The Marten has quietly become Vosteed's most useful knife. Not the most talked about, not the most photographed, just the one that does the widest range of jobs without asking for anything in return. The 330 edition refreshes the materials and leaves the geometry alone, which is the right call.
The A1626 is a 3.30-inch 14C28N drop point with a Top Liner Lock, G10 scales, metallic-finished liners, spine jimping, thumb-stud deployment, a micro-milled lock button and a reversible deep-carry clip that Vosteed says now has extra clearance for thick pocket fabric. Handle length is not specified on the page, but the Marten family runs around 4.3 inches, putting the knife near 7.5 inches overall at a weight in the low three ounces.
14C28N at 58-60 HRC is the steel you want if you sharpen on a coffee mug or a $20 rod and refuse to buy diamond plates. It is fine-grained, extremely tough for a stainless, and it will take a shaving edge in under two minutes. It will also lose that edge faster than Nitro-V or 154CM under sustained cardboard cutting, which is the honest trade. On a 3.30-inch knife that sees a few cuts a day, you will not notice.
The Top Liner Lock deserves a note because it is not a standard liner lock. The lock bar is accessed from the top of the handle rather than the side, which keeps your thumb out of the blade path during closing and lets the handle stay symmetric with full slabs on both sides. It is not fully ambidextrous — the release is on one side — but it is much safer to close than a conventional liner, and it does not collect pocket lint the way a crossbar channel does.
Compared with the Corgi V V at $89.99, the Marten gives you 0.39 inches more edge, a simpler lock and twenty dollars back. Compared with the Kizer Original V3605E2 at $50.40, you pay nineteen dollars more for a longer blade and better steel toughness, and you give up the ambidextrous button lock. Compared with a $70 Civivi, the Marten's advantage is the lock and the clip clearance rather than the blade.
Verdict: this is the sensible buy in Vosteed's lineup and probably the one to give someone as a first good folder. Buy it for the geometry and the maintenance-free steel. Skip it if you want a fidget knife with an ambidextrous lock, which is the Corgi's job.
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