Skinny, Not Scrawny: Ultra-Slim ‘Bexar’ EDC Knife Review

Don’t make the same mistake I did. Unless you’re from Texas, you probably saw the name of this knife and pronounced it like it looks: “Bex-Ar.” Turns out, the word is more like a toddler hollering for a stuffed animal at the carnival.

Forget the “x” is there, and you’ll have it right: Bear.

That said, it wasn’t the name that drew me to the knife. What caught my eye initially was the blue camo print on the handle. It’s unique and wonderfully done. As I checked out the specs, I realized this knife had to be one of the slimmest folders on the market today, designed as an urban EDC.

Let’s face it, if your work environment is more cubicle than fence line, you probably don’t need a fixed blade hanging off your hip. Tactile Knife Co. has a tremendous reputation for high-quality and precision, exactly the elements necessary to pull off a design like this — svelte and lightweight — and make it work.

In short: The Bexar from Tactile Knife Co. is a great EDC option, particularly for those who might be trying to cut ounces from their daily load. It’s deceptively strong, incredibly sharp, and looks amazing. Its flaws are few, and its fit and finish are nearly impeccable.

Tactile Knife Co. Bexar Review

To be honest, the Bexar really isn’t the type of knife I tend to gravitate to most often. I’m more of a fixed-blade guy, with occasional dalliances with automatics.

But the more I read about Tactile Knife Co., the more intrigued I became about the brand’s product line. 

To be honest, the Bexar really isn’t the type of knife I tend to gravitate to most often. I’m typically more of a fixed blade guy, with occasional dalliances with automatics. But the more I read about Tactile Knife Co., the more intrigued I was about their product line. 

I asked around to my fellow knife nerds to hear the consensus on the company, along with the Bexar specifically. Overwhelmingly, the responses promised I was in for a treat. So, I plunked down my credit card and got one on the way from DLT Trading.

My friends did not lead me astray. The Bexar proves an incredibly well-designed, well-executed slipjoint pocket knife.

Materials and Design

This is, without a doubt, the thinnest folding knife I’ve ever owned. It’s just 0.28 inches thick. The blade is 0.065 inches thick, which is kind of ridiculous. Yet it doesn’t quite disappear in my grip, which I initially feared.

The blade measures 2.84 inches long, keeping it legal in areas that stress a sub-3-inch blade length. Closed, it’s just 3.84 inches.

Adding a pocket clip to the Bexar would detract from the sleek appearance, so I wasn’t shocked it came without one. Between the short length and slim build, it won’t take up a lot of space in the pocket anyway. While the official specs indicate a weight of 1.87 ounces, I came up with 1.7 ounces on my postal scale.

MagnaCut has been around for a few years now, though it made quite a splash when it debuted on the scene. So far, it lives up to the hype. More and more makers are turning toward it, given its durability, excellent edge retention, and relative ease of sharpening when needed.

The Bexar has a clip point blade profile, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a Bowie-style blade (while all Bowies are clip points, not all clip points are Bowies). The stonewashed finish looks great next to the titanium handle.

Two shallow nail nicks offer grip when opening. This is where I have a slight issue with the Bexar. The nail nicks are very shallow, almost more decorative than functional. Whether using a thumbnail or just pinching the blade between finger and thumb, there’s not much purchase. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it is definitely something to note. 

As the manufacturer’s name suggests, the Bexar is a tactile knife. The titanium handle scales are ridged, a pattern that was discovered by accident during the company’s pen-making days. An error with one of the lathes created a spiral pattern on a pen blank. This happy accident has since become the trademark finish for its knife handles.

Finally, the Bexar comes equipped with a short-braided lanyard. I’m not normally a lanyard sort of person, but here it really works well. It provides just a bit of additional real estate when you’re holding and using the knife.

Bexar Performance

I’ve owned the Bexar for a few weeks now. It arrived hair-splitting sharp with a needle tip. It has retained both of those qualities, despite daily use. In fact, while I was working on this review, it managed to poke me pretty good in the hand. One of the hazards of being a knife reviewer, I suppose. 

The action has a full stop at the 90-degree point before it opens completely. On my tester, the action is smooth but a little tight, even after what I’d consider a sufficient break-in period.

This is a solidly built knife, with no wiggle whatsoever. Closed, the blade sits perfectly centered. As I played around with the Bexar, it got to the point where I began intently searching for flaws. I came up empty.

The closest I came was the nail nicks I mentioned earlier. But even those make sense when you take into account the thinness of the blade.

In the Hand, Pocket Carry

I love the texturing on the handle. It’s subtle, yet grippy. On a few occasions, I had wet hands while using the Bexar, like when cutting up a freshly washed apple. At no time did the knife feel like it was getting away from me or slipping from my grasp. 

As for the thinness of the handle, that also posed no issues. I wear a L/XL glove, so my hands aren’t exactly dainty. When I pulled the Bexar from the box, I worried it would feel awkward or clumsy to use. That wasn’t the case at all. It was comfortable and easy to control, no matter what I used it for.

The Bexar rode easily in my pocket, whether I was wearing cargo pants or basketball shorts. I didn’t experience any problems with it disappearing in my pocket, despite the lack of a pocket clip. Heck, if we’re being honest, I don’t often use the pocket clip on my knives that do have one. 

All that is well and good, but how does the knife perform? How well does it truly cut and slice?

Like a laser, that’s how. Seriously, I’m not exaggerating. I ran the Bexar through all of the usual materials, including cardboard boxes, paracord, cheese, fruit, paper, and plastic packaging. At every step of the way, the Bexar went through all of it, as if saying, “Is that all you got?”

This is a great EDC option. There’s enough blade length to handle any routine task, enough handle length to be comfortable, and not nearly enough bulk to be a pain in the pocket.

Who Needs This Knife?

The Bexar from Tactile Knife Co. isn’t your run-of-the-mill EDC knife. It’s definitely a step above the standard in every single way. Don’t get me wrong — it doesn’t need to be coddled or treated with kid gloves.

But if a Buck 110 is the knife you’d carry when working the ranch all day long, the Bexar is what you’d grab when you take your special someone out for a night on the town. 

The Bexar is available now from Tactile Knife Co., with prices starting at $179. Everything out of the Tactile Knife Co. stable is machined and assembled at its shop in Dallas.