ABS master smith John White (left) holds his Best of Show and Best Damascus from the 2013 BLADE Show as the knife’s owner, Preston Gough, enjoys the moment.
Award-winning ABS master smith John White of Valparaiso, Florida, passed away Oct. 4 after a sudden illness. He was 71.
One of the most talented smiths in the ranks of the ABS, John was known for his elegant fixed blades in his beautiful damascus steel blades, natural handle materials and exquisite embellishment. He was also quite adept at such fixed blades in a take-down construction—that is, the knife was specially built to be easily disassembled and reassembled.
As John’s friend and fellow ABS master smith Terry Vandeventer noted in the American Bladesmith Society’s Express Email, “This is not only the greatest loss to Jill, [John’s] wife of 40 years, but to the knife community. Those who knew him saw a vivacious, smart, funny, and highly skilled artisan.” Vandeventer added that there would be no services and John’s ashes will be spread on the bayou near the Whites’ home.
The little man with the big smile enjoyed a meteoric rise in the fraternity of ABS smiths, winning a number of awards for his work, including several at the BLADE Show. Among them: Best Fixed Blade, 2014 BLADE Show; Best of Show and Best Damascus (see accompanying picture), 2013 BLADE Show; Best Bowie and Best Damascus Knife, 2011 BLADE Show; and Best Damascus, 2010 BLADE Show. Somehow it seemed fitting that John enjoyed so much success at the BLADE Show, as he was among the most vocal supporters of the event.
If you wish to make a comment on John’s passing and your memories of him, Click Here. A visit there will show you how many great makers and collectors thought the world of John. He will be missed.
If you read the headline, you already know the answer. Here it is anyway:
Great guesses! The correct answer is D. According to 2008 data by Doublebase Mediamark Research & Intelligence, of the nearly 36 million households that own an outdoor or pocket knife, 31.2% of the owners are women! https://t.co/1dXKEdUasE
Granted, that data is a decade old, but it offers some good insights into market conditions. If you’re curious about more knife demographics, check out Knife Rights here.
Knife Shows in January and February
Don’t forget about BLADE Show in Atlanta in early June! It’ll be bigger and better than ever. Click for info.
JAN. 5-6 HELSINKI, FINLAND
The 9th International Knife Show, Crowne Plaza Helsinki. For more visit helsinkiknifeshow.com
JAN. 19-21 LAS VEGAS, NV
Las Vegas Invitational Knifemakers Show in conjunction with the Antique Arms Show, Westgate Resort & Casino
Contact the show at POB 1074, Dept. BKG18, Murrieta, CA 92564 951-970-9669 [email protected]antiquearmsshow.com
JAN. 27 LAS VEGAS, NV
Tactical Knife Invitational Caesars Palace
Call 417-866-6688 or visit fiftyfiftyproductions.net (advanced registration only)
JAN. 27-28 ST. LOUIS, MO
Gateway Area Knife Club Cutlery Fair
Carpenters’ Hall Contact Steve 314-795-4262 [email protected]
FEB. 2-4 LAKELAND, FL
The 40th Annual Gator Cutlery Club Knife Show
Lakeland Center.
Call Dan Piergallini 813-754-3908 or 813-967-1471
FEB. 10 WYOMING, MI
West Michigan Edge Show
The K of C Hall
Call Mike 616-322-5846
FEB. 17 HONOLULU, HI
Hawaii Custom Knife & Tactical Show
Pomaikai Ballrooms at Dole Cannery
Contact JSM Cutlery LLC, Dept. BKG18, POB 1290, Aiea, HI 96701 872-356-2953 [email protected]
FEB. 17 LITTLE ROCK, AR
The Arkansas Knife Show
Statehouse Convention Center Call 870-279-7329 arknife.com
Make a Survival Knife with What’s in Your Garage
So says this article at SOFREP. The tutorial is as basic as it gets, excluding power tools or anything exotic to the typical household. Tensions with North Korea inspired the piece:
When you mention such a apocalyptic scenario to many people, the first thing they want to regale you with is a list of their firearms, ammunition stores, and food and water supply. That stuff all matters, and while I too maintain a laundry list of those sorts of things, many tend to forget about what I consider to be among the most important survival tools a man or woman could ever have: a good quality knife.
The full tutorial is available only to members on SOFREP, but the spoilers are littered throughout history. If you can shape something hard into something long, narrow, edged and portable, you can make a knife, just as people did since the dawn of time.
