Vosteed Psyop 299 Review
Gentrification occurs when less affluent housing is replaced by more affluent housing. It is a trend that many cities in the US fight against, despite the phenomenon being a natural process of wealth accumulation. Historians have found evidence that the forces of gentrification worked even in Ancient Rome, which given its centrality in the world at the time, is not surprising. What is more surprising is that as far away as what is now Great Britain experienced gentrification in and around its Roman outposts—there is a 3rd century villa that replaced a series of small shops in London.
The forces that lead to replacing slums with high end housing also impact the knife market. The Sebenza Barrier is something I have written about before, but it is basically the idea that the Sebenza, as a benchmark in the knife world, creates an impact on the prices of other knives. Those more than the Sebenza are probably purely for enthusiasts. Those less than the Sebenza are for more mainstream folks. But the price of the Sebenza has gone up in recent years. ALL knives have gotten more expensive. It used to be that a $1,000 production knife was exceptionally rare. Only Rockstead consistently played in that sandbox filled with gold. But now there are dozens of $1,000 production knives—from Rockstead, Custom Knife Factory, and Shirogorov, among many others. But just like the top of the market has gotten bigger, so has the bottom. The Ozark Grail is a pretty darn solid knife for less than $10. In many ways the knife market is like the hollowing out of the middle class. There just aren’t that many good $100-$150 knives.
Enter the Voted Psyop 299 with its odd $139 price tag. This is a really impressive offering for the money, easily hanging with $300 knives. But getting to that price point took a few compromises. Were they the right compromises to make? Let’s score it up and see.
Here is the product page. There are four different versions with different blade finishes and handle materials. There are no written reviews. Here is a video review. Here is my review sample (purchased with my own money):
This version is the green micarta handle with stonewashed blade.
TDLR: A rarity in the the 2025 knife market—a true mid priced knife that looks and feels like a folder that costs $200 more.
Design: 2
Geoff Blauvelt has been one of my favorite designers for a long. I remember when he was releasing his first Tanics all those years ago and he one he showed off on a video was a new revelation. They were really interesting. His lines have become more disciplined since then, but they are still just as engaging. The comically brash curves and cut have been replaced with solid strokes, true arcs, and tips of the cap to classic designs, but they are still bold knives. This knife is probably my very favorite of his designs. I truly love how the blade and the handle meet up, how the bolster sweeps around the scale, and how the handle sloped down, just a bit, to give you more grip. The contrast between the titanium on the bolster, the high texture of the norplex micarta, and the gleam of the stonewashed blade are also very, very appealing. In many ways, this knife tickles that part of my brain that loves a Loveless DPH. In the end, I think this knife works precisely because it has nice contrasts and that ineffable quality that the Master Himself called “visual tension.” If you are a knife guy and you don’t at least like the Psyop 299 a little, check your heart beat, you might be dead.
Fit and Finish: 2
The bolster is a little gappy and the sculpted micarta handle is a little more layered than contoured. The Psyop 299 is not going to fool people into thinking it is a Reate-made knife. But in the ways that matter—deployment, lock up, and grind—the Psyop 299 is great. This uneven fit and finish doesn’t seem like a fluke though. The micarta handle is probably just an issue with the Norplex material, which isn’t super smooth, but really grippy. It’s probably an intentional choice. And the bolster has some chamfering and machining on it to make the gap look more like a design flourish than a limitation. All of this is a smart way to save some cash while still making the knife look and feel high end. The illusion is a good one because this knife still punches above average.
Grip: 2
While the Norplex doesn’t feel super refined, that’s actually a plus from a grip standpoint. The entire knife just feels nice in the hand, with a good solid grip, a slight bit of curve to hold your fingers in place, and a clip that stays out of the way. I am not sure I would like this knife better with a finger choil. Usually I do, but here, I am not convinced I need it and that’s a sign of a good handle. Often a finger choil feels like a cheat code for fixing bad handle designs. Here it’s not needed because the knife is quite good as it is.
Carry: 1
This is the one hit against the Psyop 299 that is independent of the cost saving measures in one that really does make the knife worse. This knife is quite portly given the trend towards thinner, lighter knives. It weighs 3.8 ounces but feels even heavier. Compared to something like the TRM N2 (which tips the scale at 2.5 ounces), the Psyop 299 is clunky. And that comp is true with other knives in the
Steel: 2
S35VN is clearly a budget-related choice. And, in my opinion, it was the right call. S35VN is actually not that bad at all. I like it better than S30V, better than any non-powder steel, and probably as much as M390 or S45VN. There are some rare steels that are better, and Magnacut is clearly better, but those steels tend to be more expensive. It sits right at the line between good enough, but not so pricey as to make the knife expensive. Is it still a 2? Probably, but that is more a sign that the 0-1-2 scoring system isn’t particularly refined (further refinement would lead to artificially different scores that are pretty meaningless). Compared to Magnacut it is clearly a generation behind, but it’s still pretty darn good.
