Steve Shackleford, Author at BLADE Magazine

SHOT Show: The Anniversary Edition

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January 29, 2014

The new knives, sharpeners and knife-related accessories for 2014 were the order of the week at the recent SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

It also was the scene of several companies announcing anniversaries in 2014, including: Boker (145th); Case and Ontario (125th); Gerber (75th); Buck’s 110 folding hunter (50th); Kershaw and Frost Cutlery (40th); Lansky (35th); Outdoor Edge (25th); Microtech and CRKT (20th); and Canal Street Cutlery (10th).

Knife companies from around the world descended on the Sands Convention Center Jan. 14-17 to display the latest in new models, materials, mechanisms and more. A sampling included:

•Celebrating its 125th anniversary, Case showcased a new Harley-Davidson line of knives, the latest Tony Bose factory-custom collaboration “teardrop” design and new Marine Corps knives;

•In addition to celebrating its 40th anniversary and welcoming Willie Robertson of TV’s Duck Dynasty fame (Willie was there to plug the upcoming Kershaw/Duck Dynasty knives and other new Kershaw/Duck Dynasty offerings), Kershaw introduced three new Ernest Emerson factory-custom collaborations and several of its new Black Wash handle models, including one designed by Rick Hinderer;

•Buck celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Buck 110 with a special golden anniversary 110 and introduced the new Strong Lock flipper;

•Queen showcased some new Schatt & Morgan designs and a Joe Kious factory-custom collaboration;

•On its 125th anniversary, Ontario debuted two new Dan Maragni designs: a bushcraft/survival knife with fire starter and a big machete, both sporting 5160 carbon blade steel;

•Lansky is celebrating its 35th anniversary and introduced a new line of Mikkel Willumsen folders;

•Victorinox touted its assimilation of Wenger and the former Wenger knives it will incorporate into the Victorinox line, including a number of the Eco models, as well as introducing a Carl Elsener damascus commemorative in a production run of 7,000 pieces;

•Gerber is observing its 75th anniversary with a renewed emphasis on domestic production, including three new folders in CPM S30V, CPM S35VN and 154CM stainless steels;

•CRKT is celebrating its 20th anniversary and introduced factory-custom collaborations designed by Lucas Burnley, Alan Folts and Ryan Johnson.

There was, of course, much more. Read all about it in an upcoming issue of BLADE®.

New BLADE® Hits Newsstands TODAY!

Steve Shackleford

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January 28, 2014

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The “Shoreline” kick-stop flipper by Lee Williams jumps off the cover of the new BLADE®, on most newsstands TODAY!

Need your quarterly fix on the hottest custom knives of the hottest custom makers? Let the industry pros clue you in on page 12. If you’re into knife performance, see how two skinners stack up against one another on page 36.

Looking for the latest in fire-starter knives? Check out the hottest in the genre on page 30. Wonder what goes on in the minds of survivalists Mykel Hawke and Ruth England, stars of TV’s Man, Woman, Wild and Lost Survivors? See page 50.

Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day are near. If you’re in search of sharp gift ideas with heart, see page 22. If you want history on U.S. presidents and their knives and some of the latest retail examples thereof, see page 74.

Knifemaking supply companies are the lifeline of knifemakers and hobbyists. One of the leaders of the genre is Jantz Supply. See what Ken Jantz and Co. have on tap for your knifemaking experience on page 36.

The Super Bowl is nigh, so get your kicks with a Super Bowl knife. Nick Mesenbourg made one for Matt BIrk, starting center for last year’s champs, the Baltimore Ravens. See page 34.

If sheaths and antique bowies are your bag, keep pace with our two continuing series on the subjects: Ed Fowler’s “Sheath How-To, Step By Step” and Jim Batson’s ode to antique dog-bone bowies in part one of “Every Dog Bone Has Its Day,” pages 26 and 80, respectively.

Into the international knife scene? Join Joe and Lori Szilaski as they take you through one of the Old World’s best-kept knife show secrets, the 10th Annual International Knife Exhibition and Fair in Budapest, Hungary.

There’s much more in the latest BLADE, including editor Steve Shackleford’s “Unsheathed” on the advantages of not being a knife snob, Joe Kertzman’s revamped “Knifemaker Showcase,” and much more.

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Elvis and the Gil Hibben Knife

Steve Shackleford

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January 8, 2014

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What better day to celebrate the custom knife BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Gil Hibben presented to Elvis Presley than on The King’s birthday?

