Knives, knife people, knife news, knife use, knife collecting, knifemakers, knife events, the BLADE Show, BLADE Magazine, and more.
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.
Knives are a worldwide phenomenon and that phenomenon has never been more wide-ranging than it is in the latest issue of BLADE®—on newsstands NOW!
The hottest makers’ hottest custom knives is a feature we do every few months in BLADE to keep our readers abreast of the latest custom trends. This issue’s rendition includes such hot models as the A3 Flipper by “the Andres”—Andre Thorburn and Andre van Heerden—of South Africa, the Dominator by Darrel Ralph, the Tighe Tac 2 by Brian Tighe and many others. In addition to South Africa’s Andres, the hottest makers’ hottest knives come from all corners of the globe. Check them out in “You’re In A World of Hot Knives” on page 13.
Asian designs always retain a loyal following. Those loyalists have some pretty cool examples of the genre from which to choose in such pieces as the CRKT Achi and Akari, this issue’s cover knives designed by custom knifemaker Lucas Burnley. Check them and other exotic Eastern designs out in “Those Amazin’ Asians” on page 74.
Knife handle materials run the gamut in types, patterns, looks and much more. Stephen Garger takes you through the most recent examples in “You Can Handle The Truth” on page 80.
Firestarter knives are hot in more ways than one. BLADE contributor/knife designer/knifemaker Abe Elias takes you through some of the latest iterations and how they work in “Quest For Fire” on page 44. Factory tactical folders are hot as ever, too, and James Morgan Ayres tests four of the newer ones in “Tactical Knives For The People” on page 50.
Allen Elishewitz has been making some of the most-sought-after tactical folders for years and continues to today—but he’s also expanded into pens and watches. See what makes this multi-talented artisan tick in “He Puts The ‘R’ in Renaissance Man” on page 84.
Check out these and many other stories in the latest issue of BLADE.
Designed for great looks and solid performance, the Kershaw Echelon is our Knife Of The Day XI. The folder features SpeedSafe assisted opening and opens with a thumb stud that seems to “float on air,” hovering in the middle of an over-sized blade cutout. Kershaw used natural G-10 to create a semi-translucent handle that allows you to see the operation of the SpeedSafe mechanism inside. The Echelon also features Kershaw’s new reversible deep-carry pocket clip for discreet pocket carry.
Blade steel: Sandvik 14C28N stainless. Blade length: 3.25″. Closed length: 4″. MSRP: $89.95. For more information, visit kershawknives.com or Facebook.com/KershawKnives.
For more on the latest knives, knife trends, knifemakers and much more, subscribe to BLADE® Magazine. For information on how to subscribe to BLADE, click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us/?r+ssfb271211#BL1SU
Walk with knife industry legends at the 35th Annual BLADE Show June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
You will see any number of knife industry legends, including such members of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© as A.G. and Goldie Russell, Ken Onion, Bill Adams, D’ Holder, Bruce Voyles, Sal Glesser and others at the BLADE Show.
Goldie became the first female member of the Hall two years ago and, in the process, joined husband A.G. as the Hall’s only husband-and-wife team. A.G. is one of the few living founding members of The Knifemakers’ Guild and a treasure trove of information on the history of modern cutlery. Goldie basically runs operations at A.G. Russell Knives now and plays an active role in supporting the American Knife & Tool Institute and its goal of protecting the rights of all knife enthusiasts.
Want information on the history of knives in general? Knife industry legends Adams and Voyles can regale you with vintage tales of the knife industry, both domestic and international. Speaking of knife industry legends, Onion may be the world’s most famous custom knifemaker and has designed any number of knives for CRKT and other knife companies. A card-carrying member of knife industry legends, Holder has made knives since the 1970s and served as president of the Guild for a number of years and has worked closely with AKTI.
Glesser’s Spyderco has set sporting knife industry standards in introducing and/or popularizing such knife features as the hole in the blade for easy opening, pocket clips and serrated edges. Sal also has worked closely with AKTI.
Knife industry legends abound at the BLADE Show. Ernest Emerson not only is famous for his CQC-6 and CQC-7 folders but also for teaching self-defense courses to military and law enforcement officials worldwide.
Stop by and see J. Neilson of Forged In Fire for the latest on television’s hottest show on knifemaking. Visit with knifemaker Steve Johnson, who worked in the shop of the legendary Bob Loveless for several years and is now one of the world’s leading custom knifemakers. Talk to Al Pendray, the “Wizard of Wootz,” who rediscovered the method of making the centuries-old steel.
