One of knifemaker John Lewis Jensen’s classic art knives is in the Mesa Art Museum’s 34th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Jensen announced in an e-mail release.
Located in Mesa, Arizona, the museum will feature the knife as one of 47 selected pieces in a highly competitive juried exhibition through March 31.
For more information visit www.mesaartscenter.com or http://www.jensenknives.com.
When you talk Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© members, few carry the cache of A.G. Russell, and his Sting design reproduced by CRKT is a great way to experience his knife genius. The non-reflective, powder-coated blade of 1050 carbon steel is 3.197 inches long, and the integral handle is contoured to fit your hand.
What has happened in NYC post Sandy can happen to many. In such an instance, you need tools not only that can cut but also can work as pliers, screwdrivers, can openers and much more. Enter the multi-tool.
Gerber Diesel Multi-Tool
Features pliers, wire cutter, wire crimper, partially serrated knife blade and more. Click here for more on the Gerber Diesel Multi-Tool.
CRKT Zilla-Tool
This Columbia River Knife & Tool item sports pliers, screwdriver w/hex bits, 3-inch flipper knife blade, can opener and more. Click here for a full breakdown on the CRKT Zilla-Tool.
Byrd Knives Meadowlark2 SpyderEdge Rescue Knife
The key to the Meadowlark2 is that it lacks a tip. This helps minimize damage to whomever or whatever needs to be freed from binding materials. Click here for more specs on the Meadowlark2 SpyderEdge Rescue Knife.
ABS journeyman smith Michael Deibert took home the George Peck Award for the best knife made by a journeyman smith applicant at this year’s BLADE Show.
“I forged this knife after a long look at many historical and modern bowies. After a few rough sketches I lit the forge, heated a hefty piece of 1095 and let the hammer fall. I tried to come up with something as original as possible, yet maintain the flavor of the bowie. Even though the bowie inspired this particular knife, it is a bit shorter, though I don’t consider it a ‘small knife.’ For this reason I call it the ‘Mid-Bowie.’”—Michael Deibert
Knife Name: Mid-Bowie
Maker: Michael Deibert
Award: George Peck Award for the best knife submitted by an ABS journeyman smith applicant
Blade Material: 1095 carbon steel
Blade Length: 8.5”
Handle: Stabilized spalted maple
Special Features: Guard and pin are both cold-blued mild steel; a slender clip extends the majority of the blade length
Overall Length: 13”
Maker’s List Price For a Similar Piece: $400
Click here for a full list of award recipients from the 2012 BLADE Show.
No. 1 for knife enthusiast Nick Morgan is the Chris Reeve Sebenza. “The tolerances are so much better on Chris Reeve knives than any other production knives, and you’ll find just about perfect fit and finish on every model. I love the blade and handle shapes, and the plain, simple looks are beautiful,” he said.
The Spyderco Sage2 is second on Morgan’s list. “I love the deep-carry wire clip—for my money the best clip in the industry,” he stated. “The profile of the titanium Sage2 is thinner than the carbon fiber Sage1, so using and carrying it is noticeably nicer.”
Morgan said the Benchmade 940 is a blast to play with due to the AXIS lock. “It’s super easy to open and close, and it’s fast!” he emphasized. “The reverse tanto blade shape is my favorite. For cutting, whittling and stabbing, it’s strong, sharp and great looking. It’s the best knife to sit in front of the TV and flip open/closed hundreds of times.”
Next on Morgan’s list is the DPx HEST 2.0, “a knife that can survive heavy-duty use day after day. I love the functional blade shape and, at 3.25 inches, it’s big enough for 99 percent of my cutting tasks while not being too big that it scares people when I use it in public. It locks up solidly like the Sebenza and I love the extra features—bottle opener, wire stripper and glass breaker/skull crusher, the latter which is really nicely executed. My favorite feature is the bayonet clip—it buries so deep in the pocket that nobody suspects I’ve got a knife on me.”
Last on Morgan’s list is what he terms the “best-bang-for-the-buck” knife: the Large Buck Vantage Pro. “It has a great blade and handle shape, I love the flipper, it has top quality blade steel [CPM S30V] and handle material, an excellent deep-carry bayonet clip, it’s USA made and has a nice, slim profile. Best of all,” he added, “it’s less than half the cost of every other knife on my list.”
For more EDC knives, check out this selection at ShopBlade.com.
The Custom Knife Collectors Association (CKCA) announced it has raised $6,598.30 for the Jimmy V Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
The money was raised through the CKCA’s raffle of a special bowie made by ABS master smiths/CKCA members Larry Fuegen and Tim Hancock. The winner was knifemaker/CKCA member Joel Chamblin.
The CKCA’s contributions to date to cancer research projects totals $34,053.30.
According to Knife Rights, the California Court of Appeals last week reversed a lower court’s ruling that a knife that could be “wrist-flicked” open was a “switchblade.”
The lower court made the faulty ruling despite an explicit provision in California law that distinguishes and protects one-hand opening and assisted-opening knives with a bias towards closure and despite prior Appellate Court rulings upholding that exception. These common folding knives represent over 80 percent of the U.S. market and the California legislature clearly wanted them to be legal when they clarified the original switchblade law as follows:
“‘Switchblade knife’ does not include a knife that opens with one hand utilizing thumb pressure applied solely to the blade of the knife or a thumb stud attached to the blade, provided that the knife has a detent or other mechanism that provides resistance that must be overcome in opening the blade, or that biases the blade back toward its closed position.”
This is essentially the same exemption that was added to the Federal Switchblade Act as a result of the knife industry banning together to help clarify the federal definition in 2009.
“We laud the Appeals Court on its decision and a well-written opinion, but it is unfortunate that the defendant had to undergo the extreme harassment and stress to him and his family and friends that comes with such an experience due to the ignorance and apparent anti-knife bias of the law enforcement officer, prosecutors and the lower court involved,” Knife Rights indicated in a statement. “We’d also like to acknowledge the successful efforts of the defendant’s court appointed lawyer who presented a strong defense. Hopefully, this will be the end of this sordid travesty of justice by the state and there will be no further appeal.”
You can read the Appeals Court opinion here: www.kniferights.org/G045929.pdf
