Steve Shackleford

Veteran knifemaker Joe Kious, popularizer of the “Pocket Locket” style of high-end art folder and long-time Knifemakers’ Guild member, passed away Dec. 5 as a result of injuries suffered in a vehicle accident.

A resident of Kerrville, Texas, Kious was a full-time knifemaker who sold his first knife in 1969. He specialized in investment-quality interframes and bolstered folders, some bringing up to as high as $10,000 apiece.

However, it is his Pocket-Locket models for which he may be best remembered. Featuring elaborate engraving, the folding knives include a small compartment in the handle with a sliding panel that slides back to reveal another engraved scene inside.

“Joe was a staunch supporter of the Knifemakers’ Guild and believed in handmade knives,” said knifemaker and fellow Guild member Edmund Davidson. “Joe had a wonderful personality, was very easy to speak with and would tell you anything you wanted to know. He held nothing back and had no secrets. His knives reflected a great deal of thought, craftsmanship and artistry. He was a true master and genuine person. He will be sorely missed. When we lose a man of his caliber, we are all diminished.”

“Joe was a gentleman who loved his family, friends, enjoyed shooting, fine scotch and making knives,” noted Michael Donato of KnifePurveyor.com. “Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.”

A member of a close-knit group of Texas-based Guild knifemakers that includes Warren Osborne, Tom Overeynder and others, the stately Kious was liked and respected by most everyone who knew him in the industry. A lean, handsome man with a full head of grey-white hair, he was soft-spoken but never at a loss for words or a well-thought-out opinion.

Though he did not make BLADE® Magazine’s 40th anniversary list of top knifemakers—he received enough votes to make honorable mention—his Pocket Locket was chosen No. 6 among the most important custom knives of the period from 2001-2012 in the magazine’s 40th anniversary list of top custom knives.

“Joe’s Pocket Locket is important because it is the most flexible engraving platform ever offered,” noted custom knife purveyor Paul Shindler of KnifeLegends. “It includes many models and styles but offers pretty much endless possibilities for the imagination of any collector. The Pocket Locket may be the most important engravable knife ever conceived.”

Added Donato, the Pocket Locket “has a very high ‘cool factor’ to it and has served as a canvas for many of the best engravers to work their magic. Joe’s Pocket Lockets are featured in many books, magazines and great collections worldwide.”

Edward Francis Halligan—better known as Ed—designer of the revolutionary K.I.S.S. folding knife and long-time custom knifemaker, passed away Saturday. He was 81.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 22 at Hillcrest Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia, under the direction of Gamble Funeral Service of Savannah.

An aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Air Force from 1953-57, Ed also worked for Delta for 37 years. He founded Halligan and Son Knives in 1985 and became a member of the Knifemakers’ Guild in 1990 and the American Bladesmith Society in 1992. He received his ABS master smith rating in 1996 and the B.R. Hughes Award for the best knife submitted by a master smith applicant the same year.

Ed’s K.I.S.S. custom folder took the world of knives by storm in the late 1990s at such venues as the Guild Show and the BLADE Show. Halligan signed a collaboration deal with CRKT to reproduce the K.I.S.S.—”Keep It Super Simple”—and the knife won the BLADE Magazine 1998 Imported Knife Of The Year®. CRKT officials heaped praise on the K.I.S.S., calling it one of the knives that put CRKT on the map, and the neat little folder became one of the most popular and most copied knife designs in the world. It also spawned any number of designs based on the K.I.S.S. in the CRKT line, including the Delilah’s P.E.C.K., Sweet K.I.S.S. and others.

According to a CRKT release, “Ed’s passion for knifemaking and his zest for life were an inspiration to all. He will be profoundly missed. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Beverly Ann Halligan, and the rest of his family during this difficult time.”

Ed had an outgoing personality and a lively, quick wit. He made many friends in the industry and stayed active into his later years, including riding his recumbent bike.

He was the second custom knifemaker designer for CRKT to recently pass away, the other being BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Kit Carson.

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KNIVES 2015

See the latest knives, swords, and edges of all types, and explore the latest trends in blades, steels, styles, and materials. Gaze upon a “State of the Art” section parading engraved, scrimshawed, jewel-inlaid, carved, etched, sculpted and forge-welded, and Damascus and mosaic-damascus knives. Click here.

In recognition of Veterans Day, Case, Zippo and two Medal Of Honor recipients will install an exclusive Medal Of Honor commemorative knife and lighter set in the Zippo/Case Museum today in Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Medal Of Honor awardees Sammy Davis and Harold Fritz, both of whom received the country’s most prestigious military honor for their gallant actions during the Vietnam War, will lead the ceremonies, which begin today at 3 p.m. Others who will help lead the ceremonies will be Greg Booth, Zippo/CASE CEO, and George Duke, owner and chairman of the board for Zippo/Case.

The Case trapper features a red, white and blue themed bone handle, intricately laser-engraved with images of an American eagle, American flag and a reproduction of the Medal Of Honor Society seal. The Zippo lighter features a high-polish chrome Armor case with deep dimensional engraving, a 24k-gold repro of the MOH seal and a heavy gold-plated inside unit.

Sometimes known as the “real” Forrest Gump because his heroic acts and MOH citation were the basis for Gump’s Vietnam story, Davis was able to hold off an overwhelming force of Vietcong long enough to tend to three wounded GIs on the other side of the river from his original position. He couldn’t swim so he paddled across the river on an air mattress, and other GIs followed him. He gave all the wounded soldiers morphine and provided cover fire before returning to the fight, where he was wounded. He carried a Case pocketknife throughout his tour of duty.

Fritz led a point-blank charge on a North Vietnamese position in Quan Loi and was hit several times by shrapnel and small arms fire. He later returned to the battlefield to find his Zippo lighter, a present from his wife, that had been in his left breast pocket and stopped a bullet, saving his life.

For more on today’s ceremonies, contact Amanda Kleps at [email protected] or call 814-368-2992.

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KNIVES 2015

See the latest knives, swords, and edges of all types, and explore the latest trends in blades, steels, styles, and materials. Gaze upon a “State of the Art” section parading engraved, scrimshawed, jewel-inlaid, carved, etched, sculpted and forge-welded, and Damascus and mosaic-damascus knives. Click here.