Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Blade

Moran 100th Birthday Celebration May 31 The William F. Moran Jr. Museum and Bladesmith and Artisan Academy will host a centennial celebration open house May 31 in recognition of what would have been BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® member Bill Moran’s 100th birthday. Moran was born on May 1, 1925. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 80. Under the auspices of the Moran Museum and Foundation, the celebration will include demonstrations and tours of the museum and academy facilities located in Middletown, Maryland. Attendees can experience free tours of the museum to observe forging, assorted other activities and displays of Moran’s incredible work. Dedicated in October 2022, the Moran Bladesmith and Artisan Academy is a state-of-the-art facility located less than 100 yards from Moran’s old shop. Moran, of…

Colonel Blades will showcase the Contingency dagger designed by military veteran and author Tom Marshall specifically for his debut novel, Close and Destroy, at the BLADE Show. While training and researching for the book, Marshall realized he hadn’t found an EDC fixed blade that did quite what he wanted for the characters in his story. He shared his vision with Colonel Blades, who brought it to life with the no-frills, EDC-friendly Contingency in AUS-8 stainless steel and G-10. The author will be at the Colonel Blades table signing copies of the novel that inspired the knife. Colonel Blades also will display the BRB, a new breaching tool done in partnership with Good Dude Concepts, a company with deep roots in tactical law enforcement. The BRB is a compact, lightweight breaching…

DATES JUNE 6-8 FRIDAY, 11 A.M.-6 P.M. (EARLY BIRD TICKET HOLDERS CAN ENTER AT 10 A.M.) SATURDAY, 9 A.M.-6 P.M. SUNDAY, 9 A.M.-2 P.M.…

The BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards recognize the cutlery industry’s premier factory knives and knife accessories, as well as the industry’s leading professionals. The award categories are: Overall; American-Made Fixed Blade; American-Made Folding Knife; Imported Fixed Blade; Imported Folding Knife; Most Innovative American Design; Most Innovative Imported Design; Best Buy; Investor/Collector; Collaboration; Manufacturing Quality; Accessory; Kitchen; Automatic Knife; Publisher’s; and Industry Achievement. The BLADE® Magazine staff selects the Publisher’s and Industry Achievement Awards, and a special panel of industry professionals votes to determine the balance of the award winners. The 2025 winners will be announced at the BLADE Magazine Awards Reception (date, time and locale on page 61). A list of the winners will be posted on blademag.com afterward and also at the show hall entrance the following morning. Pictured on…

“THERE IS NOTHING LIKE SEEING ALL THOSE KNIVES FROM SOME OF THE BEST MAKERS IN THE WORLD ALL IN ONE ROOM.” In the spring of 1985, my fellow U.S. Army lieutenant and knife collector Fletcher Crews told me about the BLADE Show. Having never heard of it, I asked him what it was. His response: “It’s like a gun show but with knives.” Later in May of that year we took our wives on a road trip from Clarksville, Tennessee, to the Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, the show’s former time of year and venue. We allowed ourselves four hours to cover the show. (Don't get ahead of me; we didn't know what we were in for.) You have undoubtedly seen TV commercials telling you about someplace…

Not all that long ago, the tradition of a penny for a knife was a common practice. Today the custom appears to be barely clinging to relevance, though as traditions go there is the possibility that it may linger and even gain new traction. That, however, remains to be seen. The old story goes that when someone gives a knife to someone else, the recipient is obliged to present the giver with a penny as a token of appreciation or even as an insurance policy. The origins of the old custom are shrouded in mystery and have become more obscure with the passage of time. Nonetheless, there is a larger aspect to the tradition, and that is its questionable staying power in the modern milieu that is the world of…

A.G. Russell Knives, Inc. www.agrussell.com ag@agrussell.com A.G. Russell The Cutting Edge® www.cuttingedge.com ce-asst@cuttingedge.com Admiral Steel www.admiralsteel.com sales@admiralsteel.com Widest Range of Stock for Blade Needs Adams International Knifeworks - AIK www.adamsknifeworks.com adamsknifeworks.com@gmail.com (618) 656-9868 Automatic & Customized Knife Specialists Andre de Villiers www.advtactical.co.za Facebook - Andre de Villiers Facebook Group - ADV SOB BADNESS IG - advtactical adv44sales@gmail.com Butcher SOB folders and button lock flippers 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 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 Cutlery Specialties www.restorationproduct.com dennis13@aol.com Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax/Polish, Dennis Blaine Ed Fowler Knives www.edfowler.com eafwb@wyoming.com High Endurance Performance Knives Farina…

The Variant EDC folder (page 36) holds the distinction of being the first-ever knife from Work Sharp, which specializes in a wide array of sharpeners. The BLADE Show is flattered that Work Sharp picked the show to debut the landmark piece. The Gabe Fletcher/Salem Straub collaboration chef’s knife (page 26) has a 10.5-inch blade of a mosaic damascus pattern Steve Filicietti calls “distorted fingertype layup.” The knife is paired with a performance IPA beer by Gabe’s Anchorage Brewing Company. Josh Fisher’s utility hunter (page 93) in a 4-inch blade of 80CrV2 carbon steel took Best Hunter at the recent BLADE Show Texas in Fort Worth. The clip-point fixed blade features a damascus single guard and texture in the gripping area of the bird’s beak handle. The inset shot of Franco’s…

