BLADE Staff

Collectibles Retailer Partners With World-Class Designers
 
Moultrie, GA – (January 26, 2011)

United® Cutlery, industry leader in licensed adult collectibles, is proud to announce new partnerships with three custom designers: Mykel Hawke, Wesley Hibben and Mikkel Willumsen. Their world-class custom designs and innovative ideas will allow United® Cutlery to discover the newest mechanisms, modern materials and custom finishing techniques.

Mykel Hawke is a U.S. Army Special Forces Veteran and Co-founder and Director of Specops, an international tourism and training company. Hawke stars in Discovery Channel’s hit survival series, MAN, WOMAN, WILD. Hawke also serves as a media personality in TV and film and is the author of two bestselling books, Hawke’s Green Beret Survival Manual (Running Press) and The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Foreign Languages Fast! (Paladin). Renown for his survival skills and tactics, Mykel Hawke brings his talents and real field experience to his exclusive knife designs. Hawke’s designs prove to be the most useful all-purpose utilitarian survival knives on the market today.

Wesley Hibben has been making knives since he was eight years old, having learned the craft of knifemaking from his father, Hall of Fame knifemaker Gil Hibben. Hibben makes a variety of knives including fantasy, hunting and tactical knives. Hibben spends his time knifemaking and teaching Kenpo Karate in Anchorage, Alaska. Renown for his survival skills and tactics, Wesley Hibben brings his talents and real life experience as an avid hunter and fisherman in Alaska to his exclusive knife designs. Hibben’s designs are quickly becoming recognized on the market today.

Mikkel Willumsen graduated as a teacher in metal and woodwork and decided that since he was always interested in knives as a child, knifemaking was what he would do. Willumsen has been a custom knifemaker for the past ten years in Copenhagen, Denmark, calling his designs Urban Tactical. Specializing in folders, fixed blades and balisongs, Willumsen’s designs are based on functionality and quality, mixing classical designs with modern tactics. Willumsen also makes kitchen knives that have been used on Danish National Television and TV2 “Goodmorning Denmark” for several years.

“I am excited to add three talented designers to the United® team,” said Clint Kadel, CEO and owner of United® Cutlery. “These new designers will help United® continue to offer the most innovative and functional designs in the industry.”

This is our first of many charity auctions, just visit KnifeBoker.com and look for the charity auction tag.
Also if you have a charity that you would like us to consider, please let us know.
100% of the proceeds from this auction will go directly to ARMOR4TROOPS.ORG

ARMOR 4 TROOPS FOUNDATION
NEEDS YOUR HELP AND 100 PERCENT OF THE PROCEEDS FROM THIS AUCTION
WILL GO DIRECTLY TO THEIR FOUNDATION
The ARMOR 4 TROOPS FOUNDATION is soley dedicated to the constructive efforts of supporting our American Troops. Your donation will directly benefit our American Troops who are risking their lives everyday in service to our country so that we may all continue to live in freedom with liberty at home.
Please visit ARMOR4TROOPS.ORG and help support our troops. GOOD LUCK BIDDING !!

Sibert 755BK MPR
Benchmade – Made In The USA

Many in the knife industry were saddened last week with the passing of veteran knifemaker, knife thrower and Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Dan Dennehy. He was 88.

We received word of Dan’s passing on Jan. 17, just before the BLADE® staff left for the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, which is why we have not reported on the story before now.

Dan had made knives since when he was in the Navy in World War II. Some have credited him with being among the first, maybe even THE first, to use Micarta® for knife handles. He was one of the founding members of The Knifemakers’ Guild and was a Guild member at the time of his passing. His son, John, is a custom sheathmaker, and both he and his father demonstrated their specialties in seminars at past BLADE Shows.

According to Dennehy spokesperson Sherilyn M. Cervantes, “We would like you to be aware that with Dan’s passing there will be some changes and they are as such.

“John’s current business “The Wild Irish Rose” will be changing names to “J.D. Dennehy Custom Leatherworks and Knives,” and under that name we will have the Dan-D Custom Knives as well. We are in the process of designing and creating a newly renovated website that will have a page on the “History of Dan-D,” as well as a page for Dan-D knives available for sale that were passed onto John. John is going to be designing and creating a beautiful leather-mounted commemorative Green Beret model with a limited number of 50. However, right now it is in the formative stages only. Below is all the new information to anyone interested in contacting John about any of the upcoming or current changes.Thank you very much.”

John D. Dennehy
JD Dennehy Custom Leatherworks and Knives
2959 Zachary Drive
Loveland, CO 80537
970-218-7128

Cervantes continued: “Our current website www.thewildirishrose.com <http://www.thewildirishrose.com>  will automatically link you to the new site when it is up and running, but right now it takes you to the old one.”