The Cutting Edge

Sword swallower arrest in NYC is hard to swallow

August 16, 2011 / Tim / 2 Comments

If you weren’t already aware of New York City’s overly staunch dedication to ridding sharp objects from existence, this story of one entertainer’s experience will certainly make you familiar.

An acclaimed Australian sword swallower was arrested on the streets of New York City as he entertained crowds with his unique skills, according to the Northern Star.

The Space Cowboy, whose real name is Chayne Hultgren, was taken to the station for “brandishing a sword in public.”

The man, who holds the unofficial world record of swallowing 27 swords and the official world record of 18, was performing in front of a large crowd when a police officer approached him.

As someone who lives literally across the street from an NYPD station, I feel particularly incredulous at what the Space Cowboy claims the police said to him. He said an officer told him, “I don’t care if you are a sword swallower, you were holding a sword in public and I have every right to shoot you.”

New emergency knife folds into a credit card

August 10, 2011 / Tim / 7 Comments

A design company has created an amazingly unique folding knife that’s the size of a credit card.

Known as the “Cardsharp” by the company Iain Sinclair, the new creation is billed as a superlight and supersharp utility knife.

When the knife is closed in its disengaged position, it’s the exact shape of a credit card, but when it’s opened, the knife features a sharp blade smaller than three inches long.

While the concept might sound a bit campy, the pictures make the whole thing look very cool.

The website lists some of its uses to include camping, fishing, utility, cooking, medical, emergency services, medical uses, self-defense and others.

There are many reasons why this knife is impressive, such as the fact it weighs less than 5 ounces, is made from surgical stainless steel and is waterproof.

What glass-breaking knife is the best for escaping from a car?

August 9, 2011 / Tim / 2 Comments

That’s the question Kevin Michalowski, editor of the publication Tactical Gear, wanted to settle.

In order to do so, Michalowski used four different knives — Spyderco Assist, Kershaw Responder, Breakout Safety Tool and Gerber Hinderer CLS — to break through windows and cut seat belts.

All performed reasonably well, except for the Breakout Safety Tool, which appears to be as about as useful as a stuffed animal if you’re trapped in a vehicle.

Which one of these knives you’d want to have in a life or death situation.

Knives Save Lives: Man vs. Bear

August 9, 2011 / Tim / 6 Comments

Over the past few months, there’s been a deadly rash of attacks from grizzly bears, brown bears, black bears and even rampaging polar bears. This should remind us that whenever you go camping or into the wilderness, you should always be prepared for anything.

Back in 2003, one amazing man demonstrated why it’s important to always be ready with a knife in your pocket.

According to the Associated Press, John Hirsch, then a 61-year-old outdoorsman, was out in his backyard tending to his flock of 15 turkeys when he was surprised by a hungry visitor.

A mangy black bear had stumbled into his Canadian backyard desperately in search of food. Once Hirsch noticed the bear was coming straight at him without stopping, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. Unfortunately, the only blade he had on him was a mere 3 1/2 inches.

This is when you separate the men from the boys. Instead of being afraid and cowering in fear, Hirsch stood up to the bear with his small blade ready for battle.

What do you use your knife for the most?

August 7, 2011 / Tim / 35 Comments

The great thing about knives is just how versatile and functional they are. A knife can easily attach to your belt with no effort and do nearly any task you run into.

I just moved into a new apartment, so I’ve been using my knife to open boxes, cut cardboard, slice twine and do other various jobs around the house. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I didn’t have my knife.

That’s why we at Knife Depot were wondering what you use your knife for the most that makes it invaluable to you. For example, do you use it for work, at home, hunting, building things or other specific tasks?

Let us know in the comments section. We look forward to reading them.

Modern samurai cuts speeding bullet in half (video)

August 6, 2011 / Tim / 4 Comments

It’s simply amazing what can be done with a good sword.

Isao Machii also known as the modern samurai has such control and connection with his sword that he can cut a speeding bullet in half. That’s right, a speeding bullet.

A friend told me about Machii’s bullet-cutting abilities, but I found it hard to believe until I watched the video below.

