BLADE Staff

October 5, 2010, OREGON CITY, Ore.-Benchmade Knife Company is pleased to announce their acquisition of Wilsonville, Ore.-based Lone Wolf Knives, Inc. The addition of Lone Wolf Knives to the Benchmade portfolio will allow the company to compete at the heart of the sports cutlery market with a purpose driven product line influenced by the outdoors.

“The acquisition of Lone Wolf Knives will be a great addition to the Benchmade family of brands,” says Les de Asis, Founder and CEO of Benchmade Knife Company. “Those familiar with Lone Wolf Knives appreciate the extremely strong connection the brand and product has with the outdoors.”

New Lone Wolf Knives product will be developed in the coming months and will be launched at the NSSF SHOT Show, January 18th-21st at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over the past several years, Benchmade has been building a stable of quality brands. In addition to the flagship Benchmade Knife Company product, the company also has exclusive licensing agreements to design, manufacture and market Harley-Davidson® Knives and HK® Knives. Despite the recent turbulent economy, Benchmade has been able to post several years of consecutive double-digit growth and recently added 20,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space to their manufacturing headquarters in Oregon City, Ore.

“We’ve been blessed to have talented employees and loyal customers and dealers that have helped us grow despite the economy” said de Asis. “We are very excited about the opportunities that will emerge as a result of our acquisition of Lone Wolf Knives.”

Custom knife purveyor Bob Neal passed away last night, losing his fight to recover from a motorcycle accident he was involved in last month.

“I love him like a brother,” stated Les Robertson, Neal’s good friend and fellow knife purveyor. “For me, custom knives will never be the same.”

Based out of Atlanta, Neal had been a leading purveyor since 1983. He attended knife shows all over the USA, including the BLADE Show, where he and Robertson conducted seminars on what to look for in a custom knife and other topics. Neal also served as a custom knife judge on several occasions at the BLADE Show.

Neal was a leading authority on multi-blade knives and was used as a source by BLADE Magazine on a number of occasions for his expertise in that area.

In a conversation this reporter had with Robertson at last month’s Guild Show, Robertson talked about how much Neal loved knife shows, especially going from table to table in search of that “special” knife. Nobody seemed to enjoy knife shows quite like Bob, Les noted.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

(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.