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Knife collecting is an extremely rewarding experience for knife enthusiasts. There truly is a knife for everyone. Many increase or hold their value throughout the years, making collecting knives something to pass on to the next generation of knife collectors.

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Semper Fi Blades: Celebrating the US Marines’ 250th Anniversary

Steve Shackleford
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Semper Fi Blades: Celebrating the US Marines’ 250th Anniversary

Honor 250 years of Marine Corps history! Discover the legendary KA-BAR/MK2 fighting knife and new anniversary blades from makers like Medford and Defiant 7.

The day before Veterans Day, November 10 is the 250th anniversary of some of the most storied combat fighters in world history—the United States Marines.

The Marines have a special aura that almost transcends their many exploits. And when it comes to American military exploits, the Battle of Iwo Jima is in the top two or three all time. The raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi is America personified, and the United States Marine Corps War Memorial across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., celebrating the event is about the most awesome monument anywhere.

As for those in the knifemaking community, Marine veterans are well-represented and include two BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-of-Fame® members, Don Fogg and Joe Keeslar. Other Marine vets who make knives are Tim Britton; Matt Chase; Allen Elishewitz; Doug Esposito; Les George; Brad Jennings; Tim Kell; Jonathan McNees; Greg Medford; Jeff Moore; ABS Master Smith James Rodebaugh; Kevin Stack; and Connor Toor. There are no doubt many more, both present and past.

Then there’s the iconic Marine knife, variously known as the Mark 2/MK2, USMC fighting/utility, the Model 1219 or simply the generic kabar. Associated by many with having been made by KA-BAR Knives, the knife also was made by a number of other companies during World War II, including Camillus, Case, Colonial, Ontario, Pal, Queen, Robeson, etc., and is made by several of the foregoing that remain active today, as well as others. The 200th KA-BAR commemorative of the knife graced the cover of the November-December 1975 issue of The American Blade 50 years go in what may be the best BLADE® cover ever.

As for blades observing the 2025 anniversary, the 250th USMC Trench Knife by Medford Knife & Tool is available now. KA-BAR is making a dress sword in a limited edition of 250 pieces that at press time was slated to be out in early October. At Defiant 7, Allen Elishewitz and Les George are “reworking” the USMC MK2 in what will be called the M320. Among other features, it will include a 3V carbon steel blade and a stacked handle construction not unlike the original MK2 grip but in a polymer material and a more ergonomic shape. Ontario was reportedly working on a new kabar-inspired piece at press time, too.

Look for these and other anniversary-focused knives in future issues of BLADE. Choose one or more of them if you want a blade inspired by our incomparable Marines.

To America-loving Marines everywhere, Semper Fi! And to all U.S. military vets, Happy Veterans Day!

More On Military Knives:

James Black Descendant Gets a Bowie

Steve Shackleford
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James Black Descendant Gets a Bowie

While there is still no definitive proof that James Black made a knife for Jim Bowie, one thing is certain: a descendant of Black’s received a “recreation of a James Black knife” during the Natchez Antique Bowie Knife Show last month.

 

Celia Johnson accepts Jim Batson's recreation of a "James Black bowie" from Batson.
Jim Batson presents a “recreation of a James Black bowie” to Celia Johnson.

ABS master smith James L. “Jim” Batson made the reproduction of the knife and presented it to Mrs. Celia Johnson, who claims to be a descendant of Black. She says she is descended from Gradison DeRorysten Black, the son of James Black. Celia and her husband, Jerry, traveled from Baytown, Texas, to accept the silver-mounted knife and sheath fashioned by Batson and based on what is believed to be a Black knife in the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Johnsons stayed at the Dunleift Hall, owned by Mike Worley, during the show. Worley sponsored the show, which was held in Natchez, Mississippi.

 

The Johnsons brought a scrapbook full of old family pictures and a handwritten list of ancestors and originally showed it to Batson during the American Bladesmith Society’s 2012 All-Forged Knife Expo in San Antonio, Texas (see page 44, July 2012 BLADE® www.blademag.com). Batson is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Jim Bowie and James Black. He has conducted extensive research on Bowie and bowie knives, written any number of stories on the subject for BLADE, a book on Bowie’s famous Sandbar Fight, coordinated Bowie Symposiums at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com), and much more. He also coordinates the Batson Bladesmithing Symposium each spring in McCalla, Alabama, and is a past multi-term chairman of the ABS.

 

Batson pored over the Johnsons’ documents and pictures at the 2012 San Antonio show. Among the topics of their discussion was the famous 19th-century daguerreotype that reportedly shows James Black and Judge Jacob Buzzard, the physical resemblance of the man some believe is Black in the daguerreotype to that of some of Celia’s ancestors, and Black family history in general.

 

For the latest on knives, knife news and more, stay honed at www.blademag.com (www.blademag.com).

