Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 in Pebble Wave Titanium
The Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 is a titanium frame lock flipper with a CPM MagnaCut drop point blade. The handle is Nichols’ Pebble Wave texture, anodized blue-to-bronze. The raised pebble tops read bronze, and the frame edges and valleys read blue over gray titanium. It runs 8.5 inches open at 4.9 ounces. Condition is excellent, with no blemishes and no wear.
This is a custom knife, and the term is worth defining. A custom is a unique, handcrafted tool designed and built by an individual artisan. It is not stamped out in a factory. The steel, the blade shape, the handle material and every decorative choice are tailored by that person. That happens by hand and with the help of specialized machinery.
The texture is the reason this one stands out. Our guide on how to choose a custom knife covers what separates hand-finished work like this from a production folder.
Nic Nichols, From the Kitchen to the Forge
Nichols works in southeastern North Carolina, and his hometown is Leland. He came to knives from the kitchen. He trained as a chef at Johnson & Wales before he ever picked up a grinder.
The metalwork runs further back. His great-great-grandfather was a blacksmith in Columbus County, near Leland. Nichols started with ornamental metalwork, was introduced to knifemaking, and learned from other makers, including a master bladesmith. He is a member of the NC Custom Knifemaker’s Guild.
His maker card carries three credentials, and each is worth reading exactly. He competed on Forged in Fire in Season 7, Episode 33. He won Our State Magazine’s 2020 Made in NC Award in the Home & Garden category. The winning piece was his Battleship Teak chef’s knife. He was runner-up in Garden & Gun’s 2021 Made in the South Awards.
That teak is the thread through his work. Nichols is the exclusive knifemaker partner of the USS North Carolina, the World War II battleship docked near his home. Reclaimed teak from its deck has handled some of his most collectible pieces. Makers of this caliber are covered in our guide to the most valuable custom knifemakers.
A Fixed Blade That Became a Folder
The original Guppy concept did not start life as a folder. It began as one of Nichols’ everyday fixed blades. It worked well enough that he rebuilt it as his first folding knife. His second folder, the Dreadnought, followed.
The 3.5 is the larger version of the platform. The standard Guppy runs a 3 inch blade. This one carries 3.5 inches on an 8.5 inch frame, a full-size carry rather than a compact one. Browse our fixed blades for the kind of knife the Guppy started as.
Pebble Wave Titanium and the Two-Tone Anodizing
Pebble Wave is Nichols’ handle texture. The titanium scales are worked into a dense field of raised, rounded pebbles. The surface reads as texture from a distance and gives real purchase in the hand. The pocket clip is milled titanium, finished to match the scales.
The anodizing follows the texture. The raised pebble tops read bronze, while the valleys and the frame edges read blue over gray titanium. The pivot is anodized bronze to match the tops.
Anodizing titanium is not paint. Current passed through the metal grows a thin oxide layer. The color you see is light interfering as it reflects off that layer. Voltage sets the thickness, and thickness sets the color. See our other folding knives in anodized titanium.
Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 Blade and Action
The blade is CPM MagnaCut, ground to a drop point with a long swedge running to the tip, and stonewashed. MagnaCut is formulated so its chromium stays in solution instead of forming coarse carbides. That is how it holds strong corrosion resistance without the brittleness most stainless steels pay for it.
The stonewashed finish comes from tumbling the blade in abrasive media. It leaves a matte, scattered surface that hides the scratches a carried knife collects. Blade length is 3.5 inches, with 3.4 inches of cutting edge.
It opens on a flipper tab or on dual thumb studs, one on each side. The lock is a titanium frame lock, where part of the handle itself becomes the lockbar. Compare it against the John Gray Slitter V2 in tanto, another MagnaCut titanium frame lock.
Condition and What’s Included with This Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5
Condition is excellent. There are no blemishes and no wear, and the anodizing on the raised pebble tops is intact. That matters, because the tops are where carry wear shows first. Our published grading standards let you check this description against what arrives.
It came from a collector rather than direct from the maker. Nichols signed the maker card, which records the model, the MagnaCut steel and the titanium Pebble Wave handle. Read how we handle provenance on pieces that arrive with their paperwork.
- Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 folding knife
- Maker card signed by Nicholas Nichols
- Zippered pouch
Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 Specifications
The model, steel and handle material are taken from the maker card signed by Nichols.
