Enshittification is a real thing. Open iTunes and you will immediately know what this means. Twenty years ago iTunes and the iPod were eye opening changes to how people search their music libraries. Now you have to wade through apps and menus and ads just to find the song you want to listen to.

Brands are the same way. The first Kizer knife I reviewed, the Ki 3404 is objectively better than a lot of the stuff they are releasing now. It had S35VN steel, a normal blade shape, good deployment, and a decent size and weight all for $180. The clip was tip down only, but beyond that the knife, even now is pretty good. The price is high, but the design itself is good. Since then Kizer has started making cheaper and cheaper knives. The average Kizer is a rehash or resize of a previous knife with non-PM steel and an $80 price tag. That’s where the market is, but it is a far cry from the 3404 in terms of its place in that market. When you are establishing a brand, especially in a crowded market like the knife market, it often makes sense to offer crazy good stuff at the beginning even if it means your margins are smaller, just so you get a good reputation. As we look on to the 30th version of the Beigleiter or the Sheepdog, I don’t get the sense that Kizer is really pushing the envelope. Sure they have some really high end stuff, but unlike before, that high end stuff is priced like it.

With enshittification a real thing even with brands, often the best stuff comes first. I really hope that is not the case with the North Mountain Blades Ninja. The reason I am concerned is because this knife is pretty incredible for the money. Is this a brand trying to disrupt the market and create a space for itself or is this going to be par for the course? If its the later, yikes. Everyone needs to pay attention because the Ninja is fucking awesome. The entire knife feels like something that should cost around $400. Instead I scored the model I got for a paltry $280. That might not seem like a bargain but when you compare it to other production folders with full convex grinds, it is an absolute steal. This knife is a statement either way, but I hope NMB continually aims this high going forward.

There is no product page as the Ninja I purchased was a production prototype. There was one other model a green CF version. Noth are sold out and there are no listings for them on the NMB page. NMB is part of a larger company that makes MAXACE and FS EDC knives and pocket tools. If I had to characterize the brand I would call all of their knives traditional compared to the modern looking stuff from MAXACE and what can only be described as avante garde stuff from FS EDC. There are no reviews of the Ninja either in writing or on video. Here is my review sample (purchased with my own money and mine to keep):

Given the extremely limited availability I am reviewing this mainly as an exercise in evaluating NMB stuff in general and in the off chance that the Ninja gets a full production run (which it definitely should).

TLDR: Damn good

Design: 2

This is a dead simple design with nothing surprising or unusual. The real joy here is found in the details—the previously mentioned full convex grind, the spare but effective clip, and the refined flipper tab. Nothing is revolutionary or groundbreaking but the Ninja has an impressive amount of polish, both literally and figuratively. Its just good everywhere without making a mistake or given up a point for dumb reasons. This is a low degree of difficulty but high execution score.

Fit and Finish: 2

Um…this isn’t just flawless, lots of knives are flawless now. This is buffed and polished and honed to perfection. Honestly if you handed this to me at a knife show and told me it was a custom, after looking at the blade, I would not have doubted it for a second. In a field crammed with stonewashed flat ground boredom, this knife and its hand finished feel stand out. It has that warmth and depth that a handmade knife has and if I am not mistaken I think the blade was, in fact, finished by hand. There is still an uncanny valley in knife making and the Ninja is on the good side of the gulf.

Grip: 1

Maybe a smidge of jimping somewhere, anywhere would help. Just a bit. With a sculpted handle and buttered edges the camo CF is basically devoid of grip. The run of jimping on the spine of the blade and the shape of the handle save this from being a true bar of soap, but it is pretty slick.

Carry: 2

What the good Lord taketh away he giveth back, because a knife this slender and sleek glides in and out of the pocket like a needle. It is dense enough to not be forgotten in a pocket and sent through the laundry but definitely not so heavy to burden you during the day.

Steel: 2

Ugh. I have written about M390 so often I have lost the ability to do so moving forward. Its good it does everything you want, blah, blah, blah.

Instead, I’d like to write about just how amazing baltic birch plywood is. I recently remodeled a table in our house that started as a train table for a 2 year old and now has a felt top for puzzles and board games. The top is made of baltic birch. I had some left over so I used it to make a fastener organizer. It turned out pretty clean. I then expanded on that to make a toolbox. The BB plywood was expensive at $96 a sheet, but it is absolutely void free with great glue up. There are some patches on the front surface but nothing too bad. The freedom you get to make things without having to worry about grain orientation or width, having gone without plywood since COVID, is really liberating. Its like a sheet of paper—I can build and design anything I want. Having a track saw helps too—no more unwieldy cuts on a table saw. With the track saw and BB plywood I can build until my heart’s content. Here is the fastener organizer with Really Useful Boxes (they stack, they have dimensions that are multiples of each other in different sizes, they are transparent, and they have nice, locking lids):

And here is the tool box in a random milk crate:

They idea is that the tool box holds the Really Useful Boxes in multiple layouts and has magnets to load up hand tools. The entire thing fits snuggly down in a milk crate, giving it a bit of extra rigidity, lifting it off a wet surface, and allowing me to use the milk crate as a step stool. None of this would be easy with actual wood, but with BB plywood, its basically whatever I want or need it to be. I love BB plywood…almost as much as I like M390.

