Today, the Florida-Times Union ran a great piece about an experienced and weathered knife sharpener who runs a transient business along the highway.
Phil Vanderhoof is a 59-year-old free spirit that pedals his business across state lines. That’s right pedals. His business (and really, his life) is a small trailer with a sign advertising “Phil’s Knife Sharpening” that he attaches to his bicycle.
In the trailer is a hand-turned grinding wheel he estimates is about 75 years old. He also carries a variety of oil stones to do some of the finer work.
Despite having done this for more than 20 years, he didn’t have any professional training sharpening knives, but learned a few tricks and techniques in the Boy Scouts and the Marines. He was good enough that people kept stopping him on the side of the road on his bike to sharpen their knives. So, he decided to simply attach a sign and set up shop wherever he wanted.
The great thing about his business is that he runs a great bargain. Most knives cost between $2 and $5 while a handful of swords might run you about $30.
Every now and then there’s a video so utterly crazy that it starts to seem like a good idea… well, almost.
Two men, fed up with the invasive Asian Carp species heading toward the Great Lakes, took to the river armed with samurai swords, Wolverine-like steel claws and spiked body armor. And, what’s the best way to hunt Asian Carp with swords? On water skis of course.
According to the video, Asian Carps were brought to America and immediately invaded the waters. Now, the leaping fish are heading toward the Great Lakes and the government is trying to stop them with poison or genetic engineering. The two guys, who call themselves the Peoria Carp Hunters, are using their own ingenious ways to combat the large fish.
Keep in mind that these are “professionals” so you should definitely not strap spikes to your body, grab a sword and go waterskiing, not that you’d probably want to anyway.
Take a look at the video and let us know whether you think these guys are cool or off their rocker.
Unlike serrated or straight-edge knives, fixed blades and folding blades almost always mutually exclusive because it doesn’t make sense to have both on the same knife.
Although it’s usually a matter of preference, there are functional differences between the two that are important to consider. If you’re thinking about buying a new knife and can’t decide between the two, here are some of the pros and cons about the two types.
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!
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is often just that little word, extra,” said Man Vs. Wild star Bear Grylls at a speaking engagement in Durban, South Africa. If anyone, Bear should know.
The 37-year old survivalist and T.V. star has captivated millions of viewers across the world with his death-defying wilderness skills. Since we’re currently giving away a Bear Grylls Ultimate Multi-Tool (contest rules below), I thought it was time to shed more light on one of the world’s greatest survivors.
The Birth of a Bear
Bear is British—you have probably gathered as much from his accent—and split his time as a child between Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wright. He learned to climb and sail from his father at an early age and it was his sister who gave him the nickname “Bear,” when he was just a week old. Always the outdoorsman, Bear became a Cub Scout at eight; he also learned to sky-dive and practiced karate in his youth.
Bear Joins the Army and Almost Dies
Like any proper survivor, Bear celebrated graduating from Birbeck University in London by spending a few months hiking in the Himalayas. From there, he joined the British Army and served as a trooper, survival instructor and patrol medic. In 1996, he suffered a near-fatal parachuting fall in Zambia, in which he landed on his back and partially crushed three vertebrae. It was initially unknown whether or not he would walk again. Yet, after 18 months of rehabilitation, Bear was back to full strength and ready to fulfill a goal he had been pursuing since his childhood.
Bear Climbs Everest at 23
When he was young, Bear’s father had shown him pictures of Mount Everest that had made an indelible impression. Since then, he had always had a goal of summiting the mountain, but the broken-back he suffered seriously jeopardized those aspirations:
I remember lying there during those long months of recovery and suddenly this dream that I had clung to so tightly and for so long, of climbing Everest, just felt a million miles away. It was beyond what I could believe and I remember vividly looking at the pictures my late father had given me of Everest years earlier, and taking them down. I dismissed it as something childish and something that could no longer become a reality.
Yet, on May 26 1998, Bear reached the summit of Everest, making him the youngest British climber to do so. His expedition had taken four months just on Everest’s southeast face alone. He was nearly killed on numerous occasions and three other climbers making the trek lost their lives.
