Kith and Benchmade Turn the Higonokami Into a $375 Damascus Folder

Few knife patterns carry as much quiet history as the higonokami, the Japanese friction folder that has been in continuous production since the late 1800s. It is the sort of shape that usually gets museum treatment or a cheap hardware-store reissue, which is why the new Kith for Benchmade Yamori is worth a second look: it takes an antique form and rebuilds it with modern materials and a streetwear release calendar.

The Yamori is a friction folder, not a locking one. That is the point. There is no button, no crossbar, no flipper detent to argue about — just a blade held open by hand pressure on a lever tang, which is how the pattern has worked for well over a century. Benchmade's contribution is execution: a 2.95-inch wharncliffe in Damascus steel with deep laser engraving and an anodized finish, matched to an aluminum handle machined from a single billet with Kith's Monogram worked directly into the metal.

The dimensions are deliberately conservative. The Yamori opens to 6.95 inches and closes to 4.36 inches, and the slim wharncliffe silhouette keeps it carriable in most jurisdictions where a sub-three-inch folder is legal. Three colorways are offered through Kith's Monday Program — Nocturnal (blue), Drift (gray), and Black — and each variant carries the same $375 price.

That price is the whole conversation. For $375 a buyer can have a titanium frame lock with MagnaCut from several manufacturers, or a small Sebenza-adjacent folder, or two very good working knives. The Yamori does not compete on any of those terms. What it offers instead is a Damascus gentleman's knife that sits at the intersection of Japanese craft tradition, American production, and a fashion label's limited drop culture — a category where the buyer is paying for the object as much as the cutting tool.

Kith's Monday releases historically sell through quickly and do not get restocked on a predictable schedule. Anyone who wants a Yamori should expect to buy at launch or pay the secondary market later.

Benchmade knives are widely available through authorized dealers — compare current Benchmade stock and pricing before this drop disappears.