GiantMouse x Carryology | Riv Auxikko

One of our favorite knife brands on earth. Laying a foundation with a Carry Awards Highly Commended winner and working in our signature upgrades. The result? A highly functional compact tool perfectly sized for everyday carry, in an iconic timeless silhouette. Titanium, lasers, a brand new locking mechanism for the Riv, and a reversible pocket clip for all your carrying styles. Razor sharp right out of the box.

Introducing the GiantMouse x Carryology Riv Auxikko.

Sometimes, a collaboration was just meant to be. We’ve been loving GiantMouse for years and years now and we’re always excited to share the next new thing they release with you the very moment we’ve gotten our hands on it. Most of our Carryology team members own at least one product from the folks at GiantMouse – and many of them own more than three. Carryology senior team member, the legend himself, Piotr Ma, easily has a dozen or more GiantMouse knives. Probably more. 

A quote about GiantMouse and the Riv knife from Piotr Ma:

“I’ve known Jens and Jesper for many years, and I’ve been using their GiantMouse knives since day one of their launch. It’s one of my favorite brands now. And certainly the most carried and used. When a full-size blade is not an option due to either local law or simply a social context… here comes my Riv. It’s lightweight, low profile, but I can really choke up on it and apply full power. It performs way above its size! And I can carry it 24/7 without even noticing the weight.”

Giant Love for GiantMouse

Well, sure, that’s great that we love their wares. But our community loves their gear too, sharing photos of their everyday carry loadouts in our Carryology Classified private Facebook group. And while we’re on that topic, one super attractive thing about GiantMouse is their love for and participation in the carry, knife, and everyday carry community. In fact, when they launched, the idea of building a community was so important to GiantMouse that they created their own community as well, the Shank Sharpeners Union (SSU). 

The Humans Behind the Mouse

Now, who are the brains behind GiantMouse? Glad you asked. At the helm of the US-headquartered team, there are three co-founders. Jim Wirth, CEO, located in the US (Michigan), and Jens Ansø and Jesper Voxnaes, designers hailing from Denmark, and world-renowned knifemakers in their own right. 

Back in 2016, the three of them serendipitously met at a knife show when they happened to all be wearing the same Panerai watch and had a laugh about it. As legend has it, the three got along famously, shared the same values and vision, and decided to launch a brand together with their combined experience in the fields of everyday carry tools and knives. In time, as they like to put it, they set out to design a better mousetrap, so to speak. Since the launch of their first knife, the GM1, the brand has grown dramatically, and GiantMouse have made their mark, crafting pieces with innovative lines, cutting-edge materials and fine attention to detail. Now worthy contenders among the giants of the knife industry. 

From GiantMouse:

“At GiantMouse, our designers collaborate to craft high-quality production knives that we are confident our customers will take pleasure in owning and using. Our design team is deeply involved in every stage of production, exercising complete control over design choices, materials, finishes, and more. Production proceeds only after the entire GiantMouse team conducts a thorough review and testing of prototypes and production samples, ensuring that the finished knife is one they would proudly carry and use themselves.”

Photos by Piotr Ma and his personal EDC GiantMouse Riv

Photos by Piotr Ma and his personal EDC GiantMouse Riv

Now, Why Do We Love the Riv?

First off, it’s inspired by the larger Biblio, which was inspired by the GM1. The Riv wasn’t just shrunken down. No, Jens and Jesper are too sharp for that. It was completely redesigned and brought down to a more everyday carry-friendly size, using the same lines and design language, while maintaining the perfect usable size and blade length (Blade Length: 2.44″ and Handle Length: 3.375″). It’s a fantastically compact design that’s still useful for everyday and outdoor tasks. It can be used for general slicing as well as be used for precision cutting, thanks to the ergonomics and hand/finger grip placement. It’s available with micarta scales/handles, but of course we’re drawn to the all-titanium version because #AllTitaniumEverything.

The Elmax steel is durable, corrosion resistant, and can be sharpened to a razor’s edge. The build is incredibly tough and durable. The flipper tab allows the blade to scream out of the closed position, flicking to the open, locked, and ready position in fractions of a second. Seriously, it’s crazy fast. And frankly, the last but still very important part… it looks damn cool. Aesthetics matter in some cases. The styling is minimalist, allowing you to use it in an office setting when necessary. Simply put, it’s one of our favorite compact EDC knives ever.