- Overall length, open: 8.50 in
- Blade length: 3.5 in
- Cutting edge: 3.40 in
- Closed length: 4.75 in
- Blade material: CPM MagnaCut
- Blade style: Drop point with swedge
- Blade finish: Stonewashed
- Lock type: Titanium frame lock
- Action: Manual
- Deployment: Flipper tab and dual thumb studs
- Handle material: Titanium, Pebble Wave texture
- Handle finish: Blue-to-bronze anodized, bronze on the raised pebble tops, blue along the frame edges and in the valleys, over gray titanium
- Pivot: Anodized bronze
- Pocket clip: Milled titanium, finished to match, tip-up right-hand carry
- Lanyard hole: At the butt
- Weight: 4.90 oz
- Date made: April, 2026
- Country of origin: USA
- Condition: Excellent, no blemishes or wear
- SKU: 00208-NNK-GUPPY35-PEBBLEWAVE-20260401
This piece is preowned and came from a collector. Browse our other preowned knives.
Video Description
The Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 is a preowned custom folding knife in excellent condition. The blade is CPM MagnaCut, ground to a drop point with a long swedge and stonewashed. It measures 3.5 inches with 3.4 inches of cutting edge. Nichols built it in April, 2026. The Guppy began as one of his everyday fixed blades before becoming his first folder.
The handle is titanium in Nichols’ Pebble Wave texture, anodized blue-to-bronze. The raised pebble tops read bronze and the frame edges and valleys read blue. The pivot is anodized bronze. It locks with a titanium frame lock and opens on a flipper or dual thumb studs. Overall length is 8.5 inches open and 4.75 inches closed, at 4.9 ounces. It ships with the signed maker card and a zippered pouch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5 differ from the standard Guppy?
Size. The standard Guppy carries a 3 inch blade. Later versions run close to 3.1 inches on a frame around 7.25 inches long. The 3.5 scales the platform up to a 3.5 inch blade on an 8.5 inch frame.
That moves it from compact carry into full-size territory while keeping the weight under five ounces. If the standard Guppy felt small in the hand, this is the size to look at.
Why MagnaCut on a titanium frame lock?
MagnaCut was designed to break the usual trade in stainless steels. Most stainless buys corrosion resistance with free chromium that forms coarse carbides, and those carbides make the steel more brittle. MagnaCut keeps its chromium in solution instead.
The result is a stainless that behaves like a tough carbon steel, with strong edge retention and genuine resistance to rust. An everyday folder gets carried, sweated on and occasionally left in a wet pocket. That is exactly where the combination earns its place.
Will the Pebble Wave anodizing wear, and where?
Anodized color is an oxide layer grown on the titanium, not a coating sitting on top. It does not flake or peel. It can be abraded, though, and on a textured handle the raised areas take contact first.
On this knife the bronze pebble tops will show carry wear before the blue valleys do. The tops meet your pocket and your hand first. This one is excellent, with the tops intact. Whether you carry it or keep it that way is up to you.
What do the credentials on the maker card actually recognize?
Each one means something specific, and it is worth being precise. Nichols competed on Forged in Fire in Season 7, Episode 33, the Japanese Ono episode. His own biography describes him as a contestant.
His Our State Magazine 2020 Made in NC Award was a win in the Home & Garden category. The winning piece was his Battleship Teak chef’s knife. His placing in Garden & Gun’s 2021 Made in the South Awards was runner-up. All three predate this knife, which Nichols made in April, 2026. They speak to the maker rather than to this specific piece.
Why both a flipper and dual thumb studs?
They serve different grips. The flipper tab takes an index finger pull and gives the fast, one-motion deployment most people buy a flipper for. The thumb studs, one on each side, give a slower and more controlled opening.
Studs on both faces mean the knife opens from either hand, even though the clip is set for right-hand carry. The lock is a titanium frame lock, where part of the handle itself becomes the lockbar. Titanium frame locks are prized because the lockbar is part of a solid titanium handle rather than a thin inner liner.
Does We Buy Knife Collections actively support the broader knife enthusiast community?
Yes. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, We Buy Knife Collections is a curator and purveyor of fine custom made folding and fixed-blade knives. We are dedicated to the high-end custom knife community and we support knife rights advocacy.
Following our commitment upgrade in April 2026, we are proud to hold an AKTI Premier Membership, supporting the American Knife & Tool Institute’s vital advocacy and lobbying for knife owners, makers, and the future of the industry.
Buy This Nicholas Nichols Guppy 3.5
We inspect every knife in hand and photograph it ourselves. This is the first Nicholas Nichols piece we have carried. Talk to us about selling your collection, or browse the rest of our latest arrivals.
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