Blade Shape: 2

When Lucas Burnely’s Boker Kwaiken came out, it was an innovative design—squared off, sleek, and with an entirely hidden blade. The Ninja is not quite that visually distinct, but the blade shape, a standard drop point, like that first Kwaiken, is entirely hidden. It is a neat trick, of course, cleaning up the knife’s appearance when closed, but it is not particularly impactful on cutting performance. What is, of course, is the gorgeous grind.

Grind: 2

I was so close to busting the scoring system. In 15 years of reviews nothing has ever warranted a departure more than this. In case it has gone unnoticed, the Ninja has a full convex grind. I can’t think of any other folder under $1,000 that does this. Of course lots of fixed blades do this and the benefits are huge. The edge can be quite keen, but thanks to the bulk behind it, its more durable than it would be otherwise. Most knives are hollow (or concave) or flat ground because both of these options are easily performed by machines, but a convex grind is most easily achieved through hand grinding. I am not sure that is what happened here, there is some sporadic mention of hand ground blades in the NMB literature, but I am not 100% certain that is the case. Given how rare it is and how well it works, this grind on a sub-$300 blade really deserves a 3. But alas, the coherence of the system is more important than any one item’s score. Its especially true when an item would score a 20 out of 20 but have a point off for something. That, in the end, is why this did not get a 3.

In use this grind has proven to be just as useful as one you’d find on a Bark River. A little swipe, swipe, swipe on the strop and the edge is ready to go again. Thanks the blade steel, it doesn’t even need that all that often. I have always loved convex grinds and having a folder with one, while a new experience, is just as good as I thought it would be.

Deployment Method: 2

The detent is dialed in here, with a snappy, punchy deployment. There is not a particularly complex deployment. There is no detent ramp or tuned button lock, but is like most of this knife well-executed. I have yet to have a failed fire even when not really paying attention.

Retention Method: 2

Let’s delve into the sculpted clip market a bit. It used to be that we had these huge squared off clips that sucked in the hand and were too rigid to work in the pocket. But now, after a full generation of design iteration we are getting some really excellent designs. The Anso Aros has the best clip I have ever seen on a production and while this is not that fancy it is, like the rest of the knife, excellent in its simplicity. In some ways it reminds me of the ramped tail clip on Pena X series knives or the excellent clip on the Artisan Satyr. It could also be mistaken for a clip on something like the Kansept Dako, which is in for review. These clips have a smaller footprint, less pokey bits, and tend to be rounded over on all edges and points.

Lock: 2

Framelock. Its simple and stable with no blade play.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: High

With nicely rounded edges on the handle and a crisp cu-chunk when opening the knife, this is a fidgeter’s muse.

Fett Effect: Low

Sure you could gunk up the blade, but it would just wipe right off and the camo CF shows nothing. Only the lock side exhibits some wear.

Value: High

If the next closest knife in terms of blade grind is 5 times the price, even a $280 knife can be a good value.

Overall Score: 19 out of 20

Competition

Its a TFF so of course there will be a Sebenza comp and while these comps usually turn out poorly for the non-Sebenza knife, here there is a reason to choose the Ninja over the Sebenza. While the lock up is not quick the epitome of solidity, nothing here is noticeably worse. And, the knife has a convex blade. That’s pretty impressive for something that is $200 less than the similarly sized Sebenza.

I also can’t help shake the feeling that this is a Kwaiken-style knife. Compared to the Boker Kwaiken the Ninja is in an entirely different league in terms of materials and finish. but that ultra low profile closed position carries over.

The knife also reminds me of the truly excellent Lanny’s Clip from Liong Mah Designs. That knife is also dead simple with luxe execution, but it is now cruising at a staggering $609 (::cough::tariffs::cough::).

Another knife I can’t help but avoid referencing is the wonderfully well made Micro Evo 2.0 from SharpByDesign. It too is an overseas made knife with very little in the way of extras or friviolities. Its simple and superbly well executed too. And while the Micro Evo has a bit of a swoopier clip, they both have deeply seated blades in the blade well. Even with that much-beloved blade, there is a reason to want the Ninja instead and it has to do with the intoxicating grind.

Finally, the knife bears more than a passing resemblance to the Artisan Satyr. That’s a pretty minimalist knife, so it is not surprising they have a similar visual impression. I like the Ninja better, but the Satyr is a great design.

In the end, nothing outright crushes the Ninja thanks the virtually unique blade grind, but that is just a sign of how good a value the Ninja is.

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