I’ve been following Alex Harrison’s trajectory as a knife maker for a while now. He is the owner of Night Watch Knives, a brand he’s been building for several years. One of the things I appreciate is that he’s always working on new designs. Recently, I picked up the new Night Watch Knives American Pack Knife.
It’s designed to be a small, lightweight companion that’s capable of all the sorts of basic knife chores we run into on the trail. Easy to pack and easy to use.
I’ve had my American Pack Knife for a couple of months. So far, I’m pretty damn impressed with it.
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The Night Watch Knives American Pack Knife
American Pack Knife Specs
Harrison sells knives two different ways. He builds them as he likes and puts them on his site for purchase. Or, you can reach out and order something custom. Let’s say you like this knife, but you want blaze orange scales or something. He’s happy to oblige. In my case, I just wanted to check out the model, and I wasn’t too picky about the furniture. We ended up with a G-10 handle with dark red liners.
The American Pack Knife is Nitro-V steel. End to end, it’s 7.0 inches, with a 3.25-inch blade. It really hits the sweet spot for EDC. It’s small enough to carry all day long, but large enough to actually be useful. The blade boasts a razor-keen hollow grind.
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Many, if not most, of the offerings from Night Watch Knives have what Harrison calls a War Wash finish. It’s an acid etch technique that looks pretty cool. You can see it here.
I specifically asked him not to apply it on my knife. The only reason is that I have several other blades from Night Watch Knives with that finish and I wanted this one to be a little different.
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Every knife from Night Watch Knives comes with a sturdy leather sheath. They aren’t flashy, but they’re durable, and they get the job done.
American Pack Knife Performance
I have big hands, and I like small fixed blade knives. This can be a problem as I strongly dislike three-finger grips. Fortunately, the American Pack Knife has just enough handle available for all four fingers. This makes it very comfortable to use in a variety of grips. Whether I’m carving on a stick or slicing up fruit, the knife feels great in hand.
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The handle has a nice shape, but it lacks any sort of real contouring. That said, this isn’t the type of knife that really needs excessive shaping for finger grips and whatnot to be comfortable.
Despite its light 2.5-ounce weight, it doesn’t feel lost in my hand. It doesn’t weigh me down, but it doesn’t feel cheap or insubstantial, either. It has great lines that look amazing. There’s a bit of jimping on the spine that helps with controlling the knife. Honestly, it’s probably unnecessary from a practical standpoint, but that’s not a strike against the knife at all.
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This is the kind of knife that, once carried, sees a lot of daily use. From opening and breaking down boxes to slicing cordage, cutting up food in camp to harvesting fruit on the trail, the American Pack Knife is ready to tackle it all.
In addition to G10 and micarta handle materials, Night Watch Knives also offers the American Pack Knife in a skeletal iteration, for those who are truly counting ounces.
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Find them all at Night Watch Knives. MSRP on the American Pack Knife is $300, dropping to $250 for the skeletal model.
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