Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Blade

Interpretations of the bowie always lead back to its historical context as one of the most classic of American knife designs. However, makers from around the world bring new perspectives to the genre as well. From the idea stage to the finished product, variations on the bowie theme continue to push boundaries while holding true to tradition. “When I think of a bowie knife, I think of a traditional Alamo cowboy, everyday carry, all around camp, chop, skin, fighting knife,” ABS apprentice smith Dave Jacobson smiled. “A bowie should be used to chop wood, skin an animal or fillet a fish, although [the one I made featured in this story] is more of an art piece. It would still be able to stand up to the test. A good test…

“THE HOLE STYLE PROVIDES A GOOD, SOLID PURCHASE ON THE KNIFE RIGHT FROM THE DRAW.” When I think of an everyday carry (EDC) knife, I think of convenience. How a folding knife opens can especially influence how convenient someone thinks the knife is. There is a wide range of opening styles, all of which cannot possibly be covered in one article. Therefore, I will endeavor to cover the more common ones: hole in the blade, thumb stud, nail nick, flipper, assisted opening and auto. HOLE IN THE BLADE You can’t talk about the hole in the blade without talking about Spyderco, including the featured Native Chief C244PBK. The hole in the blade opens using a hand movement called the thumb roll, which is basically the same movement used for a…

ABS apprentice smith Aidan Garrity’s C-ground nakiri vegetable cleaver includes an experimental piece of lotus flower mosaic damascus he’d been working on for a while bordered by sections of blackened 52100 carbon steel. For more, see page 82. The CQC-7 is an iconic Ernest Emerson design and this year celebrates its 25th anniversary in its factory version. Emerson Knives, Inc., outfits it in a cool flag handle design just in time for BLADE®’s made-in-America issue. Read all about it and other U.S. manufactured knives on page 24. Grant Hawk passed away late last year but his son Gavin is carrying on the knife-making tradition at Hawk Knife Designs. Check out the Hawk Model C Deadlock and get the rest of the Hawk story on page 52. The inset image of…

SPEC CHART KNIFE TYPE: Dress locking folder BLADE LENGTH: 31⁄8” BLADE STEEL: Damascus HANDLE MATERIAL: Mammoth bark ivory HANDLE FRAME: Titanium BOLSTER: 1084 carbon steel w/rust bluing finish KNIFE TO KNOW: Fileworked liners; engraving by Tyler Poor MAKER: Alan Davis, Dept. BL3, POB 652, Boerne, TX 78006 210-286-3733 alandavisknives@yahoo.com, alandavisknives.weebly.com (SharpByCoop image) SPEC CHART KNIFE TYPE: Traditional leaf-spring automatic dagger BLADE LENGTH: 5” BLADE MATERIAL: Etched hakkapella damascus by Damasteel; embellished w/14k rose gold pins in the fuller BLADE GRIND: Hollow HANDLE FRAME: 416 stainless steel EMBELLISHMENT: Full American scroll w/gold engraving by Alice Carter CLOSED LENGTH: 6” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $11,000 MAKER: Tony Baker, Dept. BL3, 11802 Hickory Ln., Claremore, OK 74017 214-543-1001 tonybakerknives@yahoo.com (SharpByCoop image) SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: The Rusty Switchblade KNIFE TYPE: Dress automatic BLADE…

1. GUARDIAN 3.2 EVERYDAY CARRY COMPANY: Bradford USA KNIFE TYPE: Fixed blade  BLADE LENGTH: 3.5” BLADE STEEL: M390 stainless BLADE GRIND: Sabre, false edge and full height HANDLE MATERIAL: Choice of G-10, Micarta® or carbon fiber WEIGHT: 3.8 ozs. OVERALL LENGTH: 7.125” SHEATH TYPE AND MATE-RIAL: Horizontal carry, leather AVAILABLE: NOW MSRP: $199 Many American knife enthusiasts prefer their knives made in America. From most indications, a vast majority of BLADE® Magazine readers do, too. To address this preference, BLADE contacted many American-based companies for a knife of their choice that is made in the USA. It can be new, the company’s best seller or simply one it wants to publicize as representative of the quality of knives it offers. Not all the companies contacted responded. The ones featured in…

I met Grant Hawk and his son Gavin some 25 years ago when I was in Boise, Idaho, doing a story on Chris Reeve and Reeve’s jump from custom knifemaker to micro-manufacturer, a jump Chris had to make simply because he couldn't keep up with demand for his popular Sebenza model. Grant was just learning knifemaking with Reeve’s assistance and Gavin was soaking it all in from the sidelines, learning all he could. From then to now, I, like many BLADE® readers, have watched Hawk Knives grow by leaps and bounds. Like Chris Reeve Knives, Hawk grew to a tipping point where Grant and Gavin faced a greater demand than they could supply—all due to the consumer appetite for one knife in particular: the Deadlock. A brief history is in order…

