With Texas still experiencing extreme flooding from the devastating Hurricane Harvey, we continue sending our thoughts and prayers to those affected by the storm. I have personally sent donations to relief organizations and encourage you to do the same.
The ensuing devastation has led Knife Rights to rightfully cancel its BOYB (Bring Your Own Bowie) event at The Alamo on Sept. 2 — an event to celebrate the passage of the new knife laws that will allow Texans to carry blades longer than 5.5 inches almost anywhere.
However, Texans can still celebrate Texas Sword Day, a new holiday deemed by the Texas Law Hawk aka Bryan Wilson, on Sept. 1. Take a look at his PSA for Texans.
Wilson is a lawyer who’s also the proprietor of some very entertaining videos that look like something Tim and Eric would have cooked up had they gone to law school.
The bayonet has remained relatively unchanged for centuries.
Some form of the bayonet has been used for hundreds of years now, as soldiers across cultures have created hybrid weapons for long- and close-range combat.
The modern bayonet used by the U.S. is the M9 currently made by Ontario Knife Company (the U.S. Marine Corps uses the OKC 3S), which is a long fixed blade knife with a clip point.
But a company known as GripKnife is looking to update the bayonet with a radical new design.
The GripKnife is a spring-loaded knife that doubles as a vertical grip for your firearm and all it requires is a picatinny rail system.
There’s the must-have blade steel reference app from zknives descriptively called Knife Steel Composition Chart App. There’s the always useful but clunky LegalBlade App from Knife Rights. For a brief but wondrous period, there was the curious KA-BAR app that let you generate your knife name.
Now, there’s a new knife game all you blade fanatics might enjoy: Flippy Knife.
Flippy Knife (Apple/Android) is a physics-based knife game that simulates throwing a knife. There are four different modes: an arcade mode, a throwing knife mode, a vertical ascent mode, and a standard flipping mode.
App reviewers have been comparing the game to the new water bottle flipping fad, but all of us knife enthusiasts know that this is more based on mumblety-peg — the very old knife flipping game dating back hundreds of years.
I downloaded the app and played for a bit. It is insanely addictive but equally frustrating.
The modes offer enough variation to not get too tired after a few minutes. I found it extremely difficult to get the technique just right and I noticed the knife did not stick when it was supposed to a few times. I’ve probably just lost my video game touch.
I know most of you collect dozens (if not hundreds) of models and just the mere fact that you’re reading this means you follow a knife blog or click on knife-related things from Facebook or Twitter.
But how many of you would let someone massage you with butcher knives?
According to recent news articles, the knife massage is a new craze around Taiwan that involves cleavers being chopped in rhythmic motions around your face and body.
The reality is that the practice actually dates back to China more than 2,500 years ago. Although it fell out of favor, it slowly came back to life in Taipei with more than 150 of these knife massage centers currently across the city. A slew of recent articles based on the video below have resulted in a bunch of poorly sourced write-ups.
Knife massage is called daoliao and the LA Times did a great write-up back in 2015. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
Turns out daoliao is not some New Age wellness fad. People in China have been undertaking knife massages since the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 BC) in Chinese history, said Wu Wei-chuan, chairwoman of the World Daoliao Assn. in Taipei. Back then, those suffering from mysterious illnesses not easily treated by traditional medicine would ask Buddhist monks to ease their afflictions with knife therapy.
The masseur uses heavy cleavers with blunt edges (despite what all the latest articles have been saying). People believe that the heavy blade can reach places that fingers cannot and that the steel helps remove bad energy from the body.
If you take a look through some of our comments on our Facebook posts, you’ll see countless people lamenting the lack of innovation and design diversity in the knife world. These people have clearly never heard of the Hawks.
Grant and Gavin Hawk are a father and son knifemaking team that first started making knives in 1995. Whereas most knifemakers work on making knives within the confines of the modern designs, the Hawks have pushed the boundaries for what knives can be and how they can work.
The Hawks are owners of many patents and continue to find ways to completely shatter the traditional knife design. In honor of the innovative duo, we’re taking a look at some of their most innovative designs.
We’ll kick off the list with one of their best known creations: the E.T. Standing for External Toggle, the E.T. helped put the Hawks on the map as innovative designers. The knife uses a unique toggle system to engage and close the knife at the butt of the handle. As this training video shows, there were actually a number of ways to engage the knife.
The knife was later picked up by Kershaw and took the community by storm. In 2005, the Kershaw/Hawk collaboration won the Most Innovative American Design at the BLADE Show and Best Overall Design at IWA. While the design was not entirely functional and was eventually discontinued, it showed what kinds of genius minds the Hawks had.
The D.O.G. was an early knife and among their first folding knife designs. It’s also notable for being the first collaboration between the Hawks and CRKT and it was a good one. This beefy folder was named after its locking mechanism. It has an automatic action that uses a deadbolt system to lock into place. I’ve heard people say they put the lock through the ringer without failure. Take a look at what one review had to say:
Unfortunately, it was discontinued and can rarely be found. It’s a shock such a great lock isn’t seen on more knives.
