Kansept's Wasp Is a 2.36-Inch 154CM Button Lock From Koch Tools
Kansept has built a reputation on collaborations that give small designers production reach, and the Wasp continues the pattern. The design comes from Koch Tools, and the brief was clearly speed: a 2.36-inch harpoon-wharncliffe blade in 154CM, a button lock, and a handle shaped for a fast, positive grip rather than long sessions of heavy cutting.
The blade geometry is the interesting part. A harpoon-wharncliffe mixes a straight, low-angle cutting edge with a reinforced spine that drops toward the tip — the wharncliffe half gives excellent control and a tip that stays useful after repeated sharpening, while the harpoon spine adds mass and rigidity where the blade is thinnest. Kansept lists a tactical swedge and a fuller, both of which trim weight, and deep spine jimping for a non-slip thumb hold. Speed-hole cut-outs in the blade keep the profile light and give the knife a distinctive look.
Steel is 154CM, a Crucible stainless that predates the current powder-steel arms race but remains a solid working choice: good toughness, decent edge retention, and refreshingly easy to sharpen at home. A 2.36-inch blade in 154CM is not a heavy-use tool, and Kansept is not pitching it as one. It is a compact, fidget-friendly folder with a button lock that operates the same with either hand.
The Zombie Blood variant is where the Wasp gets its personality. Vivid green aluminum handles are splattered with blood-red accents, and the pivot button carries glow-in-the-dark G10 that charges in ambient light and shows after dark. Kansept is describing it as a Halloween-season release, and it is priced at $79.89 with US pre-orders shipping from the company's domestic warehouse starting October 10.
At $79.89 the Wasp is competing in the busiest slice of the market. Buyers at that price can find crossbar and button-lock folders in 14C28N, D2 and occasionally S35VN, often with more blade length. What the Wasp offers instead is a genuinely small, well-differentiated design from a named maker, with a harpoon-wharncliffe profile that most budget knives do not attempt and a button lock that is ambidextrous by nature.
The calculation changes for anyone who wants a main carry knife: 2.36 inches and 154CM will be the limiting factor far sooner than the lock or the handle. As a second knife, a light-duty workday cutter, or a collection piece with a seasonal hook, it makes a lot more sense.
Kansept releases sell through quickly on limited finishes — check current Wasp availability and pre-order shipping windows.