BLADE Staff

Facebook Puts the Screws to the Knife Community

Facebook’s new policy for Pages, effective now, means it will be even more challenging for knifemakers, companies, enthusiasts and websites to reach their audiences on the site. From a Facebook blog post:

Because space in News Feed is limited, showing more posts from friends and family and updates that spark conversation means we’ll show less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses.

As we make these updates, Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease. The impact will vary from Page to Page, driven by factors including the type of content they produce and how people interact with it. Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.

Basically, this means Facebook users will see fewer posts from the Pages they Like in their newsfeeds. Unless the Page pays for an ad, of course.

But that isn’t an option for knife-centric pages. Facebook will refuse ads that feature “weapons,” and that includes legal knives from legitimate organizations. It doesn’t matter if the Page sells knives or not, or if the ad’s content is tame. If there’s a knife in it, Facebook will refuse the ad.

So what are the alternatives?

The only option here is to look elsewhere to spend ad dollars and grow audiences (follow BLADE on Twitter here). Maintain those existing Facebook Pages, because the rules could change later, but focus on building followers on other platforms. 

If I could be so bold, we here at BLADE magazine offer plenty of alternatives to getting the word out.

Todd Begg Talks Early BLADE Magazine Influences

Renowned knifemaker Todd Begg recently made the move from California to Texas, which kicked off a profile by The Dallas Morning News. He talks about how BLADE magazine sparked his knifemaking career in this video:

Begg briefly mentions the controversy with the use of his name to sell knives, something the knife community has been watching closely, but the majority of the article focuses on his craft.

Read the full article here.

Trench Knives Still Illegal in Texas

It’s legal to carry most knives in Texas since restrictions relaxed last September, but that doesn’t go for trench knives. From the Dallas Observer:

It’s a lesson local construction worker Christopher Sparks learned when he was arrested over the weekend for possession of prohibited weapon. A Royse City police officer told him that he was under arrest for having brass knuckles, a Class A misdemeanor, and took him to the Rockwall County Jail.

Now Sparks is facing a fine of up to $4,000 and up to a year in jail. He’ll also have a permanent criminal record attached to his name, making it harder to find work and places to live, unless he pays an attorney to have his record expunged.

“I was just trying to get home from work,” Sparks says.

This is a perfect example of how nuance in knife laws creates more problems than solutions. Were Sparks in possession of a dagger instead of a trench knife, he wouldn’t be looking at a four grand tab and a year in the cooler.

Read the full article here.

P.S. Construction workers take the brunt of knife laws like this one. Just ask the blue collars, largely from minority backgrounds, in Manhattan. When even The New York Times editorial board thinks it’s the wrong approach, you know you’ve got an ugly law on the books.

Attend a Knife Show in February and March

FEB. 2-4 LAKELAND, FL
The 40th Annual Gator Cutlery Club Knife Show
Lakeland Center. Call Dan Piergallini 813-754-3908 or 813-967-1471.

FEB. 10 WYOMING, MI
West Michigan Edge Show, the K of C Hall. Call Mike 616-322-5846.

FEB. 17 HONOLULU, HI
Hawaii Custom Knife & Tactical Show
Pomaikai Ballrooms at Dole Cannery. Contact JSM Cutlery LLC, Dept. BKG18, POB 1290, Aiea, HI 96701 872-356-2953 [email protected].

FEB. 17 LITTLE ROCK, AR
The Arkansas Knife Show
Statehouse Convention Center. Call 870-279-7329 arknife.com.

FEB. 24 OZARK, MO
The 21st Annual Spring Cabin Fever Knife Show, 4-H Building, City Park. Call Don Long 417-485-6759.

FEB. 24-25 LEWISBURG, PA
Keystone Blade Association Annual Knife Show
Country Cupboard Inn. Contact Marlyn Kepner 570-584-4835 [email protected] or Skip Fryling 570-204-1544 [email protected].

MARCH 2-3 TROY, OH
Spirit of the Blade Custom Knife Show
Miami County Fairgrounds. Call Joel Worley 937-638-9518 or visit [email protected].

MARCH 2-4 DALTON, GA
The Knife Road Show
Northwest Georgia Trade Center. Contact Spirit of Steel Promotions 423-238-6753 [email protected], jbrucevoyles.com.

MARCH 3-4 NEW BRAUNFELS, TX
Guadalupe Forge Winter Hammer-In & Knifemakers Rendezvous.
Contact Johnny Stout 830-606-4067 [email protected] and/or Harvey Dean 512-446-3111 [email protected].

MARCH 3-4 PASADENA, CA
The 33rd Annual Knife Expo 2018 presented by the Southern California Blades Knife Collectors Club
Pasadena Convention Center. Call Helen 619-417-4329 knifeexpo.net.

MARCH 9-12 NURNBERG, GERMANY
The IWA Outdoor Classics 2018.
For trade visitors only. Contact NurnbergMesse North America Inc. +1.770.618.5842 [email protected].

MARCH 16-17 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
East Coast Custom Knife Show
Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. Contact 417-866-6688 [email protected] or visit fiftyfiftyproductions.net or ecckshow.com.

MARCH 23-24 HAMPTONVILLE, NC
The 43rd Annual Tar Heel Cutlery Club Show
Yadkin VFW Building. Call Chris Groce 336-679-8817 [email protected].

