized fixed blades. The Expel uses 440C, a stainless that holds an edge best of the 440 family and resists corrosion very well. The orange Expel is closeout stock and will not come back once it is gone.
Three different steels sit on this one shelf and they do not ask for the same thing from you.
CPM MagnaCut (the Dekas). Effectively maintenance free on the corrosion front. Wipe it dry, oil the pivot occasionally, sharpen it when it stops cutting. Its hardness means sharpening takes longer than a soft stainless, so use diamond or ceramic rather than a basic pull-through.
CPM-M4 (the Extrak). This is a tool steel, not a stainless, whatever the spec line says. It will develop surface rust if it stays wet. Dry it fully, keep a thin film of oil on the blade, and never store it in a damp Kydex sheath. Handled that way it holds an edge longer than almost anything else here.
440C (the Expel). The easiest of the three. Good corrosion resistance, sharpens readily on ordinary equipment, holds an edge respectably.
The two Tactical Drop Point folders list their steel only as stainless with no alloy named, so we make no performance claim about them beyond that.
The Fixed Blade Slim Sheath in tan is $36.71. It is milspec ballistic nylon with milspec snap closures, bar-tack reinforced stitching and a hard plastic liner, sized to fit a 12 inch blade, and it arrives bulk packed without a retail box.
That 12 inch capacity is much larger than anything on this shelf, so this is a replacement or spare sheath for a big fixed blade rather than an accessory for a Deka or an Extrak. Both of those ship with their own sheath or clip already.
Hardware is one shelf over. The Hogue gear shelf stocks the Torx screw and clip kit for the EX-01, EX-03 and EX-04 at $19.07.
Hogue's limited lifetime warranty runs to the original owner and covers defects in materials or workmanship. It excludes normal wear and damage from misuse or neglect.
All thirteen items are here in Woodlawn and go out from here. Every knife on this page except the two Expel Scalpels clears the $149 free shipping line by itself; the sheath does not.
To place these against the rest of the catalog, the Hogue hub covers the company, and the under $200 pocket knife guide compares the Deka directly against folders from seven other brands at similar money.
Carry method varies more across this small range than the knives themselves do, and it is worth matching to how you dress and work.
Pocket clip, on the folders. The five Dekas and both Tactical folders clip to a pocket edge. The Tactical models specify a reversible clip, so the knife can be set up for either hand.
UltiClip, on the Extrak. Worth explaining because it is not a normal belt loop. An UltiClip is a sprung metal clip that grips over a waistband or belt rather than threading through it, so the knife can be put on and taken off without undoing anything, and it holds far more securely than a plastic belt clip. It is also much slimmer than a belt loop, which is the point on a fixed blade.
Kydex belt sheath, on the Extrak. Supplied alongside the UltiClip, plus a nylon blade guard for when the sheath is not used.
One practical note about fixed-blade carry: a sheath knife rides very differently sitting down than standing up. Whatever position seems comfortable in a shop is worth testing in a chair and in a vehicle before you commit to it, because a horizontal or crossdraw position that feels fine on your feet can dig in badly when seated.