BLADE Staff

(Note: This was not written by me. It’s a release from The Ontario Knife Company)

When the members of the US Marine Corps face danger defending our country, they rely on their rigorous training, each other, and the best-engineered tools on the planet to fight for our freedom. That’s why The Ontario Knife Company is proud to announce that their new Model 4 Coyote Brown Strap Cutter™ was recently chosen — after grueling testing of global top competitors — as the military-grade, ultra tough tool for a variety of safety and rescue applications for the Corps. Thanks to its unmatched quality and battle-proven performance, The Ontario Knife Company has already proudly provided more than 350,000 life saving Strap Cutters to the U.S. Military for use in Afghanistan, Iraq and all over the world. This new, sole source contract recently awarded by the United States Marine Corps is for over 150,000 additional life saving Strap Cutters.

Semper Fidelis — “Always Faithful” — has been an official Corps motto for more than a century. It embodies the loyalty and commitment Marines swear to one another and to their country. These are fighters who have to make decisions in split seconds — decisions that save lives. Therefore, the tools taken into the field by these brave men and women must also constantly be relied on in life and death situations. The USMC had to have the confidence that The Ontario Knife Company’s Model 4 Coyote Brown Strap Cutter was capable of saving a Marine’s life — able to cut through all USMC wheeled and tracked vehicle seatbelts and aircraft restraint systems, as well as all USMC field clothing/uniforms, including footwear. And The Ontario Knife Company delivered.
“A seatbelt cutter can help save solders’ lives in two ways: by giving them the confidence to buckle up, protecting them from rollover, sudden vehicle stops or direction changes, and by being able to cut the belt to escape quickly in the event of a rollover, fire or water hazard,” reported SGM Thomas W. Coleman, U.S. Army Soldier System Center/PEO Soldier.

This incredible tool is compact and lightweight (with sheath, the tool weighs in at a mere 3 ounces and measures less than 7” length x 2” width) so it’s easy and convenient for marines to carry and stash. Its unique Coyote Brown non-reflective powder coat finish ensures a quick and easy grab and grip. Its sightless orientation allows Marines to operate the tool either bare handed, or when wearing cold weather gloves, mission-oriented-protective posture gloves, leather gloves or fire-resistant gloves. This piece of equipment, while small, will give the
Marines confidence to buckle up in the first place, secure in the knowledge that it will do its job quickly and efficiently. Of course, The Ontario Knife Company has a long history of providing high performance tools to the Armed Forces and takes the privilege of being chosen over the competition to help protect our Marines with a key piece of equipment seriously. “We’re extremely honored to have the Ontario Knife Combat Rescue Strap Cutter receive this level of military acceptance, and have had the distinct pleasure of providing the kind of equipment that helps keep our troops safe at home and abroad,” says Nick Trbovich, Jr., The Ontario Knife Company President and CEO. “We look forward to continuing to provide high performance solutions for these demanding applications in the decades ahead.”

The Ontario Model 4 Coyote Brown Strap Cutter provided a wide range of industry-leading features that proved that no other strap cutter could match it. And the decision was not made lightly — this amazing, versatile tool was subjected to unbelievably intense testing both in and out of the field before emerging as the clear choice Marines could count on in life-threatening emergencies.

It’s crafted from rugged, lightweight, high-strength machined aluminum that will not melt, shatter or crack. It also features patented ultra sharp Titanium Nitride-coated blades, which can be easily replaced in the field in order to renew the life of the tool. These unique shatter-proof blades are flexible, impact resistant, and can easily slice through virtually any task it tackles. Plus, it comes complete with a flame-retardant, load-bearing, MOLLE compatible sheath which easily houses spare blades. This safety tool also features shackle wrenches and one perfect-sized opening that fit standard oxygen valves. Like other Ontario Knife products, the Model 4 Coyote Brown Strap Cutter complies with the Berry Amendment as it is proudly 100% made in the U.S.A.

The new book, “Spirit of the Sword,” edited and written by yours truly, Steve Shackleford, is now available from Krause Books/F+W Media.

The book includes comprehensive stories on the capital of the sword world; how to produce a hamon, by ABS master smith Don Fogg; the most popular sword style ever; how an ABS master smith visits the museums of Europe to study closeup the ancient swords he reproduces, by Vince Evans; a profile of one of the world’s pre-eminent swordsmiths, Yoshindo Yoshihara, by Leon Kapp; a history of swords in the movie industry; and the swords they used and how they used them in combat in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, by John Clements. In addition, there is a dedication to the late Hank Reinhardt.

