I’m a firm believer that you can never have too many knives. That being said, I’m always on the lookout for that one knife that can do everything. One that you could carry into any survival situation by itself and trust that it would perform every task you asked of it. A knife exactly like the GiantMouse Redington.
The GiantMouse Redington
If you aren’t familiar with GiantMouse, it’s time to get acquainted. It was founded in 2015 by two Danish designers and an American entrepreneur who got together over drinks at a knife show. GiantMouse was born with a vision to create knives that combined Danish design and American drive.
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Forged with the idea that knives aren’t just tools, they are companions. Built with intention of purpose and held to the highest standards of quality. Headquartered in Old Town Lansing, Michigan, not far from Michigan State University, that’s exactly the kind of knives that GiantMouse makes and sells all around the world.
Digging Into the Details
Like many of GiantMouse’s knives, the Redington is produced in Maniago, Italy. Then, they are individually inspected and quality-controlled at the company’s headquarters in Lansing.
It was named for the ghost town in Maine that was once a bustling logging community and is now a training epicenter for the U.S. Military SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) School. The Redington was designed with input from the instructors at the SERE school to be the one knife that can handle any survival situation it’s thrown into.
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With an overall length of 9.7 inches, the Redington has a 5.1-inch clip-point blade made from CPM MagnaCut steel. It offers a great balance of edge retention, durability, and corrosion resistance. The handle is fitted with Double Black Canvas Micarta scales. They are designed to provide a secure grip on the knife even if your hands are wet or bloody.
The Redington was designed to honor the spirit of both the 19th-century loggers and the SERE students who lived, survived, and thrived in the remote, unforgiving terrain that surrounds Redington. It was built to handle even the most brutal survival conditions. This includes everything from spitting wood and field dressing big game to notching limbs for a shelter and even strapping onto a spear.
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The blade features a forward finger choil and jimping halfway up the spine. So, the knife is perfectly balanced even if you’re doing precise detail work. If it ever comes time to use the knife in reverse-carry, GiantMouse included jimping on the butt.
The Redington comes with a Kydex sheath that holds the blade tightly in place. The sheath features a nylon webbing belt loop and several lashing holes for customizing how you carry it.
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Putting the Redington to the Test
To test the Redington’s out-of-the-box blade, I performed a push test on a ½-inch climbing rope. I cut the rope at various places along the blade from tip to belly to base. Each time, the knife cut through the climbing rope with ease.
Next, I tried the same test on a section of braided rope. It took a little more pressure with the braided rope, but the results were the same—straight, smooth, clean cuts all the way through.
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I tried out the Redington’s whittling proficiency on a small cottonwood branch. The Redington sharpened the branch to a spear-point with just a few smooth strokes.
It’s unlikely that you’ll ever have to cut into mountain bike tires in a survival situation. However, the durability of the tires provides a good gauge of both a knife’s sharpness and robustness. To test the entire length of the Redington’s blade, I first poked the tip through the tire, then slid it down the middle of the tire.
The Redington’s tip went through the tire like it was nothing. Likewise, it moved along the length of the tire as easily as unzipping a jacket. It is easy to see how it could cut through the hide of any big game animal with minimal effort.
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I then doubled the tire over to see how the Redington could slice through two sections of tire simultaneously. The Redington didn’t cut through with one swift stroke. It took a few passes and some considerable pressure. However, in the end, the result was a smoothly cut tire.
Edge Retention
Famous for its ability to dull knives quickly, I also tested the edge of the Redington against a piece of cardboard covered in packaging tape. The Redington sliced through the cardboard with clean, crisp lines with minimal effort.
After putting the Redington through its paces, I decided to test its edge retention by returning to the climbing rope and braided rope and see if the knife could still push through just as easily. The results were almost exactly the same as when the Redington first came out of the box. It was almost as if it hadn’t been used for anything else.
GiantMouse Redington is Up to the Task
When you first pull the Redington out of the box, the heft, balance, and obvious care of craftsmanship make it easy to believe that if you had to choose one knife to take into the field, this is the one you’d reach for. But after seeing how easily the Redington went through each of the tests I subjected it to, it proved to be even more of a workhorse than it appears to be at first sight.
With a $425 price tag, the Redington isn’t the most inexpensive survival knife you could carry. However, when you’re putting your life into the care of a singular tool, do you want it to be the most inexpensive one? Or do you want it to be the one that actually performs the best?
Whether tactical or survival, if I wanted a knife that would perform any task I asked of it, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach for the GiantMouse Redington.
GiantMouse Redington Specs
| Blade Length | 5.1 inches |
| Handle Length | 4.6 inches |
| Overall Length | 9.7 inches |
| Blade Material | CPM MagnaCut |
| Blade Width | .1 inches |
| Blade Finish | Stonewash |
| Blade Steel Hardness | ~62 HRC |
| Handle Material | Milled Double Black Micarta |
| Sheath | Kydex |
| Weight | 6.8 ounces |
| Made In | Italy |
| MSRP | $425 |
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