First Look: Knives by Nuge Big Boi Wicket

By Nick Italiano

It’s time for another Knives by Nuge first look, today we are looking at the brand new Big Boi Wicket. The design is based on his best-selling Wicket, but as the name indicates, the Big Boi is a departure from Toms’ typical small fixed blade designs. The Wicket has seen a lot of variety in evolution in the last 2 years, the original designed as a small neck knife and has since grown to a full line of EDC and outdoor fixed blades featuring different sizes, blade grinds, and materials. The Big Boi rounds out the line by introducing a knife that is big enough to serve as an all-purpose outdoor and camp knife.

Specs

The Big Boi Wicket is just shy of 9 inches overall with 4.5 inches of cutting edge and 4-inch handle. This version has a blasted 80CRV2 high carbon blade with a wicked sharp scandi grind. The blade stock is ⅛ inch and the spine retains the 90 angle seen on the smaller Wicket models. The Big Boi weighed in at 7.4 ounces without the sheath.

There are plans to make Nitro-V versions in a high saber grind in the future. The handle slabs are ¼ inch micarta slabs with flared brass tubes. My prototype came with a custom made Nuge-Dex (kydex) sheath, there are plans for a leather belt sheath with dangler made by Badger Claw Outfitters in the future.

Design Notes and Usage

Tom is known for his purpose driven designs, while his knives do have aesthetic appeal his design choices always boil down to practicality and useability. At first glance it may seem that the Big Boi is just a stretched out version of the original and XL Wickets, however there are a lot of nuanced design choices that really serve a knife in this size range very well. While we are on the topic of size, let’s talk a bit about that. At 9 inches overall, the Big Boi is not a huge knife but definitely falls into a category that would be considered a full sized outdoor knife. It is a great size for a weekend of camping, someone who works in a wilderness environment, or for a bushcraft hobbyist who is expecting to do some serious work. The 4.5-inch blade is more than enough to handle your heavier wood processing tasks without being so large that you lose the ability to do finer tasks such as feather sticking and tinder shaving. The spine has a super crisp 90-degree edge, allowing you to strike your ferro rod and do all manners of scraping tasks. 

The blade length is also ideal for processing your food while camping and while the ⅛ inch stock is robust it is not so thick that it impedes slicing tasks. Keep in mind, many people will say that a scandi is not a good choice for food prep, but I don’t really agree. A true scandi that is sharp can absolutely be used to prep food and dress game if needed, the Scandinavian people did it for a 1000 years, if it worked for them it will more than likely work for you too!

The Blade has a slight upsweep that helps your hand follow a comfortable cutting action that you will definitely miss out on when dealing with a flat blade edge. Simply stated, this makes your life easier and reduces fatigue during use over extended periods of time. The tip has a nice amount of meat behind it, which lends to the ability to drilling tasks without fear of damaging your tip. 

80CRV2 is an excellent steel choice for this model for both its toughness and the ability to easily hone, touch up, and sharpen the edge. The ⅛ blade stock provides an ideal balance between cutting functionality and durability. This knife can take a beating and keep on working, that being said it is a knife and not a pry bar or hatchet, but I can confidently say if you’re doing knife tasks you should have no fear of the Big Boi Wicket failing during use.

The Handle design is similar to that of the Wicket XL. The ¼ inch slabs of Micarta will fill the hand well, and work well bare handed or while wearing a work glove. The slabs are secured by 4 flared brass tubes and a chemical epoxy, short of taking a sledge hammer to it you are not breaking the scales off. The Finger grove in the handle allows for a comfortable grip in forward and hammer grips while also protecting your finger from the blade in conjunction with a slight blade guard. Overall I found the handle to be comfortable and safe in both light tasks and heavy use. 

Final Thoughts

The Big Boi Wicket is much more than a sized up version of its EDC friendly predecessors. It is a well thought out, all-purpose outdoor knife. If you want to take one knife into the woods that can handle all your bushcraft, camping, and food prep tasks, and even help you process some game, the Big Boi Wicket is a viable option. It is big enough to do serious work, while not being so big you will be uncomfortable carrying it all day or over the course of a multi-day adventure. If all my words have intrigued you and you want to see this knife put through the paces, check out the below video review from Barkeater Outdoors. 

These will be debuting on Friday February 9th on the Knives By Nuge website, each of these is fully hand made by Tom in his shop in New Jersey so numbers will be very limited so if you want to be the first to grab one of these, be sure to sign up for his newsletter to get notified of the drop time!