Odenwolf APO-1X and APO-1S: Survival Lilly’s Knives Return August 31

Dot plot of Rockwell hardness across the Odenwolf line: the D2 models sit at 60 to 61 HRC, the discontinued 440C WOLF-I at 58, and the 420 stainless HUNTER models at 52, with prices from $19.90 to $89.90
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Odenwolf opens preorders on the APO-1X and APO-1S on August 31. The presale runs seven days, the launch bundle is two knives for $199, and the knives ship around February 2027. If you owned or wanted the original APO-1, this is the first real chance to get one in years.

Here are the terms, what we know about the knives, and whether the deal is worth tying up money for six months.

Survival Lilly announcing the return of the APO-1S on her own channel. She designed the original, so this is the primary source on what changed.

The deal

Odenwolf is running this as a pre-launch, which is how they sell almost everything. Announce, take deposits, close the window, produce the run.

  • Launch bundle: APO-1S and APO-1X together for $199, with a neck knife included
  • Regular pricing after the presale: $150 for the APO-1S, $125 for the APO-1X
  • Deposit: $10 per knife at preorder, balance charged when the knives ship
  • Presale window: seven days
  • Estimated ship date: February 2027

Bought separately at retail the pair is $275. The bundle saves $76 and adds a neck knife. That is a real discount, not a fake anchor price, assuming Odenwolf holds retail where they say they will.

The $10 deposit structure matters more than the discount. You are not fronting $199 for six months. You are risking $20 to lock a price, with the balance due at ship time. That is a friendlier preorder than most small-batch knife launches, where the full amount clears immediately and sits with the maker until production finishes.

What the APO knives are

Survival Lilly designed the original APO-1 in 2018. The name stood for the one knife she would pick for an apocalypse, which is the kind of premise that either sells you immediately or makes you close the tab.

The original ran AUS-8 stainless, 4.8mm thick, saber grind, full tang, made in Taiwan. The design brief was chopping geometry, a squared spine for batoning, a pommel you could hammer with, and a lanyard hole. It came in a molded sheath with twin fabric belt loops and MOLLE attachment. It sold out fast after her video went up and stayed hard to find.

The APO-1S was the shorter version, the APO-1T was the tracker-style blade. Both built a following. Ask on Bushcraft USA or BladeForums and you will still find people who kept theirs.

What we do not know yet

Odenwolf has not published specs. As of the day before launch the pre-launch page is a countdown and an email capture, nothing more. Unknown at this point:

  • Steel. This is the big one. The original was AUS-8. Odenwolf’s own line uses budget stainless and carbon steels, and their pricing suggests they are not putting powder steel in a $125 knife. Forum discussion has compared these to AUS-8 and SK-5. If the new run comes in at AUS-8 or 14C28N, that is fine for the money. If it lands at 8Cr13MoV, the $125 price stops looking good.
  • Blade lengths and thickness. Whether these are dimensionally faithful to the 2018 knives or reworked.
  • Where they are made. Odenwolf is a German brand. Production location for this run has not been stated.
  • Handle and sheath material. The originals used G10 and a molded sheath. Odenwolf’s current line leans on G10 as well.

I will update this post with confirmed specs once the page goes live on the 31st.

Should you preorder

Preorder if you already know you want an APO. The bundle price is the lowest these will be, the deposit is small, and the presale window closes in a week. There is no reason to wait if the design is what you are after.

Skip it if you are buying on steel spec alone. Wait the few hours it takes for the launch page to publish real numbers, then decide. Nothing about a seven day window forces a same-hour purchase.

Skip it entirely if you want a working fixed blade in your hand this fall. February 2027 is six months out, and small-batch production dates slip. A Cold Steel SRK in SK-5 runs under $60 and ships tomorrow. Several people on Bushcraft USA made exactly that argument about the last APO run, and they were not wrong about it. The APO is bought for the design and the designer, not because nothing else cuts.

Odenwolf’s track record

Their entire catalog is sold out right now, thirteen products, every one of them. That reads two ways. Demand is real and they clear inventory. It also means they run thin and restock slowly, so if you miss the window you are waiting on the next drop rather than clicking add to cart.

Their prices are low for what they are, mostly $15 to $90, and they have run a steady series of pre-launches, the W Reverse Tanto and the Rudel among them. This is a company that knows how to run a drop.

Launch details

Preorders open August 31 at odenwolf.us. The presale runs seven days. Get on their notification list if you want the launch email rather than checking the page.

Preorder the APO-1X and APO-1S on the ODENWOLF website
(Use code ERIC for a discount at checkout)

Disclosure: Everyday Field has an affiliate relationship with Odenwolf and earns a commission on purchases made through our link or discount code. It does not change your price and it does not change what we say about the knives.

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