Innehållsförteckning för May 2023 från Blade

“THEY WERE AN OBVIOUS FIT IN HELPING US DEVELOP TOP-NOTCH AMERICAN-MADE KNIVES.”—DOUG FLAGG CRKT, Hogue Ink Deal Columbia River Knife & Tool and Hogue Knives have announced a partnership around the next generation of CRKT knives, a CRKT news release reported. The alliance melds two top names in the knife and tool industry, aligning CRKT’s acumen for design with Hogue’s trade expertise in manufacturing, form, function and ergonomics. The partnership kicked off at SHOT Show 2023 with the launch of two new U.S.-made CRKT knives, the Definitive and LCBK, and will continue moving forward as the two brands collaborate on future projects. “We’ve known the team at Hogue Knives for quite some time and their sterling reputation in the marketplace is well deserved,” said Doug Flagg, CRKT vice-president of marketing…

Bushcraft skills have grown immensely in popularity in the past few years. It could be the slew of TV shows promoting survival situations or just perhaps an interest in self-sufficiency. What is true is that the knife industry is playing catch-up to the bushcrafting market, and many new products pop up that have features dedicated to keeping you alive and warm in the woods. “THE KNIVES ARE LADEN WITH LITTLE INTRICACIES THAT ACHIEVE TASKS OTHER THAN CUTTING.” Recent years have seen an influx of knife features deemed ideal for use with another essential tool—the ferro rod striker. Ferro rods are made of ferrocerium, an alloy consisting of several base metals and magnesium. Magnesium is highly reactive and generates showers of sparks as it is scraped against steel. Think of it…

1. FLEXCUT EXPLORER BLADE LENGTH: 3.875 inches BLADE MATERIAL: 1095 carbon steel HANDLE LENGTH: 4.5 inches HANDLE MATERIAL: Zebrawood WEIGHT: 4.32 ounces OVERALL LENGTH: 8.375 inches SPECIAL FEATURES: Wood presentation case SHEATH: Black leather COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA MSRP: $149 2. CONDOR DARKLORE BLADE LENGTH: 4.25 inches BLADE MATERIAL: 1095 carbon steel HANDLE MATERIAL: Black paper Micarta® WEIGHT: 8 ounces OVERALL LENGTH: 9.25 inches SHEATH: Kydex/Nylon, MOLLE compatible COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: El Salvador MSRP: $114.90 3. BENCHMADE ANONIMUS BLADE LENGTH: 5 inches BLADE MATERIAL: CPM CruWear tool steel HANDLE MATERIAL: G-10 WEIGHT: 5.9 ounces OVERALL LENGTH: 9.83 inches SHEATH: Kydex, nylon and elastic; has fire steel holder COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA MSRP: $310 4. ESEE 3 S35VN BLADE LENGTH: 3.875 inches BLADE STEEL: CPM S35VN stainless HANDLE MATERIAL: G-10 WEIGHT:…

FLAME ON! P. 12 Casstrom, c/o CAS Iberia, attn: P. Shipley, Dept. BL5, 650 Industrial Blvd., Sale Creek, TN 37373-9797 423.332.4700 bpogue@casiberia.com, www.casiberia.com; TOPS Knives, Dept. BL5, 3415 E. 109 N., Idaho Falls, ID 83401 208-542-0113 info@topsknives.com, www.topsknives.com; White River Knife & Tool, attn: Matt Cammenga, Dept. BL5, 130 Mason Dr., Coopersville, MI 49404 616-997-0026 matt@thewhiteriver.com, www.whiteriverknives.com BUSHCRAFT BLADE BINGE P. 30 Benchmade USA, Dept. BL5, 300 Beavercreek Rd., Oregon City, OR 97045 503.655.6004 or 800-800-7427 www.benchmade.com, info@benchmade.com; Condor Tool & Knife, attn: R. Jones, Dept. BL5, 9924 Universal Blvd. #224-106, Orlando, FL 32819 407-458-9396 fax 407-458-9397 rtj@att.net, condortk.com; ESEE Knives, attn: B. Bramlett, Dept. BL5, P.O. Box 99, Gallant, AL 35972 256.613.0372 info@eseeknives.com, www.eseeknives.com; Flexcut, attn.: M. Bain, Dept. BL5, 8105 Hawthorne Dr., Erie, PA 16509 800-524-9077 mbain@flexcut.com, flexcut.com…

