BLADE Staff

31% of Outdoors and Pocketknife Owners are Women

Kershaw Knives posted a fun quiz on its Twitter profile this week, focused on demographics.

#NationalTriviaDay – As of 2008, what percentage of all outdoor and pocket knife owners are women?
A – 5.9%
B – 12.1%
C – 26.7%
D – 31.2%#whatareyoucarrying #edc #kershawleek #girlswithknives #girlswithguns #huntress #knives pic.twitter.com/FR0bHoSLc4

— Kershaw Knives (@kershawknives) January 4, 2018

If you read the headline, you already know the answer. Here it is anyway:

Great guesses! The correct answer is D. According to 2008 data by Doublebase Mediamark Research & Intelligence, of the nearly 36 million households that own an outdoor or pocket knife, 31.2% of the owners are women! https://t.co/1dXKEdUasE

— Kershaw Knives (@kershawknives) January 4, 2018

Granted, that data is a decade old, but it offers some good insights into market conditions. If you’re curious about more knife demographics, check out Knife Rights here.

Knife Shows in January and February

JAN. 5-6 HELSINKI, FINLAND
The 9th International Knife Show, Crowne Plaza Helsinki. For more visit helsinkiknifeshow.com

JAN. 19-21 LAS VEGAS, NV
Las Vegas Invitational Knifemakers Show in conjunction with the Antique Arms Show, Westgate Resort & Casino
Contact the show at POB 1074, Dept. BKG18, Murrieta, CA 92564 951-970-9669 [email protected] antiquearmsshow.com

JAN. 27 LAS VEGAS, NV
Tactical Knife Invitational Caesars Palace
Call 417-866-6688 or visit fiftyfiftyproductions.net (advanced registration only)

JAN. 27-28 ST. LOUIS, MO
Gateway Area Knife Club Cutlery Fair
Carpenters’ Hall Contact Steve 314-795-4262 [email protected]

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

Make a Survival Knife with What’s in Your Garage

So says this article at SOFREP. The tutorial is as basic as it gets, excluding power tools or anything exotic to the typical household. Tensions with North Korea inspired the piece:

When you mention such a apocalyptic scenario to many people, the first thing they want to regale you with is a list of their firearms, ammunition stores, and food and water supply. That stuff all matters, and while I too maintain a laundry list of those sorts of things, many tend to forget about what I consider to be among the most important survival tools a man or woman could ever have: a good quality knife.

The full tutorial is available only to members on SOFREP, but the spoilers are littered throughout history. If you can shape something hard into something long, narrow, edged and portable, you can make a knife, just as people did since the dawn of time.

If we’re talking about typical garage items, you might start with a lawnmower blade. Draw a pattern on the metal, then cut away the excess with a hacksaw. Sharpen the edge and form the point with a file. Buff out the spurs with sandpaper, then wrap the handle in paracord or bootlaces.

That’s about as basic as it gets, although I’m sure SOFREP puts its own spin on it, too.

Survival Beer Pairs Well With Survival Knife?

Dogfish Head, a brewery in Delaware, recently unveiled its new “survival beer” called, “The End of the Wort As We Know It.” The beverage is made with fruit and grains high in nutrients, as well as 9% alcohol by volume. But the kicker is what’s outside of the bottle.

From the article at Delaware Online:

To top it off, the $45 750ml bottle comes wrapped in a solar blanket with a limited edition Dogfish-branded Swiss Army knife.

Some might raise an eyebrow at the combo of knives and alcohol, but that’s beside the point. How are you supposed to survive the Apocalypse with only 750 mils of blues-chaser?

It’s New Knife Catalog Season

Now is when knife companies roll out their new catalogs. Head to your favorite companies’ website and download the PDF or order a print version (they’re free). BLADE will cover the latest and greatest here and in the print magazine, but you can get a jump on it now, too.

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$10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Blade HQ

If you want to know what kind of a year 2017 was for knives, it’s best to start by asking a retailer. Blade HQ put together a nice roundup of its top seven best sellers. Spoiler alert: The number one spot goes to a knife priced at $10.

Prediction: Best-Selling Chef Knife of 2018

Not one to be late to the party, Gadget Review is already calling 2018’s best-selling chef knife as the 10-inch Shun Classic. From the article:

Forged with 33 layers of high-carbon VG10 steel at a 16-degree angle, the Shun Classic is the perfect beginner’s knife for anyone who’s looking to upgrade their cutlery game and want a knife that will last them for the long haul. A Rockwell hardness rating of 61 means you’ll rarely have to re-sharpen it on your own, while its resin-impregnated Pakkawood handle fits comfortably in any size hand.

We here are BLADE will provide all the fainting couches you need to deal with the shock of a Shun knife on a list of best blades for the kitchen. I doubt we’ll be busy.

A Knife Made Out of a Solid Piece of Fish

Katsuobushi is a smoked and dried type of tunafish used in Japanese cuisines. It’s also about as hard a food as you can find. That’s why it’s shaved into flakes and used as a base for soups or sauces. 

So why not make it into a knife?

Knives and Political Commemoratives: Pure Americana

Mentioned only in passing in the article here at the Hartford Courant, there apparently exists a switchblade made to commemorate President John F. Kennedy’s run for the White House. It’s now on display at a museum that celebrates the “Kennedy Mystique.” 

A switchblade, made during his campaign, has a carved face that bears little resemblance to JFK.

A photo was not attached to the article.

Pairing politics with commemorative knives is an act of undiluted Americana that continues to this day. At the 2016 BLADE Show, in the heat of a summer of politicking, presidential candidates’ faces and slogans adorned many knives and accessories. 

This is a good sign for collectors. Wait a while, and that political commemorative – even if it features a face bearing “little resemblance” to a candidate – could fetch a nice price.

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Custom Knives Heating Up in Australia

Australian knifemaker Leila Haddad is impressive for many reasons. She’s only 14, but she’s already turning out forged blades that fetch thousands of dollars. This profile from ABC in Australia is worth reading for those reasons, but one quote from the young knifemaker should be highlighted:

“I think there is still a future for knife making, because people are starting to realise again the importance of handmade things,” she said.

Read the full article here.

Buck Knives Makes 1,500,000th Knife

Buck Knives announced last month that it reached the 1.5 million mark for total knives produced at its Idaho facility. A Model 119 Special took home the title of the 1,500,000th knife. That’s no accident.

From Buck:

This milestone was achieved due to the increased USA production needs and sales on their 119 Special and 110 Automatic models.

Knife Restrictions Re-Introduced in Kansas

Introduced in the closing days of 2017, a proposal in Kansas is looking to renew some expired knife prohibitions. From Knife Rights:

HB 2442 is ostensibly a “bump stock” ban bill, but it sneakily also would reinstate “dagger, dirk, … dangerous knife, straight-edged razor, stiletto” as prohibited knives.

Read more here.

Video: Heat Treating 154CM Stainless Steel

Nothing beats stepping inside a knifemaker’s shop and watching how the magic happens. Knifemaker Kyle Daily, of KH Daily Knives, generously shared this video showing how he treats 154CM stainless. 

BLADE staff found this video on Twitter. Are you following us? You should be.

Gerber & Boy’s Life Team Up to Clean Filthy Pocketknives

Boy’s Life put together a great spread on cleaning pocketknives, with some assistance from Gerber. It’s basic, sure, but it’s full of great tips, such as using toothbrushes to clean serrations.

Read the full piece here.

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