The BLADE Blogs

Those of us at BLADE and F+W Media appeal to your generosity and encourage you to join us to help support the Red Cross. This spring we donated 50% of all single-day profits for relief in Japan and your response was humbling. We thank you.
 
Today we are asking for your support to help us make another donation to the Red Cross, specifically toward the devastating flooding in the Mississippi Delta. Or however our partners at the Red Cross deem best to utilize our joint donation.
 
Today only we will donate 50% of all profits from all purchases, all products and services available via Blade Shop on www.blademag.com (and any of F+W Media’s other 19 U.S. eCommerce stores) to the Red Cross.

If you are able and choose to make a purchase today, know that you are supporting our fellow citizens in need. And if you were directly affected by the flooding, any one of the recent severe weather events, please accept our best wishes.
 

by Ben Sobieck, BLADE online editor

“2010 was one of our best years ever.”

The most encouraging news out of the 2011 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) was the number of times I heard that phrase. The annual show brought together most major knife companies Jan. 18 to 21 in Las Vegas. BLADE Editor Steve Shackleford and I stopped by each to see what’s new.

Despite a weak economy, the knife industry remains generally insulated. Why? No one knows for sure. A look at what’s on deck for 2011 could offer some clues.

1) Tactical. If the SHOT Show had a theme song, it would be the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black.” Nearly all knife companies launched or expanded tactical lines. While this isn’t surprising, it does make me wonder what will happen if the trend ends. Military contracts are fueling the influx of tactical designs. When those contracts expire or there is a drastic reduction of them, knife companies will need to look for other ideas. Which brings me to…

2) Zombies. Pop culture is finished with vampires. Bring on the zombies. And how will you fight off those zombies? With zombie-fighting knives, of course. Ka-Bar has a head start. Look for four black and green zombie knives named after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But if zombies aren’t your thing, you can also buy…

3) Knives made in the USA. More and more knife companies are keeping production stateside. For example, 97 percent of Buck’s 2011 line will be USA-made. Across the board, it should be easier to find domestic knives in 2011. You’ll also find…

4) One-off steel types. The quest for new designs is pushing steel types into obscure terrain. Don’t be surprised if you encounter steel you’ve never heard of before. A suggestion to knife companies is to educate consumers using familiar terms. “Behaves like X common steel, but has Y differences” is better than rattling off sequences better suited for Internet password generators. Speaking of familiarity, watch for…

5) Celebrity endorsements. Gerber is moving ahead with its relationship with Bear Grylls, host of “Man vs. Wild.” Grylls will use Gerbers on new episodes of the show. He also designed a full line of blades, which came out late last year. Over at the SOG booth, R. Lee “The Gunny” Ermey continues to lend his drill sergeant ‘tude. Look for more celebrities, but don’t expect…

6) Anything revolutionary. The 2011 lines probably won’t change the way people see knives, like the assisted opening revolution did years back. That isn’t to say the designs aren’t unique and interesting. But now is not the time to start experimenting, because…

7) 2011 will be a banner year for the knife industry. If it sticks to the fundamentals, not experiments, there’s no reason 2011 shouldn’t be excellent. Knife consumers who held off buying in 2010 will spend what they saved. They’ll go for utility knives and collector sets first. The knife industry is wisely offering them well-constructed choices.

In all, the 2011 SHOT Show made me feel better about the future of the knife industry. The 2011 BLADE Show in June should confirm this feeling. Look for more about the SHOT Show and new products in future editions of BLADE.

A number of restaurants and other businesses reportedly are offering free meals and/or special discounts to military veterans in observance of Veterans Day.

Applebee’s (http://www.applebees.com/vetsDay/default.aspx), Golden Corral (http://www.goldencorral.com/military/), McCormick & Schmick’s (http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/featured-promotion/Veterans-Appreciation-Day.aspx), Outback Steakhouse (http://www.outback.com/pressroom/pr_101018.aspx), Home Depot and Lowe’s (http://themilitarywallet.com/home-depot-lowes-10-military-discount/) all are offering some kind of free deal or discount in connection with veterans and/or Veterans Day.

Visit any or all of the websites listed above for more details.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 13, 2011) – The American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) is pleased to announce its support of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and its programs: the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) and the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC).

