Halloween is upon us, which means it’s time to shake the dust off that Richard Nixon mask, Clockwork Orange codpiece, busty police officer costume or whatever spooky regalia you prefer.  Why be your puny self, when you can morph into Superman, Jesus Christ, Joe Biden or perhaps even America’s most revered superhero, Duffman?

Seriously, Halloween is the perfect holiday to champion your uniqueness and let loose, which is why Knife Depot has decided to celebrate the year’s most ghoulish evening by giving away a couple of our most haunted blades.  Starting today and ending on Halloween we’ll be holding our annual Knife Depot pumpkin carving contest.  The most badass jack-o-‘lantern will win a 7.5-inch Fire Skull Stainless Steel Karambit with sheath.  Second place will take home a 7-inch skull wing pocket knife and third place will score a skull and bones knife with knuckle guard.

To enter, all you have to do is visit the contest page on Facebook and upload a photo of your pumpkin by October 31.  Please make sure to include a piece of paper with “Knife Depot” written on it next to your pumpkin, so we  can verify that it was carved recently.  Good luck and stay sharp during the Halloween season!

1st prize

2nd Prize

3rd Prize

 

Do you look like Rambo?

Whether you are a splitting image of a young Sylvester Stallone or simply a First Blood fan, you can enter to win a signature edition Sylvester Stallone Rambo knife. Second place wins a pocket knife with real scorpions trapped in Asia encased in the blade.

How do you win?

It’s easy. All you have to do is upload a picture of yourself in Rambo gear to our Facebook page before October 12. So grab your bandannas, dig your tank tops out of the attic and snap a photo of yourself and friends.

Need some inspiration? Check out our Rambo look-alike video below.

Good luck.

After hours of contentious discussion, we’ve settled on a first and second place winner for our Knifeslinger throwing hat contest.  I want to personally thank all 68 of you that entered; there were some really terrific hats, all of which you can check out in our photo gallery.

If you don’t remember, the prizes are as follows:

1st prize: $100, a set of custom-made Jack Dagger throwing knives and an instructional video autographed by Jack Dagger.

2nd prize: A Hibben Throwing Axe.

We’ll be holding more contests in the future, so make sure to check our Facebook page regularly for updates. Without further delay, here are the winners.

You like axes? We got an axe for you.

The Hibben Pro Thrower Axe is a powerful throwing axe that packs a a punch and does it with style.  It’s made of stainless steel, is a foot long and comes with a great leather sheath.  And it will now be given away to the second place winner in the “Knifeslinger Giveaway.”

And that’s not all the news we have. We’ve also updated the first prize to include not just any throwing knives, but a pair of custom-made throwing knives and an autographed instructional DVD from professional knife-thrower Jack Dagger.  You also still get a $100 in cash.

Don’t remember how to enter?  It’s so easy, it’s painful.  Just listen to the Knifeslinger break it down here:

Do you dig throwing knives?  How about cold, hard cash?

If you answered yes to at least one of those questions, then you’re in for a treat.  From now until July 1, we’re taking entries for our first knife throwing promotion, and the winner will get a $100 and a pair of dazzling throwing knives.

There’s a totally hilarious video below explaining how to enter, but if you’re too lazy to watch it (you’ll really be missing out), you just have to do the following:

1. Go to our Facebook page. If you haven’t already, click, “Like” at the top of the page next to our name.
2. Post a picture of your favorite hat on our wall.
3. Wait until July 3 to find out if you are a winner.

You heard it right, all you have to do to win a badass pair of throwing knives and $100 is go to our Facebook page and post a picture of your favorite hat on our wall. Your picture must be posted prior to 10 p.m. Central Time on July 1 to enter.  The winner will be announced on July 3 and you must be 18 to win.

And all week, we’ll be writing about the art of throwing knives, so check back for some great content, and possibly, a second video from the knife slinger about an additional way to win.

Thanks for reading The Cutting Edge and good luck.

Last month’s William Wallace sword giveaway was a big hit and yesterday I posted a picture and testimonial from our first winner, Eino Hill.   Feel free to our large collection of swords, we have a new Scottish Highlands Claymore Sword and it is over 56 inches! 

