I have a confession: In my spare time, I like to watch knife restoration videos in the background.
It may sound odd but there’s something satisfying about taking a knife from a rust-covered dull piece of steel to a functional work of art.
Now, millions of people know how I feel.
If you’ve been on YouTube in the past week or have visited any knife sites, you’ve undoubtedly seen the top-trending video from Jun Yoshizuki about restoring a $3 knife to its previous $100 state.
Watch with awe.
I saw this video shortly after it came out and it has now garnered more than 11 million views as of posting.
Jun, who is a YouTube personality and chef, is known for making videos with his American wife Rachel about their experiences with Japanese culture. (He’s also known for making videos with his cat Kohaku in the background.)
On his own YouTube channel, his previous videos also garnered a few million views (including his second most popular video, which also deals with knives) so this isn’t necessarily a rags to riches story, but it’s always cool to see a knife-centric video get some love from the wider Internet.
If you can find a knife that’s as fearsome and savage as our latest Badass Knife of the Week, we don’t want to know.
The Black Talon II, a collaboration between Cold Steel President Lynn C. Thompson and custom knifemaker Andrew Demko, projects an image so intimidating that even the most fearless attacker would run away at first sight.
Described as a modern masterpiece by Cold Steel, the Black Talon II features a curvaceous blade with a swept-down point and pronounced belly for maximum damage. When Cold Steel updated the original, the team used American XHP super steel and reinforced the tip to prevent breakage.
In an ironic twist, old knife laws in Texas prohibited the carry of one of the state’s (and country’s) most iconic knife designs: the Bowie knife.
But on Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot signed HB 1935 into law, which allows for daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, spears and Bowie knives to be carried nearly anywhere in the state. The law takes effect Sept. 1.
The bill was set for a vote in the state’s House of Representative just days before the fatal stabbing at the University of Texas in May. The maniac apparently used a hunting knife described as a Bowie knife.
If you take a look through some of our comments on our Facebook posts, you’ll see countless people lamenting the lack of innovation and design diversity in the knife world. These people have clearly never heard of the Hawks.
Grant and Gavin Hawk are a father and son knifemaking team that first started making knives in 1995. Whereas most knifemakers work on making knives within the confines of the modern designs, the Hawks have pushed the boundaries for what knives can be and how they can work.
The Hawks are owners of many patents and continue to find ways to completely shatter the traditional knife design. In honor of the innovative duo, we’re taking a look at some of their most innovative designs.
We’ll kick off the list with one of their best known creations: the E.T. Standing for External Toggle, the E.T. helped put the Hawks on the map as innovative designers. The knife uses a unique toggle system to engage and close the knife at the butt of the handle. As this training video shows, there were actually a number of ways to engage the knife.
The knife was later picked up by Kershaw and took the community by storm. In 2005, the Kershaw/Hawk collaboration won the Most Innovative American Design at the BLADE Show and Best Overall Design at IWA. While the design was not entirely functional and was eventually discontinued, it showed what kinds of genius minds the Hawks had.
The D.O.G. was an early knife and among their first folding knife designs. It’s also notable for being the first collaboration between the Hawks and CRKT and it was a good one. This beefy folder was named after its locking mechanism. It has an automatic action that uses a deadbolt system to lock into place. I’ve heard people say they put the lock through the ringer without failure. Take a look at what one review had to say:
Unfortunately, it was discontinued and can rarely be found. It’s a shock such a great lock isn’t seen on more knives.
Do you hate when debris or gunk gets stuck in your lock mechanism? The Hawks solved your problems with the M.U.D.D. This was the first knife to use the Hawk Lock because it allows the lock to be completely sealed inside the knife thanks to the use of a rubber boot around the button. This prevents failure due to dirt from hard use. The lock mechanism is a spiritual successor of the Benchmade AXIS lock. It works essentially the same, but the way it functions on the inside is a little different.
If you don’t think a simple lockback folder that weighs less than an ounce and doesn’t have a clip or thumbstud can’t be badass, the Gerber Ultralight LST would like to have a word with you.
Our latest Badass Knife of the Week has years of history and craftsmanship by its side.
The original was brought to the market way back in 1980 by Mr. Pete Gerber himself. He elicited the help of the legendary Blackie Collins to design a simple but effective knife that was lightweight and rugged.
The result was one of the first knives to use all-synthetic materials in the handle, something countless knife companies do today.
The company always comes up with new and creative ways to liven up a design that dates back more than a century. Whether it’s something like the all-black Spartan PS, which uses a process called Polispectral, or its annual design contest that results in amazingly creative designs.
Well, the famous Swiss Army Knife company is back at it again with another limited edition SAK that’s made from two dozen used capsules of Nespresso.