Machii was featured on the television show Stan Lee’s Superhumans, which highlights people with real superhuman abilities. In one episode last year, they focused on Machii’s sword-wielding skills. In one of the first segments, Machii impressively sliced a baseball in two clean pieces, but the major feat was cutting the BB shot from a gun.

In order for him to do something like this, he has to really connect and feel his sword rather than simply look at the BB approach.

Check out this clip and be amazed. Just remember, don’t try this with one of your samurai swords.

Bid on a Buck knife and support the American Knife and Tool Institute

August 4, 2011 / Tim / 4 Comments

The American Knife and Tool Institute, one of the leading organizations protecting knife-carrying Americans, is holding an auction for a Buck knife to support its ongoing work.

The auction features a Buck Model 119 Special fixed-blade hunting knife – one of Buck’s most popular knives. This knife, which measures 10-1/2” in overall length, is ideal for outdoorsmen who need a durable, reliable stainless steel blade and features Advanced Edge2x™ blade technology.

Enter your bid before 11:59 ET on August 31, 2011. The highest bid received will win the auction and will be notified after the auction closes. All proceeds go directly to AKTI’s legislative work to promote the responsible use of knives throughout the United States.

Knife Depot’s ultimate guide to buying a pocket knife

August 2, 2011 / Tim / 0 Comments

Every man should carry a pocket knife. It’s a primal right of manhood, up there with NFL football, beer and buffalo wings. Yet, picking out a pocket knife is harder than all three of these fundamental man-skills.

Why is picking out a pocket knife so tough?

Because the pocket-knife market is filled with thousands of different models in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes, blades and brands.

There are clip-point blades, tanto blades and drop-point blades, stainless-steel blades and carbon steel blades, serrated blades and non-serrated blades, not to mention Swiss Army knives with enough tools and attachments to aid your escape from a maximum security prison.

What’s a knife lover to do?

Well, aside from buying every knife you see (not a bad idea if you have the dough), the best approach to finding the right pocket knife is to know A TON about them. Since you don’t have time to do that research, we did it for you.

Below, you’ll find the link to Knife Depot’s “Official Guide to Buying a Pocket Knife, which includes a wealth of information on pocket knives, including chapters on:

pocket knife blade materials
pocket knife models
pocket knife blade shapes
pocket knife locks
pocket knife handle materials

We’ll be publishing excerpts from the guide on the blog over the upcoming week, but click the image below to check out the whole thing.

Guide to buying a pocket knife

Challenge Bear Grylls and win 10K

August 2, 2011 / Tim / 3 Comments

Whether you find his feats of wilderness survival awe-inspiring or his heavily-accented narration downright irritating, Bear Gyrlls is undoubtedly a survivalist star.

Back in April, we ran a contest in which our readers were asked to give Bear a hand in a sticky situation (he was stuck on a rock in the Amazon River) in order to win a Bear Grylls signature Gerber multi-tool.

Now, the folks over at Solo (it’s a lemon soda, in case you didn’t know) are holding a contest in which you can face off with Bear for a chance to win 10k.

The contest rules are pretty simple. All you have to do is find something you can do better than Bear and challenge him on the Solo website. Users will vote on the best challenges and a handful of winners will eventually be chosen to face off with Bear in Sydney, Australia.

The man above (Tom) is a gymnastics instructor who will be going one on one with Bear in a gnarly handstand competition.

The contest is only open to Australian residents, but there’s 10k on the line, so if you’re thinking about expatriating, this is probably the time.

Things not to do with a knife: Remove your own hernia

July 30, 2011 / Tim / 8 Comments

There are a wide variety of things people know you should never do with a knife. For example, everyone knows you should never attach a knife to a rooster’s leg as one unfortunate man found out.

And, one California man reminded us of another thing you shouldn’t do: don’t plunge a butter knife into your stomach to remove a hernia.

Yes, a 63-year-old man from Glendale California was so fed up with his protruding hernia that he grabbed a butter knife in a futile attempt to remove it, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Not that I condone this type of behavior, but you’d think if he really wanted to remove it, he’d use something sharper than a butter knife (don’t try this at home!).

Police found the man lying naked on his front porch, and after he created the hole in his stomach, he shoved a lit cigarette in the wound.