Knife News Wire

People’s Republic of China Tracks Knife Purchases with QR Codes

At least in some parts of the People’s Republic of China, authorities are matching knives to consumers with QR codes as part of an anti-terrorism initiative. What could go wrong? About everything you could expect from something as punitive as this. From Fast Company:

A knife shop owner in the midwestern city of Aksu told the Journal he had to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that turns every “customer’s ID card number, photo, ethnicity and address,” encodes the data as a QR code and lasers it into the blades of even the kitchen knives they buy. The Aksu policy, which was previously reported by Radio Free Asia, is intended to trace a knife back to its owner in the event it’s used to commit acts of violence.

And from Twitter comes this disturbing report from a Wall Street Journal reporter:

In Aksu, we interviewed a salesman at a knife shop that had to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that turns a customer’s ID card data into a QR code and laser-etches it into every knife they sell. pic.twitter.com/T1FMkhdnHR

— Josh Chin 李肇华 (@joshchin) December 19, 2017

If this doesn’t sound terrifying to you, you need to sit down and think about it some more.

Nothing similar to this is on the table in the United States, but the general technique is not unfounded. California’s “bullet stamping” initiative is one example.

Bill Loosening Switchblade Restrictions Introduced in Ohio

And now for something completely different.

Ohio law allows for the carry and possession of switchblades, but not the sale or manufacture of them. This quirk could soon be corrected, per Knife Rights:

Ohio State Senator Frank LaRose today introduced, Senate Bill 242, Knife Rights’ bill to repeal Ohio’s irrational ban on the manufacture and sale of “switchblade, springblade, and gravity knives.” Ohio statutes allow for the possession and carry of these knives, but they cannot be manufactured or sold in the state. Ohio loses out on jobs and tax revenue as Ohioans spend their money outside the state’s borders. Co-sponsors include Senate President Larry Obhof and Senators Joe Uecker, John Eklund and Kris Jordan.

Read more about this proposal here from Knife Rights.

Read the bill as written on the Ohio Legislature’s official site here. 

Why are So Many Bladesmiths from Arkansas?

It’s not your imagination. Many of the most renowned knifemakers call Arkansas home. The Magnolia Reporter went to find out why with a profile on Jerry Fisk.

According to Fisk, 10 percent of the world’s recognized master bladesmiths are Arkansans. “The first bladesmithing school (Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing) was started here in 1987,” he said. “People from all over the world would come here to learn the basics and get inspired as they do to this day.”

Good point. Read the full article here.

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How Much is a $75,000 Knife Really Worth?

Does it need to be said this $75,000 pocketknife is a William Henry? Because it is. It’s so pricey, Forbes featured it here.

Comments on social media asked how it’s possible to know the price of a knife before it’s sold. Who’s to say it isn’t $50,000? After all, it’s not like a $75,000 knife is mass-produced. It’s unique.

Three things:

• High-buck knives are usually commissioned before they’re made.
• The market-rate for the materials and labor are easy to price out.
• Something’s price is always what someone else is willing to pay for it. That someone else might not be you.

Disruptive Model Emerges for Financing Knife Start-Ups

Knifemaking start-ups face a tougher time securing financing because of backers’ leeriness toward “weapons.” Crowdfunding, where companies appeal directly to consumers for backing via pre-orders, is one way around this. Kickstarter is the best example of this approach.

Bolstering this business model are affiliate programs that dole out a cut of pre-order sales. This is sometimes disguised as editorial on news sites. This sort of backdoor marketing offers a pay-as-you-go approach that is appealing to start-ups with limited advertising budgets.

There’s nothing wrong with this approach. It’s just different, and worth considering if you’re starting a knifemaking business.

Here’s an example from Business Insider.

Quoting “Crocodile Dundee” Lands Restaurant in Lawsuit

You know the line, but here’s the clip anyway:

Best not repeat that line in formal marketing if you want to avoid legal trouble. Australian restaurant Grill’d allegedly used the famous utterance on its knife sleeves. From The Daily Telegraph:

Hogan claims the “knife line” — as it’s referred to in the claim document — is valuable because it has been “heard by the many consumers in Australia who have seen the Crocodile Dundee movie” and “has been featured, mentioned or referred to on television, in print, on the internet, and in popular culture”. He claims Grill’d has used the line “without the licence of either of Rimfire or Mr Hogan”.

Read the full story here.

United Kingdom Sentencing More Minors for Knife Possession Crimes

I’ll let this quote from The Guardian article do the talking. Read it carefully if you don’t get it at first.

The number of 10- to 17-year-olds cautioned or sentenced for knife possession offences has risen by 16% since this time last year.

Read the full article here.

Video: The Knifemaker Supplying the World’s Greatest Chefs

Business Insider profiled Chelsea Miller, a knifemaker cranking out blades for “name” chefs around the world.

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