The first thing to notice about the Tenable Zues is not the tanto point or the designer name. It is the stock. The blade runs 0.25 inch (6.3mm) thick from spine to grind, which is pry-bar territory for a 3.95-inch utility fixed blade and instantly separates this Frank Grissom design from the skinny slicers that dominate the sub-$70 shelf. Whether that thickness is a feature or dead weight is exactly the argument the Zues is designed to start.
The rest of the spec sheet holds few surprises for anyone tracking Tenable's 2026 output. The blade is D2 with a stonewashed finish, ground flat, in a classic Americanized tanto profile with an angled secondary edge. The handle is D2 as well, so this is a full steel knife rather than a blade bolted to G10, finished stonewashed to match. Overall length is 8.52 inches (216.4mm), weight is a hefty 6.70 ounces (189.9g), and the knife ships in a Kydex sheath. The G021A1 lists at $63.89.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Blade steel | D2 tool steel, stonewashed |
| Blade length | 3.95 in / 100.4mm, tanto |
| Blade thickness | 0.25 in / 6.3mm |
| Grind | Flat |
| Handle material | D2 steel |
| Overall length | 8.52 in / 216.4mm |
| Weight | 6.70 oz / 189.9g |
| Sheath | Kydex |
| Designer | Frank Grissom |
| Price (MSRP) | $63.89 |
| Status | Listed now on Tenable's site (G021A1) |
Where the Zues Wins
Against the Ka-Bar BK14 Eskabar, a comparable ~$65 fixed blade, the Zues carries noticeably more steel behind the edge, and 0.25 inch of D2 simply does not flex, chip out on contacts or worry about prying the way 1095 knives of that size do.
D2's high vanadium and chromium carbide content holds a working edge several times longer than the 1095 Cro-Van used in the Ka-Bar, which matters for users who sharpen rarely.
The full-D2 handle means no scales to crack, no G10 to absorb water, and a knife that shrugs off being left in a truck bed.
At $63.89 with a Kydex sheath included, the price undercuts most name-brand tanto fixe blades that usually start near $100.
Where It Gives Ground
1095 sharpening takes seconds on a bench stone or even a sidewalk; D2's carbide load makes it slow to touch up, and field sharpening this thick tanto is a real chore.
D2 is only marginally stainless despite the name; a stonewashed steel handle will patina and can spot-rust if stored wet.
At 6.70 ounces, the Zues weighs as much as some 5-inch camp knives, and it will be noticed on a belt all day.
The Ontario RAT-3 and similar 1095 rivals also beat it on pure slicing geometry, since their thinner stock cuts deeper in wood and food.
Grissom's catalog gives some context. His earlier Tenable work has favored simple, overbuilt geometry over flourishes, and the Zues reads as the fixed-blade endpoint of that thinking. There is no jimping gallery and no thumb ramp theater, just a slab with an angle in it. Buyers raised on the Esee school of budget fixed blades will recognize the priorities immediately, even though the steel choice breaks with that school's carbon-steel orthodoxy.
The Zues listed on Tenable's site this week as a single D2 variant, with no alternate steels or handle materials announced. Frank Grissom's design philosophy here is legible: give budget users the one thing cheap knives never have, which is absolute rigidity, and accept the weight and maintenance tradeoffs that come with it. It leaves one question hanging over the release. If Tenable can put Nitro-V in a $69 folder and 154CM in a $79 one, how long before buyers start asking why a six-ounce D2 tanto costs $63.89, and what Tenable's answer would be.