What’s a “Riv”?

Another fun fact about the Riv and GiantMouse in general… just like our collabs, GiantMouse has a great time naming their products, as they use locations that are meaningful to them. 

From GiantMouse:

“In 2020, GiantMouse moved its headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to East Lansing, MI. So we felt it only fitting that we should commemorate this event by naming our latest model after an equally meaningful local establishment. Turns out “The Riv” is a historic local dive bar in East Lansing that was frequented regularly by GiantMouse CEO Jim Wirth while he attended Michigan State University in the second half of the 1980s. The bar is still a local landmark today, and you can be sure to find us hanging there on the corner of Albert and M.A.C. Ave. If we’re not there – check next door at Pinball Pete’s.”

Let’s Do It

As a team, we got to talking. What if we took one of our all-time favorite EDC pocket knives, and gave it some signature Carryology tweaks and some upgrades? With a loose plan, we reached out to our friends over at GiantMouse and hoped for the best. Jim Wirth replied quickly and with excitement about the idea. But he did mention he wanted to run all ideas by his partners, the design geniuses behind the brand, Jens and Jesper. We waited anxiously… and sure enough, both of them were in. Let’s do this. But now… how do you mess with the near perfection of the Riv?

Different Carry Options 

The current Riv only has a clip on one side, for righties only. And that’s cool. But what we really wanted and our first move was to add the option to add a screw and slot on the opposite scale/handle so the Riv could be carried in left pockets or other carry configurations. Lefties, righties, front and back pockets, whatever the user prefers without any friction or troubles. 

Decide to change your carry method later? Swap the clip back to the other side. Takes mere seconds.

Riv’s Brand New Locking Mechanism

Okay, so the benefits of having a reversible clip are awesome, but that’s easier said than done. The Riv is a frame lock-style pocket knife. And if you add the clip to the other side, the deep-carry wire steel pocket clip will press upon the locking bar mechanism. Not really ideal. So in order to pull this off? The trio of Jim, Jens, and Jesper came back with a brilliant idea. They’d change the locking mechanism entirely, offering the very first liner-locking Riv pocket knife. This moves the locking system to the inside versus on the exterior. Made from super tough titanium, this liner lock spring bar keeps the blade locked open when you want it, but allows you to close the blade without having to change your grip, unlike a frame lock design. 

It opens fast as lightning via the blade’s flipper tab, locks up rock solid, and drops closed smoothly when you’re done thanks to the velvety smooth ball bearing pivot mechanism. 

And finally, as an added bonus: the liner lock design allows for both sides of the handles/scales to be clean, as the locking mechanism is removed from the exterior. Sure, it’s preference, but we love the aesthetics even more now. After some redesign, reengineering, a few rounds of prototyping and serious field testing, Jim, Jens, Jesper, and our team all signed off on the final sample. The very first Riv liner lock design was perfect.

Rivetingly Sharp

One thing to note, the Riv’s blade comes razor sharp from the factory. Lucky enough to have played with a few regular production Rivs, our collaboration Riv is no different, slicing paper into ribbons straight out of the box. This is thanks to GiantMouse’s selection of highly durable and corrosion-resistant Elmax steel. While there are endless discussions and opinions of which blade steel is best, be certain the Riv’s Elmax steel is in the top-tier premium blade steel category, with toughness greater than S30V, better edge holding than S35VN, and Rockwell hardness of 62HRC. Ultimately, when comparing blade steels, you’re splitting hairs with the other variants, via a balancing act of pros and cons. But long story short, for everyday carry tasks as well as for when things get gritty in the outdoors, this drop point blade shape from Elmax steel won’t let you down. Machined jimping onto the top/rear spine of the blade allows you to do precision cutting and slicing, whenever you need. 

RELEASE TIME AND DATE

We are proud to introduce the…

GiantMouse x Carryology Riv Auxikko

Release Article with shop links will go live on Carryology.com on:

Tuesday May 23rd at 12PM Noon CENTRAL US (Chicago)