SPEC CHART DROP-POINT HUNTER MAKER: Sean Morrison Knife Co. BLADE LENGTH: 3.5” BLADE MATERIAL: 80CrV2 carbon steel  BLADE GRIND: Full flat BLADE FINISH: Tumbled and black oxide HANDLE: Buckeye burl and resin by Mohler WEIGHT: 4.5 ozs. OVERALL LENGTH: 7⅞” SHEATH: Kydex w/green topographic design WEIGHT W/SHEATH: 8 ozs. MAKER’S PRICE: $350 It’s nice to see a drop-point hunter like Sean Morrison’s that’s small enough for daily EDC yet large enough to handle hunting chores. I’ve used this size and style of drop point for 30 plus years of hunting because it’s extremely controllable while field dressing game, and excellent at skinning both small and large animals. It’s just a great all-around knife style. NO SNAGS or HANG-UPS I always check the fresh edge by slicing 20-pound bond copy paper.…

“As a competitive knife thrower, I carry throwing knives with me. I throw the Savage Throwers from 5KnivesCustoms by knife-maker Constante Paz Jr. of Pennsylvania. My favorite version is this prototype he made for me out of a Stihl chainsaw bar! It always draws attention, looks bad-ass, and is the perfect throwing knife for me at 14 inches long.”Natalie Murray, Long Island, New York WIN A KNIFE! Tell us what knife you carry. Add a little history or an anecdote. Try to include a photograph—if digital, at least 600 KB but no larger than 2 MB—of you with your knife. We will publish your comments in an upcoming “The Knife I Carry.” Your name will then be entered in a drawing to win a free, high-quality, name-brand knife. The drawing…

Admiral Steel www.admiralsteel.com sales@admiralsteel.com Widest Range of Stock for Blade Needs Adams Intl Knifeworks - AIK www.adamsknifeworks.com adamsknifeworks.com@gmail.com Automatic & Customized Knife Specialists American Edge www.americanedgeknives.com info@americanedgeknives.com 320-393-2792 We have “A Knife For Every Life” Arizona Custom Knives www.arizonacustomknives.com sharptalk@arizonacustomknives.com Largest selection in the world of new and consigned knives on the internet. Let us help you find the perfect knife. Artknives.com www.artknives.com www.productionknives.com www.fredeisenleather.com fred@fredeisenleather.com BladeGallery.com www.bladegallery.com www.bladeconnection.com www.epicedge.com Buckeye Engraving www.BuckeyeEngraving.com Make Your Mark Manufacturer of Custom Hand Stamps, Dies and Brands Culpepper & Co., Inc. www.knifehandles.com www.oldschoolknifeworks.com www.stingrayproducts.com info@culpepperco.com Farina Fine Arts www.farinafinearts.com studio@farinafinearts.com One of a kind, fine art, collectible knives Knife Center www.knifecenter.com info@knifecenter.com Knives Plus www.knivesplus.com knivesplus@knivesplus.com L.T. Wright Handcrafted Knives www.ltwrightknives.com info@ltwrightknives.com Lee’s Cutlery www.leescutlery.com beeneJL43@earthlink.net New Graham Knives www.newgraham.com mdye@newgraham.com Alaska -…

The current boom in American-made factory knives is a main focus of this issue, and a significant portion of that boom can be traced to the production industry’s cousin industry of custom knives. All five of the manufacturers featured this issue—Emerson Knives, Inc., Montana Knife Co., Tactile Knife Co., and White River Knife & Tool (page 24),and Hawk Knife Designs (page 52)—are either run by those who got their start in the custom knife industry or have important input from custom makers in their cutlery lines. Emerson Knives, Inc., the oldest of those featured, was founded by Ernest Emerson in 1997 and has been one of the top factory makers of tactical folders for many years. Ernest was among the first to ignite the custom tactical folder explosion that began…

The USA is a highly industrialized country. Despite what you hear or read, American manufacturing is not dead—far from it—and this does not mean importing parts and assembling them here. Instead, it means manufacturing a product from start to finish, from raw materials, and, as applied in this instance, manufacturing knives. TACTILE KNIFE CO. Founded in 2012, Tactile Knife Co.’s first products were not knives but quality writing instruments bearing the name Tactile Turn. Around 2020 the company introduced knives under the Tactile Knife Co. brand, made with the same precision and attention to detail as its pens. Both brands employ 43 full-time employees. “We have about 24,000 square feet dedicated to our operation at the moment,” said Will Hodges, president of both brands. “We have another 24,000 square feet…