Nespresso is a premium brand of coffee that hails from Switzerland. Single serve machines brew the coffee from aluminum capsules. Both Nespresso and Victorinox have put an emphasis on sustainability so the two teamed up to bring knives made through Nespresso’s recycling program.
If you’re not following the giant robot wars going on across the world, you’re not paying attention.
The team at the YouTube channel MegaBots Inc creates some awesome robots that they are planning to use to battle another giant robot very soon. Throughout the last year, they made the Mk.III robot, which is 16 feet tall, 10 tons, and worth $2.5 million.
So what does this have to do with knives?
Well, at the start of the year, MegaBots Inc teamed up with Simone Giertz — who is a non-engineer known for making awful robots — to make her infamous chopping machine significantly larger with the help of the Mk.III. Take a look.
Because that wasn’t part of the final design, the team had the leftover 500-pound knife that they decided to drop onto a used Toyota from a crane for laughs.
With Father’s Day this weekend, we thought it’d be pertinent to choose a knife that was made through a collaboration between father and son. Since we already featured the Spyderco Paramilitary 2 (from Sal and Eric Glesser) as a badass knife, we thought the next logical knife would be the United Cutlery Hibben Legacy Combat Fighter.
Gil Hibben is as close as you can get to a living legend in the knife community. Since 1964, the president of the Knifemaker’s Guilde and Cutlery Hall of Fame inductee has made countless knives, revolutionized the limits of design, and made knives for tons of movies.
It’s only logical then that his son would learn a thing or two from such a renowned knifemaker. But Wesley Hibben has not relied on his dad’s name or reputation to come into his own right as a respected knifemaker.
The Hibben Legacy Combat Fighter is the first ever collaboration between Gil and Wes and the results are spectacular.
Here’s a quick visual overview:
Its 5.875-inch blade features a razor sharp edge and a spear point tip with flourishes that give the design personality and ferocity. A pronounced finger choil allows the user to choke up on the blade while a raised thumb rest at the start of the spine offers extra control for finer tasks. A fuller also helps reduce the overall weight of the 12-inch knife.
There were a ton of new knives to gawk at and custom knives to buy. But one of my favorite parts of BLADE Show is the awards. Awards are highly subjective and often forgotten but it’s always interesting to see which knives take home which prizes. I recently assembled a list of all the Overall Knife of the Year winners since the very beginning of the show if you’re so inclined.
Up next is a look at a handful of the winners along with the full list of winners at the end.
Overall Knife of the Year: Lionsteel SR-11
For the third year in a row, Lionsteel took home the top prize of the Overall Knife of the Year award. In 2015, it was the T.R.E.; in 2016, it was the KUR Metamorphosis; and this year, it’s the SR-11.
The Lionsteel SR-11 is a truly impressive piece of artistry that evolved out of the popular SR-1, which won the Most Innovative Imported Design of the Year award at BLADE Show 2010. This model features a ball-bearing flipper system, a tungsten carbide window breaker, Rotoblock frame-locking system, and a 3.7-inch Sleipner blade.
Here’s another look from SR-11 owner foldersunfolded on Instagram:
Winning the American-Made Knife of the Year is the Kranos from Spartan Blades. It features a modern look with an S35VN blade and a titanium/G10 handle. Kranos is apparently the Greek word for helmet, which is awesome because if you look closely, you can see the profile of a Spartan helmet in the handle design. Subtle but awesome.
CRKT won Imported Knife of the Year with its Foresight back in 2012 and takes home the prize again this year for its Crossbones. Designed by Jeff Park of Hawaii, the Crossbones is a thin and streamlined flipper that’s lightweight and versatile. It’s based off Park’s first custom release and features IKBS ball bearing pivot system, brushed aluminum handles, and AUS 8 steel blade. That’s all in a package that’s 2.4 ounces.
(The image is of the flipper button lock version of the knife but you can see the auto version in the video.)
One of my personal favorite awards surrounds innovation because these are some of the most interesting designs. Brian Tighe gets the nod this year with his Tighe Breaker Integral Automatic (I swear he’ll never run out of knife names based around his surname). This version is the first integral automatic knife and features handles made from a single piece of titanium. They’ll make even the manliest man swoon.
When there’s a quick and dirty job that needs to be done on the fly, sometimes you don’t want to reach for your midtech everyday carry. For those times, there’s the latest Badass Knife of the Week, which is the perfect beater knife for all your needs.
The Smith & Wesson 1st Response is your classic search and rescue knife that’s built for hard use without breaking your wallet.
Coming in at 3.3 inches, the liner locking drop point blade is made from functional 7CR17 stainless steel. The version highlighted in the main image comes with serrations, but it’s also available with a plain edge. A thumb disk allows for quick and easy opening with either hand, even if you’re wearing gloves.
