Innehållsförteckning för September - October 2017 från Knives Illustrated

When I think of wilderness survival and bush-crafting, there are certain names that come to mind—Mors Kochanski, Ray Mears, George “Nessmuk” Sears, Horace Kephart, Les Stroud and Ron Hood. Each of these individuals have left their mark on the world and given a wealth of knowledge to the aspiring wilderness adventurer. Adding to their legacy, they have each also left indelible stamps on the knife industry, by taking their knowledge of survival and creating the knives that they felt best-served the purpose of deep woods backpacking. Having had a personal relationship with Ron and still maintaining a close friendship with his wife Karen, I have a personal favorite in his design, the Hoodlum, as I have carried it for years. Ron was a prolific knife designer with many outstanding designs…

“…THE EDGE RETENTION AND GEOMETRY GAVE ME A VERY NICE FEATHER STICK THAT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR FIRE PREP.” The old adage holds true, never judge a book by its cover. In the not too distant past, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a trip out to my home-state of Colorado, while there I took advantage of an invite to the Spyderco headquarters in the nearby town of Golden. During my visit I was introduced to the Junction. Considering that it is intended to be a bushcrafting knife, at first glance of its extremely narrow profile, I was dubious about how comfortable it would be for any kind of extended use in the field. Fortunately, I recently received one in the mail and got to find out…

“… SOMETIMES, ONE ONLY NEEDS TO LOOK TO THE PAST TO FIND SOMETHING THAT WILL WORK AND FIT IN A MODERN WORLD…” Knives play an important role in many cultures. Knives are tools that have been around for centuries, making lives easier for those that needed them for many, many tasks. You always see folks, in these modern times, trying to reinvent the wheel, or make a better mousetrap, and that’s no different in the knife world. However, sometimes, one only needs to look to the past to find something that will work and fit in a modern world, and that’s exactly what Matt Graham did when developing the Condor Primitive Bush Knife (PBK). Once I pulled this knife out of its unique sheath and gripped it fully, I almost…

Always on the lookout for outstanding talent, I like to quietly peruse the different knife pages on Facebook and look for designers with such striking work that I am compelled to take a deeper look at their portfolio. Travis Fleming of Fleming’s Fabrications out of Greenville, Texas is one such designer. When I first saw his work, I couldn’t help myself but to get drawn into his company page, and before I knew it, a significant amount of time had passed and I was still looking through the body of his work. From hobbyist to making a mark, Travis Fleming is creating knives that make even the casual onlooker take a second look. 01 It’s Always the Friend In 2008, Travis was introduced to knifemaking when a friend showed him,…

“BRAD’S GUARDIAN SERIES CONSISTED OF FOUR DROP POINT FIXED BLADES IN LENGTHS FROM 3 TO 6 INCHES, A FLIPPER FOLDER, AND A WHARNCLIFFE FIXED BLADE.” I was a little surprised that this was the first interaction I have had with them. When my editor asked me if I wanted to check out a knife from Bradford Knives, I had to admit that it was a company I wasn’t familiar with, at first. I did some research though, and found that Bradford has been around since 2012, when Brad Larkin decided to combine his years of manufacturing experience and his love for knives, and started up Bradford Knives. Brad was able to leverage his manufacturing contacts to construct hand-assembled knives sourced from American materials and American vendors to produce precision blades…

Thirty-six hours. It seems like a lot of time. Until, that is, you’re confronted with 144,000 square feet of knife manufacturer’s booths, thousands of knives and old friends. When you come to the BLADE Show you might want to start your stopwatch, because three days will be gone before you know it. The BLADE Show is always one of the highlights of my year. It is a place to reconnect with old friends like Luke Swenson, Trace Rinaldi (which was a surprise), Ken Onion, Michael Janich, Joe Flowers, Dan Eastland and so many more. But it also gives me the opportunity to get around to all of the companies and makers that make this industry so great and have been good friends over the years. During the running and gunning…

A rich family tradition in knifemaking led to the creation of Bear & Son Cutlery. Setting them apart from other companies is their full, self-contained factory. Bear & Son Cutlery does everything inhouse from building their own blanking dies to heat treating, grinding and assembly, and hand-finishing their products. All of this ensures that Bear & Son Cutlery is of excellent quality That tradition led to the Bear OPS line, a recent addition to their inventory. We interviewed Ken Griffey, president of Bear & Son Cutlery, to get more information about this newer tactical line of knives. KI: When you introduced Bear OPS, what prompted you to go this direction? Ken: We went with Bear OPS because we had seen the need. We work with our customers very closely and…

“…THE BALANCE POINT OF THE KNIFE IS AT THE FORWARD END OF THE HANDLE, MAKING IT SEEM NIMBLE IN THE HAND.” Frills. They do not often enhance the performance of tools, so I am a big believer in simple tools. More important than artistic or fancy are characteristics such as sturdy, durable, and inexpensive. When it comes to knives, I have a few fancy art objects, but most knives that I use would hardly be described as elegant. Among my newer edged tools is one that belongs in the latter category, the Spec Alpha Plus from Ontario Knife Company. Tale of the Tape Having a fine edge blade that measures 5.0 inches long and 0.190-inch thick, the Spec Alpha Plus is a knife in the mid-size range. It measures slightly…

I always say, no matter how fast you are with your pocket-clip folder, you cannot beat the knife with the blade already out. Many other people who rely daily on a pocket knife have gone to the fixed-blade EDC. For those of you who work in an office, carrying an EDC fixed-blade knife will most likely be frowned upon, with many in an office environment sharing the sentiment, “I know you have a knife, but I don’t want to be reminded each time I see you.” But for the rest of us the EDC fixed-blade makes some real sense. Following are six great fixed everyday knives, regardless of your budget. 01 Schrade Model SCHF14 To me the Schrade SCHF14 is a cool-looking small knife. The 3.4-inch blade is…

“… NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT, DAN’S WORK SPEAKS FOR ITSELF WITH STELLAR AESTHETICS AND UNDENIABLE QUALITY AND FUNCTIONALITY.” It takes a special kind of maker to make a special kind of knife, and Dan Eastland of Dogwood Custom Knives is one such maker. “If one day a grandfather hands his grandson one of my knives and says, ‘My dad gave me this knife when I was your age,’ then I will consider myself a success.” This is what Dogwood Custom Knives creator, Dan Eastland, said when asked about what would be his idea of being a success in the knife world. After spending some time in the field with a few different models from Dogwood Custom Knives, including the Hawkins, Echo-5 and Vulpine, I have concluded that not…