The Sidewinder Is a “Kinder Knife” Under the Guise of a Kinetic Sculpture

Outside the category of kitchen knives, this may be the first time in our site’s history we’ve ever felt compelled to feature a foldout pocket knife with the action of a switchblade. But then again, most knives within that segment do not look nor function with such elegant movement as the Craighill Sidewinder, a “kinetic sculpture moonlighting as a knife.”

Designed by the New York design studio of Chen Chen and Kai Williams for Craighill, the Sidewinder knife takes its name from the oscillating tracks left in the sand by Crotalus cerastes, aka the sidewinder rattlesnake. Featuring an interlocking mechanical hilt consisting of two opposing yin-yang parts connected with the blade, the knife reveals itself with a push of a lever forward. The blade mechanism opens concurrently in relation to its silver handle hilt while also moving that same wavy-serrated section a notch forward before interlocking into secure position. The mesmerizing smooth movement can make one forget it’s unleashing a sharp blade. 

Designer Kai Williams cites his childhood growing up in a household of two architects as partial inspiration behind the knife’s design. “I grew up around a lot of manual drafting tools,” says Williams, “And one of the tools that I always would play with was a parallel ruler which is for drawing parallels or to extend lines. What I always loved as a child is the changing relationship of the linkages. I think I was literally using this thing as a child and imagining a sword out of it.”

The knife’s two-tone finish is a combination of stone wash and black PVD-coated stainless steel, and designed to be a pocketable everyday carry addition.

Chen and Williams admit their initial prototype exhibited issues related to the locking mechanism. They would turn to Craighill’s design and manufacturing expertise to fine tune the knife’s multiple components to exacting detail to produce its eventual serpentine-smooth action.

I always envisioned this knife as a knife for people that don’t normally carry knives… It’s a kinder knife.

– Kai Williams

The kinder Sidewinder Knife is available for $178 at craighill.co.

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Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

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