Why fingerboarders chase Knife decks, and why some think they shouldn't

On 4 September a rider coming back after years away asked r/Fingerboards what makes Knife special, because "all I see now are posts about Knife Fingerboards." The replies split fast.

The skeptics were blunt. "Absolutely nothing," the first answer began, and ended: "knife is just any other company but with great marketing." Others kept it to a word, "FOMO", or a sentence: "Drop culture is the worst and it's ruining a lot of hobbies." A rider who said they had bought Knife decks for two years called them "great decks" with "NOTHING special about them", and blamed the buyers who miss a drop and then pay "$150-$500 for one deck".

The defense was about the brand more than the wood. "Knife is one of the only companies with a consistent brand that feels like a 'real brand'," one rider wrote. "They're the only ones making full length videos and traveling around with a real team and consistently releasing new graphics with real art." The same reply pointed out that at release "they're the same price as any other pro deck." A later reply went for the shapes instead: "The kl1 and kl2 shapes are amazing."

Knife Mfg. Co. describes itself in one line on its contact page: established 2019, fingerboard decks made by hand in Chicago. The first product it conceived was not a deck but a concrete obstacle. Its XL Jersey Barrier, 10 inches long and scaled from a real Jersey barrier, was prototyped in 2018 and is now cast in the Chicago workshop, "intended to feel like an object of the street."

The decks are five-ply maple, most with a black-dyed center ply, at $48, or $50 for a pro model, and every current shape belongs to a rider. Knife's 2026 shape guide lists eight: Brendan Houston's 29 mm K01, Kevin Hanrahan's 32 mm KH1, Jay Linehan's 32.5 mm KL2 and 34 mm KL1, Stolly's 33 mm KS1 and old-school KS2, Bailey Blankenship's 34 mm KB1 and Andy Cole's 36 mm KC3, from 95.5 to 100 mm long. The listings pair every shape with the same concave, the Knife 26 mold with a 57 mm wheelbase, and riders in a thread about the KS1 point out that only the outline changes. Pro riders "are paid royalties from every board sold," each pro listing says.

Then there is the work around the boards. Knife's first full-length video, Utilitarian, premiered in October 2025 with parts from the whole team; its credits name Andy Eclov as filmer and editor, and riders refer to Andy as the owner, which Knife's site does not itself state. Some boards are screen printed by hand in the workshop: "The unpredictability is the point."

The archive page on Knife's site lists more than a hundred graphics and colorways since March 2023, and a growing share are limited by place: a purple Hand of Doom for Japan, a green-and-black one for Europe, a Salt Circle for Asia, and runs for Index and for Blackriver's Chicago store. There was even a Candy Swirl Big Frown made with Slushcult, back in June 2023.

On 3 September Knife turned that archive into a lottery. The Mystery Graphic Deck let buyers pick a shape and receive a random archive graphic on a deck from the new Lot #038: "General releases, rarities, exclusives, unreleased colors, and more. Get what you get!" It was one per customer, final sale, and "multiple orders will be cancelled."

The results have been landing in r/Fingerboards all month. One rider who wanted a KS2 was "really hoping to get an unreleased graphic" and got the Hypno version, a Europe exclusive, "so that's pretty sweet to have here in the states." Another drew a red all-over-logo KC3 they did not want and put it up for trade, "kc3/36mm only", hoping for a Beware or a Hand of Doom.

The comparison riders reach for is Woob. In a thread about whether a Woob is worth it, one reply laid out the economics: Knife's retail price "is like $50," Woob's "$200-$250 at minimum," and "Knife also makes hundreds, if not thousands more boards than Woob does."

As of 26 September all 33 decks on Knife's shop read sold out, and no next release has been announced; one rider puts the pace at about a drop a month. Drops land at knifemfg.co, and Utilitarian and Knife's Slushcult edit are on YouTube.

The skeptics' forecast is that the hype cools once decks get easier to find. Knife spent the summer on the road regardless: a jam with Letter Store in Richmond, Virginia, in May, then the DIY parks of Los Angeles and Long Beach in August, the same month as Slushcult.