Do you hate when debris or gunk gets stuck in your lock mechanism? The Hawks solved your problems with the M.U.D.D. This was the first knife to use the Hawk Lock because it allows the lock to be completely sealed inside the knife thanks to the use of a rubber boot around the button. This prevents failure due to dirt from hard use. The lock mechanism is a spiritual successor of the Benchmade AXIS lock. It works essentially the same, but the way it functions on the inside is a little different.
The host of travel show “Parts Unknown,” which is entering its ninth season, spends more than 200 days a year on the road.
And in a short travel write-up with The New York Times, Bourdain revealed the five things he can’t travel without. He always has to take moleskin notebooks, books, something to rest his head on at airports or on planes, a few jujitsu uniforms, and a “hidden knife.”
Image from Lwp Kommunikáció on Flickr
That’s right, Bourdain keeps a hidden knife on him when visiting shady places. Here’s his rationale:
“If it’s a place with heavy street crime, I have this sneaky credit card that turns into a knife. It’s not something you’d want to get into a serious fight with, but it might be a rude surprise should someone grab you from behind as you enter your hotel room.”
From the image accompanying the article in the Times, Bourdain carries a Cardsharp from Iain Sinclair. This is one of the most popular credit card knives, which you can pick up for about $10, but it may be a mistake.
Why the Cardsharp is awful for self-defense
1) If someone grabs you from behind as you enter your hotel room, this knife is several steps removed from coming in handy. First, you have to take your wallet out of your pocket and pull the knife out. Then you have to go through the laborious process of opening it. Here are the three steps you need to do to open it up.
By the time the knife is out and engaged, it could be too late.
2) It’s not durable. In a pinch, the knife can be useful when open, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it. In fact, you may be better off simply using your keys or even a hotel key, which can be used to slash at an attacker’s eyes. There are ton of reviews saying the knife is not sturdy or well-built. In a real scuffle, there’s a good possibility of it failing in your hand.
Absent of all gimmicks and unnecessary technology, the Rodan is simplicity at its best. The 5.25-inch blade is made from 1075 high carbon steel, a workmanlike alloy that’s tough as nails and easy to get razor sharp on the fly.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Knives make poor self-defense weapons.
Not only do you have to get extremely close to your assailant but the knife can quickly be turned against you — not to mention the psychological ramifications of having to stab someone (sometimes repeatedly) less than a foot away from your face.
But Delhi Metro — the rail system serving the expansive and highly populated city in India — will now allow women to carry knives up to four inches for self-defense purposes.
This may not seem like a big deal here, but Delhi Metro officials apparently search people pretty frequently and have confiscated tons of items.
Spyderco Rubicon from a 2014 YouTube review by Sup3rSaiy3n
It’s that time of year again. Beloved knife models are dropping like flies and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Knife brands are publishing their lists of discontinued knives. First there was Kershaw. Then Benchmade (which we’ll get to in a few days). Now there’s Spyderco.
Some of these aren’t surprising and were predicted (considering many have sequels upcoming) but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. As I did with Kershaw, I’ll write obituaries for a few of my favorites. If you want to see the full list (along with links to those still available at Knife Depot), skip to the bottom.
This was a non-traditional folder that used friction to keep the blade engaged. While this isn’t the type of knife you’d use for tough tasks, it’s great for simple EDC jobs. Not only that but this was one of the few knives legal to carry in the United Kingdom.
While the number of factory-made folders is dwindling by the day, you can find a number of friction folders from custom makers. Farewell old friend.
Spyderco Rubicon
The Rubicon is dead. Long live the Rubicon 2. The death of the Rubicon was one of the least surprising discontinued knives this year because of the arrival of the new Rubicon 2—a cheaper but faithful version of Peter Carey’s original masterpiece. What did the handsome Rubicon in was the high cost. I would have loved to use it as my EDC, but it went for more than $300.
Brace yourselves: Kershaw has released its list of discontinued knives for 2017.
Many are not a surprise, but there are a few that made us look twice. I wrote a thorough post a few weeks ago about why some knives are discontinued and other knives live on, but it’s always sad to see some of our favorites get the boot.
At the time of this writing, we have most of these knives in stock, so if you want one before you’re forced to find it for resale, I suggest getting it now.
I thought it’d be pertinent to write the obituary for five of my favorite Kershaws not coming back next year. You can find the complete list at the end.
Kershaw Whirlwind
Although the Whirlwind lived a nice long life, its death was sudden and surprising. This knife has been around for more than 15 years, with the stonewashed version being slightly newer. OK, so maybe its long life was an indication that the knife would soon cease production.
The loss of the Whirlwind is quite personal to me, as it’s been my father’s reliable EDC work knife for years. He really enjoyed Sandvik 14C28N steel blade with the SpeedSafe mechanism.
Unfortunately, this knife has been around for so long that people are likely no longer interested in it. That and the more popular Kershaw Blackout is nearly identical to the Whirlwind (except for a black blade).
Kershaw Shallot
The death of the Shallot is like the death of one of the Beatles. The Shallot was part of the famous line of knives created by Ken Onion and named after relatives of the onion. Along with the Chive, Leek, and Scallion, the Shallot helped establish Kershaw as a formidable brand for folders.
The Shallot was the largest of the line —with a 3.5-inch blade—and likely received the least amount of love. All iterations of the Shallot are no longer slated for production (you can find links to the rest below).