There is also a huge directory of today’s swordmakers in unprecedented form, including detailed information on the swords they make, how they make them, the materials used, pictures of the swords, where to get them, a sword dictionary and more.

For more information, click on “Shop” or visit http://www.shopblade.com/product/spirit-of-the-sword/1

As many of you know, Bob Neal was in a bad motorcycle wreck last week. Neal’s good friend, Les Robertson, visited him in the hospital and offered the following:

I visited Bob in the hospital today. I talked he listened—nothing unusual about that. I passed along everyone’s good wishes.
He is going to be in ICU for some time to come. If you would like to, please send cards to Bob at:
Grady Health System
80 Jesse Hill Jr Drive SE
ICU 7L – James Robert (Bob) Neal
Atlanta, GA 30303
For the time being I will be handling Bob’s knife business. I checked the in box on his computer today and it is completely full and there is a problem with memory. So it may be awhile before I can respond to those emails. Feel free to email me with regards to orders at [email protected]
If you are so inclined, please pray for my friend.

Long-time knifemaker Glenn Marshall has passed away after a knifemaking career that spanned eight decades. He was 92.

He was laid to rest today, Sept. 21, in his hometown of Mason, Texas.

Glenn started making knives in the 1930s only to have his knifemaking interrupted by World War II. He joined the Navy and served as a demolition man, including surviving an explosion on Okinawa that cost him an eye and an ear and his spleen and gall bladder.

He knew knifemakers from Harry Morseth to Joe Kious. He said Kious makes some of the finest knives anywhere, and that Joe’s shop is so clean, “You can eat off the floor.” Glenn also admired the work of Tom Overeynder. Glenn recalled how long, long ago, Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer© Bob Loveless approached him at his show table and asked him how to make knives. “I told him a few things and gave him a copy of one of my patterns,” Glenn recalled. (He passed away less than three weeks after Loveless.) Glenn was especially fond of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer© Bill Moran. “Every time I saw him I wanted to hug his neck,” he noted. He said he liked D.E. Henry, too.

Glenn made fileworked lockback folders in a style reminiscent of the 1970s and ’80s—which should come as no surprise, of course—and fixed blades for hunting, camping and other uses. He said he liked native woods for handles, especially desert ironwood, mesquite burl and others. Since he had only the one eye—a 92-year-old one at that—he said some of his knives “might have an extra scratch or two.”

No matter how many scratches he or they may or may not have had, Glenn Marshall and his knives will be missed by many very, very much.

The 41st Annual Knifemakers’ Guild Show, held this past weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, was a great way to spend time with some of the world’s best makers and see some of the world’s best custom knives.

Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Gil Hibben displayed his knives from The Expendables, AKI member Steve Hoel exhibited an awesome pearl-handle folder with breathtaking gold-inlaid leaf engraving by Barry Lee Hands and there was much more. Leading the up-and-coming knifemaking contingent were Dwight Phillips with his impressive antique bowie repros and Jason Rabuck with his utilitarian fixed blades, among others. There was much more—impeccable screwless construction folders by Stan Wilson, Tom Overeynder’s incomparable doctor’s knives and others.

Knife giveaways, awards, lots of post-show things to do in and around the Seelbach–it was a great weekend for custom knife enthusiasts.

To read more, see a future issue of BLADE.

BLADE Managing Editor Joe Kertzman already has alerted you to new December BLADE, and I’d like to add to his alert by telling you that the December BLADE is on most newsstands as of today, Sept. 14.

It’s the first-ever issue we’ve done almost exclusively on knives used by the military. Buy it now before they’re all gone! The cover knife is the XM-7 EOD by Les George. Other knifemakers and knife companies with knives mentioned editorially in that issue, in no particular order, are: Burt Foster, Strider Knives, Spartan Blades, Allen Elishewitz, Justin Gingrich, Blackhawk, Klotzli, Schrade, Case, Gerber, Leatherman Tool, Bobby Branton, Al Mar Knives, the old Camillus, Columbia River Knife & Tool, Cold Steel, Bob Dozier, Aaron Frederick, Benchmade, Pro-Tech, Spyderco, Michael Ruth Jr., Byrd, Mike Draper, Todd Begg, TOPS, Grayman Knives, Emerson Knives, Inc., ESEE, Buck, SureFire, Jerry Partridge, Paul Granger, Jay Fisher, Brent Beshara, Jim Hammond, Ka-Bar, Chris Reeve Knives, SOG Specialty Knives, Ontario, Steve Huey, Pat & West Crawford, Derrick Wulf, George Tichbourne, Michael Holtschulte, John Horrigan, Jerry Fisk, Zero Tolerance, Sebertech and Bob Terzuola.