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Things Not To Do With a Knife: Laugh With One in Your Throat

August 7, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

The other day I found myself at the famed Coney Island, known for its hot dog eating contests, old rickety rides and the Coney Island Sideshow.

As I entered the freak show, I saw the typical display of talents: a man who can breath fire and hammer nails into his head, a woman who dances with a massive snake, a hilarious man who suffers from ectrodactylyl and, of course, Betty Bloomerz.

Betty Bloomerz, the beautiful female sword swallower, danced around the dim stage with these massive knives all the way down her throat. It was an amazingly impressive display that you should see in person at least once.

Except for Betty—a true professional who has performed around the world—swallowing knives is something you should never try to demonstrate at home.

Unfortunately, one 30-year-old woman from Atlanta didn’t get the memo.

Apparently, she had lost her gag reflex due to a battle with bulimia and was trying to demonstrate her lack of gag reflex to her friends with a butter knife. But, one of her friends made a hilarious comment that caused her to laugh and—gulp!—the knife slide down her esophagus.

She started feeling pain in her chest and vomiting blood, according to the New York Daily News.

Why You Should Own a Ceramic Knife

August 5, 2012 / Glenn / 6 Comments

Boker Plus Anti-Grav Folding Knife 3-1/4″ Ceramic Blade, Carbon Fiber Handles

When you imagine the blade of a knife, chances are you picture a solid piece of quality stainless steel. However, an old material is gaining popularity—especially in kitchen knives—as an alternative to steel: ceramic.

Most people associate ceramic with those old Chinese vases with intricate flower designs, but the material has evolved tremendously over the centuries into a hard, sharp and brutal nonmetallic solid.

Ceramic knives often get a bad rap from diehards because they’re considered dainty or weak, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. If you’re considering picking up a ceramic knife, these are some things that will help nudge you in that direction.

Stays sharp for years

The most important aspect of a blade is its edge and how sharp it is. Whereas stainless steel knives tend to lose some of their keenness pretty quickly, ceramic knives keep a speciously sharp edge for much longer. Zircon is the key material in ceramic blades because it makes them significantly harder than steel. When the blade eventually loses its edge a bit, most ceramic knife manufacturers will sharpen the knife for free.

Lightweight

It’s crazy to think how something so light and thin can be so sharp and dangerous. It’s easy to not take a ceramic knife seriously because of its weight, but that’s what gives it an advantage over steel. With minimal weight, you won’t be burdened when doing mundane tasks like slicing cheese.

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How to Display Your Knife Collections

July 31, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

So, you just bought a highly collectible KA-BAR at an auction and you’re eager to show it off. While you could probably carry the knife and pull it out when it casually comes up in conversation, it’s not the safest thing to do with a collectible knife. Fortunately, there are a variety of display options for knives.

Whether you’re interested in displaying a collection of knives you have stored under your bed or have one knife you want to put on your mantle, here are some tips for how to display your collection of knives.

Arrange your knife collection

The first thing you should do is gather all your knives together and organize them. Some will be the knives you use as your EDC and others will be knives strictly for display. Consider excluding your EDC so you don’t have to keep disturbing the collection. Once you have the knives you want to display, organize them. This is a matter of preference, but some of the ways to organize knives are by brand, year, size or style.

Choose your display case

There are a number of display cases out there specifically designed to showcase your knife collection. For example, there are presentation boxes, shadow boxes and other types of display cases. Again, the type you select is all a matter of preference. It also depends on how many knives you’re planning on putting in it. Some presentation boxes only have enough room for a single knife.

Lock ’em up

Missouri Law Repeals Ban on Switchblades

July 27, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

With the signature of Gov. Jay Nixon earlier this month, the ban on possessing, selling and manufacturing switchblades in Missouri has effectively been repealed, according to Knife Rights.

The new law, signed on July 14 and effective immediately, doesn’t word it as clearly, but here’s the main part of the bill concerning knives:

1. A person commits a crime if such person knowingly possesses, manufactures, transports, repairs, or sells:

Any of the following in violation of federal law:

(d) A switchblade knife.

What that essentially means is that it is still a crime to carry a switchblade, but only when it violates federal law. According to Knife Rights, that’s limited to interstate commerce, Indian reservations and anywhere federal regulations exist like national parks.

The Interceptor: A beautiful, terrible masterpiece

July 24, 2012 / Glenn / 3 Comments

Few knives are as unpredictable, beautifully designed and original as the Interceptor from Tom Anderson Cutlery.

Somewhere between a push dagger and brass knuckles, the Interceptor is impractical and potentially dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. But, it’s undeniably awesome.

The Interceptor has been exploding in popularly around the Web. Sites like Gizmodo and Geek Alerts have likened this insane knife to the weapons used in the new Batman movies. It does look remarkably similar to the old Batman symbol.

App gives chart for knife steel compositions

July 20, 2012 / Glenn / 2 Comments

Most people’s smartphones are full of silly games like Doodle Jump or Angry Birds, but a new app brings back the functionality and reference that made smartphones such revolutionary items: the Knife Steel Composition Chart app.

