NeOn

Overview

The NeOn is the workshop’s compact: the Shirogorov design at 85 mm, on a 110 mm titanium frame lock, 195 mm overall, the shortest knife in the serial catalog. It was announced at the fall 2014 Arsenal show and has been in serial production since 2015. The line is organized as variants rather than generations, so on a listing the first question is which NeOn: the Original, the Lite, the Zero or its R20 reissue, the Ultra Lite, an NL, a Lefty, or a NeOn-platform HatiOn.

The blade is a drop point with a full flat grind, 3.5 mm stock and a stonewash finish, with a rounded spine and minimal jimping. The frame is 3D-milled titanium with a steel insert on the lock face, on MRBS, at 195 mm overall. Elmax is the steel on the current factory NeOn; S90V, S110V and Damasteel appear on Custom Division runs. Factory specifications for every model in the line are on the NeOn record.

At a glance:

• Designer: Sergey Shirogorov
• First release: announced fall 2014; serial from 2015
• Generations: none across the line; the Zero alone has a dated new generation (May 2019)
• Related lines: the F95 (the design at 95 mm), the Stellar (the 90 mm knife between them), the HatiOn (the one-scale build on this platform)

Variants comparison

Every model in the line: kind, release, blade, steel, bearing system, lock, handle, weight and run size.

Production history

• Fall 2014: the NeOn announced at the Arsenal show.
• October 2015: the original NeOn, thirty pieces from the workshop with 3D-milled scales in S90V on single-row rollers; the same month the flat-scaled Lite is shown as a prototype at Arms and Hunting, and the first Lites reach owners through the members’ lottery that December.
• The Ultra Lite, skeletonized as far as the handle allowed, was made for a period and discontinued.
• 11 May 2019: a new generation of the NeOn Zero, with the pivot moved forward to put a longer blade in the same 110 mm handle.
• 10 April 2020: NeOn NL, with Micarta inlays, in Elmax.
• 4 July 2020: NeOn R20, the Zero reissued for Recon1’s twentieth anniversary.
• 12 February 2021: NeOn Lefty, the factory’s first left-handed model.
• 29 May 2024: the current Lite configuration, in Elmax at 91 g.
• 25 February 2026: NeOn Lite Lefty.
• Custom Division runs: the NeOn 3D CD (S90V, 85 mm blade, 3D-milled titanium), the NeOn 3D CD (50 pieces, Damasteel with zirconium), the NeOn NL CD (50 pieces, S110V with marble carbon fiber) and the NeOniX CD (June 2025, 100 pieces).
• Bronze anodized editions, dealer exclusives and the HatiOn run beside the standard variants; production is in batches, so a given variant comes and goes at the dealers.

Variants

NeOn Original

The first NeOn, called the NeOn 3D for the 3D milling of its scales: thirty pieces from the workshop in October 2015, in S90V on single-row rollers, 190 mm overall at 85 g, numbered of 30 on the box and certificate. The flat-scaled Lite was developed alongside it as the production version. It is a limited serial run, not a Custom Division knife and not a pre-production piece.

NeOn Lite

In the line since 2015, longer than any other variant. Externally the Original, with the same 85 mm blade, 110 mm handle and 195 mm overall length, milled inside for weight; the current configuration of May 2024 is Elmax at 91 g. It is made in batches, so availability is periodic.

NeOn Zero and R20

The Zero moves the pivot forward in the 110 mm handle to fit a longer blade, which gives the closed knife a deeper belly and an all-blade look; a new generation was announced on 11 May 2019. Overall length is 195 mm and the handle 11 mm thick, on a two-row MRBS, at 84 g. The R20 of July 2020 is the Zero reissued for Recon1’s twentieth anniversary, at 80 g.

NeOn Ultra Lite

Skeletonization taken to its limit, with a minimized clip and lightened hardware, for the lightest handle in the line. Made in limited numbers and discontinued.

NeOn NL

From April 2020: Micarta inlays on the standard platform, in Elmax at 82 g on a two-row MRBS. Specific inlay colors were made in limited runs and some appeared once, so an NL listing needs the configuration named, not just the suffix.

NeOn Lefty and Lite Lefty

Mirrored builds: the NeOn Lefty of February 2021 was the factory’s first left-handed model, and the NeOn Lite Lefty followed in February 2026. Everything else matches the right-handed knife.

HatiOn

A NeOn-platform knife, not a Hati: one carbon fiber scale, clip side in titanium, and a 3.375 inch blade, about 83 to 85 mm depending on the generation and how it is measured. The HatiOn Lite is the same build, also with a carbon fiber scale. The name confuses listings in both directions; the Hati overview covers the 95 mm knife.

Special editions and Custom Division NeOns

Bronze anodized editions and dealer exclusives in specific color and material pairings keep the standard specifications and may carry a special blade finish or commemorative markings; the Monkey Edge Frag pattern NeOn puts that dealer’s texture on the compact handle. The Custom Division runs are the NeOn 3D CD in S90V with an 85 mm blade and 3D-milled titanium scales, the NeOn 3D CD of 50 pieces in Damasteel with zirconium, the NeOn NL CD of 50 in S110V with marble carbon fiber, and the NeOniX CD of June 2025, 100 pieces, all on single-row rollers. The Custom Division FAQ covers the tier; the steels page has the factory’s hardness bands.

Authentication

What to check on a NeOn, in the order a buyer can check it.

The box and the certificate carry the serial. Most NeOns have no engraved serial; the original box and the certificate of authenticity (COA) are the record. A Custom Division NeOn also carries its markings inside, on the scales and/or the backspacer, with a CD mark beside the bear head.

85 mm blade, 110 mm handle, 195 mm overall. Those three numbers hold across the Lite, NL and Lefty, and the Original is 190 mm overall; the Zero and the R20 keep the handle and the overall length with a longer blade. A “NeOn” at 95 mm is an F95 or a Hati. The Mini Quantum, also 85 mm, has the Quantum’s upswept blade and is a Custom Division or Sprint Run piece.

The pivot tells the tier. A serial NeOn runs MRBS. A Custom Division NeOn runs SRRBS, a single row of loose rollers per side, so the bearings don’t separate those two tiers; the markings and the certificate do. A duck foot pivot belongs only to Sergey’s full customs.

Slotted screws only. Every NeOn and HatiOn takes the workshop’s slotted hardware. Torx screws mean someone has replaced the hardware, or the knife isn’t what it says.

The handle names the variant. Standard milling inside is the Original, and milled out for weight is the Lite. The pivot forward, with the blade filling the closed handle, is the Zero or the R20. Inlays set into the frame are the NL. One carbon or G10 scale is a HatiOn. The clip and the lock on the other side is a Lefty.

The weight confirms the variant. 91 g on the current Lite, 84 g on the Zero, 80 g on the R20, 82 g on the NL. A knife well off its figure needs an explanation from the seller.

The per-tier checklist, the photographs to ask for and the remote-buying rules are on the authentication guide.

Telling the variants apart

There are no line-wide generations to date, so the handle does the work. Look inside for the milling: standard on the Original, relieved on the Lite, skeletonized on the Ultra Lite. The closed knife shows the Zero or the R20 by the blade filling the belly. Inlays mean the NL, a single show scale the HatiOn, and a mirrored clip side the Lefty. The box and certificate name the rest, the R20 included.

Pricing and collecting

Prices are in the price record; the questions a buyer asks before paying are on the Buying FAQ. The discontinued Original and Ultra Lite, the R20 and the limited NL runs are the variants with their own trading histories. The HatiOn belongs to this line, not to the Hati.

Questions answered: Models FAQ.