We were teased with a premium line of knives at Milwaukee’s 2015 event but the 2016 New Product Symposium made it official. Milwaukee has had great success with their FastBack Knives with utility blades and fixed blades and the recently launched FastBack Compact 48-22-1906 is the best knife we’ve ever owned for under $9. It is this exceptional value which gives us great hope for this new higher end line of pocket knives, Milwaukee’s Hardline Knives are intended to be the next step-up with high end D2 steel and premium features but a price point of $59-$79 which is about half the price of the competition they will be going against.
You’d be hard pressed to find a tradesman on a jobsite without at least 1 knife on him. Most will probably have one on them off the job as well, sometimes the same knife or perhaps something different. One thing is for sure, when it comes to pocket knives, everyone has a different preference of style, size, quality, etc. It seems like a natural evolution, now that Milwaukee has several successful years in the pocket knife business to continue to expand higher on the quality scale.
While the FastBack Utility Knives are great, many tradesman want to use an Every Day Carry (EDC) with a high quality blade on and off the job. The Milwaukee Hardline Knives us D2 Steel for their blades (D2 steel is an air hardening, high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel. It has high wear and abrasion resistant properties. It is heat treatable and will offer a hardness in the range 55-62 HRC, and is machinable in the annealed condition. D2 steel shows little distortion on correct hardening. D2 steel’s high chromium content gives it mild corrosion resisting properties in the hardened condition.)
The 4 Knife/Blade options are: 2.5” HARDLINE™ Smooth Blade 48-22-1997 ($59), 3” HARDLINE™ Smooth Blade 48-22-1994 ($69), 3” HARDLINE™ Serrated Blade 48-22-1998 ($69), 3.5” HARDLINE™ Smooth Blade 48-22-1999 ($79) and will be in stores Mid-July (Pre-Order now here). As Henry Ford said about his model T, you can have any color you want as long as you want Black. We love the simple strategy, no need to get fancy here, give us the best possible blade, toughest constructed components but keep the price as low as possible. If that means it doesn’t come in olive or sand or red colors so be it as long as the blade edge remains sharp. They didn’t skimp on the construction, steel frame lock, fast flip bearing system, glass-filled nylon handle, stainless steel back handle and reversible heavy duty belt clip.
You can spend hours upon hours searching the EDC forums for preferences of D2 vs VG-10 vs CM154 vs other premium steel blades, other than for use in/around salt water it would seem the extensive testing and opinions are very positive for D2 as a blade material. The D2 steel will retain its blade for a very long time and resist staining and corrosion in most environments. The Hardline Series is very well positioned to go against top name knife brands like Gerber, Spyderco, Kershaw, SOG, Zero Tolerance and Benchmade for any of their entry level blades and even many of their premium blades, in the $90-$150 range.
Of course there are even higher end knives, with even more specialty steel which you’ll most likely be paying in the $150-$200+ range. For the true Every Day Carry elite the Hardline Knives may not cut it but for a super strong blade at a very respectable price we think the Milwaukee Hardline Knives hit the nail on the head.
For more question one any Milwaukee Tools and products contact the pros at Ohio Power Tool 800-242-4424 they will be more than happy to help you find the right tool, accessory or knife for your job.