Stag is to knives what red is to rover, rock is to roll and John is to Wayne. It’s the total package in looks, feel and tradition. Sambar, axis, popcorn or whatever the type or style, when it comes to knife handles, stag has it all. 1 You can almost see and smell the popcorn popping on the popcorn stag of Jeremy Yelle’s takedown pocket bowie. The guard and fittings are 416 stainless steel fire-etched and textured black. Blade and overall lengths: 4.5 and 9 1/8 inches. (Joyce Frasier image edit) 2 ABS apprentice smith Liam Walle opts for deer antler scales with copper pins for his full-tang fighter. The 5.7-inch harpoon blade is 2,340 layers of feather damascus in 1084 carbon and 15N20 nickel alloy steels. Overall length: 10.4…

SPEC CHART PATTERN: Fillet knife BLADE LENGTH: 6.89” BLADE STEEL: RWL-34 stainless ROCKWELL HARDNESS: 60 HRC BLADE TAPER: Full distal to tip BLADE THICKNESS AT RICASSO: .09” HANDLE MATERIAL: Ringed gidgee, black G-10 liners, ¼” stainless corby bolts and lanyard hole OVERALL LENGTH: 12.8” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $400 (includes a leather sheath) MAKER: Dwayne Williams, Dept. BL5, 1 Ridolfi Close, Gordonvale, Queensland, Australia 4865 (+61) 0417647547 dwaynewilliams003@hotmail.com (Rod Hoare image edit) SPEC CHART MODEL NAME: Cajun Cutter MODEL TYPE: Nakiri BLADE LENGTH: 3” BLADE STEEL: CPM 154 stainless BLADE GRIND: Flat BLADE FINISH: 1,000-grit satin HANDLE MATERIAL: Multi-wood OVERALL LENGTH: 7.25” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR PIECE: $450 MAKER: Don Sylvest, Waxahachie, Texas, don.sylvest@gmail.com (Jocelyn Frasier image edit) SPEC CHART KNIFE PATTERN: Fixed bowie BLADE LENGTH: 10.625” BLADE…

“THE GUILD HAD THE BIGGEST KNIFE SHOW ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD FOR MANY YEARS.”—JIM SORNBERGER Editor’s note: We at BLADE® hope you’re enjoying our special series of stories celebrating the magazine’s 50th anniversary. This time: the knife industry’s transformative events from 1973 to today. Time marches on. And in the cutlery industry, the half century from the early 1970s to the present has been filled with both revolution and evolution. From the corner of a massive hall at a gun show, the slight mention of a new style of field tool, and the basic everyday factory blade carried in the worker’s pocket, the knife industry, both custom and factory, has blazed its own trail over the past 50 or so years, emerging from a somewhat obscure existence to the mainstream.…

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 will be May 15. Mail to: BLADE®, 5600 W. Grande Market Dr., Ste. 100, Appleton, WI 54913, or e-mail steve@blademag.com. If you send your entry by e-mail, please include your physical mailing address in case you win the knife.…

BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Michael Walker—aka “the Lord of the Linerlock”—chef’s knife guru Bob Kramer, Steve Schwarzer’s and Ron Hardman’s “3D Printing for Canister Patterns” and much more promise to make the 10th Annual BLADE University (page 36) yet another one for the schoolbooks. Has it been nine years* already? It seems like just yesterday that BLADE Show 2014 presented the first BLADE University. Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Joe Keeslar headlined a special series of classes entitled “Knives the ABS Way,” which included instruction on how the ABS tests its knives, the concept of line and flow, and Joe’s how to on wire inlay in handles and sheaths. There were also classes on collecting the knives of the legends, GRS engraving instruction, knife designs of the masters and all about Japanese…

This story is a change of pace from what you might regularly expect from me for BLADE®. Since this is the bushcraft / survival issue, the subject is a very old tool used for hunting and defense: the atlatl. Over 20 years ago I attended a primitive skills event in Michigan where the Michigan Atlatl Association was having its annual competition. I was amazed at how accurate the people could be using an atlatl, not to mention how much energy they could generate throwing one. However, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. For starters I want to explain why I’m discussing atlatls in the first place. One of the key points to remember during a survival situation is efficiency, because efficiency saves calories and resources. I…

The latest flipper folders not only offer pleasing aesthetics but stay true to the ideals of their predecessors. With premium materials, designs that make use a pleasure and looks that astound, they epitomize some of the coolest knives around. At Kershaw, the Inception is looking good with performance to match. “I love the clean, stylish look,” related Kershaw Marketing Manager Dominic Aiello, “but the satisfyingly smooth action is what really makes the Inception a top-notch manual everyday carry.” The flipper tab was not designed with the intention of acting as a single guard, Aiello says, but rather in combination with the textured handle overlays to help prevent the user’s hand from slipping. Along with that, the D2 tool steel blade .11-inch at the thickest provides enough heft to balance durability…