OK, that might be a bit of an overstatement, but the app is definitely a must-have for those knife nuts out there. The app offers an easy reference for information about steel. Not only does it give you information about the composition of steel, but it gives some notes about the qualities and properties of the steel.

Here’s the description of the app from the iTunes store page:

Knife Steel Composition and name cross-reference database. Includes popular, high end and exotic alloys used in knife blades. About 4700 alloy names, over 900 compositions. Alloy names for 17 different international standards, proprietary names and their equivalents. Easy alloy composition comparison with bar graph in 3 modes: mass percentage, molar masses and atomic count per 1000 atoms.

S30V real name is CPM S30V. All Crucible CPM steels used in knives are in the database, including their aliases.

The app is available on iPhones and Android. It’s worth a download to learn more about the steel of knives you have or a knife you’re potentially buying from the store. Check out the links below to download the app.

Knives Save Lives: Knife scares away shark (video)

July 17, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

Diving, despite all the beautiful scenery and whimsical sensations of freedom, is not without danger. Divers can get decompression sickness, become lost, run out of air or get attacked by a great white shark.

That’s the predicament two divers were facing in Australia after a 12-foot shark greeted them after jumping off a boat. The divers were more than a hundred feet away from the boat, and the shark was intently circling them. This is where any sane person would freak out and give the shark a taste of fear.

Here’s a quote from one of the divers, which appeared in Updated News:

“I’d just got into the water and I hadn’t shot a fish or anything and there she was,” Podmore told the newspaper. “She was probably there 25 seconds before we even knew she was there — the video shows it.”

Fortunately, there was no need for the two divers to be afraid because they had knives and harpoons in hand. Instead of being stuck in the middle of the ocean with no recourse, the divers were prepared with the appropriate tools to help them get out of the jam.

Since harpoons are generally difficult to use and would probably attract other sharks with the blood, they opted instead to jab the shark with the knives to discourage it.

After a few jabs from the sharp objects, the huge shark swam away without incident.

How to Care For Knives with Wooden Handles

July 13, 2012 / Glenn / 13 Comments

Whether you have a custom knife with a handle made from desert ironwood or a set store-bought steak knives, caring for knives with wooden handles requires more care than steel handles.

Since wood is a natural material, it’s susceptible to rotting, splintering and other issues if not taken care of properly. There are also two major types of wooden handles you should pay attention to: those that are stabilized and those that are not.

Stabilized wooden handles have all of the pores, holes and extra space filled in with resin to make the wood waterproof and generally less likely to warp. The knives that haven’t been treated can swell and crack with exposure to too much water. However, knives that aren’t stabilized tend to retain more of the natural wood feel and look.

Despite the differences, here are some tips you should remember when caring for knives with wooden handles.

Do not put the knife in a dishwasher

Putting a knife with a wooden handle—even if it’s a steak knife—in the dishwasher is a death sentence. Exposing the knife to so much abuse, moisture and temperature changes will cause the knife to shrink and/or swell, meaning your knife will get blemishes and other unpleasant traits.

Do not soak the knife

If there’s grime stuck on a knife, don’t even consider soaking it in water. Wooden handles can become water damaged.

Avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight

STK offers guests $30,000 steak knives to eat with

July 10, 2012 / Glenn / 1 Comment

Claire Sinclaire with the knife. (Image from STK Facebook page)

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to hold about $30,000 worth of knives in two hands, all you have to do is head over to STK in Las Vegas (and be a VIP or celebrity). At the swanky steakhouse, you can eat with a set of knives that includes an $18,000 diamond knife and a $12,000 pink sapphire knife, according to ABC News.

While these bejeweled knives probably feel powerful, they’re a symbol of decadence and gluttony that many knife enthusiasts have little interest in. A new Zero Tolerance or Spyderco prototype is likely more coveted than a diamond-encrusted knife.

Nevertheless, these two knives are definitely pieces of work. But, if you’re the average joe, don’t expect to get your hands on these knives pretty easily because they’re usually reserved for celebrities like Leann Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, Gavin Rossdale, the band Foster the People and others.

One of the knives apparently has 300 full-cut pink sapphires set into it. The set of knives was designed by celebrity jewelry designer Jason of Beverly Hills after he created a similar set of knives for the royal family of Saudi Arabia.

Newly introduced Pennsylvania bill would remove knife restrictions

July 6, 2012 / Glenn / 0 Comments

A new bill introduced into the Pennsylvania House of Representative will continue the trend toward allowing citizens more freedom when it comes to possessing and carrying knives, according to the American Knife and Tool Institute.

The bill will remove the strict prohibition of switchblades and prevent cities in Pennsylvania from creating their own knife laws that are stricter than the state’s. This means the knife laws will be consistent throughout the state, so someone carrying a knife in one city wouldn’t be subject to fines or arrest in another.

What the bill will do is alter the definition of “offensive weapon” in the Crimes and Offenses statute to remove switchblades. Dan Lawson, AKTI Legal Contributing Counsel, made a very interesting point about the use of switchblades:

“It may be interesting to note that there are a number of states which never adopted a switchblade prohibition. These states include Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota and Arizona. I would suggest…that there is no discernible difference in knife crime in states with extremely stringent knife laws and states with relatively lenient or no knife laws.”

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