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The Sypderco portable hand, the knife that gave Sypderco their start

March 12, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

Today, Spyderco knives are known across the world for their unique shapes and stellar performance, but have you ever wondered about the early days of this famous knife company?

Spyderco was founded by Sal Glesser in 1976, but Glesser’s first product wasn’t actually a knife, but a spider-shaped device called “The Portable Hand,” which was the inspiration for the company’s name.

Of course, despite being freakishly cool to look at, it wasn’t exactly a bestselling product, so Glesser moved on to producing knife sharpeners and eventually folding knives.

In 1981, he constructed his first folding knife, the CO1 worker, which was the first knife to feature a round hole in the blade that helped it achieve lightning-quick opening.

According to Spyderco, it was also the first’s knife to feature a pocket clip on the handle.

In those days, Glesser and his wife Gail would travel from knife show to knife show in a converted old bread delivery truck. Thirty years later, they’re the founders of one of the world’s most premiere knife companies.

Stranded windsurfer defeats pack of hungry sharks with knife

March 9, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

Earlier this week, we wrote about reasons why you should carry a dive knife whenever you’re at sea. Now, one Polish surfer gives yet another compelling reason to carry a sturdy knife: to stave off hungry sharks if you’re stranded in the water.

According to ABC News, 42-year-old Jan Lisewski from Poland was attempting to windsurf across the Red Sea from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. About two-thirds of the way through the journey, the winds died down and he became stranded in the shark-infested waters.

As night fell, the water became rough and he was forced to rely on an energy drink and two energy bars for sustenance. The worst part of the experience was when sharks up to 18-feet started to circle the stuck Lisewski. Fortunately, he was carrying a trusty knife.

Here’s what he said he did:

“I was stabbing them in the eyes, the nose and gills,” Lisewski told Polish state news agency PAP.

The image of this man fending off hungry sharks at night with a diving knife while eating energy bars is too awesome to disregard. Sure, some may call him crazy for trying to windsurf the Red Sea in the first place, but this man is badass.

A Knife for Scuba Diving — Kenetics Diving Knife

Six Things You Absolutely Need To Know About Dive Knives

March 6, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

Kenetics Diving Knife

Dive knives are a necessary accessory for scuba divers, but unfortunately many novice divers don’t carry them. If you’re interested in learning more about these handy diving tools, check out these six things that you need to know about dive knives.

(1) Why You Need a Dive Knife

Every year thousands of divers get caught in monofilament line, which can be extraordinarily difficult to get untangled from when you’re a hundred feet underwater. Don’t believe me, check out this great article from scuba.com about what to do if you get snagged. Additionally, thick strands of kelp can also get caught on diving gear. Lastly, though rare, you never know when you may encounter a shark while underwater.

(2) Start with a small dive knife

Just because James Bond used a huge knife in his underwater fights, doesn’t mean you need one. Dive knives can range in size from 2 inches to 6 inches, but if you are beginning diver who hasn’t used a knife underwater before, starting with the smaller knife is always preferable. Larger knives can be more awkward and difficult to handle underwater, increasing the chance of injury. It’s recommended that you start with a blade under 4 inches, if you’re purchasing your first dive knife.

(3) Choose a dive knife with a serrated edge

While dive knives are available in both serrated and non-serrated models, a serrated knife is usually preferable. Serrated blads are better at slicing through monofilament line, rope, cord or other soft materials your dive knife may get snagged in.

(4) Avoid dive knives with sharp tips

Sure, it might come in handy for the one time in a million when you have to gore a bloodthirsty Great White, but in general a spear- tip dive knife is less functional and more dangerous then a blunt-tip dive knife. Blunt knives are also usually more optimal for prying and wedging, both necessary functions when underwater.

Check out the new 2012 Wenger Blackout Series

March 3, 2012 / Glenn / 3 Comments

Wenger has been a company well-known for being one of the two companies that make the Swiss Army knife (the other being Victorinox, of course). They’ve since expanded their repertoire to include things such as backpacks and shoes.

However, Wenger is continuing their long-held tradition of brilliantly made knives with the recent editions to their collection: the Blackout Series. Wenger first announced these three new knives back in January and they are definitely something to marvel at.

Here’s a little more about them.

Blackout EvoGrip™ 10 Swiss Army Knife

Blackout EvoGrip™ 63 Swiss Army Knife

Man Walks Into Diner and Orders Coffee…with a 5-inch Knife in Chest

February 29, 2012 / Glenn / 2 Comments

Sometimes we like to take a walk back in time, traveling down the historical path of men who have simply proven themselves to be more badass than we are. Or could ever hope to be.

Today, we may have hit a dead end. We will never find someone more badass than this.

The story sounds like the beginning of a corny joke. “A man walks into a diner..”

But let’s finish the sentence.

“A man walks into a diner with a 5 inch knife in his chest. He orders a coffee and complains about the cold weather.”

On December 23, 2009, a 911 operator in Warren, Michigan received a phone call from an unidentified 52-year old man. He told the operator, “I’m gonna sit down at Bray’s ’cause they got a chair and it’s cold out here.”

A diner employee reported that the man was calm as he ordered his coffee.

The man had apparently been stabbed in an attempted robbery half a mile away. He, then, walked the distance to a pay phone that was located in the diner’s parking lot. Ambulances arrived at the diner and took him to the hospital, where he recovered.

Sure, we can understand that it was probably pretty chilly in Michigan in late December, and we definitely get the need to warm up in a diner with a hot cup of coffee. But really, shouldn’t you get that knife taken care of first? Guess we’re just not as badass as this guy…

Knife sheath materials: The good and the bad

February 26, 2012 / Glenn / 8 Comments

One of the most overlooked aspects of a knife is its sheath. Sheaths are extremely important because they not only provide a means for carrying your knife, but sheaths they also protect the blade from being exposed to the elements of nature and getting scratched.

