Knife News Wire

Knifemaker Jack W. Crain, designer and maker of knives for such action movies as Predator, Commando and others, passed away Sept. 7. He was 70.

Arriving hot on the heels of the Rambo knife phenomenon started by BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Jimmy Lile in the early 1980s, Crain also made a hollow-handle survival model with sawteeth on the back a la the Rambo knife. Called the LS-1, the knife appeared in 1985’s Commando. It was the first of several knives Crain would make for the movies, television and books. LS-1 was short for Life Support System 1, a knife Crain originally introduced in 1982. He later made a successor called the LS-2. He also made two other knives for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character of Matrix in Commando, the Scorpion and Commando. It was the first of two ’80s Schwarzenegger action films for which Crain designed and made knives. The second, Predator, is considered a cult classic. Crain made the knife not only for Schwarzenegger’s character, Dutch, in Predator, but also a big bowie for the character of Billy played by Sonny Landham.

Crain is listed as either weapons master, knife designer and/or manufacturer in such movies as Die Hard, Road House, Die Hard 2, Predator 2, Demolition Man and Executive Decision, among others. He also designed knives for all 22 episodes of the 1988-89 TV series, War of the Worlds.

Of Weatherford, Texas, Crain was one of a generation of knifemakers inspired by 1952’s movie about Jim Bowie and his knife, The Iron Mistress. Since Crain preferred making bowies, he said in a 1985 story in BLADE® Magazine that he assumed the movie influenced him as well. He sold his first knife in 1969 and a decade later became a full-time maker and joined The Knifemakers’ Guild. Initially he forged his blades but later adopted the stock-removal method of knifemaking.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Fritts Crain, sisters, a daughter, niece, great niece and numerous extended family and friends.

The annual U.S. military issue of BLADE® includes what to look for in a 4.0 military knife, special presentation Buck knives for a unique unit of National Guardsmen who fought during the Vietnam War, the knives from Johnny Strong’s latest movie and much more—and is on newsstands now!

What kind of knife do professional soldiers favor when they go on active duty? BLADE interviewed Special Ops veterans Jack Stottlemire, Kim Breed and Rob Cude, as well as veteran military knife designer William “Bill” Harsey Jr., for their recommendations. All give specifics and their reasons why in Mike Haskew’s informative story.

The stories of valor are many from the Vietnam War but the one about Company D 151st Infantry, the “Indiana Rangers,” is especially intriguing. They represent what is reportedly the only instance of a unit of National Guardsmen that stayed together from activation and served in combat in Vietnam throughout until being deactivated about one year later. Today many unit members are still living and belong to the Company D 151st Association. All of them were presented with engraved Buck 110 folders in recognition of their service and are saluted in the story, “A Lot of Brothers.”

Johnny Strong is the only actor we know of who also makes knives—knives that also appear with him in two of his films, including his latest, Daylight’s End, which premiered Aug. 26. Check out his movie knives—and a Bill Coye knife that also appears in the flick—Strong’s views on knifemaking and more in “The Knives of Daylight’s End.”

Also this issue:

•A test of four military-style knives in “Sharpest Steel on a Soldier’s Pay,” by Abe Elias;

•Some of the best in portable sharpeners for use in the field in Dexter Ewing’s “On-The-Spot Sharp”;

•Four of the latest military daggers and how they perform in “Daggerous!” by James Morgan Ayres;

And much more, all in the latest BLADE—on newsstands now!

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The best knives by the best knifemakers from all corners of the globe and much more highlight the new BLADE®, on newsstands now.

The best knives by the best knifemakers is what the world’s largest knife show, the BLADE Show, is about, and the latest rendition had them all. Held this past June at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, the 35th Annual BLADE Show enjoyed its largest attendance ever—and that was only after the show’s first two days, with another day to go!

The throngs had plenty to enjoy as the show named the BLADE Magazine 2016 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards and the BLADE Show Custom Knife Awards, hosted the debuts of the world’s latest factory and custom knives, witnessed the induction of C.J. Buck of Buck Knives into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame©, enjoyed BLADE University’s largest enrollment of students ever in the U.’s third annual rendition, and so much more.

Also this issue:

•The latest hunting knives for the fall;

•The hottest EDC knives the industry has to offer;

•A near-total ban of knives with elephant ivory and also those of ancient ivory appears to be the goal of the Fish and Wildlife Service as it enacts a new rule, one that could result in ivory raids at knife shows as well;

•How to get any custom knife you want!

