Innehållsförteckning för December 2023 från Blade

Roman Swords Found Four Roman swords believed to be around 1,900 years old were recently discovered in a cave in the Judean Desert Nature Reserve near the Dead Sea. The swords were “exceptionally well preserved” and included three spathas and a ring-pommel sword. They have iron blades, wood or metal handles and wood scabbards. The blades of the spathas are 23-to-25 inches long and the one of the ring-pommel sword is 17 inches. Officials of the Judean Desert Survey Project had busied themselves with trying to determine who owned/originally stashed the swords in the cave centuries ago, who made them and how. “We will try to pinpoint the historical event that led to the caching of these weapons in the cave and determine whether it was at the time of…

The barbecue/brisket knife is an indispensable tool for those who prepare brisket and other large-scale meat dishes. Makers go the extra mile to provide the toughness and tensile strength needed, along with a tip that stays sturdy to separate meat and prepare it for serving. Individual recipes include the good looks and visual appeal that make owning and using the best in such knives a pleasure. Ben Anderson of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, features his artisan’s perspective in two beauties that allow form and function to seamlessly blend. He calls both brisket slicers, and in each case he has styled the big carbon steel blade for use with large pieces of meat. One features a blade of 52100 high carbon steel, handle of ironwood and ebony with textured and filed…

SPEC CHART UTILITY / HUNTER MAKER: Michael Presnell  BLADE LENGTH: 4.25”  BLADE MATERIAL: Forged 52100 carbon steel  BLADE GRIND: Flat  BLADE PATTERN: Clip point  BLADE @THICKEST: 5⁄32”  HANDLE: G-10 spacers, stacked leather washers, stag buttcap  GUARD: Brass WEIGHT: 6 ozs. OVERALL LENGTH: 8 ⅝” SHEATH: 6-oz. leather pouch belt model WEIGHT W/SHEATH: 8.5 ozs. MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $330 I have always been a fan of clip-point utility hunters such as those by Michael Presnell, especially the feel of the handle. The leather washers provide a non-slip grip, and in colder climates such a handle has a warm feel to it. Combine that with a very sharp blade and you are ready for most chores in the outdoors. How sharp is it? We shall see. As always, I…

“I carry the TOPS Knives Sky Marshall with the hunter’s blade. The knife is 9.25 inches overall and has a 43⁄8-inch blade. It comes with a Kydex sheath and a swiveling belt clip that allows both vertical and horizontal carry. The knife’s size along with the sheath makes the Sky Marshall great for self-defense as well as survival purposes.” Roberto Pandolfi, a letter via e-mail For the latest knives, knife news, trends, and more, visit blademag.com, BLADE®’s popular Instagram page @blade_magazine, and on Facebook and Twitter. 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 Fallkniven CMT-Sierra utility kitchen knife (page 24) features a thin convex blade grind that “sailed through everything” BLADE® field editor Abe Elias cut with it. Other of the knife’s selling points are the company’s laminated CoS stainless blade steel, full-tang construction and integral bolster. Making its second appearance in BLADE, the Matt Williams BBQ Chef ’s Knife (page 12) parlays a santoku-influenced damascus blade and an attractive octagonal-shaped wa handle of spalted pecan, cedar elm and a white oak dowel for a decidedly handmade look. Matt emphasizes the knife’s balance more than weight. Ross Arnold’s petty knife (page 32) has a rounded choil and spine to “make it a pleasure to use all day every day.” Ross designed the knife to be light, thin and comfortable, and at a…

SPEC CHART MODEL: Chef’s knife  BLADE LENGTH: 10”  BLADE MATERIAL: 80CrV2 carbon steel w/forged finish BLADE GRIND: Flat  HANDLE MATERIAL: Double-stabilized karelian birch  OVERALL LENGTH: 14.5” MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $600  MAKER: Erik Greiner, Dept BL12, 5502 3rd St., Lubbock, TX 79416 325-370-5507 greinerblades.com, greinerblades@gmail.com (SharpByCoop image) SPEC CHART KNIFE TYPE: Petty DESIGNER: ABS master smith Murray Carter (page 52)  BLADE LENGTH: 4.64” BLADE STEEL: CTS BD1N stainless  BLADE GRIND: Full-flat BLADE @THICKEST: .068” HANDLE DESIGN: Wa style (octagonal) HANDLE MATERIAL: Black polypropylene  WEIGHT: 1.8 ozs. OVERALL LENGTH: 8.87” KNIFE TO KNOW: The Petty is part of Spyderco’s Minarai Series; meaning “to look and learn,” minara is the Japanese way of describing the role of an apprentice COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan COMPANY: Spyderco, attn: J. Laituri, Dept. BL12, 820…

Sometimes food preparation calls for something especially suited for close, even intricate, work. The petty knife was made for such employment. While it may be a bit smaller in stature than other knives chefs regularly use, the petty knife makes short work of otherwise laborious functions. Its name is derived from the French petit or small, but it’s big on getting the job done. “Ask a dozen makers what the petty knife is and you’ll get a dozen different answers,” offered custom maker Ian Ronald of Elderslie, New South Wales, Australia. “But for me, I would define a petty knife as a culinary knife that is shorter than a chef ’s knife but with a broader blade than a paring knife. I find a petty knife to be incredibly handy…