There are a lot of different types of sheaths out there designed to give you options for where you carry your knife, whether around your neck or strapped to your leg. This post looks at some of the various materials sheaths are made from and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Leather

Leather is a very traditional material used to make sheaths, and it’s still one of the best types of sheath material to have. There are many good things about leather, but one of the main advantages is the aesthetics. Leather is a well-known material that looks exceptional, feels nice in your hands and smells good. Leather is the kind of stuff that harkens back to the days cowboys and ruggedness. Leather is also very quiet when you’re putting a knife in and out of the sheath.

Since leather is made up of natural material, it will eventually become unusable, but it also depends on how well you take care of your sheath. If you’re jumping into rivers and going into situations with extreme heat, the oils in the leather could dry out and cause the sheath to crack pretty quickly. If you take care of the leather by oiling it occasionally, it could last longer than the knife itself.

Kydex

From the traditional, we move on to a more modern material for sheaths. Kydex, for anyone who doesn’t know, is a thermoplastic material that’s used to make holsters and other items. The greatest asset of Kydex is its durability. Whether submerged in salt water or exposed to different environments, Kydex will hold up fairly well.

On the other side, one of the major disadvantages of Kydex is that unlike the classier leather, Kydex is nothing to look at. It basically looks like a hard piece of plastic with little personality. Although the dark and sleek texture of Kydex looks like it could be good for stealth and hunting, it is also unreasonably loud when you’re taking out a knife. There’s a noisy clanking sound, but if you don’t mind the click, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

76-year-old sword swallower seeks Guinness record

February 21, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

When most people envision their golden years, Caribbean cruises, leisurely walks on the beach and golf come to mind. Not so for 76-year-old James “Lucky” Ball, a former insurance salesman, who spends his spare time swallowing swords.

Ball, who lives in Oakley, Kansas, has been a prolific sword swallower for 64 years and still perfects the craft in his basement.

Ball learned how to swallow swords from his parents, both of whom were entertainers in the circus.

“I asked my mother when are you going to teach me to swallow swords? And she said right now,'” he said.

Ball’s father was also a talented sword swallower, who was featured in Robert Ripley’s Believe it or Not.

Ball no longer works for the carnival and said that his only performances now are in front of small groups of people. However, that doesn’t mean he’s lost his sword swallowing ambition: the 76-year-old hopes to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest sword swallower .

“Ok folks, at 76-years-old I can still do the act out of 7 billion people in the entire world. I am the only one who has been doing this for 64 years and I thank you very much,” he said.

Man buys $16,000 sword that doesn’t exist in reality

February 17, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

The man with a plaque showing his virtual sword.

What kind of sword would you be willing to dish out $16,000 for? Maybe a well-made katana from the 14^th century or perhaps a ceremonial sword used by the heroes of the Revolutionary War?

One Chinese man decided to buy an epic sword called the “Hook of Departure” for that amount of money. The only catch is that it’s a virtual sword for a video game.

The sword is for a game called the Age of Wulin, which is a huge multiplayer online role-playing game like the World of Warcraft but set in ancient China.

We poked fun at Nicholas Cage a while back for buying a $2,000 knife made with mammoth ivory simply to cut his steak with. The difference between those who buy outrageously expensive things for trivial purposes and this man is that his sword doesn’t exist.

The kicker of the whole thing is that when he bought the sword back in December, the game wasn’t even out yet. It was set to release in China soon with an English version coming our way in spring.

I often fantasize about what I’d do if I won the lottery or acquired a couple thousand dollars. Sure that amount of money is nothing when you have a few million dollars, but it’s hard to imagine spending money on something that only exists in reality for a game that will be outdated in a few years.

Repurposing Knives and Guns for a Sustainable Cause

February 15, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

Of the many concerns for Olympic host cities, safety is one of the top priorities. For London, a city in full preparation for the upcoming Summer Games, this has been an even hotter topic than in past Olympics. London is still dealing with the global focus of their violent summer riots, in addition to rumors of terrorist attacks.

With that in mind, it is interesting that there will be an estimated 14 tons of guns, knives, and ammunition in the Olympic Stadium. That’s right: 14 tons. You will not be able to carry them in, nor will they be any help in protection. Rather, you might be sitting on them or using them to help yourself up the stairs. Continue reading

Knives Save Lives: Hungry and desperate cougar

February 10, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

Danger always seems to pop up when you least expect, like when a burglar bursts through your door late at night or when you get into a terrible car accident on the way home. While you can rarely predict when danger strikes, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be prepared.

Take the Hobbs family in Texas, for example. According to the Daily News, the family was recently walking on a sidewalk between a restaurant and a lodge in the Big Bend National Park while enjoying the outdoors. Six-year-old Rivers Hobbs walked with his mom and dad, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Creeping up on the family was a lost and very hungry cougar who waited for the perfect moment. Then, he pounced.

With little warning, the cougar lunged at the small boy and clamped down on his face. Seeing your child on the ground with a cougar mauling his face is probably unimaginatively frightening. It’s this point when the fear and shock could be too debilitating to help. Even a few seconds in the grasp of a hungry cougar is life-threatening.

But, without hesitation, Rivers’ father Jason Hobbs sprung into action, pulled out his knife and stabbed the beast in the chest. The animal immediately let go and skulked away.

The boy, who had a few gashes and puncture wounds on his face, was rushed to the hospital and stitched up. Aside from a few scars and a gnarly story, he’ll be perfectly fine.

The Cutting Edge