Viper has a new folder out now, designed by Denis Simonutti. It’s called the Oniro, and it’s been built with an ambidextrous locking mechanism and a blade made from the steel of the hour.
Simonutti is a returning champion in the Italian knife scene, responsible for a number of designs from MKM and Fox. For the latter he designed the Radius, which won Overall Knife of the Year and Best Imported Knife at Blade Show 2019. The headline feature on the knife was its pivot-based locking mechanism, which was operated by moving a stud in an arc around the pivot; pushing down on the stud like a button disengaged the lock for closure.
The Oniro’s lock is interesting for other reasons. This is the first Viper knife to come with an Axis-style crossbar lock. Regardless of the design particulars on this one, it seems to operate in the manner we’re all used to: when the Oniro is opened (using the ambidextrous thumb studs), the bar slides automatically into the locked position; pulling down on it releases the blade again. The combo of thumb stud and cross-bar lock makes the Oniro mostly lefty-friendly, although the deep carry pocket clip is non-reversible.
The blade on offer here is a broad, leaflike drop point with a heaping helping of belly; at 3.16 inches in length it should be a potent all-purpose EDC cutting tool. Viper chose to render the Oniro in MagnaCut steel – and no surprise there. The smash hit super steel is custom-made for knives, and nearly every big name in the knife world has rolled out at least one model made from it. In terms of other materials of note, the handle scales on the Oniro come in six different flavors, including Ultem and KnifeNews Orange G-10.
The Oniro is available now.
Knife in Featured Image: Viper Knives Oniro
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