HANDS ON: THE CHAVES DISSIDENT FOR DISSIDENTS

August 26, 2026

A "dissident is an adjective meaning a "disagreeing with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief" according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. "Dissident" is also the name of the latest automatic out the front release from acclaimed knife maker Chaves Knives. Chaves is a design first brand with some of the most unique and captivating knife designs to come out in recent years. The Dissident is no different. The moment you lay your eyes on this boxy, no frills aluminum handle, you can immediately tell that this is a Chaves design. Chaves Knives tend to have a more traditional profile with more attention on the fit and finish to give it that luxurious and robust hand feel. Some of the subtle design choices are a dead giveaway that Chaves is making a serious jab at some of the more established automatic knife makers.

Before we open the knife, let's take a look at the handle. The handle measures in at 5" in length, 1.21" in width and .46" in depth. The aluminum construction has a cross-hatch texturing that lends to some grip as well as a pleasant and high-quality feel in the hand. The screws and pocket clip have a matching contrasting finish to the handle color in this deep black finish. If there wereany doubt that this was a Chaves product, we have his iconic skull milled pocket clip on the back of the handle. Along the bottom edge towards the business end of the handle, there is a series of indentations measuring about 1 and a half inches in length and running along both sides of the handle. This is for added grip when activating the blade with the slider mechanism. The slider mechanism itself has a unique design. Instead of having a mirrored surface along the peak of the slider, it has more of an asymmetrical layout with a gentler slope for the forward sliding motion and a steeper facing for the retraction movement. The slider has a series of fine ridges that help with grip which really comes in handy with this knife. The spring mechanism is really strong and taut. This can be felt in both the opening and closing of the blade. This is where those indentations along the bottom of the handle come into play. This allows for even more grip for the opening and closing action. It is when all of these elements work together and you slide the mechanism forward with your unbreakable grip that the knife springs to life.

I was shocked by the sheer power of this action. It feels like a miniature explosion within the handle launching the blade out the front of the handle. Now that the blade is out in the open, let's take a look. It has a two tone 3.7" stonewashed finish M390 blade with their skull key logo lasered into the presentation side of the blade. It is obviously a blade of the Tanto variety with its notable sharply upturned edge. The top of the blade has a beveled look to it that looks sharp from a first glance. The more vibrant section of the two tone adds a bit of uniqueness as it blends in well with the handle scale in this specific color way. Whenever you're ready to retract your blade, the steeper edge of the slider gives a superior angle for creating the force needed to pull it towards the closed position. I did find with some other more uniform low profile slider mechanisms that my finger would tend to slip a little when trying to use it. With the Chaves Dissident you can count on a strong and confident deployment every time.