 

Knife Museum “Dissolved”; Collection to 3 New Venues

Steve Shackleford
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Knife Museum “Dissolved”; Collection to 3 New Venues

After over 30 years of operation, the National Knife Museum (NKM) is “being dissolved.” However, the old museum’s knife inventory will carry on at three separate museums, according to Lisa Sebenick, president of the National Knife Collectors Association (NKCA) and secretary of the NKM.

The only museum of its kind in the USA, the NKM had been housed on the mezzanine of Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee, since late 2006. The original rent for the space was all of $1 per year. “The officers, directors and staff of the National Knife Museum sincerely thank Smoky Mountain Knife Works/Kevin Pipes for giving our collection of cutlery a home these past seven years,” an NKM release stated.

National Knife Museum is dissolved. (Mike Carter image)
The National Knife Museum is being dissolved. Its knife inventory will be relocated to three new locations. (Mike Carter image)

According to Sebenick, the museum’s knife inventory will be donated to three different museums: the National Rifle Association Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama, and the Janney Furnace Museum in Ohatchee, Alabama.

As for the 50 or so Bill Moran knives that were exhibited at the NKM, an official statement from the Moran Foundation was that no decision had been made for those knives at press time. At some future date, perhaps some of the Moran knives would be put on loan elsewhere, the statement concluded.

The NKM was the vision of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Jim Parker. Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the original museum was built in 1981 and was the creation of the NKCA as a separate, educational, non-profit corporation. It opened its doors in 1982. It was moved to Sevierville in 2006.

According to Pete Cohan in BLADE’s Guide to Knives & Their Values, 7th Edition, while many NKCA members were heavily involved in the original museum’s creation, it was the donation of three major individual knife collections—those of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Frank Forsyth, Dr. James Wilkison and Dr. William Rosenthal—that created the foundation for a comprehensive museum display collection.

During its run at Smoky and in addition to the many other knives it exhibited, the NKM also included the custom knife collection of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Joe Drouin, a number of club knives from knife clubs around the country, various knife ephemera and more.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.

The Knives Illustrated Spirit of Steel Show

BLADE Staff
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The Knives Illustrated Spirit of Steel Show

Knife Of The Day XXIV: Truncali Mammoth Tooth Lockback

Steve Shackleford
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A lockback folder with a stunning mammoth tooth handle, copious filework and engraved bolsters distinguishes one of knifemaker Pete Truncali’s latest offerings.

    Featuring a 2 9/16-inch blade of ATS-34 stainless steel, Pete’s folder was engraved by Tony Pitts. Closed length: 3 7/8 inches.

    For more information on Pete’s knives click www.truncaliknives.com or visit his table, 3E, at the 2012 BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) June 8-10 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta .

For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication.

Knife For Veteran’s Day

Joe Kertzman
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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.Kraken-Knife-main

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.

 

 

Ivory Ban Meeting June 24: Act NOW!

Steve Shackleford
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Ivory Ban Meeting June 24: Act NOW!

Act now to contact members of a House Subcommittee hearing that will meet June 24 to help decide the fate of the sale of all items containing elephant and other ivories.

“This is our best chance to stop the ivory ban without mega-money lawsuits,” observed scrimshander Linda Karst Stone. Though Stone and others worked on BLADE Show auction knives that should bring a “decent amount of money” to fight the anti-ivory mania in Washington, D.C., she fears it will be nowhere near enough. “It does not feel like we have deep enough pockets to fight an expensive lawsuit,” which is what it will take if the ban is not stopped before it is fully enacted, she noted.

As a result, she encourages those who value their elephant ivory knives to contact their representatives who will be sitting on the June 24 House Subcommittee hearing.

“I caution everyone not to be too optimistic, but the oversight hearing of June 24 could put a stop to this if they think there is enough support and hear from enough of us,” Stone noted.

Those on the House Subcommittee are Chairman John Flemming (Louisiana); Don Young (Alaska); Rob Wittman (Virginia); Glenn “GT” Thompson (Pennsylvania); Jeff Duncan (South Carolina); Steve Southerland II (Florida); Bill  Flores (Texas); Jon Runyan (New Jersey); Vance McAllister (Louisiana); Bradley Byrne (Alabama); Doc Hastings (Washington); Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (North Mariana Islands); Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (American Samoa); Frank Pallone Jr. (New Jersey); Madeleine Z. Bordallo (Guam); Pedro Pierluisi (Puerto Rico); Carol Shea-Porter (New Hampshire); Alan Lowenthal (California); Joe Garcia (Florida); and Peter A. DeFazio (Oregon).

For the full subcommittee membership, complete with links to contact each member, visit http://naturalresources.house.gov/subcommittees/subcommittee/?SubcommitteeID=5063. The best strategy is to focus on  members with whom you have a connection, you are one of their constituents, you have a business in the official’s district, etc.

Classic elephant ivory knives are on the endangered list.
Such classic elephant ivory knives as those by George Herron and others will be barred from sale under the proposed ban. (Herron knives from the Duncan Rutherford display at the 2014 BLADE Show)

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