AKTI’s Board of Regents recently chose to select the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation as the very first “American Knife & Tool Institute Advocacy Partner.”  AKTI recognizes the value CSF brings as an organizing force for federal and state legislation providing bi-partisan access to pro-sportsmen legislators. 

“The two organizations worked cooperatively in 2009 when U.S. Customs’ action threatened to classify assisted opening knives as illegal switchblades,” noted AKTI Legislative Chairman CJ Buck, Buck Knives, “and we want to continue a mutually beneficial relationship realizing that when legislators step up to defend your outdoor heritage they must also protect the knives that make those outdoor experiences possible.”

On this Thanksgiving, one New York citizen is giving thanks to Knife Rights Foundation for a holiday without the threat of a year in jail hanging over his head.

The New Yorker, whose name is being withheld to prevent possible harassment, said, “words cannot express my thanks to Knife Rights Foundation for coming to my aid and helping me gain a measure of justice when things looked pretty bleak for me.”

“Knife Rights is pleased that our legal team’s first foray against New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is resulting in dismissal of charges against a wrongly accused citizen,” said Knife Rights Foundation chairman Doug Ritter.

Charges against the defendant, who was carrying a Gerber one-hand opening pocketknife used daily in his work, were resolved with an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD) in the first case in which Knife Rights Foundation lent its assistance. This citizen originally faced up to one year in jail and a criminal record which could have jeopardized his professional license and livelihood. Until the Knife Rights legal team became involved in his defense, an ACD had not been offered, even though it had been sought. After Knife Rights’ research and legal arguments were stated in an extensive brief, the DA offered the ACD rather than proceed with prosecution of the case. A typical ACD results in dismissal of a case after passage of a brief period of time and satisfaction of certain conditions (often a brief period of community service), and that was the result in this first case.

Knife Rights Foundation denounces the DA’s continuing expenditure of scarce time and taxpayer dollars to prosecute innocent citizens carrying perfectly legal pocketknives. “Police and prosecutors ought to be focused on real criminals who threaten the safety and livelihood of hardworking taxpayers,” said Ritter.

Due to their practicality and added safety, one-hand opening pocketknives represent 80% of the pocketknives sold in America today and were specifically excluded from being considered a gravity knife or switchblade by a bipartisan act of Congress in 2009. Ritter also noted that “New York’s statutes prohibiting gravity knives and switchblades clearly do not cover these popular tools.” A recent ruling by a Federal District Court in New York made this clear and pointed out that arrests for mere possession of such knives would have the unintended consequence of “transform[ing] thousands of honest mechanics into criminals, subject to arrest at the whim of any police officer” (United States v Irizzary).

“At least through the efforts of Knife Rights, this honest citizen will not have a criminal record to besmirch his good name and can enjoy a truly thankful Thanksgiving with his friends and family.”

“Clearly, we’d prefer to take a case to trial where we feel confident we will win on merit. Just as clearly, the DA doesn’t want to us to establish clear legal precedent and the ACD was tantamount to an admission that he had no real case against the defendant, just as he hasn’t a case against the thousands of honest citizens that the police are wrongfully arresting for carrying lawful pocketknives,” said Ritter.

Sooner or later, however, the legal issue is going to be heard by a court and the DA’s perversion of New York law and persecution of innocent citizens, along with his waste of taxpayers’ funds, will end. Knife Rights Foundation is expanding its efforts to aid law-abiding citizens and businesses caught up in the DA Vance’s unfortunate persecution of these lawful tools.

Knife Rights Foundation is available to assist honest citizens or businesses targeted in DA Vance’s illegitimate effort to proscribe perfectly legal pocketknives. Those arrested for possession of a so-called “illegal knife” in New York can contact Knife Rights at [email protected] or 866-889-6268.

For the month of March, enter for a chance to win a Kershaw Energ2 knife, courtesy of BLADE magazine and Kershaw. It’s free to enter. Click here.

Here are some specs about the knife:

– Uses Kershaw’s Flipper opening system
– Sandvik 14c28n stainless steel 3 1/2-inch blade with DLC coating
– Textured G-10 handle
– Measures 4 3/4 inches closed
– Weighs 4.9 ounces

Click here to enter the sweepstakes.