ALL-AMERICAN BOWIES P. 12 Ben Akin, Tabor, Iowa, benakinknives@outlook.com 208-874-7477; Scott Gallagher, Defuniak Springs, Florida, Scottgallagher04@gmail.com 850-865-8264 scottgallagherknives.com; Dave Jacobson, Jacobson Mfg., Dept. BL3, 10271 E. Zayante Rd., Felton, CA 95018 831-345-4351 jacmfg@gmail.com; David E. Loukides, Prayer Knives LLC, Dept. BL3, 76 Crescent Cir., Cheshire, CT 06410 203-271-3023 loussharp1@sbcglobal.net, prayerknives.com; Adam B. Mille, Mille Blades, Dept. BL3, 10500 Seven Oaks Rd., Fort Smith, AR 72908 479-806-4521 milleblades@gmail.com; Zohar Oshinsky, Dept. BL3, 42 Guilford Ave., Prospect, S.A. 5082 Australia +61401771155 zohar@zoblades.com, zoblades.com; Billy Pearce, Saehrimnir Forge, Dept. BL3, 11 Foxall St., Holder, ACT 2611 Australia 0401475942 saehrimnirgag@gmail.com, saehrimnirforge.com; Dawson Tabone, Monticello, Arkansas, dawson_tabone@yahoo.com 870-623-9627 AMERICAN KNIFE BOOM P. 24 Emerson Knives, Inc., attn: D. Trefflich, Dept. BL3, 1234 West 254th, Harbor City, CA 90710 310-539-5633 www.emersonknives.com, danny@emersonknives.com; Montana Knife Co., https://www.montanaknifecompany.com;…

More exhibitors—a whopping 100 more, north of 400 in all, plus an additional 28,000 square feet of space over last year—displaying the finest knives, knife accessories and all that cuts promise to make the burgeoning BLADE Show Texas the best rendition yet. Set for Feb. 23-24 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, the show will host exhibitors from around the world, including those from Australia, Brazil, China, Italy, Russia, Sweden and elsewhere. Exhibitors will include top American custom knifemakers, ABS master smiths, returning winners of BLADE Show Texas ’23 custom knife judging awards and BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® members, and some of the world’s leading factory knife companies, including many current and past winners of BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards and returning winners of BLADE Show Texas…

FEBRUARY FEB. 3-4 FREMANTLE, WESTERN AUS-TRALIA Perth Knife Show, Esplanade Hotel. Visit www.perthknifeshow.com.au.* FEB. 3-11 HARRISBURG, PA The 2024 Great American Outdoor Show, Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex. Visit greatamericanoutdoorshow.org. FEB. 9 GARDEN GROVE, CA Tactical Knife Invitational, Embassy Suites Anaheim South. Details to come at r1promotions.com.* FEB. 10-11 GARDEN GROVE, CA Spring California Custom Knife Show, Embassy Suites Anaheim South. Visit r1promotions.com.* FEB. 23-24 FORT WORTH, TX The 3rd Annual BLADE Show Texas, Fort Worth Convention Center. Visit bladeshowtexas.com.* ** FEB. 23-24 LEWISBURG, PA Keystone Blade Association Knife Show. Contact Skip Fryling 570-204-1544 e-mail knifeguy248@yahoo.com.* FEB. 29-MARCH 3 NUREMBERG, GER-MANY The IWA Outdoor Classics, Exhibition Centre. For the trade only. Visit iwa.info/en. MARCH MARCH 1-2 TROY, OH Spirit of the Blade Custom Knife Show, Miami County Fairgrounds. E-mail maplewoodforge@gmail.com.* MARCH…

Something ABS apprentice smith Aidan Garrity had noticed about many mosaic damascus blades is that the mosaic pattern is too busy, or “there’s just too much noise in your face,” as he put it. When he got his lotus mosaic pretty much the way he wanted it for his C-ground nakiri vegetable cleaver, he didn’t want any other patterns distracting from it, so he used a stacked, multi-bar construction that resulted in two 52100 sections he blackened and positioned on either side of the mosaic center. Lots of blade surface area helps enhance the contrast between the mosaic/52100 sections. “LOTS OF BLADE SURFACE AREA HELPS ENHANCE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE MOSAIC/52100 SECTIONS.” Topping it all off is the asymmetrical handle with two flat surfaces on one side and a rounded…