I have a great relationship with Bastion and have worked with them on several projects over the years. I took most of their product photography shots on their website. I also produced the Braza promo video on their site and Amazon.Â
Bastion sent these knives along with basically everything else they make to me for paid product photography. I was not paid to review them or say anything positive or otherwise about them. The links to Bastion Gear’s website from this page, as well as the accompanying YouTube video, are affiliated with Bastion Gear, which means I receive a small commission on any purchases you make but it has no effect on the cost to you. I also have a Bastion Gear discount code: WARRIOR20 for 20% sitewide at bastiongear.com.
All links are affiliated with Bastion and other brands, including Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases.Â
Bastion Gear Braza D2 Blade EDC Folding Knife
TLDR: The Bastion Braza D2 Blade EDC Folding Knife is super solid and has a very premium feel. You get the look of titanium scales without the extra cost, and the overall fit and finish is fantastic. You won’t regret picking one up unless you have weak upper body strength and cheaply made pockets that can’t handle the weight of this beast.
The Bastion Braza Mini Bro Keychain Knife is made from the same materials and is basically just a smaller version of the full-sized Braza. It’s an excellent keychain knife that uses a frame lock and flipper for opening.
The world of every day carry folding pocket knives is dense, to say the least. What you choose to carry says a lot about you as a person too. Are you more of a gentleman’s classic Swiss Army Knife kind of person, or do you prefer a karambit or some other interesting design that is uncommon?Â
When it comes to the Braza D2 Blade EDC Folding Knife from Bastion Gear, the lines are blurred between the feel and functionality of a folding knife versus a fixed blade knife.
Bastion Gear Uses D2 Steel For The Braza Knife
The Bastion Braza D2 Blade EDC Folding Knife’s blade material is D2 tool steel, which is generally considered to be in the upper mid-range of available steels on the market. D2 tool steel is good for edge retention and toughness but starts to suffer when it comes to corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening. Because of its hardness, D2 steel tends to be more difficult to sharpen; but when you do get it sharp, it will hold an edge pretty well. The Braza comes pretty impressively sharp right out of the box from Bastion Gear, so you won’t have to worry about sharpening it for a while. It’s not hair-whittling sharp, but it is certainly sharp enough to glide through printer paper as if it were nonexistent.
at Bastiongear.com
Prices accurate at the time of writing
Code: WARRIOR20 for 20% off
When it comes to corrosion resistance, just oil your D2 blade every once in a while, and that should handle any worries about rust over time. If you get your knife wet, dry it, and reapply a thin layer of oil to the blade for the best long-term performance.
The Braza blade features a drop point tip and flat grind, plus it is made from fairly thick stock at just over 1/8th of an inch (4mm). The spine of the blade features a 1cm small section of jinping that technically works, but I wouldn’t mind seeing that jinping extend out twice as far on the blade for fine technical work.
The blade is held closed with a ceramic ball bearing and is deployed by an ambidextrous flipper. The ceramic ball bearing felt just a tiny bit too tight initially, but I’m sure that will change after a short break-in period. At the moment, the flipper takes a pretty good amount of force to open fully and lock properly.
The Bastion Braza Knife Is Titanium Coated
The Braza D2 Blade EDC Folding Knife uses a very solid frame lock that covers roughly 60% of the blade and feels incredibly strong. When the knife is open and locked, it actually feels like a fixed blade knife. There is zero blade play and no movement anywhere else on the knife either. I feel confident that this knife will stay locked up tight when it’s in use.Â
Moving on to the frame of the Braza, it’s made out of stainless steel that has been coated with a matte titanium finish. I’m not sure how thick the coating is or how it will hold up over time with use, but since I’ve been carrying this knife, I haven’t had any scratches or marks on it at all. The stainless steel scales are the biggest contributing factor to the knife’s hefty weight of 7.95 oz.
To give you an idea of how heavy that actually is, it happens to be the exact same weight of a Benchmade Auto Stryker, Streamlight Stylus Pro Flashlight, and generic carbon fiber and aluminum wallet from Amazon.
This is not a lightweight knife by any means. It’s more like the knife Crocodile Dundee would pull out when he needs to get some work done. As long as you have decent upper body strength, you should be fine to carry the Braza.
The pocket clip is held onto the knife by a single stainless steel torx head screw. I’m generally not a fan of relying on single screws. However, the clip also has a dedicated recessed portion in the scale, so it cannot physically rotate. The only option for the pocket clip is right hand, tip up, as there are no other dedicated mounting points to reposition the clip.
For the very reasonable price of $69.99, as of the time of this writing, you get a very solid flipper folder with a D2 steel blade and titanium-coated scales that could also double as a backup boat anchor. Very cool. (Do not actually try to use this as a boat anchor!)
Bastion Gear Braza Mini Bro EDC Keychain Knife
If a fairly heavy and large flipper isn’t really your style, the Bastion Gear Braza Mini Bro EDC Keychain Knife is a great alternative. Coming in at a petite 4.8 inches when it is open and a total weight of just 1.48oz, this little guy is perfect as a backup utility blade, keychain knife, or regular carry knife if you live or work in an area that frowns on larger blades.Â
The materials used for the Bastion Braza Mini Bro are exactly the same as the full-size Braza – D2 tool steel blade, titanium-coated stainless steel scales, and torx stainless steel hardware. There is also a pocket clip if you’d like to use it.
The flipper for the Bastion Braza Mini Bro is really nice and very satisfying to use. and fidget with – just be careful since the handle is only 2.75 inches long. When you attach the Braza Mini Bro to your keys, the handle is artificially lengthened, which makes it much easier to get a nice grip and actuate the flipper consistently.Â
The ceramic ball bearing detent keeps the blade nice and secure when not in use but operates very smoothly when you need to deploy the blade to get some cutting work done.
at Bastiongear.com
Prices accurate at the time of writing
Code: WARRIOR20 for 20% off
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
Either of these Bastion Braza D2 blades from Bastion Gear are great options for everyday carry knives. The larger Braza knife is just a bit too large and heavy for me, personally (that weak upper body strength thing), but the Braza Mini Bro is now happily living on my keys to help with opening boxes, cutting cords, and other small, general use tasks when I don’t want to use my full size knife.
If you’d like to purchase your own Braza knife or any other Bastion Gear product, just click on any of the images in this article, and that will take you directly to the Bastion Gear site. If you use the code WARRIOR20 at checkout, you will get 20% off your order!