Assisted-opening folders are about as popular now as they were when they first hit the market over 25 years ago. Nearly every major knife manufacturer has—or has had—assisted openers in its product line. The naysayers dismiss the knives as gimmicky or even unnecessary, and while there is some sort of fidget factor involved with them, they still serve a purpose in today’s market. Their relevancy has never diminished despite receiving stiff competition from flipper folders that mainly use bearings in the pivot to provide a quick and satisfying way to open a blade one handed. In fact, many assisted openers double as flipper folders. Legally speaking, assisted openers are considered manual and not automatic folding knives. That’s mostly because the blade is initially pushed open with your thumb before the…

Mission Knives unveils the Multi-Purpose Knife, aka the MPK, reportedly the first knife with a titanium blade that takes an edge, holds it and actually cuts reasonably well. 1994 JULY/AUGUST 1994 NOVEMBER O.J. Simpson is charged with murdering Nicole Simpson, and the Kissing Crane 45S many believe Simpson reputedly killed her with becomes one of the hottest-selling knives in history overnight. The decade of 1994-2003 was a momentous one for the knife industry, BLADE® Magazine, the BLADE Show and much more. Relive a few of those moments in the third installment of our retrospective of one-fifth of the past half century of the world’s No. 1 knife publication. 1995 NOVEMBER BLADE profiles Germany’s Manfred Sachse, the father of modern European damascus for knife blades, and the man who forged damascus…

Note: Events with an asterisk (*) have knives and knife accessories as the main/sole focus. Events with two asterisks (**) are knifemaking seminars or symposiums, cutting competitions, auctions, or other knife-related events. NOVEMBER NOV. 9-19 NEW HAMPSHIRE Metalmorphosis: The Alchemy of Inspiration, a “metalsmith retreat,” the Zack Jonas studio, rural New Hampshire. Visit www.jonasbladeclasses.com or e-mail Zack@JonasBlade.com.** NOV. 10-11 GARDEN GROVE, CA Friday Night Blade Affair and Fall California Custom Knife Show, Embassy Suites Anaheim South. Visit r1promotions.com.* NOV. 11-12 TULSA, OK Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show, Expo Square (Tulsa Fairgrounds). Visit tulsaarmsshow.com. NOV. 12 MARLBORO, MA The NCCA Marlboro Show, Marlboro Holiday Inn. Call 978-249-6070 or visit ncca.info.* NOV. 17-18 NASHVILLE, TN The Nashville Custom Knife Show, Sheraton Grand Nashville. Visit www.nckshow.com.* NOV. 18-19 SAO PAULO, BRAZIL The 15th Annual Salao Paulista…

Admiral Steel www.admiralsteel.com sales@admiralsteel.com Widest Range of Stock for Blade Needs. Alaska - Northern Knives www.northernknives.com A Real Store & Working Knife Shop! 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 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 Faneema Cutlery Knife Factory Manufacturer of hunting, pocket & kitchen knives Damascus, high carbon and stainless steel Classic Industries, Wazirabad, Pakistan Ph: +92 305 844 4536 info@classicindustries.com.pk www.classicindustries.com.pk Farina Fine Arts www.farinafinearts.com studio@farinafinearts.com One of a kind, fine art, collectible…

Derick Kemper celebrates his Scottish heritage with his sprawling reproduction of a Scottish dirk. It’s overstated to salute the legend and lore of his Scottish Highlander ancestors who fought so valiantly for their independence from Great Britain, beginning with the Jacobite rising of 1745. The edge of the stunning damascus blade is a simple twist pattern of W2 carbon and 15N20 nickel alloy steels. The three bars above it are Derick’s version of Robert Eggerling’s paisley pattern—a modified twist of 203E carbon steel for the bright section and W2 and 15N20 as well. The habaki has Derick’s Damselfly Forge stamp of two damselflies and his initials in the middle engraved on one side, and the white rose of Scotland’s “Bonnie Prince Charlie” (1720-1788) on the other. The chess-piece-like handle is…

Knife Rights reported on September 22 that Hawaii had petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court for a rehearing en banc in an attempt to overturn a recent 3-0 panel decision that ruled the state’s balisong ban unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The panel decision (November BLADE®, page 6) in favor of the appellants in Teter v. Lopez was a big win for Second Amendment (2A) supporters. However, the decision would be rendered moot if the Ninth Circuit grants Hawaii’s petition for the en banc rehearing and then the state is somehow able to have the decision overturned. Among other unconstitutional assertions, Hawaii’s petition claims that only weapons “commonly used for self-defense” are 2A protected. As Knife Rights (KR) points out, such a claim was refuted by the U.S. Supreme Court decision…

MURRAY CARTER "Ever since I was a young boy I have been fascinated with blades,” ABS master smith Murray Carter writes. “Why some blades would cut and others would not was a mystery to me that I felt compelled to solve. “A chance encounter at age 15 with a karate instructor began my love affair with Japan. A trip to Japan when I was 18 years old led to an unexpected encounter with an amazing man, Sensei Yasuyuki Sakemoto, who I would come to learn was the 16th-generation Yoshimoto bladesmith and whose family custom forged samurai swords for some of Japan’s most influential feudal lords. My relationship with Sensei Sakemoto led to a unique six-year apprenticeship, and upon its completion I was asked to continue on in the 420-year-old family…