Author: Tim (page 18 of 113)

Timothy Martinez Jr. is the community director for Knife Depot and the editor of The Cutting Edge. If you have any questions or ideas for The Cutting Edge, you can contact him at Tim@knife-depot.com.

Kershaw Barge – Badass Knife of the Week

March 25, 2019 / Tim / 0 Comments

There is really only one golden rule when it comes to knives: Don’t use your knives to pry!

If you pry with a knife, it’s going to break. That is unless you have the latest Badass Knife of the Week — the Kershaw Barge.

The Barge is an interesting little folder from Kershaw because it’s one of the rare knives with a dedicated pry bar at the butt of the knife. But instead of just being a pry bar with a blade or a blade with a pry bar, this knife excels at both tasks.

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The modified Wharncliffe blade is 2.6 inches and opens manually with dual thumb studs. The 8Cr13MoV stainless steel with stonewashed finish won’t win any awards, but it gets the job done.

Forgotten Knives: Imperial Schrade ‘Swiss Army Knives’

March 21, 2019 / Tim / 2 Comments

Right now there is only one true maker of the Swiss Army Knife — Victorinox.

However, it wasn’t long ago that Victorinox had some competitors, including the esteemed and just as old Wenger. But what most people don’t know is that another company wanted to make a multitool that could rival the Swiss Army Knife.

That company was Schrade.

The story about the former owner of Schrade, sometimes known as Imperial Schrade Corporation depending on the time, trying to make a Swiss Army Knife has been out there for a while. But a recent story published in the February 2019 edition of Knife Magazine gave some additional details about the knives.

Here’s an excerpt:

In the early 1980s, these knives with their corkscrews, screwdrivers, can openers, cap lifters, hooks, and who knows what else were becoming ever more popular. Yes, ‘Scout’ and ‘Utility’ knives had been around for many years, but that red handle, iconic logo, mirror-polish, and tight-fitting tools that closed with an audible snap — that was the knife that Albert Baer [then-owner of Schrade] wanted to produce.

I became obsessed with this story and attempted to dive even deeper.

Early Swiss-Like Schrade Multitools

Before Schrade developed the series of knives that would become a near identical copy of a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife, the company had already come out with a few multitools.

I wasn’t able to go too far back, but one of the earliest Schrade versions of a folding multitool can be seen in a 1957 catalog with a model known as the 906 Officer’s Knife.

This specific model was interesting because although it was inspired by the Swiss Army Knife, it had a different designe and a unique “beverage piercer.”

Gerber Bear Grylls Folding Sheath Knife – Badass Knife of the Week

March 18, 2019 / Tim / 0 Comments

Think you can tough out the harshest conditions just like Bear Grylls — the star of various television survival series like Man vs. Wild? Before you try, make sure you have this great pocket knife in hand so you can tackle the elements with confidence.

A few years back, Gerber teamed up with Bear Grylls to bring a line of inexpensive but functional tools that could excel in the outdoors. If you think these knives are nothing but gimmicks, you’re sorely mistaken. One of the best-received models is the Gerber Bear Grylls Folding Sheath Knife.

The Folding Sheath Knife is a robust folder with a 3.6-inch blade made from high carbon stainless steel. A drop point blade with partial serrations makes this folder versatile for all types of situations. Ambidextrous thumb studs facilitate easy opening while the reliable back lock keeps the blade engaged through all types of abuse.

Spyderco Offers Sneak Peek at New Sage Lightweight

March 15, 2019 / Tim / 1 Comment

The IWA OutdoorClassics is an international trade show that takes place every year in Germany.

It is one of the leading trade shows for guns and knives in the world. Although there is not as much buzz as SHOT Show or BLADE Show, major companies do showcase some of their upcoming knives.

When Eric Glesser of Spyderco sat down with YouTuber Artur Saulin (ARHADYR) to talk about the new knives of 2019, they were all knives we’re familiar with — including a few that appeared in the first 2019 Reveal Catalog.

UK Politician Advocates for GPS Trackers on Every Knife

March 14, 2019 / Tim / 0 Comments

I’ve been sympathetic to the complicated relationship between the United Kingdom and knives. There’s no doubt knife crime is a major issue in the country and that something needs to be done about it.

I even wrote a nuanced conversation about how to look at knife crime in the country in a moment when everyone was poking fun at the mayor of London for tweeting that there was never any reason to carry a knife (despite my article listing 101 uses for a pocket knife).

But sometimes people go a little too far. Take a look at this tweet from member of Parliament Scott Mann:

Every knife sold in the UK should have a gps tracker fitted in the handle. It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns. If you’re carrying it around you had better have a bloody good explanation, obvious exemptions for fishing etc.

— Scott Mann MP (@scottmann4NC) March 14, 2019

That’s right… he just said that all knives sold in the UK should have GPS trackers built into the handle. Think about that because Mann certainly didn’t.

How many knives are currently in the UK? There are roughly 27.2 million households in the UK. Let’s be conservative and say each household has four kitchen knives (which is about a dozen less than I have). That’s more than 108 million knives just in the kitchen.