Today is Presley’s birthday and a reminder of when Hibben and Phil Lobred, coordinator of the Art Knife Invitational, visited Presley 40 years ago.

It was also when Hibben presented Presley with a handmade Hibben knife.

Both Hibben and Presley were practitioners of Kenpo karate. In 1974, Gil and Phil attended a Kenpo tournament in Los Angeles. While there, they stayed with Ed Parker, founder of the Kenpo system. Parker had one of the early custom Hibben Kenpo knives which, at the time, Gil called the Ed Parker Knife. It occurred to Parker that Elvis, who had a second home in L.A. and was a karate student of Parker’s, might be interested in the Hibben knife. Plus, presenting the knife to Elvis could be a way to get Gil and Phil in to see the King.

Parker made the arrangements and Gil and Phil were at Presley’s L.A. home. When the knife was presented to Elvis, the King was extremely pleased. “He was like a kid with a new toy,” Lobred recalled. Presley went upstairs and returned with a gold Omega watch and presented it to Hibben in return. In all, Gil and Phil got to hang out with the King and Co. for about six hours.

As for whatever happened to the knife presented to Presley, Hibben said no one knows for sure. “It’s not at Graceland,” Gil noted. Maybe one day it will turn up. If it does, Hibben said he will know it on sight.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends, tips and more, stay honed at www.blademag.com.

New BLADE® On Newsstands Now!

Steve Shackleford

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December 31, 2013

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Get the lowdown on the latest knife hotbed of Russia in the new BLADE®—on newsstands NOW!

Sporting the Hati flipper folder by Russia’s hot knifemaking brother team of Sergei and Igor Shirogorov on the cover, the March BLADE features the headline story on the explosion of all things knife in Mother Russia. From the custom knives of the Shirogorovs and others, the factory knives of Olamic Cutlery and Kizlyar, and the explosion in the buying of American-made custom and factory knives by Russians, today’s knife market is warming up nicely in the Land of the Bear.

If you’re into making knives, the new issue has two stories that should fit your sheath. In fact, one is part two of Ed Fowler’s pouch sheath how-to. The other is Pat Covert’s pictorial on how Bob Dozier makes a frame-lock folder.

Like bushcraft knives? If so, join Mike Haskew as he taps the expertise of some leading makers and users of same in discussing “5 Keys To Top Bushcraft Knives.”

From the early days of Bill Moran to some of today’s leading custom knives, wood knife handles with the tiger-stripe look seem to have a mesmerizing effect on knife enthusiasts. Discover which woods have it and what all the hubbub is about in “Tiger Woods.”

The year past was a momentous one in the world of knives, and BLADE was there to cover all the head-turning events. Relive the year that was in “Dancing On The Edge.”

And, winding up BLADE’s 40th anniversary series on the top knives and makers of the past 40 years is part three of the installment on the top custom makers over a segment of that stretch—this time the top 16 from 2001-2012.

There’s much more—and it’s all in the new March BLADE.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay honed at www.blademag.com.

Today is Deadline to Stop Proposed Ivory Ban

Steve Shackleford

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December 26, 2013

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Today is Deadline to Stop Proposed Ivory Ban

An all-inclusive ivory ban that would target ancient ivory such as mammoth and mastodon in addition to elephant ivory likely will pass without your help by the end of day today, Dec. 27.

A Presidential Advisory Committee that met on Dec. 16 recommends a total ban of ivory within the USA to the task force on Wildlife Trafficking. The ban would apply to the sale of all ivory in any form and include pre-ban and antique ivory in knives, guns, musical instruments, pianos with ivory keys, etc. The ban would affect collectors, makers and anyone who sells within or to the USA. The committee will file its report on Dec. 28, so any entreaties opposing the proposed ban must be e-mailed by no later than today in order to be registered and considered before the report is filed.

The address to send your email to is [email protected]. Copy and paste the following letter—though feel free to tailor it as you see fit—to an email, and email it to the above address:

Dear Advisory Committee,

I stand against a total ban of all ivory sales in the USA.

As called for in the Presidential Executive Order, I ask that the recommendations continue to allow for “legal and legitimate commerce.”

The ivory market in the USA is stable and/or declining, and seizure records indicate that a high proportion of the seizures were personal effects lacking the correct paperwork, not the so-called blood tusks reported on by the media. The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) analysis indicates that the amount of ivory by weight seized annually has not increased in recent years. We are not the consumers of the poached ivory. Therefore, banning ivory sales within the USA will do nothing to save the remaining world population of elephants.

