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.
SHOT Show to Stay in Vegas. Let it Ride!
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, owners of the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show®, and Reed Exhibitions, producers of the SHOT Show, have reached an agreement with Las Vegas Sands Corp. to present the SHOT Show at the Sands Expo and Convention Center through 2014.
“SHOT Show attendees have made it clear to us that Las Vegas is their city of choice, and this agreement allows the National Shooting Sports Foundation to meet their expectations and to continue our great relationship with the city and the Las Vegas Sands Corp.,” said Steve Sanetti, president and CEO of NSSF, trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry. “The Sands has responded to our requests for improvements to the venue that have been very favorably commented upon by exhibitors and attendees alike, and this was a key factor in our decision.”
History Channel Features Ka-Bar Knives
Ka-Bar Knives is set to star in the premier episode of the new History Channel series What People Earn. What better theme than “Beer, Knives & Football” for the initial episode of the show, and at 115 years old and going strong, is there a better fit than Ka-Bar for the show, starring alongside Samuel Adams, the famous brewer? It’s time to kick back, relax, grab a brew, and watch What People Earn while mindlessly, though carefully, opening and closing your Ka-Bar pocketknife.
A companion piece on the new show and KA-BAR Knives will run in the March 10 issue of Parade Magazine.
What People Earn will air at 10 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 10 on History Channel 2. History Channel 2 can be found on DirecTV channel 271. Dish Network subscribers can find the premier of What People Earn on channel 121. For cable subscribers, please check your local listings. For additional information, please visit History.com. To learn more about KA-BAR Knives, please visit KA-BAR.com or call 800-282-0130.
Tracking Knife Trends
There aren’t many dull, boring or mundane trends, and for good reason.
Knifemakers embrace the old saying, “change is constant.” The “same old, same old” never catches on with a new generation. Knife craftsmen strive for fascinating and innovative ways of blade building, and collectors seek out the rare and unusual.
Eventually knifemakers find something modern that is not only aesthetic and utilitarian, but it also catches on with other artists. That’s the start of a trend. 
You get the idea—trends are born out of creative thinking and design capabilities, and not from copying old patterns without any tweaking, improving or thinking outside of the box.
Sure, some trends have staying power. There are many new trends to take in, like dimpled, sculpted, grooved and glass-beaded knives, for example. 
It is a trend in knives that presented itself to me while I poured over 1,000s of images from knife photographers for possible inclusion in the Knives 2014 book, now available and a gorgeous book, if I may say so myself, but not because of anything I did. It’s the knives and images thereof that make it a handsome title, and the Trends, State Of The Art, Factory Trends and Feature articles therein.
Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for new knife trends in the industry, particularly if you’re a collector, investor or general enthusiast with a habit of accumulating custom or production pieces.
Knife For Veteran’s Day
On Veteran’s Day (11/11/13), U.S. Elite Gear, in collaboration with Rustick Knives, plans to introduce a limited-edition (you guessed it, only 11 knives will be released initially) fixed-blade “Kraken” model for sale through U.S. Elite’s website, www.US-EliteGear.com. The Kraken features a 6-inch, recurved, tan-Cerakote™-treated blade of 1/4-inch-thick 80CrV2 tool steel, black G-10 handle scales and a “coyote”-brown Kydex® sheath with a Blade-Tech clip for attachment to gear.
Designed by SGM Jack Stottlemire (retired), founder of Rustick Knives, and U.S. Elite’s Jim Erwin, former Army Ranger and 1st SFOD-D operator, who the knife is inspired after, the knife is manufactured in the Rustick Knives production facility in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
“Having served for 26 years as a Marine, paratrooper and Special Operations soldier, with 12 combat tours, I know firsthand that a soldier needs a good strong knife that is not going to fail,” stated Stottlemire. “Just about every soldier on the battlefield carries a fixed-blade knife on his kit, it just feels right, and is one of those essential items that we all must have.
The 11 limited-edition Kraken knives will be available for purchase for $350 each through www.US-EliteGear.com on November 11th, Veterans Day. After those are exhausted, un-serialized knives will be available for $299 each.
For other tactical fixed blades, click here.
YOUR Knife-Of-The-Year® Award
For only the second time in BLADE Show history, a Knife-Of-The-Year® Award will be chosen by knife enthusiasts just like you. Log on to www.blademag.com/2015-peoples-choice and vote for your favorite knife, as submitted by knife companies and knifemakers that will be at the BLADE Show. The knife with the most votes will win the People’s Choice Knife-Of-The-Year Award, to be presented June 6 at the 2015 BLADE Show in Atlanta.
Show your support, have fun, and tell your friends! Voting is open now!
Loveless Book Now Available
“You have to know within yourself that you can do it. If you can work a wrench, use a screwdriver or hammer a nail, you can make a knife.” ~ Bob Loveless
The legacy of Bob Loveless
All of the knife industry has been touched by the late Bob Loveless, a pioneer in knifemaking. We at F+W Media are humbled and proud to have had the opportunity, just months before his death, to work with Mr. Loveless on a book showcasing his knifemaking legacy. Knifemaking with Bob Loveless: Build Knives with a Living Legend, by Author Durwood Hollis, is an inspiration for all knife enthusiasts.
Widely recognized as the father of the modern custom knife movement, Mr. Loveless popularized the dropped hunter, Big Bear sub-hilt fighter and other knives, and, along with Richard Barney, co-wrote How to Make Knives, the precursor to this book.
For this project, he generously allowed Mr. Hollis unprecedented access to his workshop and his life, revealing his methods for creating a knife, including tempering and design, the materials and tools he used, and his recommendations for the care of your knife.
He was an innovator in his field and this book is a tribute to him and his craft. The pages of Knifemaking with Bob Loveless: Build Knives with a Living Legend, present:
- Exclusive access and interviews, color photos and insight into the world’s most famous knifemaker and his private knifemaking shop
- Spectacular photo gallery of famous Loveless knives and patterns, including never-before published images of custom Loveless knives
- Insider information on how Bob Loveless grinds, heat-treats and tempers his blades
- Step-by-step knifemaking techniques by Bob Loveless as told to author Durwood Hollis
- Tips from Bob Loveless on field use, handling and care of his or any knives
- Foreword by A.G. Russell, proprietor and publisher of the largest mail order knife company and catalog in existence—A.G. Russell Knives and “Russell’s For Men”
Check out: http://www.shopblade.com/product/knifemaking-with-bob-loveless/
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