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Buck 102 Woodsman – Badass Knife of the Week

January 22, 2018 / Tim / 0 Comments

Take a poll of outdoorsmen on what their favorite lightweight fixed blade for general outdoor use and most will put the understated Buck 102 Woodsman on the list. The kicker is that the Woodsman would be on that list any time in the past 40 years.

So, how could such an old knife remain in the hearts and minds of knife fans everywhere for so long? The answer is in the tried-and-true design perfected by Buck.

The design stems from the hugely popular and successful Buck 119 Special, complete with its clip point blade, black handles, and polished hand guard.

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The Woodsman is a smaller version of the knife with a 4-inch clip point blade made from 420HC stainless steel. In less capable hands, the steel would only be adequate but excels under the tutelage of Paul Bos, an industry leader in heat treating.

Canada Customs Bans Import of Nearly All Folding Knives

January 17, 2018 / Tim / 27 Comments

What is going on?!

Just a few months after Canada joined the rest of the world (except the United States, of course) in allowing small knives on planes, it announced a sweeping change that essentially bans nearly every type of folding knife in existence from being imported into the country.

On January 5, here’s what the Canada Border Services Agency wrote on its website:

In accordance with subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code and the CITT’s recent decision in T. LaPlante, the CBSA resolves that centrifugal knives will be classified as prohibited weapons if the following conditions are met:

a. a knife has a blade that opens by centrifugal force, when the blade is released from the handle into the fully ejected and locked position with a simple and brisk outwardly flick of the wrist; and

b. it includes knives that require some preliminary or simultaneous minimal manipulation of either a flipper or other non-edged parts of the blade.

Knives that can be opened with the flick of your wrist are prohibited. This could include those knives that also use a flipper or other non-edged parts like a thumb stud.

If applied broadly, that pretty much covers the vast majority of folding knives — whether it has an assisted-opening mechanism or not. While slipjoints are safe in theory, you could probably open most of them with centrifugal force if you tried because this includes non-edged parts of the blade. (Hold the spine of a blade on your Swiss Army Knife and it’s not hard to see how you could do it.)

The ZT0350 was the subject of other CBSA disputes.

If you think I’m being a bit flippant, just take a look at how a similar law was implemented in New York City. The laws there are very vague and police have taken advantage of the vagary to classify pretty much any folding knife they want as an illegal gravity knife.

Needless to say, the takes have been brutal.

History of the Wharncliffe Blade

January 16, 2018 / Tim / 24 Comments

KA-BAR Wharnstalker

Tracing the origins of anything related to knives is difficult.

The sheer length of time knives have been used by humans makes going back to the first anything often impossible. Who made the first knife? Well, it depends on what you classify as a knife, but it was probably some unnamed Australopithecine dude more than two million years ago.

But when you have the ability to trace a single invention related to knives to a single moment, it’s always cool.

In a series of posts, I will be examining the history of specific innovations and evolutions in the knife community.

This first post will deal with the Wharncliffe blade. You can also check out our list of the top Wharncliffe Blades.

The Origins of the Wharncliffe

The year is 1820 (or thereabouts). For a look at what was going on in the world, Maine had recently become the 23rd state in the burgeoning United States of America.

According to the 1878 edition of “British Manufacturing Industries,” the first Lord of Wharncliffe — James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie — was having dinner with his relative Archdeacon Corbett in Great Britain.

Victorinox Pioneer – Badass Knife of the Week

January 15, 2018 / Tim / 1 Comment

There are hundreds of models of Swiss Army Knives, each with its own set of tools and appearance. It’s hard to pick just one above all the others, but if you only have one choice for EDC, consider the Victorinox Pioneer.

With the Pioneer being the civilian version of the Soldier — “the true Swiss Army Knife” — it has everything you need to get by, nothing more and nothing less.

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The Pioneer has eight functions. It has a large blade, reamer, can opener with small screwdrvier, bottle opener with large screwdriver and wire stripper, and key ring.

How to Tell If You Have a Real Damascus Steel Blade

January 11, 2018 / Tim / 48 Comments

Real Damascus Steel Knife

The knife world is, unfortunately, no stranger to fakes and frauds.

From people on eBay trying to pass off $400 Sebenzas as authentic to sellers on Amazon unknowingly peddling fake CRKTs and SOGs, counterfeit knives are everywhere. While I recently wrote a guide on how to spot a counterfeit knife, it didn’t address another popular question — is my Damascus knife a fake?

Damascus knives have exploded in popularity over the years, popping up everywhere from top-tier brands like Spyderco (think the Endura and others) to smaller names like BucknBear.

What makes people even more confused about the legitimacy of Damascus steel are the massive price differences. How can a $50 Damascus knife be “real” when other Damascus blades are priced at $500 or more?

Let’s dig deeper.

What is Damascus?

Before we get into spotting fakes, it’s important to understand what Damascus steel actually is.

