DeWalt 3.3 in. Tanto Pocket Knife with Quick Flip

A jobsite knife has a short checklist to clear: it needs to open quickly, lock up confidently, cut a variety of materials, and ride unobtrusively in the pocket. After several weeks of carrying the DeWalt tanto folder, I can say it ticks those boxes with a few thoughtful touches and a couple of quirks worth knowing.

Build and design

This is a straightforward, no-nonsense folder built around a 3.3-inch stainless steel tanto blade and an aluminum handle. Closed, it measures 4.5 inches; open, it stretches to an even 8 inches. The handle is slim, all-metal, and feels sturdier than its profile suggests. There’s no plasticky flex or creak—just a simple, durable chassis that shrugs off shop grit.

DeWalt went with a partially serrated edge, which immediately positions this as a utility-forward knife. The plain section handles slicing tasks, while the serrations make short work of fibrous stuff like rope, nylon strapping, or plastic banding. Up at the tip, the tanto geometry gives you a reinforced point for controlled pierces and scraping, with a secondary point that’s handy for initiating cuts without digging too deep.

A deep-carry wire pocket clip keeps the knife low-profile in the pocket. It’s reversible, so right- and left-pocket users can set it up the way they like. There’s also a tether/lanyard hole at the back—a nice nod to jobsite safety tethers or just a bit of paracord for retrieval with gloves.

Deployment and lock-up

The “quick-flip” name isn’t hype. The blade rides on a ball-bearing pivot and flicks open with a confident snap via the flipper tab. No springs, no assist—just a crisp detent and smooth bearings that make one-handed opening reliable even with light gloves. After a couple of drops of oil and a quarter-turn tuning of the pivot, mine dialed in to a sweet spot: fast deployment with no blade wiggle.

Lock-up is a liner lock, and it engages with a decent footprint on the tang. On my sample, lateral play was effectively nil and vertical play only showed up if I really white-knuckled the blade—nothing that telegraphed during normal cutting. Closing it one-handed is easy enough once you get the feel for the lock bar’s access cutout; it’s not the most generous I’ve used, so if your fingertips are numb or gloved, you’ll want to be deliberate and keep the path clear when you release the lock.

Cutting performance

Out of the package, the edge was ready for work—slicing cardboard, breaking down appliance boxes, trimming landscape fabric, and opening blister packs without drama. Where this blade shines is pierce-and-draw cuts: the tanto tip gets you into material cleanly, and the straight edge behind it stays engaged without wanting to roll out of the cut. That makes it a natural for precision tasks like scoring drywall paper, trimming zip ties flush, or shaving plastic flashing.

The serrated section is a force multiplier for rope, webbing, and tough packaging. For me, it turned heavy garden hose and multilayer straps from a fight into a few confident bites. The tradeoff, as always with partial serrations, is maintenance. Touching up the plain edge on a ceramic rod is quick; keeping the serrations crisp takes a tapered rod or specific tools. If you prefer a continuous plain edge for easier sharpening and food prep, take note—this setup prioritizes jobsite materials over kitchen or camp slicing.

Edge retention is about what I expect from an unspecified stainless steel in a work knife: it stays keen through a couple of days of aggressive cardboard duty, then benefits from a few light passes on a strop or rod. The upside is that it resharpens quickly. Corrosion resistance has been solid, even after sweating through a humid day and cutting damp materials—routine wipe-downs are enough to keep spotting at bay.

Ergonomics and carry

The handle doesn’t try to be fancy. It’s relatively flat with gentle chamfers, so it disappears in-pocket but still fills the hand well enough for control. The lack of overdone finger grooves is a plus; it lets you shift grips comfortably, whether you’re choking up near the flipper tab for detail work or sliding back for more leverage. I didn’t encounter any hot spots during normal use, though if you bear down for extended sawing, the clip’s wire can imprint a bit in the palm. That said, the wire clip is less obtrusive than stamp-steel clips, and its spring tension out of the box was snug. If you like an easier draw from thick work pants, you can slightly ease that tension by hand.

The deep-carry clip keeps the spine just under the pocket seam, which I prefer on site—less shininess on display, less chance of snagging. With the clip swapped for left-pocket carry, the liner lock remains right-hand-biased, so lefties will deploy and close with a slightly different rhythm. It’s workable, but worth noting.

Tuning and maintenance

Like most folding knives, this one benefits from a few minutes of setup. A small pivot adjustment goes a long way; I found backing off the pivot just a hair eliminated stiffness without introducing play. A drop or two of light oil in the bearings keeps the action consistent, especially after exposure to dust and cardboard lint.

Cleaning is straightforward: blow out the pivot area with compressed air or a brush, wipe the blade, and add a light coat of oil if you live in a humid environment. The stainless blade resists rust well, but the liner lock face likes to be clean and dry for consistent engagement. I’d love to see factory threadlocker on the body screws; I added my own after the first week to prevent any backing out.

Where it shines, where it doesn’t

Strengths:
- Fast, reliable deployment with a genuinely smooth bearing action
- Robust tip and serrations tailor-made for jobsite materials
- Slim, durable aluminum handle that carries light and low
- Reversible deep-carry wire clip and usable lanyard hole
- Secure, confidence-inspiring lock-up for the category

Tradeoffs:
- Partial serrations complicate sharpening and aren’t ideal for food prep
- Liner lock access is a bit tight; one-handed closing takes a beat of practice
- Generic stainless steel equals reasonable edge life, not a marathon
- Left-handed users get reversible carry but a right-hand-oriented lock

None of these are dealbreakers for a work-first folder, but they shape who will be happiest with it. If you want a slicey drop point for camp tomatoes and feather sticks, or if you strictly prefer a full plain edge, this isn’t that. If your daily cuts live in cardboard, plastics, straps, rubber, and cordage, the geometry and edge configuration make a lot of sense.

Warranty, specs, and odds and ends

A few details round out the picture. The blade is 1 inch wide, giving it a bit of lateral stability behind the tip. Open length is a tidy 8 inches, which feels compact in use but long enough for leverage. The packaging is a simple hanging card, and the manufacturer backs it with a limited lifetime warranty. Those are nice to have, especially in a tool that may get tossed into glove boxes and tool bags.

Recommendation

I recommend the DeWalt tanto folder as a reliable, budget-friendly work knife for everyday carry on the job or around the house. The action is legitimately smooth, the lock-up inspires confidence, and the blade geometry—with its reinforced tip and partial serrations—excels at the realities of jobsite cutting. It carries discreetly, stands up to grime, and is easy to tune and maintain. The compromises (serrations to maintain, a liner lock that’s a touch tight, and a steel that prioritizes corrosion resistance over long-haul edge holding) are reasonable for the category and the price bracket. If your tasks lean toward utility materials rather than gourmet slicing, this is a stout, fuss-free tool that earns its pocket time.