Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight
Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Sheath
The Epicenter of Quality vs Price!
The Bel-Air had been on my radar for a while, and it always seemed like a good deal for a Magnacut blade and aluminum handles. Then I found out they made an XL model! While on paper, a 3.4" blade might start to seem on the big side for a folder intended for urban EDC, I assure you it's not! Even with the slightly larger blade, it folds up incredibly sleek and slim, and with the G10 handle scales its perhaps one of the lightest knives in my collection. While the standard Bel-Air is still a great knife, I'd highly recommend upgrading to the XL for a few dollars more. Although it only has the one option for now in Black G10, the extra bit of blade you get along with more grip surface with the handle is worth the money. And even then, its still cheaper than most other US Made magnacut knives out there. Honestly the only marginally neutral things I can say about it is that personally the crossbar is not my favorite type of lock to manipulate, but maybe I'm just spoiled by the Shark lock and Snex Superlock that feel more natural to actuate on the spine. Also, the G10 was a bit on the course side when I first opened it, but that smoothed out after a week or two of minimal use running my fingers over it which smoothed things out. Overall if you're looking for a cost effective delve into magnacut, this is your knife!