Knives Illustrated November 2017

“THIS IS A TIME OF REFLECTION, PREPARATION AND SHENANIGANS.” Deer camp is a very serious thing. Sometimes. It’s that time of year when friends and family get together to return to our roots, spend some quiet time with nature, fill our freezer and sit around camp swapping lies about the one that got away. This is a time of reflection, preparation and shenanigans. If you have ever spent any time in a deer camp, then you know the types of hazards that can be present when your friends and family are involved. I remember one year that one of our cousins brought a huge blow-up mattress. It was queen size and about two and half feet tall. It’s not that the rest of us—who were sleeping on cots—were jealous, just…

“ … IT CAN BE A LIFE-CHANGING EVENT THAT CAN DOG YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. ” Did you ever wonder what a day in the life is like for Knife Rights’ founder and Chairman Doug Ritter? We certainly did, which is why we approached the topic. We asked him what is the most common call or email he gets from knife owners, and he didn’t have to think long about the question. “It’s usually because of an arrest for carrying a knife,” he says. “Hardly a week goes by without such a contact and most weeks there are more than one.” While those callers are generally very unhappy over their arrest, Ritter notes, “all too often they have contributed to their problems by their statements to law…

01 GoPro HERO 5 BLACK Life is an adventure and you never know where it’ll take you. But, odds are, somewhere along the road you’ll experience memorable occasions that deserve to be preserved. The compact size of the GoPro Hero 5 Black ensures you can have your camera with you wherever you are. With the new rugged waterproof housing, you can be sure that whether life takes you to the top of a mountain looking down on some fresh powder, or snorkeling in the ocean looking at some cool coral reefs, your Hero 5 will be right there with you taking in as much as you. Features • 2-inch touch display with simplified controls • Video resolutions up to 4K at 30 frames per second • Professional quality 12MP photos…

“ IT SEEMS THAT THE BALISONG KNIFE HAS MADE A COMEBACK AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF OBSCURITY. ” The renaissance is here! Anyone walking around this year’s BLADE show would have quickly noticed a rather large representation of younger conventioneers in attendance. Equally remarkable is that many of them were dexterously flipping knives—playfully spinning their blades in complicated swirls and tosses like it was a psychopath’s fidget spinner. The click-clack of these unique double-handled knives could be heard throughout the convention floor. It seems that the balisong knife has made a comeback after several years of obscurity. Resurgence “What we are seeing is a renaissance of the balisong,” says Ben Peterson of BladeHQ. “Knife manufacturers are waking up to this. Twenty years ago, if you wanted a balisong, you had Benchmade…

“ IT IS JUST THE RIGHT SIZE TO SERVE IN MULTIPLE ROLES, ALLOWING YOU TO FOCUS MORE ON THE HUNT... ” Add hunting to its already impressive list of field uses. Recently, Fiddleback Forge released a new model, the Bush Hermit, to their popular custom and mid-tech knife lineup. Already popular with outdoorsmen with interests in camping and bush-craft, the Bush Hermit is designed to be an all-purpose field knife with a belly designed for slicing. Its overall configuration makes it well-suited for use as a hunting knife, as well as an heirloom-quality blade, worthy to be passed down for generations to come. I recently had an opportunity to test one of these blades and was not going to miss out on the chance to put it through the…

KI: Andy Roy, with over 90 models in your lineup, what makes the Bush Hermit stand out? AR: I think the Bush Hermit stands out because the curves on the bottom of the handle accommodate large hands very well. This open-handle design on the underside can accept more fingers when you’re gripping on it. It won’t spin in your hand. KI: What attributes make your blades suitable for the hunter? AR: I think the convex grind excels at hunting and game prep tasks. In addition to this, my knives feature ergonomic handles. This means a hunter can index the knife in hand and always know the location of the edge. KI: Hunting can be hard on a blade, what should the user avoid doing with your knives that isn’t normal…