Damascus is known for its distinctive wavy patterns—an exotic, almost hypnotic look that’s instantly recognizable. But getting that pattern the right way comes down to two types of “real” Damascus steel:

Watch Woodworker Create Homemade Knife Sharpener

January 9, 2018 / Tim / 2 Comments

Sharpening is a necessary evil when you own knives. While it can be complicated to start with, it doesn’t need to be with a little practice.

But, if you’re good with your hands, you can make your life easier by making your own knife sharpener with a few simple items.

That’s what carpenter John Heisz of I Build It did on his YouTube channel.

By using an old oil stone and some plywood, he was able to craft a homemade knife sharpener that you pull through interlocking teeth.

Condor Kephart – Badass Knife of the Week

January 8, 2018 / Tim / 0 Comments

Horace Kephart was an American legend. Born in 1862, Kephart would go on to be one of the fathers of American woodcraft and a pioneer of bushcrafting. As an outdoorsman through and through, Kephart carried a range of gear, including knives.

And like any outdoorsman with a sense of craft, he designed his own style of knives now known as Kephart knives.

Condor Tool & Knife took the design of the classic Kephart knife and made it into a beautiful and elegant knife that excels in the outdoors.

Designer Joe Flowers adapted the Kephart into something just as simple and effective. There’s a 4.5-inch blade made from 1075 high carbon steel — a tough alloy that’s easy to sharpen in a pinch. Its spear point provides a nice cutting belly along with a piercing point.

New 2018 Benchmade Knives

January 3, 2018 / Tim / 1 Comment

It’s a new year and that means a host of new knives will soon be available. Some companies like Spyderco and CRKT announced their new lineup in 2017, but Benchmade just released its 2018 catalog with some of the new knives.

As always expect even more new knives from Benchmade and other companies at SHOT Show in February.

Until then, take a look at these new models for 2018. MSRP $225

Benchmade Altitude

The Altitude is designed to be a lightweight hunting knife for outdoor use that appears to be part of Benchmade’s Hunt Series. For the most part, the knife is very minimalistic with a slim skeletonized handle. The handle does feature carbon fiber microscales, however.

Like the other knives in the Hunt Series, the Altitude uses S90V steel and comes with diamond-like carbon coating. It only weighs 1.6 ounces and also comes in orange. MSRP $230

Benchmade Fact

The Fact is another slim, minimalistic design that Benchmade calls a “minimalist masterpiece.” It has a slender S30V steel blade that’s a lengthy 3.95 inches. The handle is black anodized 6061-T6 billet aluminum. This almost reminds me of a Cold Steel.

Benchmade Follow-Up

From the first three new knives (put in alphabetical order coincidentally), you’ll notice the theme is minimalism. This little guy has a 2.6-inch blade with S30V steel and a skeletonized handle as well.

DPx Gear HEST/F 2.0 – Badass Knife of the Week

January 2, 2018 / Tim / 0 Comments

People love fixed blades because there are fewer moving parts and they are less prone to failure. But sometimes a folding knife is just so much more convenient.

For those times you need a folder as strong and reliable as a fixed blade, there’s the DPx Gear HEST/F 2.0.

The original idea of the HEST/F was to create a folding version of the durable HEST (Hostile Environment Survival Tool) fixed blade knife. The HEST Folder now goes far beyond its original intent and is now an all-around tool you can bet your life on in any situation.

Here’s a nice video overview from jdavis882:

It starts with the 3.25-inch blade made from German D2 tool steel coated with black milspec to damper the steel’s reflective properties. A cutout in the spine of the blade offers a rapid deployment system.

The Curious Case of Knives Clipped Outside the Pocket

December 27, 2017 / Tim / 55 Comments

Anyone who carries a knife will tell you just how to put a knife with a clip in your pocket. You slip it into your pocket so that the clip is facing outward and the knife itself is tucked into your pocket.

That’s the conventional way… but not everyone likes to follow convention.

Some carry it like this:

That’s not how this works. from knifeclub

In this method of carrying, the carrier will clip the knife outside the pocket — leaving it exposed and very visible. I haven’t reached out to Sal Glesser from Spyderco (who pioneered the pocket clip on the knife in the original Spyderco Worker), but I don’t think this was the original intent.

And if you think this is a very uncommon method of carrying, think again. A fair amount of people have reported seeing others carrying knives this why.

So, why would someone carry a knife this way? Let’s take a look.

They’re new to knives.

I would argue this is one of the biggest reasons why people carry a knife this way. They are gifted a knife for the first time and clip it to their pocket on the outside, assuming that’s the accepted way.

For most, a simple whisper of “Hey, it’s better if you clip it inside the pocket” is a good way to inform them.

Their pockets are too small.

As a man, I have large, deep pockets that can carry a Cold Steel Recon 1 XL without much problem. Unfortunately, for women or those men who prefer tighter clothes (no judgment), pockets tend to be significantly smaller or simply for show.

If a knife doesn’t fit inside the pocket, the only way to carry it is clipped to the outside.

The Cutting Edge

The official blog of Knife Depot