Ferrum Forge is rolling out the KB Flipper, a full-fledged EDC knife made to fit into the KeyBar EDC tool. The knife arrives on the cusp of a new year that brings a significant shift in the game plan for the San Diego, California-based shop.

The KeyBar has been an EDC staple in the gear community for years. Enthusiasts enjoy the convenience of the innovative key holder, and all sorts of different tools have been drawn up for the KeyBar. Ferrum Forge’s Elliot Williamson says the KB Flipper sets a new standard as a fully-contained, liner locking, ball-bearing flipper knife insert that doesn’t take up a lot of space. “What we’ve done is create something that goes in any Keybar, along with all the other stuff you put in it,” he explains. “This was one of the design criteria.”

On its own, the KB Flipper looks like a small, unassuming pocket knife. Designed by Ferrum Forge and produced by WE Knife Co., it sports a 2.6-inch S35VN drop point blade and ball-bearing flipping action. All the complication is handled on the manufacturing end, so the user ends up with a ‘set it and forget it’ design for any standard KeyBar. “If you can figure out how to put keys in your KeyBar, you can put this in your KeyBar,” Williamson says.

It can be carried on its own if you’d like but was meant to fit into the KeyBar frame. Williamson did confirm that a version of the KB Flipper built as a standalone knife will come out someday too. “That one’s already in prototyping. We’ll bring it out for sure.”

Williamson also tells us to expect a brand new Ferrum Forge in 2018. The last two years have been trying for the company. They were stuck in a rut, making labor-intensive runs of 200 mid-techs just as the market for such mid-tech knives started to wane. “We always knew it was a bubble. With so many people doing the same thing – and some not doing it particularly well – it was going to alienate people out of the market,” Williamson says.

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Ferrum Forge is ditching the 200-piece mid-tech runs and expanding its partnership with WE Knife Co. next year with the Ferrum Forge Pro Line. These production versions of Ferrum Forge designs target a $250 price point. Williamson expects these to meet general demand for Ferrum Forge designs without eating up all of the company’s shop hours. He says those hours will be put back into working on 25-piece custom runs. “We’re getting back to a place in the shop where we can have some creative freedom again.”

The KB Flipper is available for preorder now. It retails for $99 and is expected to ship in mid-November.

Knife featured in image: Ferrum Forge KB Flipper