By Callum L in Gear — 29 Sep 2026

Kith and Benchmade's Yamori Is a $375 Streetwear Take on a Century-Old Japanese Folder

Kith and Benchmade's Yamori reworks a century-old Japanese friction folder in Damascus steel and machined aluminium, priced at US$375 and made to order in three colourways.

Kith for Benchmade Yamori is the streetwear label's second knife collaboration with the Oregon-based cutlery house, and by some distance its most ambitious. Unveiled through Kith's Monday Program and covered in Gear Patrol's EDC roundup on 26 September 2026, the Yamori is pitched as a Japanese gentleman's folding knife, a design built around restraint rather than the tactical bulk most streetwear knife drops lean on.

A friction folder, reworked

Rather than another drop-point EDC blade, Benchmade and Kith went back to the higonokami, a lockless Japanese friction folder that dates to the 1890s and traditionally relied on nothing more than thumb pressure against the blade spine to stay open. The Yamori keeps that lockless mechanism but rebuilds everything around it in modern materials: a 2.95-inch wharncliffe blade in Damascus steel, deep laser-engraved and anodised, paired with a billet-machined aluminium handle.

Three Kith for Benchmade Yamori knives in Nocturnal, Drift and Black colourways arranged together — All three launch colourways: Nocturnal, Drift and Black. Image: Gear Patrol

Open, the knife runs 6.95 inches; closed, it drops to a pocketable 4.36 inches. The handle is machined with a fine checkerboard of tiny Kith wordmarks rather than printed or stamped branding, and the spine carries kanji translating to "friends and family", a nod to the higonokami's origins as a knife often gifted within families in Japan's Miki region.

Kith for Benchmade Yamori knife open, showing the Damascus steel wharncliffe blade — The 2.95-inch Damascus wharncliffe blade, open. Image: Gear Patrol

Two brands that keep making sense together

This is Kith's second run at a Benchmade collaboration, following an earlier limited release built on Benchmade's Bugout platform. Ronnie Fieg's label has built a decade-plus of credibility doing exactly this: taking a category outsiders assume streetwear has no business touching, whether that's running shoes, kitchenware or now pocket knives, and treating the collaborator's own engineering with genuine respect rather than slapping a logo on an off-the-shelf product. Benchmade, for its part, is a 40-year-old Oregon knifemaker better known for hard-use tactical and outdoor folders than fashion collaborations, which is part of why this pairing has landed with EDC and streetwear audiences alike. It also explains the timing: pocket knives have quietly become a legitimate EDC-and-fashion crossover category over the past few years, sitting alongside watches and leather goods as the kind of considered object collectors want to be seen carrying, not just using.

Close-up of the Kith Monogram machined into the aluminium handle of the Yamori knife — Kith's monogram is machined directly into the aluminium billet, not printed. Image: Gear Patrol

Price and availability

The Yamori launched through Kith's Monday Program at 11am ET on 21 September 2026, made to order across three colourways: Nocturnal (blue), Drift (grey) and Black. Each knife is priced at US$375 (approx. AU$533 at current exchange rates), sold US online only and capped at two per customer, with orders closing 27 September 2026 and a four to five month production and delivery window. Each knife ships with a co-branded black leather slip pouch embossed with Japanese characters.

Black leather slip pouch for the Kith for Benchmade Yamori knife with embossed Japanese characters — The co-branded leather slip pouch included with every Yamori. Image: Gear Patrol

Blade: 2.95-inch Damascus steel wharncliffe, laser-engraved and anodised
Handle: billet-machined aluminium with Kith Monogram detailing
Dimensions: 6.95 inches open, 4.36 inches closed
Colourways: Nocturnal, Drift, Black
Price: US$375 (approx. AU$533)
Availability: made-to-order via Kith's Monday Program, US online only, capped at two per customer, 4-5 month delivery

Verdict: At US$375 for a made-to-order, lockless friction folder, the Yamori is priced and positioned as a collector's object rather than a daily carry upgrade, and it is honest about that trade-off. You are paying for the story Benchmade and Kith are telling (a century-old Japanese form language, executed in modern materials, with genuinely considered detailing down to the machined monogram and engraved kanji) more than for hard-use utility. For anyone already circling the EDC-and-fashion crossover, or who simply wants the best-looking Benchmade to ever leave the factory, it is a compelling one-off. For everyone else, it is a knife to admire in photos rather than queue up for.