MARCH 23-25 JANESVILLE, WI
The 2018 Badger Knife Club Knife Show
Janesville Conference Center/Holiday Inn Express. Contact Bob Schrap 414-479-9765 Badgerknifeclub@ aol.com.

MARCH 30-APRIL 1 HARRISONBURG, VA
The 27th Annual Greater Shenandoah Valley Knife Show
Rockingham County Fairgrounds. Call Ralph 540-828-0778 svkc.org.

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New Crocodile Dundee Movie is a Fake

A trailer for a reboot of Crocodile Dundee caught our attention here at BLADE, especially because the teaser (the trailer for the trailer – sheesh!) featured the “that’s not a knife, this is a knife” line.

However, it now appears that admirers of movie knives fell for a brilliant piece of viral marketing to encourage tourism in Australia.

From the Brisbane Times:

Industry sources have indicated the teaser – featuring US actor Danny McBride – is part of an advertising campaign for Tourism Australia, set to air during next month’s NFL Super Bowl.

If BLADE is going to fall for a hoax, especially a well-meaning one, this isn’t so bad.

Collector Waits 36 Years for Custom Knife

As published in The Jamestown Sun, Bernie Kuntz placed an order for a custom knife with legendary knifemaker Buster Warenski 36 years ago. After delays and setbacks, he eventually received something similar. A photo in one of the Knives annual books published by BLADE sealed the deal.

From The Jamestown Sun:

[Warenski] mailed a signed sketch that he had done on onion paper of the knife he suggested, and said the price would be $550. Gulp! In those days you could buy just about anyone’s work for $100 to $200. An exception might be Bob Loveless, the famous knife designer who was charging $300 to $350 for a hunter in those days.

You can’t help but smile at those 1980s prices.

Read the full article here.

Bill for Knives in Places of Worship Advances in Virginia

Introduced by Sen. Ben Chafin, SB 372 would end prohibitions on several types of knives in places of worship. From Knife Rights:

This bill is a reaction to the Texas church shooting last year and will allow citizens to carry effective weapons for self-defense.

Listen to Oral Arguments in NYC Gravity Knife Appeal

Earlier this month, Knife Rights presented oral arguments in its second appeal in its lawsuit against New York City. At issue is the lawfulness of NYC’s ban on “gravity knives,” which it defines as any knife that can open with a flick of the wrist.

Here is the 26-minute audio recording of the arguments. It’s interesting to listen to the way these cases play out, because the issue stretches beyond the borders of the Big Apple.

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Is This Jim Bowie’s Brother’s Knife?

A few times a year, a knife with a supposed James Bowie connection pops up, usually leading historians to raise a collective eyebrow. It’s the Elvis, or sasquatch, sighting of the knife world.

The latest entry can be found in Waco, Texas, where a bowie knife donated to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum bears the inscription, “R.P. Bowie to Capt. Wm. Y. Lacey,” per the Waco Tribune.

The “R.P.” could be the initials of Rezin Pleasant Bowie, older brother to James Bowie, who gave knives as gifts.

Here are pics the Waco Tribune posted to Twitter:

A significant artifact of early Texas now resides in #Waco — courtesy of James Bowie’s big brother. #bowieknife https://t.co/d2WhWLDV1k

— Waco Tribune-Herald (@wacotrib) January 11, 2018

It wouldn’t be unusual to find a forged Bowie knife inscription, but William Lacy seems like an unlikely choice. https://t.co/d2WhWLDV1k pic.twitter.com/8lzj24hSse

— Waco Tribune-Herald (@wacotrib) January 18, 2018

From the article:

Johnson said it would not be unusual to find a forged inscription on a Bowie knife, but it seems unlikely that a forger would have chosen William Lacy as the recipient.

“There’s only about half a dozen historians who have heard of William Lacy,” he said.

That the knife’s previous owner didn’t seek money from the museum is no indication of authenticity. Neither is the circumstantial evidence supporting its origins. The truth could split either way. 

By default, BLADE takes a skeptical view with these sorts of claims, and this case is no different. 

Read the full article here.

Mississippi Moves to Relax Knife Restrictions

Knife Rights reports that it’s working alongside legislators to move HB 924 forward in Mississippi. The bill, introduced by Rep. Gary Staples, would strike bowies, dirks, butcher knives and switchblades from statutes governing deadly weapons.

As an aside, it’s surprising that butcher knives would be restricted in, of all places, Mississippi. 

Concealed Carry of Fixed Blades Proposed in Washington State

It’s not currently legal to carry a concealed blade longer than six inches in the state of Washington, but the could change. If signed into law, HB 2600 would decriminalize just that. Here’s more from Knife Rights.

This Knifemaker Learned from Autopsies

It doesn’t take much to imagine where Dr. Stephen Pustilnik, of Houston, developed an appreciation for knives. He performs autopsies for a living. It’s only natural that he’d try his hand at knifemaking, too.

From the Texarcana Gazette:

He is now working his way through a year-and-a-half-long waiting list of chefs, home cooks and pathologists willing to spend hundreds of dollars on knives that hold an edge and make clean work of anything from gnarly vegetables to sinewy flesh.

This line takes the cake:

Pustilnik, after spending years examining human bodies, speaks easily of the particular mechanics of the hands. He measures his customers’ palms and observes where the metacarpophalangeal joints—the hinges at the knuckles—rest on a knife handle.

You, too, can reach that level of expertise, if you put in enough corpse time.

Read the full article here.

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Tell BLADE with this form.