Folding knives are evolving with increasingly engineered components. For proof, look at Spyderco's LionSpy, a collaboration with the Italian knife maker LionSteel. Think Jim Bowie meets Lamborghini.

1. Steel
Elmax PM 170 is a powdered steel from Austria, with a high carbon and chromium content. Compared with traditional steels, powdered steels offer fine-grain structures for extreme sharpness and even distribution of added alloy elements to provide toughness and corrosion resistance. Other new powdered steels to look for include S35VN, with niobium and a superfine grain for ease of sharpening, and CTS-XHP, one of the super-stainless harder steels that can be ground very fine.

2. Handle
The unique two-piece handle is made of two different scale materials: G10, on one side, is woven glass cloth impregnated with epoxy, then pressed and heated. The titanium side (shown) is light like aluminum but ​stronger and feels warm in the hand.

3. Lock
This is not your ­everyday frame lock. This one is machined out of the titanium handle scale and tipped with a hardened steel insert. It is also backed with LionSteel's patented (and very cool) RotoLock--a titanium disk that can be dialed into a locking position that prevents release of the frame lock.