Best Knives of 2020 by State

Everybody loves some tasty knife stats. So we’ve compiled some of the juiciest statistics from our sales data for 2020 that we think knife lovers everywhere will enjoy. Below you will find the most purchased knife by state, best-selling handle materials, best-selling blade steels, and the percentage of orders by state. It only takes a quick glance to notice that the Kershaw Lucha is the clear winner for 2020. So much so that there’s a relatively good chance that the person reading this can reach down into their pocket right now and pull out a Lucha to perform a perfect pitstop aerial. But due to legal restrictions and varied knife tastes across the country, there are a variety of other popular brands and models that made the list. Explore the full results below and see what your fellow Americans are carrying in 2020.

There are a plethora of handle materials available today. It’s no surprise to see aluminum and G-10 reeling in those number one and two spots because of their versatility and wide use with tons of brands. What may be surprising is to see carbon fiber, titanium, and micarta lower on the chart, but these are usually featured on higher-end knives that aren’t bought as often.

Everybody loves the crème de la crème steels like Bohler M390, CPM-S35VN, and the like, but they’re not the best sellers. AUS-8 ships out in a whopping 11% of knives that we sell from Blade HQ. This is due to brands like Boker, Cold Steel, CRKT, and others utilizing AUS-8 in some of their most popular knives (Kalashnikovs, baby!).

These are fun stats but take them with a grain of salt! Knife laws in various states affect order volume, as well as population density in places like California, Texas, and New York. More people usually mean more knife sales, but sometimes only certain styles of knife. That said, California has some strict knife laws around autos and balisongs and they still take the number one spot with the crown of Highest Percentage of Orders by State.

CONCLUSION

There you have it, folks! Now you know what knife nuts from each state are all about. Looks like people just couldn’t resist the quality and affordability of Kershaw’s first balisong, the Lucha. Several other models were close contenders, but incredibly 35 out of 50 states needed this knife in their collection. The Benchmade Bugout still reigns supreme in the EDC category for obvious reasons, and the ever-popular Kershaw Launch series holds down the automatic realm. It’s not too surprising that Wyoming went for the renowned Benchmade Hidden Canyon Hunter, but who would have guessed Delaware is all about that M4/Natty G-10 Shaman life?

What other stats would you like to see included in future revisions? Let us know on our Instagram or Facebook. We’d love to hear your feedback!