Here’s a picture of our second winner, William Gagliardi.  Gagliardi, 18, lives in Ohio where he attends high school and holds down three jobs as well.

“The coolest thing about the sword is its size and weight,” he said.

Gagliardi said he has plans to mount the sword on a plaque in his bed room.

“Has my life changed?” he he said during a recent interview.  “Heck yeah!  I got a sword off Facebook, what more could I want or need.”

We’ll be holding a new product giveaway soon over at The Cutting Edge, so make sure to check the blog regularly for a chance to win great knife gear.

Want to buy a badass William Wallace sword for your bedroom?  We’re selling them for half off, so snap one up while you still can.

The following is an essay written by Eino Hill, the winner of the William William Wallace sword contest held in April.  The Cutting Edge does not endorse, comprehend or validate in anyway Mr. Hill’s medieval fantasies, delusions of grandeur or other strange musings, though we do think that his experience is a prime example of the awe-inspiring power of a sword.

The elongated cardboard box with my name on it could only mean one thing:the Sword of Galleon had arrived.

Alas, the quest was now over.  After many years of searching for the fabled sword, its whereabouts having been shrouded in mystery for centuries, a signature was the only thing left standing in my way of its possession.  I signed and ran to my room, box in tow.

Flipping through the scriptures, I read again The Passage of Righthood for the One in Possession of The Sword of Galleon.

Turn any man of dust and sand, from across the land o’er yonder,
Who once a pawn thou now shall spawn a mortal man no longer.

There is the Fountain of Youth.  And then there’s Immortality!  Who wants to be young their whole life when they can have everlasting omnipotence?  Powers we, as man, cannot even conceive due to our paltry, insignificant existence?

“Just call me God Jr.,” I said to the heavens above.

Cleverly disguised on the Cutting Edge Blog as the William Wallace Sword, obtaining the Sword of Galleon was much like capturing Bin Laden.  It took years of searching, just to discover it was hiding in plain sight.

“It’s too bad I didn’t obtain this sword a month earlier,” I mused.  I would’ve gone to that compound in Abbottabad myself and turned him into a Taliban Kebob with this damn thing!”

I wasn’t fooled though.  I followed the path.  I did as the Scriptures told.

Follow the pen, whose might shall rise,
Not that of swords, but in disguise.

It took me some time to figure out.

We, as children, were always taught that the pen was mightier than the sword.  But let’s get serious.  They clearly weren’t referring to the Sword of Galleon!  The Sword of Galleon will bust a pen up!  I don’t care if it’s ballpoint!  I don’t give a damn if its a Mont Blanc or even a Bic?

So that part made sense.  The sword was still mightier than the pen.  But how could a pen’s might rise and be in disguise?

I Googled it.  Specifically, “How could a pen’s might rise and be in disguise?” Google had no answers for me,  Ask.com had no clue.  It did, however, lead me to this woman with a drawn on beard evading the police. Wikipedia wanted me to learn about Optimus Prime. “Robots in disguise” was what triggered that one.  After countless minutes of frustration, I realized not finding the answer to this all-important question was a good thing.

“If someone had the answer, they would already have the sword,” I thought.

Then I started thinking.  Pen.  Writing.  Words.  A pen writes words.  Words form sentences.  Sentences form paragraphs.  Paragraphs form chapters.  Chapters form books.  Books form libraries!  I must go to the library!

Continue reading

So, after reviewing numerous entries, we’ve narrowed down the field in our Bear Grylls contest to two.  One of these knife enthusiasts will win a 12-component Bear Grylls’ signature multi-tool. Check out the entries and vote for your favorite by either typing 1 or 2 in the comment field. Voting ends on Sunday at midnight Central Time.  Here’s the scenario, once again.

Bear is standing on a rock in the middle of the Amazon River wearing nothing but camouflage briefs. On one bank there is a nest full of anacondas. On the other, there is a vicious-looking jaguar. The river is full of piranhas.

Bear has possession of the following things: a coconut, a monkey, two Budweiser bottles and 10 palm leaves, in addition to his Ultimate Multi-Tool with 12 components. Give Bear advice on how to escape to safety by entering your answer in the comment field below.  You can’t submit an entry after Friday.

