Joe Kertzman's Blog

Knifemaker Michael O’Machearley, a Wilmington, Ohio panelist from last weekend’s Mike Huckabee candidates forum, was such a hit he’s been asked to go to New York City, March 10th and 11th, and make a second appearance on the FOX News prime time program. He’ll be flown to New York City to be a guest on The Huckabee Show, which will air 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

O’Machearley asked questions of Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich at a pre-Super Tuesday forum held last Saturday. The Mike Huckabee show producer said there was quite a buzz from the forum and the producers thought they needed to follow up with the “real people” panelist, as opposed to the professional panelists who also participated.

This time around, however, Michael will be fielding the questions, not asking them. O’Machearley, a self-described homebody, said he will stay overnight in a “ritzy joint” about half a block from Times Square.

The December 2010 issue of BLADE Magazine is devoted entirely, from front to back, to our fighting men and women serving in the military. Find out what knives they’re using, how, where and why, learn about standard-issue military pieces, what makers are fashioning war knives for whom, which manufacturers specialize in the genre, and read real-life stories about our soldiers, interviews with our soldiers and stories written for our soldiers. They all like to tell about their favorite carry knives, and the photos of them on location “somewhere in Iraq, Afghanistan or …. ” are fascinating.

It’s the only knife magazine ever printed that is entirely devoted to the military.

It’s the best tribute BLADE could pay to our men and women in uniform, and the staff of BLADE Magazine was humbled to be able to do so. Here’s to our fighting men and women. See the December 2010 issue, on newsstands and hitting subscribers’ doorsteps on September 14th.

This is pretty cool. Many of you know the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), a knife rights advocacy group working for the entire knife industry. Now it’s easy to support the AKTI, and get a neat gift item at the same time. The AKTI is offering bright red luggage tags labeled with the organization’s emblem, with every cent of the sales procedes going to support AKTI’s effort to protect your right to own and carry knives. You can put a luggage tag on every piece of luggage you own, making it easy to find your black bag among all those other black bags on the airport carousel; and it identifies your bag for the airlines if it is lost. Measures 4-1/4″ x 2-1/2″. Visit http://akti.org/ to learn more about AKTI and their efforts.

Being sure that future generations have the ability to own and carry the knife of their choice is at the core of the American Knife & Tool Institute’s mission and efforts to influence and change knife laws.  But without instilling an appreciation for man’s oldest tool in younger people, it won’t matter how effective the organization is at eliminating restrictive knife laws.
 

To Share the Knife Heritage with more youth, AKTI and the Mule Deer Foundation have partnered. The AKTI will be distributing thousands of its revised youth safety pamphlets through the M.U.L.E.Y. Events to mentors, parents and youth. This is an exciting opportunity to reach a lot of young people about knife safety, use, and importance in their dailiy lives.
 

AKTI continues behind the scenes in New York State and several other states to lay the groundwork for successful changes to knife laws in the next legislative sessions. The chance to own a Buck 119 and support AKTI’s Legislative Fund ends today August 31st at 11:59 pm. Full details about this first AKTI online auction, the knife and photos are available at AKTI Monthly Auction. <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=pev5ilcab&amp;et=1107392177275&amp;s=1968&amp;e=001wqsrVn6J0OeIHiM8SuOjuz-69eRjq7fB0n5WgK8a2mCao9Wv3GjXwIM0o2QYO7ZDk_xL6Dx1FaLg0rsQpT_YA6bIbSuE0rXGc07reeDkRdwCXznUefvKug==>
 

Thanks to Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT) for the September AKTI online auction knife – a CRKT Onion Skinner LTD.  The 3-1/2″ blade is premium Bohler K110 stainless at 58-60 Rc., with a high hollow grind, a fine satin finish and a 3/4 tang.  Details and photo will be on the website <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=pev5ilcab&amp;et=1107392177275&amp;s=1968&amp;e=001wqsrVn6J0OeIHiM8SuOjuz-69eRjq7fB0n5WgK8a2mCao9Wv3GjXwIM0o2QYO7ZDk_xL6Dx1FaLg0rsQpT_YA6bIbSuE0rXGc07reeDkRdwCXznUefvKug==>  September 1st. Remember, your successful bid makes a contribution to the costs involved in working with lobbyists, legislators and law enforcement.

Buck Knives has announced a Pro Staff consisting of well respected outdoorsmen and women throughout the United States. “Whether it’s in hunting, fishing or survival, these men and women use Buck knives in their field as a testament to the quality of Buck’s products,” said CJ Buck, president, in making the announcement. “Valuable feedback from these Pro Staffers enables Buck to continue to bring the most innovative products to market.”

      Members of the newly established Buck Pro Staff:

      Chad & Marsha Schearer are outfitters, guides, television hosts and outdoor writers.

      Haley & G.O. Heath  are hosts of the “Family Traditions with Haley Heath” TV series. Born to families of hunters, their love with hunting started at early ages. Today, they travel the globe to hunt all types of game.

      Danny Grove, the host of “No Fences Outdoors,” began his career filming for Knight & Hale TV, and then worked on many outdoor and hunting shows until he found his place on No Fences Outdoors. His show promotes the ethics of hunting and Fair Chase.

      Ron Hood, wilderness video producer and publisher of Survival Quarterly Magazine, has forgotten more about survival than most people will ever know, and makes it his mission to impart that knowledge to others. A highly respected survival instructor, he has taught fully accredited courses at UCLA and other colleges, and has produced and published numerous award winning survival training videos, as well as being featured on many TV shows.

     Greg Heister is the host and producer of “Seasons On The Fly,” an Emmy Award winning program that soon will begin its second season on Versus. This season will include stops at some of the great fisheries in the world including Iceland, Argentina and Alaska. A fly fisherman since his youth, Greg is combining his better than 20-year television career with his love of fly-fishing to produce this award winning program.

      Bill Lowen is a professional bass fisherman who has been fishing full time for five years, and has enjoyed notable success.

Looking a year in advance, the Board of the American Bladesmith Society voted to double the size of the 2012 Knife Expo to include an amazing assemblance of ABS Bladesmiths. In addition to that the Expo will have seminars going on and displays of historic knives from legends like Scagel.

 The Board has also approved a measure to allow ABS Master and Journeyman Smith applicants to present their five knives for judging in San Antonio. This is NOT in place of the official testing at the BLADE Show, which will remain the testing grounds, but will be the first year that applicants will be judged outside of the BLADE Show. The Knife Expo is setting up a special testing section where the applicants for Journeyman and Master Smith can display and sell their knives.  

The Expo has moved back to it’s old time slot of late January.  

See the complete lineup of bladesmiths planning to exhibit at the 2012 Knife Expo by clicking here: http://www.absknifeexpo.com/exhibitors.htm.

Daniel Terdiman, staff writer for CNET News, always thought it would be cool to see how Victorinox Swiss Army Knives were made. His wish came true on a recent trip to the central Swiss town of Ibach, and the Victorinox factory. 

As he notes, “There’s no doubt about it, a visit to the Victorinox factory in this small town in central Switzerland affords a guest a visual feast, and as part of Road Trip 2011, I was lucky enough to get to gorge on it.”

Read Daniel’s full article and see 39 pictures he took in the factory by clicking this link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20078593-52/where-the-swiss-army-knife-gets-made/