Bear Gets Gnarly, Seriously Gnarly
Post climbing Everest, Bear was booming with enthusiasm and completed a string of survival feats, such as:
— Circumnavigating the UK on a jet ski
— Crossing the North Atlantic on an inflatable boat
— Having a dinner party in a hot air baloon at 25,000 feet
— Paramotoring over the Himalayas.
— Setting the record for the world’s longest free fall.
These freakish accomplishments couldn’t be ignored by the world of television for long. Bear made his media debut in a Sure deodorant commercial and in 2006, Bear’s current survival series, Man Vs. Wild, debuted and immediately found success. Today, it attracts over one billion viewers a year.
Win Bear’s Knife, Get Tough
We’re currently giving away a Bear Grylls’ signature 12-component ultimate multi-tooland 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!
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.
Bear Grylls is a survivalist stud. He jumps out of planes, eats eyeballs, swims with alligators and hurls himself into freezing, ice water. He does pretty much every badass thing possible and he does it all in style, which is why he needs badass equipment all the time.
This all-in-one offers 12 total components: needle nose pliers, both fine-edge and serrated knives, saw, Phillips screwdriver, small and medium flat drivers, lanyard ring, bottle opener, can opener, scissors and wire cutters.
So, if necessary, you can pry open a can of tuna, remove a splinter, cut through wire, saw through a rope, unscrew something, unscrew something else, cut a bandage and then, to celebrate everything you accomplished, pop open a cold beer—all with one tool!
The multi-tool is also light, weighing under 9 ounces, and its spring-loaded jaw makes it easy for one-handed use. In addition, it comes with a sweet nylon sheath and a Bear Grylls’ pocket survival guide, which has survival basics designed to help keep you alive if you are stranded in the wilderness.
This last feature got me thinking: What happens when Bear Grylls needs survival advice? Who does he call, the survival gods? Well, maybe he calls you, yeah that’s right, you.
How to Win a Bear Grylls’ Ultimate Multi-Tool
If you want to win this multi-tool all you have to do is advise Bear on how to use his multi-tool 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 that hasn’t eaten in weeks. The river is full of piranhas.
Bear has possession of the following things: a coconut, a monkey, two 16-ounce 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 is the sixth post in a series that explores cases around the world in which a knife is used to save someone’s life or prevent serious injury.
You never know when something bad is going to happen. Chanda Davis was in one of these unexpected situations in her usually safe South Carolina backyard.
Earlier this month, she was outside her home with her 2-year-old daughter getting a grill ready when all of a sudden two pit bulls skulked into her backyard.
According to an interview, Davis’ daughter shouted “mommy” and when she turned around the two pit bulls were making a move toward her.
Davis instantly picked up her little girl and tossed her on the hood of the car so the pit bulls couldn’t reach.
That’s when the dogs turned on her. Luckily, Davis’ English bulldog came running to her side and the three dogs began viciously fighting one another, so Davis sprung into action.
In very odd news, a mall in Boston was put on lockdown after a man carrying an umbrella that resembles the handle and sheath of a samurai sword was thought to actually be carrying a rifle.
Although this isn’t 100% knife-related news, it’s still fascinating to see how people react to weapons, whether it’s something that looks like a sword or perhaps looks like a gun. It also raises the question as to whether people should be allowed to carry objects that look like weapons.
One of the police officers who responded to the incident said that although it’s a free country and people should be able to buy what they please, people should not buy an item that looks like a weapon based on pure common sense.
This isn’t the first time these umbrellas caused controversy. Last summer, a SWAT team was called to an Atlanta university after students reported someone was carrying a samurai sword. Of course, the deadly sword turned out to be a harmless umbrella.
So, what do you think? Would you wear one of these cool-looking umbrellas knowing that people might mistake it for a sword or would you rather keep your real samurai sword safely at home?
Every now and then, we bring you a profile of an interesting figure in the knife community, such as this 76-year-old knifemaker and this lifelong knife sharpener.