(1) By: Robert Worsham

OK guys, this is too easy. Using the multi-tool, pop open the beers and give ‘em to the monkey. After two beers, he’s not gonna give much of a rip about anything. While he’s drinking the beer, tie all of the palm leaves together, making a makeshift rope. Tie one end around one of the monkey’s ankles. Yeah, you guessed it, sacrifices must be made when it comes to survival. Toss the monkey towards the jaguar, getting him as close to the shore as you can. The jaguar will see the monkey splashing around as the piranhas go to work on him, smell the drunken fresh monkey meat (easy pickings, he figures) and jump in the river after him.

Oops, too late!! Cats are so stupid. Instant monkey and jaguar meat piranha feast. Grab the coconut, jump in and swim for shore right past the disappearing monkey and jaguar. Those piranha will be so overwhelmed by the fresh monkey and jaguar meat that they won’t even notice a skinny little guy in camo skivvies. Once you make it to shore, use the multi-tool to crack open the cococut for a refreshing and energy-building drink and then get outta there. Don’t even go NEAR the snakes! I HATE snakes!!!

(2) By: Conner Bircher

Use the knife to kill and skin the monkey, save the meat. Drench the body in beer since it will leave a sticky residue, use the palm leaves to wrap around your body using the monkey skin to tie the palm leaves on. Throw the monkey corpse in the river distracting the piranhas, break bottles open with knife as a swimming/thrashing tool, keep multi tool between teeth while swimming. Once on shore dig a hole with a split coconut deep enough to cover the snake completely, use broken bottles as a impaling tool, cover hole with palm leaves and when the snake falls in, jump on top of it and stab its head with the blade… that’s how I would do

Vote for your favorite entry by typing either one or two in the comment field. A winner will be announced on Monday.

This the last day of our Bear Grylls contest.  See the contest rules at the bottom and enter to with a Bear Grylls’ Signature Ultimate Multi-Tool.

If you’re a Bear Grylls fan, you’re likely an avid viewer of Man vs Wild, where Bear battles the wilderness while exhibiting his top-notch survival skills.  The show features a number of incredible scenes, from Bear lassoing wild mustangs to traversing  a lava-filled volcano.  However, in recent years, critics have identified a number of inconsistencies in the program, leading some to allege that Bear is misleading his viewers.

What’s the Man vs Wild Controversy About?

Critics of the show start by pointing to the premise as being contrived.  Most Man vs Wild episodes consist of Bear parachuting into a harsh climate, surviving for a number of days, and then eventually venturing to safety.  Many say the show is framed to make viewers believe that Bear is alone in the wilderness, when in fact he consistently has aid from a camera crew.

In addition, prior to entering a new setting, it has been revealed that Bear and his team perform weeks of recognizance, briefing Bear on possible locations where he can peform survival skills.

“I get a really good briefing before we go,” Bear said.  “I know there’s a big river there, there’s going to be a great cliff climb there, there’s loads of snakes in those rocks, watch out for an alligator.  So, I do have a good idea of 80 percent of what’s going to happen.”

Does Bear stay in hotels?

There have also been allegations, which are fairly substantiated, that Bear sometimes stays at hotels during survival missions.  According to a 2007 article in the Daily Mail, Bear stayed at the Pines Resort Hotel in the Sierra Nevada mountains during an episode in which he bit the head off a snake and boasted that he was living on “just a water bottle, a cup and a flint for making fire.”

In an additional episode, where Grylls was supposedly stuck on a desert island, he was actually on a Hawaiian archipelago, where he retired to a motel at night.

Faking Scenes

There have also been two allegations that Bear faked scenes in his shows.  In an episode where Bear is supposedly lassoing wild mustangs, it was revealed that the mustangs were actually tame animals from a nearby ranch.

One of the most controversial episodes involves Bear traversing an active volcano in Hawaii.  According to reporting by the Times in London, smoke generators were used off-screen to make smoke fumes, and molten magma was supplemented by burning hot coals that were brought in by the production team.

A fan site of Survivorman, a survival show that features Canadian bushman Les Stroud, posted a video debunking the episode (shown below).

