Flyweight EDC Earns Extra Style Points: Pepperwool Merino MM Review

More knives don’t necessarily mean better knives. Breaking through a market this crowded is tough, especially among lightweight, pocket-friendly EDC blades. There’s no shortage of very light and small knives, but many wind up either “grandpa” knives or over-the-top “tacticool” knives.

But Pepperwool’s Merino MM, the second knife from the nascent brand and its first full production model, is just different enough to stand out. Easily the most EDC-friendly in its lineup, the Merino MM has an upscale look with good materials, and it happens to be exceptionally pocketable because of its size and weight.

You don’t often get this combination: classy and high performance for $130 is a good approach in 2025. Similar competitors like the Chris Reeve Mnandi or the S90V version of the Mini Bugout start at $300 and go up from there. This means that the Merino MM, even in a market this oversaturated, it does something interesting.

In short: The Pepperwool Merino MM is among the lightest full-featured knives available, with a stunning appearance to match its top-shelf design. With its good materials, compact size, and striking color scheme, this is a coin pocket knife you should consider.

Pepperwool Merino MM Review

First Impressions

Bucking the Batman color scheme (black and very, very dark gray) of most knives, the Merino MM is a visual delight.

Handling the knife for the first time underscores just how light the blade is. This is among the lightest modern, full-featured blades around that doesn’t feature a gimmicky and useless design.

Design and Carry

The Merino MM is well-made with no blade play, solid, but not spectacular deployment, and a look and feel that is unquestionably a step above the drab offerings routinely found in the knife world.

The clip is truly excellent, and the grind is even and clean. This thing looks great, like an Orvis flannel shirt that uses colors beyond red and black. I would never buy a knife just for appearance, but the Merino really does look striking.

This knife is also wonderful to carry. It basically disappears in a pair of jeans, living quietly in a coin pocket and weighing so little that it almost vanishes. Only a handful of full-featured knives are this light — the Mini Bugout from Benchmade, the CRKT CEO, and the Spyderco Dragonfly. None of these knives has the style or superior clip that the Merino MM has.

For the record, I hate tanto blade shapes. More specifically, I hate Americanized tanto blade shapes. The true Japanese tanto blade shape is more curvy and less angular than the one popularized by Cold Steel here in America in the 1990s.

There are three main problems with the Western version: First, it inhibits smooth rocking or draw cuts because there is a secondary point; second, the blade shape takes up a lot of room, making the “straightaway” portion of the blade much, much smaller; and finally, these tantos are a challenge to sharpen. Are they impossible? No, with skill and practice you can do it.

But there is really no advantage to the tanto blade shape to make up for these drawbacks, especially in a knife this small. Maybe if you are stabbing through car hoods the Americanized tanto tip is more robust, but the Merino MM is as far from that kind of knife as is possible.

Workshop Tests

As usual, I tested the Merino MM in the workshop, around the house, and in the yard. This was my primary marking knife on a series of cutting boards I made. I also used the knife to do food prep, recycling, and light fire prep tasks

As a marking knife, the Merino MM worked well. It cut hashes for size marks in maple and walnut, both relatively hard woods, and did well. The handle did feel a bit scrunched up when bearing down on maple, but that is probably because the wood is so hard. I’d like to have had a bit more purchase with a longer handle in this one instance.

At the same time I used this knife, I was also using a fixed blade. Testing these knives side by side proved just how good a lock is on a folder. I never wanted for more, even given this knife’s featherweight status.

After glue-up, I also used the Merino MM to scrape off hardened PVA (like Tite Bond) glue. This stuff is really nasty and can chip out a blade with ease. I took my time and did not pry, just scrape, and the end result was a cleaned-up board and a chip-free edge. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to go through the planer with no problem.

This scraping task is pretty gnarly for a folder and one I would not usually do with a knife (this is what putty knives are for), but I wanted to see how the Merino’s light frame handled the work. It did fine, but I didn’t really push it to the breaking point. (I don’t see the need to test to failure, but I would note if a knife failed doing what I consider “normal” work.)

Blade Test: Slicing Work

The knife did well with recycling, thanks in large part to very, very slim blade stock. The entire Merino knife is as thick as four quarters, and that leaves little room for a bulky blade. With modern powder steels, thin blades are plenty strong, so I am happy to see the Merino is a slicing machine.

I would note that the tanto blade shape is just awkward to use, especially without stabbing tasks or a longer blade for use in chopping motions. The Merino was not great at food prep tasks, as the blade was too small for many chores.

The tanto’s lack of belly is also a liability — the rocking cuts or draw cuts you do when cutting scallions, for instance, just seem “wrong.”

Conclusion: Should You Buy?

If this were a drop point, it would be among the top 10 or 20 EDC folders out there. As is, it’s visually appealing and well-made. But the tanto blade shape is a real drawback.

Even that, however, is not enough to sink the design entirely. A light, thin, slicey knife is always welcome. As one of its first two offerings, Pepperwool has really created a nice spot in the market for itself.