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 • Material Conservation for the Forging Smith, 4-5 p.m., Room 104. Award-winning bladesmith Mareko Maumasi shares techniques and approaches he uses to reduce guess work and material waste in the workshop. FRIDAY, JUNE 6 • Fundamentals of Grinding, AmeriBrade and guest grinders, 8 to 9:30 a.m., The Courtyard. AmeriBrade and guest makers provide a general overview on grinds, techniques and different equipment. • Deep Dive into Culinary Knives, 10 to 11:30 a.m., Room 103. Mareko Maumasi returns to help collectors and makers better understand the nuances of high-performance culinary knives. • Brakimo: Forged for the Field, Room 107. Nick Italiano, Recoil OffGrid associate editor and host of the Raise The Flag Podcast, interviews knife designer Joe Flowers on the untold story of how the TOPS Knives Brakimo…

SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: Silver Swan MODEL TYPE: Chef’s knife BLADE LENGTH: 8” BLADE MATERIAL: Mosaic damascus of 1084 carbon and 15N20 nickel alloy steels BLADE GRIND: Flat SCALES: Turkish olive wood root burl BOLSTER: Mild steel OVERALL LENGTH: 13.25” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $6,500 KNIFE TO KNOW: The maker’s mark on the blade is brass inlaid; Pearce Richardson is an apprentice smith in the American Bladesmith Society MAKER: Pearce Richardson, Dept. BL6, 5220 Mt. Arapaho Cir., Frederick, CO 80504 303-653-5787 pearce.richardson@icarusforge.com, icarusforge.com (SharpByCoop image) SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: Big City Fighter KNIFE TYPE: Slipjoint BLADE LENGTH: 3.5” BLADE STEEL: AEB-L stainless BLADE GRIND: Hollow dagger HANDLE FRAME: 416 stainless SCALES: Mammoth ivory BOLSTERS: 416 stainless LINERS: Integral CLOSED LENGTH: 3.5” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $1,800 MAKER:…

CUTLERY CONTINENTAL SHIFT P. 12 Dauntless, dauntlessmanufacturing.com; Alfred Faccipieri, alfredo@faccipieri.com; Liong Mah Knives, liongmah.com; Mike Quesenberry, quesenberryknives@gmail.com BLADES AND BREWS P. 26 Gabe Fletcher, gabethebrewer@gmail.com; Ben Kamon, benjamin@kamonknives.com; Mareko Maumasi, maumasifirearts.com; Josh Prince, princeworksforge.com; Salem Straub, vorpalforge@hotmail.com FIRST LOOKS IN ATLANTA P. 36 Benchmade, info@benchmade.com; Big Idea Design, bigidesign.com; APOC, c/o CAS Iberia, pshipley@casiberia.com; CobraTec, eddie@cobratecknives.com; Condor Tool & Knife, rtj@att.net; CRKT, info@crkt.com; Emerson Knives, Inc., danny@emersonknives.com; Fox, foxcutlery.com; GiantMouse, info@giantmouse.com; Halfbreed Blades, lili@halfbreedblades.com.au; LionSteel, info@lionsteel. it; Maserin, claudia@maserin.com; McNees Knives, sales@mcneescustomknives.com; Ocaso, tisa@ocasoknives.com; Queen, c/o Smoky Mountain Knife Works, www.smkw.com; QSP Knife, info@qspknife.com; Reate, vanessa@reateknives.com; Rick Hinderer Knives, sam@rickhindererknives.com; Spyderco, sfo@spyderco.com; Work Sharp, www.worksharptools.com A SHOW OF HANDS P. 50 Benchmade (see under FIRST LOOKS IN ATLANTA); Cold Steel, c/o GSM Outdoors, attn: Chase Cahalan, Dept. BL6, 5250 Frye…

FRIDAY, JUNE 6 8 a.m.: Exhibitor set-up continues; only those wearing Exhibitor Badges admitted. 8 a.m.: ABS Journeyman& Master Smith Testing, Renaissance Waverly Hotel ballrooms. (Closed to the public.) 8:30 a.m. Knifemakers’ Guild Board Meeting, Room 107. 10 a.m.: Show opens to Early Bird Ticket holders and designated badge holders. 11 a.m.: Show opens to the public. 12 p.m.: Show opens to the public. 3 p.m.: Table exhibitors only bring all entries for the Custom Knife Judging to Room 104. No knives accepted after 3:30 p.m.! You must be a fullpaying table exhibitor to enter. 3 p.m.: Booth holders only bring all entries for the BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year Judging for factory knives to Room 103. No knives accepted after 3:45 p.m.! You must be a fullpaying booth exhibitor to enter. 3:30 p.m.-5:30…

