We are happy to present our new collaboration project with Dmitry Sinkevich – Bio. The name ‘Bio’ comes from biodesign. Dmitry drew inspiration from nature and the forms and shapes you meed out in the wild when he was drawing this model. The end result is a knife with matching lines and flow, a blade that is well-matched by the handle, and together they present a cohesive visual piece. But let’s start at the beginning. Bio is a classic slicer with high blade grind. This is not a full flat grind, as you have both blade flats and a stylized swedge. Both of these elements are located fairly high up on the blade, so their addition does not detract from the cutting performance while at the same adding flavor to the looks of the knife. Moreover, given the unusual shape of the swedge the latter masks the blade shape a little, as at first glance it is reminiscent of a Persian. And the swedge smoothly flows into a rise near the handle, which will comfortably house your thumb when cutting. Blade length is 95mm (3.74in), which makes Bio a universal folder, and indeed in line with our serial models. But the blade is slimmer at 3.2mm (0.126in) which, combined with the grind and the steel (M398) suggests that the knife will be an excellent cutter. The blade does not have a universal finish – secondary bevels are stonewashed, and blade flats come with satin. Besides looking good, this type of combined finish has a practical side, as well – stonwash is good for parts of the blade which will come in contact with the material that is being cut, whilst satin on the flats is pleasing to the eye. The action is both fast and smooth, thanks to Bio running on MRBS Multi-Row Bearing System which we use for all of our collaborations with Dmitry Sinkevich. The blade carries Shirogorov knives logotype on one side, and Dmitry’s on the other. Flipper tab has jimping for better traction (and it has of course been chamfered). The pivot screw is quite unusual. Not really surprising, to be honest, as its shape was inspired by the pestle of a flower. The slit was cut in the rear part of the screw, which is located on the lockbar side. And yes, if you have the Sinkevich bits (big and small ones) they can be used to disassemble Bio.? The handle is made out of two titanium scales, which are held together by a pivot and a clip screw. The latter (besides holding the pocket clip in place) goes all the way through both parts of the handle and the backspacer. On the presentation side, the handle has been made in minimalist style, and visually is only held in place by the pivot screw. This isn’t so, of course, but the screw that holds the whole assembly together towards the rear of the handle does not go through the front handle, and thus makes it appear that it is not there.? The handle has a milled pattern going across it. This pattern is small around the pivot, but gets progressively wider and bigger as we get closer to the rear end of the handle. The pattern bends, and has also been inspired by shapes which can be found out in nature – and thus makes another contribution to the overall concept of this folder. The handle is ergonomic, gets wider around the middle, and thus sits comfortably in your hand. The backspacer gets thinner as you get closer to the lanyard hole. The handle scales thin out on the inner side when nearing the same area. All this allows for enough space to comfortably fit paracord through the lanyard hole. Spacer itself has jimping, which starts out narrow and gets wider the closer you get to the lanyard hole – which is a good visual mix-and-match for the backspacer itself getting thinner. Bio will be available in two configurations – light and dark. The dark configuration implies that the titanium handle has been anodized dark grey, and the screws, pocket clip and backspacer will come in ‘regular’ grey color. The light configuration, to the contrary, means that the handle comes in regular grey, and the screws, pocket clip and backspacer have been anodized dark grey. The handle matches both ‘soft’ (rounded) and sharp corners. Well, sharp and sharp, they all have been chamfered. The handle from the side of the blade has more of pronounced angles, which flow into smooth waves and lines in the middle of the handle. The latter, in turn, again flows in the rear part of the handle with its pronounced angles, additionally strengthened by the sharp angle of the backspacer which protrudes above the handle (thus making this sharp angle visible and noticeable). This concept of mixing sharp and soft angles is present on the blade, as well – where the smooth flow of the swedge is replaced by the sharp edges of the blade shoulders. The pocket clip, too, has been sculpted according to this mix-and-match concept. Lockbar relief has been milled on the outside. The surface milling inside the relief itself is very different from the milling on the rest of the handle surface – but remind closely of the milling present on the inside of the handle and the backspacer. Thus the overall ‘milling concept’ implies two types of milling – one on the ‘presentation’ parts of the knife, and the other on the ‘technical’ parts of the knife. Bio comes with a lockbar insert which (as is customary for us) also acts as an overtravel stop. Right behind the lockbar insert we have made a flat area on the inside of the frame – this is to create a bigger ‘landing pad’ for your thumb and make it more comfortable for you when you need to disengage the lock. We always try to maximize the blade-to-handle ratio, and Bio is no exception. In order for the blade tip to not catch on the tip of your finger, we have shaped the backspacer in such a way so that it would envelop the blade tip. The outer portion of the backspacer protrudes beyond the handle, which is both an interesting solution from the standpoint of design, and a robust solution from safety standpoint, as the tip of the blade is hidden within a specially milled groove within the backspacer. Bio will be available via two separate lotteries that will be held by Recon1.com. Lotto for the light version of the Bio will take place on the 12th of November, and lotto for the dark version of the Bio will take place on the 19th of November.? Technical data: Overall length: 223mm (8.78in)?? Blade length: 95mm (3.74in) Blade thickness: 3.2mm (0.126in) Blade steel: M398 Handle length: 129mm (5.08in) Handle thickness: 12mm (0.472in) Handle material: titanium Pivot: MRBS Multi-Row Bearing System on steel underlays Locking mechanism: Frame lock Weight: 116 grams (4.1oz)