It cuts the grass and saves your assets. (This is a family-friendly website.)
If we’re talking about typical garage items, you might start with a lawnmower blade. Draw a pattern on the metal, then cut away the excess with a hacksaw. Sharpen the edge and form the point with a file. Buff out the spurs with sandpaper, then wrap the handle in paracord or bootlaces.
That’s about as basic as it gets, although I’m sure SOFREP puts its own spin on it, too.
Survival Beer Pairs Well With Survival Knife?
Dogfish Head, a brewery in Delaware, recently unveiled its new “survival beer” called, “The End of the Wort As We Know It.” The beverage is made with fruit and grains high in nutrients, as well as 9% alcohol by volume. But the kicker is what’s outside of the bottle.
To top it off, the $45 750ml bottle comes wrapped in a solar blanket with a limited edition Dogfish-branded Swiss Army knife.
Some might raise an eyebrow at the combo of knives and alcohol, but that’s beside the point. How are you supposed to survive the Apocalypse with only 750 mils of blues-chaser?
It’s New Knife Catalog Season
Now is when knife companies roll out their new catalogs. Head to your favorite companies’ website and download the PDF or order a print version (they’re free). BLADE will cover the latest and greatest here and in the print magazine, but you can get a jump on it now, too.
Living Knife by Jean-Marc Laroche highlights new issue of BLADE, on many newsstands today!
The Living Knife by Jean-Marc Laroche will literally grab you from the cover of the new BLADE®, on most newsstands today.
Featuring a damascus blade forged by Sweden’s Roger Bergh, the Living Knife includes a mechanical “hand” for a handle, the fingers of which will grasp your hand in return when you grip it! Find out more about this ingenious creation by Laroche, a French knifemaker and sculptor well known for his otherworldly approach to knives.
Speaking of out of this world, ABS master smith Lin Rhea visited Steve Arnold, one of the stars of the Discovery Channel’s “Meteorite Men” TV show, and obtained some meteorite material from Arnold for use in the damascus blade of a special bowie. Get the complete story on the meteorite material and its origin, how Lin made the knife and much more in this issue.
Speaking of damascus, it is one of the most fascinating materials for knife blades, among both knife neophytes and aficionados alike. How did this storied material first come about? How many different versions have there been? Get the inside scoop on this ancient material in the new BLADE.
The American Bladesmith Society traces its creation to the man who reintroduced damascus to the modern custom knife movement—Bill Moran. One of if not the largest organizations of knifemakers in the world, the ABS presented its annual best knife and bladesmith honors at the 2014 BLADE Show. See what those top knives and who those premier smiths are this issue.
Hunting season is in full swing and hunting knives are in hot demand. But is just one enough? Find out why two hunting knives are better than one in the new BLADE.
There’s much more, including a test of two automatics, the latest ceramic kitchen knives, a Nordic knife for every budget, the sharpest Christmas gifts anywhere, how Dan Keffeler won the BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition and much more in the January BLADE, on newsstands NOW!
Butch Vallotton’s table was abuzz with activity at last year’s BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com). We need your help to get Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 scheduled for a vote in the coming days or it will not become law.
Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 must be scheduled for a vote in the coming days or it will not become law, Knife Rights reported.
SB432 makes certain that Georgia’s knife laws are consistent throughout the state. As the home of the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com), this is very important to knife owners, collectors and manufacturers and means millions of dollars in business to Georgia.
The Georgia legislature is in the final hours of the 2012 session and there are a lot of bills competing to be heard before the legislature adjourns, most likely on Thursday.
It is critical for you to call the office of Georgia’s Speaker of the House David Ralston and POLITELY request that he “please schedule SB432 for a vote as soon as possible.” That’s all the message you need to leave.
If you are a BLADE Show attendee, or ever plan to be, and even if you are not a Georgia resident, you have a stake in this issue…CALL TODAY! Phone calls will have the greatest impact.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston: 404-656-5020 Email: [email protected]
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. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb032712#BL1SU.
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You can subscribe to your choice of the print, digital, Canadian and/or international editions. It will, quite honestly, be the best bang for your blade buck anywhere.
BLADE has learned the unfortunate news that Les de Asis, founder of Benchmade and a member of the BLADE Cutlery Hall of Fame, passed away on Friday, Feb. 21. The announcement came from official Benchmade social media channels.