The CITES MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) September 2013 report analysis, page 64, states, “Africa’s elephant populations are managed sustainably,” and that in 2013 the quote for permits for legal elephants was 1,350 animals. There is legal trade that can be monitored with DNA testing and permitting. Enforcing and policing a ban would require funds that should be used to support the ban on imports already in effect.

I fully support CITES rules, closing international borders to elephant ivory trade, a law already in effect that should be fully supported and enforced. I stand against a total ban of all ivory commerce within U.S. borders, a decision that would be an enforcement nightmare. Like Prohibition of the 1920s, it would cause a new wave of illicit commerce where a legitimate one now exists. Museums, antique dealers, collectors, artisans and individual citizens have invested in a legal and valuable material. Sanctioned trade in ivory that is legal (culled and pre-ban) and comes from unthreatened sources (mammoth, boar, warthog, antique and recycled products) can pose no possible threat to elephant herds in the wild.

I believe our mutual goals are the same and a solution can be reached. Please keep the focus where it belongs. To increase the elephant population, the killing must be stopped in Africa and at its borders.

Respectfully submitted,

____________________________ (TYPE YOUR NAME)

Damascus: The Wonder Of It All

Knife Collecting

Steve Shackleford

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December 18, 2013

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Ron Newton's damascus is spellbinding. — ABS master smith Ron Newton calls the damascus on his bowie “Newt’s Wootz.” (Chuck Ward photo)

Damascus steel has fascinated blade enthusiasts since 11th-century Crusaders first brought tales of it home from the Crusades—and the steel lives in style today on many of the custom knife industry’s leading blades.

One of the things that makes damascus so appealing is the almost infinite number of patterns in which it is forged. From its modern introduction on the American knife scene by BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Bill Moran at The Knifemakers’ Guild Show in 1973 to today’s array of assorted patterns, mosaics, stainless versions and more, the steel is almost always a visual feast.

Moran named the ladder-pattern damascus, seen herein on the sub-hilt piece by Bill Behnke, after the Biblical Jacob’s Ladder. Note the “rungs” that run vertically on the blade from guard to tip, constituting the “ladder.” Steve Nolte’s wide skinner herein showcases the steel known as mosaic damascus, or also “canned steel.” There are any number of versions of it, and they are most all breathtaking.

Ron Newton’s “Newt’s Wootz” on his bowie herein is another of the maker’s astounding damascus steels. The damascus blade has a “Newt’s Wootz” core with 9mm handguns and AR-15 rifles plugged into the core and surrounded by tight Turkish twist bars of 1095 and 15N20 carbon steels. The two phrases in the core read “Right to keep and bear arms” and “Just try to take them.” The guard and finial knob are of a single twist damascus. The handle is six-bar Turkish twist damascus.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends, tips and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

New Knife Store Will Host Duck Dynasty Celebrity

Steve Shackleford

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December 12, 2013

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New Knife Store Will Host Duck Dynasty Celebrity

Frost Cutlery’s new retail knife store will host a Duck Dynasty celebrity Saturday, Dec. 14.

Tim Guraedy, better known as “Mountain Man” from A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” TV show, will be at The Knife Shoppe to meet and greet customers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to the public.

Mountain Man is one of several guests Frost will have in the coming months to help promote The Knife Shoppe located by the company’s headquarters and warehouse in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Boasting 9,000 square feet of space, the new store features a wide range of knives and knife brands—not only Frost knives but also those of Buck, Schrade and many others. Swords, hatchets, sharpeners and a wide assortment of other edge-related items also are on the menu.

Frost opened the story this past Black Friday. Company officials decided the store was long overdue to attract the millions of motorists that pass by Frost Cutlery on Interstate 75 each year.

Owned and operated by Jim Frost, Frost Cutlery generates $30 million in annual revenue, including $18 million from Cutlery Corner, a four-hour live knife show the company films and broadcasts four nights a week. The show reportedly reaches 90 million viewers in weekly replays. Frost Cutlery is known for a wide range of knives in its own brand, perhaps most famously the line of Dale Earnhardt knives it has done for many years.

The Knife Shoppe’s store hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s closed on Sunday. For more information call 423-305-6911.

For the latest knives, knife news and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

Steve Shackleford

SHOT Show: The Anniversary Edition

New BLADE® Hits Newsstands TODAY!

Elvis and the Gil Hibben Knife

New BLADE® On Newsstands Now!

Today is Deadline to Stop Proposed Ivory Ban

Damascus: The Wonder Of It All

New Knife Store Will Host Duck Dynasty Celebrity

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