Add the countless pocket knives and fixed blades — both those used legitimately and illegitimately — and you get hundreds of millions of knives already in the country. On top of that, what exactly would putting a GPS tracker on a knife accomplish? Then you’d have to make sure they were all charged all the time.

What is Loctite and is it Necessary?

March 12, 2019 / Tim / 5 Comments

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Reviewers on YouTube have made disassembling knives very popular (much to the chagrin of many knife manufacturers I’m sure).

No one is more guilty of this than Nick Shabazz — though his disassembly videos are a public service to teach those about the inner workings of the knife and general maintenance.

You’ll likely notice that when Nick and others put knives back together, they use a substance called Loctite on the screws.

So what exactly is Loctite and is it really necessary to use when putting a knife back together? Read on.

What is Loctite?

Loctite is the brand name for a threadlocker. Loctite is to threadlocker what Kleenex is to facial tissue or ChapStick is to lip balm. Although Loctite is the most popular threadlocker, there are other brands available like Permatex.

Condor TK Garuda – Badass Knife of the Week

March 11, 2019 / Tim / 0 Comments

Garuda is a mythological king of birds in several Eastern cultures. It is believed that the eagle-like figure is a protector and watchful creature. It’s an apt name for a knife designed to be a used in the outdoors in all types of environments and situations.

The Condor Tool & Knife Garuda series has a few knives, but the one we’re highlighting has a 5-inch black traction powder-coated blade made from 1075 high carbon steel, an alloy that’s tough and takes an edge easily. Its drop-point profile is simple and effective.

Here’s a nice video review from Everyday Tactical Vids

Unlike many of the fixed blades from Condor, the Garuda features handsome Micarta scales with a pinned construction.

7 Knives Sent to Space

March 5, 2019 / Tim / 9 Comments

According to the aptly named website howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com, there are currently three people in space.

Although NASA retired the Space Shuttle program a few years back, there are still grand plans for sending people back to the moon and eventually to Mars.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon (with Buzz Aldrin a close second), we thought it’d be interesting to take a look back at the knives that have gone into space.

Camillus Mil-K

Close-up view of pocket knife, part of the Friendship 7 Survival Kit (A19670176001), August 8, 2013. Smithsonian

Since the first people were sent into space, they have almost always had a knife within reach. I’m not sure whether the first man in space — cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin — carried a knife (though I’m sure he did). However, we do know what the first American man carried into space.

According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Alan Shepherd carried the Camillus Mil-K Demo Knife in his kit during the United States’ first manned mission to space on May 5, 1961. This was the US-equivalent of the classic Swiss Army Knife made by Victorinox. The version Shepherd carried had a tang stamped with 1959.

Unfortunately, Camillus filed for bankruptcy in 2007 before being bought out by Acme United.

Randall Made Knives Model 17 Astro

This knife has one of the coolest stories. At the time, NASA had this philosophy that if something didn’t exist, it would simply make it. The team needed a survival knife for emergencies and couldn’t find one suitable for them. So astronaut Gordon Cooper and NASA doctor William Douglas reached out to Bo Randall of Randall Made Knives to create a special design.

SOG Flash II – Badass Knife of the Week

March 4, 2019 / Tim / 0 Comments

SOG built its name on producing top-of-the-line knives that excel in extreme situations. The company focused on fixed blades in its early days before jumping into the folding knife genre. The Flash II is the poster child of the company’s goal.

The Flash I became an instant hit among knife nuts everywhere after being called an “outstanding reference EDC” knife. Well, SOG managed to improve upon the highly acclaimed original Flash with a few upgrades.

WESN Launches the ‘Allman’ on Kickstarter

March 1, 2019 / Tim / 6 Comments

In 2018, the up-and-coming brand WESN (pronounced wesson and stands for West East South North) won the Best Factory EDC Knife at Blade Show West for its Microblade.

The WESN Microblade initially launched on Kickstarter back in late 2017, and the brand is back for more with its next Kickstarter release called the WESN Allman.

Check it out:

The Allman is a compact EDC knife (not as compact as the tiny Microblade but pretty darn small) with a 2.75-inch S35VN steel blade that opens with a flipper tab. You can get the knife in either titanium handles with a frame lock or G-10 handle scales with a liner lock.

Here are the specs:

Blade Length: 2.8” (7.2cm)
Closed Length: 3.8” (9.7cm)
Open Length: 6.65″ (16.9cm)
Handle Material: Grade 5 Titanium Scales or G10 Scales
Blade Steel: S35vn
Hardware: Stainless steel Frame-lock or Liner lock
Pocket Clip
Lanyard Hole
Lifetime Warranty

The design itself is a bit bland. The blade profile is a sort of drop point design but with a less piercing point and a swedge. The blade also seems a bit stubby and relies on the wider handle to fit the whole thing.

There is something about the sleekness and simplicity that makes this knife appealing though. It removes the bells and whistles and sticks with a stripped-down design. They removed the unnecessary thumb stud for just the flipper.

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