It is with great sadness we share that Les de Asis passed away earlier today. No words can properly express the sadness of our loss. Benchmade has lost our founder, friend and visionary who built one of the greatest knife brands in the world. pic.twitter.com/dSU3VVYGBS
Les de Asis (right) with his son, Jon (left), at a Benchmade shop. (Benchmade photo)
In late 2018, Les turned the reins of Benchmade over to his son, Jon, as reported here. The company was a family affair from the very beginning. Les created Bali-Song®, Inc., in 1980, selling the now-iconic Model 68 butterfly knife. That evolved into Pacific Cutlery Corp. through 1987. Les started Benchmade a year later.
Under his guidance, Benchmade knives became some of the most ubiquitous in the world, supported by the popularity of the innovative AXIS® lock, Griptilian and much more.
Because of these achievements, Les was inducted into the BLADE Cutlery Hall of Fame in 2017. What follows is a portion of BLADE‘s write up from the event. Jon accepted the award on Les’s behalf.
Jon explained that his father visited his first custom gun and knife show in Glendale, California, in 1979 and met the craftsmen and marveled at the works they had made and offered for sale.
“I liked that they were independent and developed their skills by improving their products over time,” Jon related his father’s sentiments. “I also appreciated that they were independent and plied their skills in their home workshops.”
At the beginning of his career Les indicated he met pioneer knifemakers like Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless, Barry Wood, Glen Hornby, Chuck Stapel and many more, talking knives and guns for hours at a time. Les visited their shops and learned how they worked, what their definition of quality was in regard to design, materials, fit and finish, walk and talk, and metallurgy.
“I have been constantly intrigued by all the personalities, processes, materials, artistry and innovation that are present in the custom knife world, and challenged in how to translate them into a unique, high-quality manufacturing environment able to serve an ever-growing customer base,” Jon shared his father’s words. “I confess, it wasn’t easy creating a world-class company, but the journey, one knife at a time, was worth the effort!”
BLADE extends its warmest wishes to Les’s family during this difficult time.
Schneider’s art knives remained among the most coveted in the industry right up to his passing. (SharpByCoop image)
Herman Schneider, one of the most talented of the pioneering custom knifemakers of the 1970s and beyond, passed away Jan. 26. He was 87.
Perhaps best known for the spiked dagger in the 1986 Sylvester Stallone movie, Cobra, Schneider made some of the cleanest knives anywhere. Among them were hunters and skinners in his early days to art knives and reproductions of 19th-century dress bowies in the style of Michael Price as Schneider’s style evolved.
Herman Schneider holds the spiked dagger he made for the Sylvester Stallone movie, Cobra. (image from K.L. Byrd’s Facebook page)
The workmanship of Schneider knives was second to none. As long-time knife collector and the headman of the Art Knife Invitational (AKI), Phil Lobred, once noted, “Herman Schneider’s knives lifted the industry up two notches in the fit-and-finish department.” Schneider was among the very first group of elite knifemakers to be invited to the AKI, and exhibited at the premier event for a number of years.
Of all Schneider’s impeccable knife creations, it was his art knives that stood out. “Herm Schneider built beautiful art knives,” observed Dave Harvey, owner of Nordic Knives retail knife store and coordinator of the biennial Solvang Custom Knife Show. “Many of his blades featured complex grinds that many of the most talented makers would not, or could not, pull off themselves.”
An interesting back story about the Tut dagger repro: As part of Lobred’s instructions for the making of the legendary knife, the blade had to be solid gold. Warenski struggled with finding a way to harden the all-gold blade. After repeated failed attempts, he enlisted the aid of Schneider and Jim Hardenbrook, and together they were able to harden the blade successfully.
In a poll of the greatest custom knifemakers from BLADE®’s first 15 years (1973-88), Schneider did not make the top 10, though he didn’t miss by much and made the honorable mention list. And in the Top 10 custom knives from the same time period, Schneider was the only maker Lobred mentioned for his entire body of work instead of just one piece.
An early member of The Knifemakers’ Guild, Schneider not only was a great knifemaker but was also close to many in the knifemaking and knife fraternity. Along with Buster and Joan Warenski, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer D’ Holder and Bob Gladstone, Schneider was instrumental in helping Dan and Pam Delavan get the first California Custom Knife Show up and running in the early 1980s. Many thought a lot of Schneider, not just for his knifemaking ability but for his friendship and kindness as well.