… and much more, including the elusive “shadown pattern” pocketknife, its collectibility and the latest collector values; Ed Fowler’s take on the BLADE Show and knife shows in general and how each can fulfill the dreams of many knife enthusiasts; a knife test of two new fixed blades—the Bullnose by Fred Pittman and his FP2 Custom Knives and the Venator by Frankie Heming of Tactical Pterodactyl Knives; the latest additions to the world’s top 25 knifemakers of the vaunted Art Knife Invitational; and much more, all in the latest issue!

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Are you in search of your “Holy Grail” of knives or have you found it? Or did you find it and trade it away? Or do you doubt that such a knife exists? The new issue of BLADE®, on newsstands now, examines the topic of holy grail knives in depth with a special story interviewing those who have found theirs and still have them, and another enthusiast who questions whether there even is such a knife.

Also in the latest issue of the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication is our semi-annual story on the planet’s hottest custom knifemakers’ hottest knives. We polled those who buy and sell the top custom knives for a living—custom knife purveyors—for their opinion on the matter, and they list the knives by maker and price in “Feel The Burn.”

Are you ready to make knives? You may be more prepared than you think. Knifemaker Brian Goode has been making knives for 10 years and has written and talked on the subjects not only of getting started in knifemaking but also how to do it on a budget—including a class on the latter at the 3rd Annual BLADE University during the 2016 BLADE Show. Learn his thoughts on the subject in his special story.

Flipper folders, slip joints and tactical fixed blades remain among the world’s most popular knives. Join Dave Rhea for the latest factory flippers, James Morgan Ayres for a test of today’s sharpest tactical straight knives, and Abe Elias as he gauges the performance of some of contemporary cutlery’s most economical slip joints in the latest BLADE.

The question of whether collectible knives also should be used is one that has been debated by knife enthusiasts for decades. Veteran bladesmith/BLADE field editor Ed Fowler supplies the answers as only he can in “Collectors or Users: Who Comes First?”

There’s much more in this issue, including some of the coolest knives from the 2016 Art of Steel Little Rock Custom Knife Show; factory knife companies that continue to offer new knives in a selection of different old-school high-carbon steels; a test by MSG Kim Breed of two utility fixed blades; visits to the shops of Turkish knifemakers who trace their cutlery lineage back over eight centuries; John Doyle’s modern interpretation of an ancient Eastern design known as the kard; instructor Doug Hepler and a class on cold forging he taught to high school students on a lonely atoll in the South Pacific; the knives carried by three BLADE readers; and more, all in the latest BLADE—on newsstands now!

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Bushcraft is the art of surviving in the wild with the tools and materials you have at hand and/or can scrounge on the spot, and few if any of those tools are more important than man’s oldest—the knife. In his story in the latest issue of BLADE®—on newsstands NOW—author, knifemaker, knife designer and bushcraft instructor Abe Elias puts four hot new bushcraft blades through the paces as only a bushcraft specialist can. One of the knives includes this issue’s cover model, the ESEE RB3. See how it and three other fresh factory bushcraft knives handle and perform in “Bushcraft Blades Big and Small.”

Jess Horn was one of the preeminent makers of custom folding knives for decades, but many of today’s younger followers of the custom knife scene don’t know of him. He passed away largely unnoticed earlier this year. BLADE® remembers him in a special story on page 22. Find out more about a knifemaking legend that you may have never heard of.

BLADE field editor Dexter Ewing is BLADE‘s resident sharpening guru. Not only does he run his own sharpening service on the side he also tests and writes about the latest and coolest sharpeners on today’s market. Check out a quartet of the newest and/or lesser-well-known models in his story, “Sharpening Just Got Fun!”

Some knife companies are taking today’s sheaths to the next level, configuring them so they are easier to clean, store added items such as firestarters and survival whistles—and in at least one instance even make such gizmo-packed sheaths for their folding knives. Learn more about today’s new generation of sheaths in BLADE field editor Mike Haskew’s “Sheath Chic.”

There’s much more this issue, including BLADE bidding a fond farewell to long-time managing editor Joe Kertzman, field tests of two custom fixed blades and four factory machetes, a comparison of today’s tactical folders vs. their original renditions, the latest knives and knife accessories, mini-knifemaker profiles and much more, all in the latest issue of BLADE—on newsstands NOW!