See the knives of Tony Bose, the world’s leading maker of custom slip joints and multi-blades. Talk to BLADE® Magazine field editors Kim Breed, Joe Szilaski and Ed Fowler. Hang out at the booths of CRKT, Spartan Blades, Spyderco, Kershaw and hundreds of others.
You never know what knife industry legends might stop by to visit with them—and much, much more, all at the 35th Annual BLADE Show.
The inaugural BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition for women will be held during the 35th Annual BLADE Show June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
Held in conjunction with the men’s 14th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Competition, the women’s title event, as well as the men’s, will be conducted by BladeSports International in “The Courtyard”—the parking lot of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly. Festivities will commence at 4:15 p.m. the Saturday of the show, June 4, under a huge outdoor tent new for this year sponsored by Burr King.
The tentative list of women who will compete includes Jessica Elias, who became the first woman to vie in the men’s World Championship last year, Shanna Kemp, Jessica Hinton, Terri Lynn and Nicole Warden. The winner will receive a fully engraved championship belt buckle similar to the one awarded to the winner in the men’s World Championship.
The BLADE Show World Championships consist of a series of cutting tests performed by each contestant, including chopping 2x4s in half, cutting free-hanging rope, cutting rolling golf balls in half and other tests, including seeing how many water-filled plastic bottles standing all in a row the contestant can successfully cut. To add to the drama, exactly which cutting tests will be included in the event are usually kept unknown to the contestants until right up to when the Championships begin. Points are awarded via a system that considers the most successful cuts in the least amount of time. The contestants must use fixed blades that cannot exceed specified blade and overall lengths, pass stringent BSI safety courses and observe other requirements.
In the men’s World Championship, Dan Keffeler is expected to return to defend his title. He has won the BLADE Show World Championship three years running, a record for consecutive titles, and will be attempting to win an unprecedented fourth straight. The only other person to win three World Championships is Reggie Barker, though he did not win them consecutively. The tentative list of men expected to compete includes two-time world champ Gary Bond, three-time national champ Donavon Phillips, Daniel Coldiron, Jerry Kemp, Jo Smith, Christoper Warden, Brad Stallsmith, Luke Stallsmith, William LaRue, Dwight Schoneweis, Mark Elick, Andrew Blanchard, L.T. Wright, Dennis Mashburn, Russel Cain and Mike Eubanks.
Get twice the cutting versatility in skinning and dressing game for the upcoming fall hunting season with the Gerber Metolius.
The folder has drop-point and skinning blades, the latter with a safety ball for the tip to prevent accidental puncturing of the organs of the animal while cutting inside it. The drop point works on a lockback mechanism, the skinning blade via a push button. Each blade is 3.2 inches long.
The knife sports a Gerber Softgrip overmold handle for enhanced purchase. Overall weight: 4.8 ounces. Length open: 7.9 inches.
An easy-carry ballistic nylon sheath is included.
ShopBlade’s price to you: $44.99.
For more info click on http://www.shopblade.com/gerber-metolius-2-blade-folding-knife-y6983/?lid=blss082212
The best way for BLADE® to fulfill the needs of its readers is to go right to the source—the readers themselves. If you read BLADE, you can help us satisfy your knife lust by taking our BLADE READER SURVEY.
Not only will you help us help you, but by completing the survey you will get a special 25-percent-off discount code that you can use at ShopBlade.com through Nov. 10, and an opportunity to enter our drawing to possibly win one of 10 one-year subscriptions to BLADE.
What kinds of knives do you like reading about? Tacticals, EDCs, bowies, folders, utility knives, factory or custom, contemporary or antique? Do you like to read knifemaker and/or knife company profiles or do you prefer stories on how to make knives, how to collect or how to use them? Or are your tastes geared more toward knife testing, knife design or the materials to make knife blades, handles and more? Are you into sheaths, sharpeners and other knife accessories? Do you like to read about knife history, military knives, art knives, knife shows, knifemaking schools or something else? Tell us. We will take the results and modify our editorial content to meet your needs.
All successful magazines conduct reader surveys and study the results to see if what they are doing meets with reader needs and approval. If what they are doing is not meeting the readers’ needs, successful magazines see what it is the readers want through the survey results and amend their editorial approach to fill those wants. BLADE has been doing it this way for well over a quarter century and the approach must work because we remain the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication and have been No. 1 for over three decades.
Please take our survey and feel free to add your comments concerning where the magazine needs improvement, no matter what the area: story content, illustrations, writers, layout and more. And please pay particular attention to the questions concerning how much you participate in social media. Those questions are new to this survey and will be most helpful in determining how we address the worldwide social media phenomenon going forward.