Jens Ansø An award-winning Danish knifemaker, Jens has past BLADE University experience. Known for making outstanding folders, he joined with Jesper Voxnaes and the GiantMouse team to found GiantMouse. He left GiantMouse earlier this year to focus on his Anso of Denmark brand. Kyle Daily When it comes to filework, like most knifemakers, Kyle does it before the heat treat. “I do this with a combination of my Foredom TX and files,” he writes. “This is a step that takes quite a bit of time and effort to do, but the end product makes the knife really stand out.” Joe Flowers Joe Flowers owns Bushcraft Global, specializing in outdoor expeditions focusing on wilderness living, self-reliance and survival. He is also a “jungle guide, writer, international hunter-wilderness first responder and international…

“I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina and I go in the woods a lot. The terrain can be very rugged and these mountains are filled with wildlife. I carry a TOPS Knives El Chete for big jobs and a Bradford USA Guardian 4 for smaller ones. On occasion, I have gotten myself in some tight situations, but neither of these highquality knives has ever let me down. I purchased both after seeing them in BLADE® Magazine.” John Pou, Black Mountain, North Carolina For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, visit blademag.com, BLADE®’s popular Instagram page @blade_magazine, and on Facebook and X (Twitter) WIN A KNIFE! Tell us what knife you carry. Add a little history or an anecdote. Try to include a photograph—if digital,…

SATURDAY 8 a.m.: BLADE Magazine Cutlery-Hall-Of-Fame Inductions, Kennesaw Room, Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel (tickets required in advance; contact blade@bladeshow.com) 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: The Unadulterated Story of Knifemaking, High-Performance Endurance Knife master smith/BLADE® field editor Ed Fowler, Room 107 Noon to 2 p.m.: 9th Annual Battle for Bali-Champion, conducted by Blade HQ, on the second floor at the top of the escalators of the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel (flipping starts at 12:30) Noon to 3 p.m.: Buck Collectors Club, Room 103 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: The History, Mystery, and Meaning of Emerson Knives, Ernest Emerson, Emerson Knives, Inc., Room 104 4:30 p.m.: BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competitions, conducted by BladeSports International in The Courtyard…

It’s a winning combination, no doubt—a blend of brews and blades. Three years ago, Gabe Fletcher began making knives. Then, somewhere along the way he had a brilliant idea. The dynamic combination of his finest craft beers with the custom knives that could be developed in collaboration with friends who appreciate both, just as he does, was too tempting not to try. Fletcher had been in the brewing business since 1988, and the joint venture of beverage and blade just seemed to fit. “I ran another brewery here in Anchorage for 13 years,” he recalled, “and decided to start my own brewery after so many years. I’m coming up on 27 years of professional brewing, and I started when I was 21.” Gabe knew that the collaboration opportunity was alive…

After 19 years as an autoworker, 30 years as a traditional woodworker and what seems an entire life of being a knife nut, I have come to appreciate a properly formed tool handle. During any workday at the auto plant, I picked up and used tools over 500 times—to be precise, once every 43 seconds. After a while, I started to take notice and favor tools shaped in an ergonomic fashion that allow effcient, accurate manipulation. How useful is your knife if you can’t hold it and can’t control the edge? Just look to the "Riddle of Steel" from the original Conan the Barbarian movie. Steel is nothing compared to the hand that wields it. Perhaps that is where I find my largest bane. I constantly hear custom makers and…

Last year, T.M. “Ted” Dowell, Don Fogg and William “Bill” Harsey, Jr., became members 72, 73 and 74 of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame®, the world’s only shrine to the giants of the entire knife industry. This year’s new Hall-of-Fame members will be formally inducted in a special ceremony the Saturday morning of the show. (See the BLADE Show Schedule on this page for the time and place of the ceremony.) Hall-of-Fame members and a panel of industry authorities elected this year’s inductees by a vote in April (see blademag.com for updates). Those in the Hall include (listed in order of induction): Uncle Henry Baer Dewey Ferguson W.D. “Bo” Randall James B. “Jimmy” Lile M.H. Cole Al Buck William R. “Bill” Williamson Pete Gerber Bob Loveless Bill Moran…

Note: Entries with an asterisk (*) include knives and knife accessories as the main/sole focus. Entries with two asterisks (**) include knife seminars or symposiums, cutting or balisong competitions, auctions or other knife-related events. MAY MAY 10 STURBRIDGE, MA The NCCA One-Day Knife Show, Host Hotel & Conference Center. Contact Lynn Cain 978-249-6070 lynnster29@aol.com. MAY 13-15 DENVER, PA Morphy Auctions Firearms & Militaria. Contact Morphy Auctions, Dept. BL6, 2000 N. Reading Rd., Denver, PA 17517 877-968-8880 info@morphyauctions.com, morphyauctions.com.** JUNE JUNE 6-8 ATLANTA, GA The 44th Annual BLADE Show, Cobb Galleria Centre, I-285 & US 41, one exit off I-75 across from the Cumberland Mall, adjacent to the Renaissance Waverly Hotel. World’s largest show of handmade, factory and antique knives. A combined total of nearly 1,000 exhibitor tables and booths. Join…