Knives Illustrated May/June 2018

Every year I look forward to SHOT Show, but my body begs me not to go. Although there are different shows throughout the year, there are two that hold the most relevance to the knife industry and knife enthusiasts in general, Blade Show and SHOT Show. As each show draws near, my inner child starts bouncing around like he has been given far too much sugar at grandma’s house and sent home. However, the old guy on the outside starts to grumble a little and my feet send up a formal protest. The most recent scene of podiatry carnage was this year’s SHOT Show. I heard it said once, a few years ago, that if you were to stretch SHOT Show out in a straight line, it would continue for…

It reportedly caused some $125 billion in damages and killed more than 100 people. While not nearly as catastrophic as the damage it caused to Houston, Hurricane Harvey also impacted the knife industry. Knife Rights’ founder and Chairman, Doug Ritter, and Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rather, were in Austin, Texas recently, to celebrate last year’s enactment of HB 1935 that eliminated from Texas statute the prohibition against carrying “illegal knives,” including throwing knives, daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, spears and most notably, Bowie knives—as well as blades longer than 5.5 inches, except in a few locations. The presentation was originally scheduled to be held last September at The Alamo, but tragically, Hurricane Harvey intervened. On the last Monday in January 2018, a presentation ceremony was held at the Texas…

01 Mississippi Representative Gary Staples introduced HB 924, Knife Rights’ bill to remove “Bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife and switchblade knife” from Mississippi’s deadly weapons statutes. 02 Virginia Representative Michael Webert introduced HB 890, Knife Rights’ bill that would allow the sale, possession and carry of switchblade knives with a CCW permit. Given the difficult political situation in Virginia at this time, this bill is not expected to move anytime soon. Filing ensures the bill is in the queue, ready to go. 03 In response to the tragic Texas church shootings last November, Senator Ben Chafin introduced Knife-Rights-supported SB 372 that would repeal Virginia’s ban on carrying “a gun, pistol, bowie knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon” to a “place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is…

01 Kershaw RATION-XL I’ll admit it, I am a goofball for a good spork. I even have a couple of sporks in my silverware drawer and use them pretty much exclusively, much to the chagrin of my wife. I think it is because I have always found them to be so useful on backpacking trips that I feel they are useful everywhere. While at SHOT Show this year, I got to see the new Ration XL from Kershaw, and of course, I was immediately drawn to its utilitarian design and functionality. I think my pack and silverware drawer just might be getting new additions. FEATURES Fork Spoon Bottle opener Carabiner gate Steel: 3Cr13MoV, beaad-blasted finish Oveerall Length: 7.3 inches (18.6cm) Weight: 2.1 ounces (60g) MSRP M : $9.99…

KNIVES ARE MORE THAN JUST A SIMPLE TOOL FOR RETIRED POLICE SERGEANT SIMON CRUZ, JR. The men and women in blue need knives too. Simon Cruz, Jr. is a retired police sergeant from a Southern California agency and has 26 years of law enforcement experience. Although he is retired, he is far from slowing down. As the owner and rangemaster of Double Tap Training Center, a professional public safety and firearms training facility in Los Angeles County, California, Simon has a list of instructor credentials that is far too long to include here. In summary they range from law enforcement instructor certifications such as POST Certified MACTAC (Multi-Assault, Counter Terrorism Action Capabilities) Instructor, POST Certified Active Shooter Response Instructor and many other varied firearms and first aid instructor certifications to…

The true goal of self-defense is to stop a threat as quickly and decisively as possible. Logically, the longer you allow an attacker to pose a danger to you, the greater your chances of being killed or suffering serious injury. That’s why stopping power is a core concept of all sound personal-defense tactics. When it comes to self-defense with knives, one of the most confusing and hotly debated topics is targeting. In simple terms, which parts of an attacker should you cut or puncture to make him stop trying to kill you? Depending upon the system you study, the answer to that question runs the gamut from repeatedly and indiscriminately stabbing any body part you can reach to complicated templates of key anatomical structures. So, what’s the real answer? In…