Blade Shape: 2
Lucas Burnley has made a career out of creating and refining simple lines until they are perfect and bold. Look at the CKRT Squid 2 and you will see what I mean—everything there is reduced to its simplest shape and then emphasized more and more. The crowned spine, the perfect spearpoint, and the jimping feel so simplified and robust that they are almost cartoonish. The blade on the Psyop 299 has that same feel—refined, simple, and bold. Its obviously a good drop point blade, but the constituent elements are rendering in high relief—the swedge is quite bit, the jimping is chunky, and the ricasso is bigger than it needs to be if it were a pure sharpening choil. I like this look a lot. And as a cutter, it makes the Psyop 299 perform quite well.
Grind: 2
Thankfully, the chunky style doesn’t carry over to the blade stock, as the Psyop 299 starting thickness is quite slim. When that is coupled with the high grind line, the result is a knife that is quite slicey. Can I just take a second and write about this trend in folders? When I first started the site, it was one fat, slabby blade after another. And now, thanks to common sense, we are saved from the awful parade of uncutting knives. Sure there were Delicas and Dragonflies out there, but the vast, vast majority of knives were these folding prybars. They were at best food-mangling messes that could, in theory, process your recycling. Now, even random designs get some true slicing power. What’s the point of all this high end metallurgy if all we get is 1/8” thick folders? If only the flashlight industry would go the same way and make lumens not really a thing.
Deployment: 2
A refined thumb stud is a beautiful thing to use. The knife just leaps out of the blade well. This is a well-tuned and snappy thumb stud knife and a place where, despite the midtier budget you still get a premium feel.
Retention: 2
Hey, wire clips are awesome. I am not sure why they never were more widespread than they are. Like Halo standardizing FPS controls on consoles, I always had this notion, after using and carrying the Dragonfly that there should be more wire clips. I am not sure why that never happened, but it is nice to see one here because they are great. Easy in, easy out, and never much of a hotspot in the pocket.
Lock/Blade Safety: 2
I love the top liner lock. Its a button-activated compression lock for all intents and purposes, and it is great. Solid lock up. Fingers out of the blade path. And easy as pie to use. But carrying the theme of bold style touches, Vosteed used the button as a place for a bit of style. The dished out button matches the dished out pivot screw providing a nice accent point for the bolster.
The lock is very sturdy, nicely decorative, and thanks to a recess, it is exceptionally safe. I have not accidentally triggered the lock once despite lots and lots of carry and use.
All that said, I am not exactly sure why this isn’t just a button activated compression lock. My guess is that it is, but for legal reasons they called it something else.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Very High
With a crisp, snappy detent and the easy disengagement and access to the disengagement button, this knife is a dream to play with and keeps fidgety fingers nicely distracted.
Fett Effect: High
With a blasted titanium bolster, be prepared for lots of marks. If that bothers you, you might want to sit this one out. If not, and it shouldn’t, the Psyop 299 will look worn in in a few months.
Value: High
Overall Score: 19 out 20
This is a very good knife with lots and lots of quality touches. Dropping the price under $150 is a really big deal and compared to other knives of the same price, the Psyop 299 feels much, much classier. Geoff Blauvelt’s history of good designs in the custom world has been met with mixed success in production knives. I was not a huge fan of stuff like Slimform Arcform, but this knife feels like a generation later in terms of Blauvelt’s design language. The bold, clean lines are there, but so is the superior function. This one is the right size, the right price, and has a solid look that plays well in this market.
Competition
The CRKT Squid II and the Psyop 299 hit so many of the same notes that I can’t help but think of them as brothers from other mothers. Classic lines, refined designs from excellent and well-respected knife makers and designers, superior in-hand feel, and decent prices. The Psyop 299 is $50 cheaper, but these knives are really, really similar and both excellent. In the same or similar price bracket, I like this knife better than the Benchmade Bugout or the Spyderco Delica. It feels so much higher end than either of those knives and has better steel. The Bugout is more and the Delica is less, so the Delica is closer to the Psyop 299, but neither are better.
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