Lastly, a survival consultant who worked on Man vs Wild revealed that in one episode, the production crew built a raft, which Bear would later claim on camera to have constructed himself.

Response from Bear and Man vs Wild

Few , if any of the allegations made by Bear’s critics have been denied by Bear or the Discovery Channel, which airs the show.  Instead, Bear and the network have said that the show never claimed that Bear was unassisted in his survival techniques and issued the following statement.

“The programme explicitly does not claim that presenter Bear Grylls’ experience is one of unaided solo survival.  For example, he often directly addresses the production team, including the cameraman, making it clear he is receiving an element of back-up.”

The Discovery Channel also said that future episodes would have a disclaimer at the beginning stating that Grylls had assistance, and since the controversy, Grylls states on camera when he receives help.

Public Response

Though some viewers felt betrayed by revelations that parts of Man vs Wild was faked, the controversy did little to affect the shows popularity.  It still attracts hundreds of millions of viewers across the world.

Win Bear’s Knife, Get Tough

We’re currently giving away a Bear Grylls’ signature 12-component ultimate multi-tool and to win all you need to do is advise Bear on how to get out of the following situation, which, considering his reputation, is totally realistic.

Bear is standing on a rock in the middle of the Amazon River wearing nothing but camouflage briefs. On one bank there is a nest full of anacondas. On the other, there is a vicious-looking jaguar. The river is full of piranhas.

Bear has possession of the following things: a coconut, a monkey, two Budweiser bottles and 10 palm leaves, in addition to his Ultimate Multi-Tool with 12 components. Give Bear advice on how to escape to safety by entering your answer in the comment field below.

You must submit your entry (and you can only submit one) prior to Friday 10 p.m. Central Time. Then, we’ll pick our top three favorites and publish them on the blog for readers to vote on. Be creative. Be imaginative. Good luck!

This post is part of our week-long Bear Grylls contest.  If you can give the best survival advice to Bear, in a detailed scenario involving camouflage briefs, Budweiser beer and anacondas, you’ll win a Bear Grylss Ultimate Multi-Tool.  Click here for the full scenario and contest rules. Good luck!

Bear Grylls is the quintessential badass outdoorsman. His insanity and advice for surviving in extreme situations has literally saved people’s lives, so if you’ve ever wondered why he puts himself in these dangerous conditions, it’s for our own benefit. In honor of Bear Grylls, we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 coolest Bear Grylls moments. Here they are.

#5 Bear Climbs a Bridge and Dodges a Train

There are few people that truly have nerves of steel, but Bear Grylls is definitely one of them. In this clip, Bear climbs to the top of a bridge and dodges a train. He gets a lot of flack for staging scenes to demonstrate what to do in certain situations, but there’s no doubt that this feat of survival is absolutely badass.

#4 Bear Kills a Reindeer and Eats Its Heart

The wild is brutal, so it shouldn’t be a shock that surviving in the wild requires doing callous things like stabbing a reindeer through its head and drinking its dripping blood. This scene is definitely not something Santa Claus would want to watch, but it shows Bear’s skill in capturing, killing and utilizing an animal for survival. This also would have been nearly impossible to do without a good knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPyyG6eukVA

#3 Bear Creates an Urban Explosion

One of the best things about Bear is his resourcefulness. He can take ordinary tools or items found in the wild and use them for new purposes, so it’s no surprise that he can do even cooler things with items found in abandoned urban environments. In this scene, Bear is trying to get into a derelict building by using explosive gases to burst through a door.

#2 Bear Eats a Rhino Larvae Beetle

There’s almost nothing n the wild Bear hasn’t eaten,  but this clip may take the cake. If you ever find yourself stranded in the bush, it might be wise to pass over giant larvae as a meals

#1 Any “Polar Bear” Swim

This might be a cop-out, but there have been several scenes where Bear has put himself in the situation of being in the water at subzero temperatures. This feat is amazing for anyone, but Bear has done it a couple times and in the clip below, even swims underneath solid ice where he could potentially get trapped. If you stay in the water long enough, your body could shut down and you could die very quickly, not to mention what could happen to your extremities once you’re out of the water. That’s why his propensity to jump into the icy waters tops our list of most badass Bear Grylls scenes.