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Four Battle Tough Military-Style Fixed Blade Knives

Pat Covert
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Four Battle Tough Military-Style Fixed Blade Knives

Today’s military-style fixed blades are ready for duty. These four are certainly ready to earn their stripes.

What Are The Top Military-Style Fixed Blade Knives:

The history of cutlery has many different facets but none any more glorified than the fixed-blade knives that have seen battle for centuries. Fixed blades are still a major part of our fighting forces’ need for strong steel and they’ve become more diverse since the modern tactical age began in the early-to-mid 1990s.

Condor Tool & Knife’s Neck Gladius

One thing hasn’t changed: such knives must perform duties outside of combat. An example is Condor Tool & Knife’s Neck Gladius, a diminutive version of the classic Roman combat sword. Designed by writer/outdoorsman and BLADE University instructor Joe Flowers, its double-edged blade is handsomely ground in Condor’s favorite blade material: 1075 high carbon steel. The black-paracord-wrapped handle has a tail at the base. A black Kydex neck sheath includes a nice length of paracord for neckwear.

The black Kydex sheath of the Neck Gladius includes a suitable length of paracord for neck wear.
The black Kydex sheath of the Neck Gladius includes a suitable length of paracord for neck wear.

One of the best uses I’ve found for small neck knives is preparing tinder as a firestarter. The neck knife makes for an excellent companion to a larger knife for doing detail work, so I put the Neck Gladius to work doing just that.

Hitting my sweet spot, a pine forest north of town, I used the small blade to dig out some nice chunks of pine resin, which burns nice and long as tinder. I complimented the pine resin with some fine pine shavings to complete the kit. The little Condor will handle other small tasks as well, such as cutting paracord to length. “Handy” is its middle name!

Condor Tool & Knife Neck Gladius
Designer: Joe Flowers
Blade Length: 3.14″
Blade Material: 1075 high-carbon steel
Handle Material: Baracord wrap
Weight: 2.12 ozs.
Overall Length: 6.06″
Sheath: Kydex with paracord lanyard
Country Of Origin: El Salvador
MSRP: $54.98

DoubleStar Blades Chico Diablo X

Designed by BLADE® field editor Kim Breed, the Chico Diablo X from DoubleStar Blades is, as you might expect, tough as nails. It is a medium-sized sheath knife with a harpoon-pattern blade. A deep index finger groove extending from the bottom/front of the checkered scales into the tang adds grip when getting down to business. The black Boltaron sheath has a real-deal Tek-Lok for carry options. Weight is a manageable
6.24 ounces.

A deep index finger groove extending from the bottom/front of the checkered scales into the tang of the DoubleStar Chico Diablo X adds grip when getting down to business.
A deep index finger groove extending from the bottom/front of the checkered scales into the tang of the DoubleStar Chico Diablo X adds grip when getting down to business.

The knife’s size is perfect for medium-duty field tasks such as dressing game, prepping meals, cutting rope and working wood. It’s not heavy enough for chopping but is a serious slicer. I tested the blade across the grain on a 4.5×2.25-inch slab of cold corned beef brisket. Despite the blade being shorter than the chunk of beef, the Nitro-V stainless steel glided through the brisket, taking off one clean quarter-inch slice after another. The Chico Diablo X is a well-built multi-tasker worth every penny of its surprisingly affordable price tag.

Doublestar Blades Chico Diablo X
Designer: Kim Breed
Blade Length: 3.75″
Blade Material: Nitro-V Stainless
Handle Material: Black G-10 with green G-10 liners
Weight: 6.24 ozs.
Overall Length: 8″
Sheath: Black Boltaron with Tek-Lok attachment
Country Of Origin: USA
MSRP: $149.99

Kizlyar Supreme Senpai

The Kizlyar Supreme Senpai is the longest knife of the test group, including a tanto blade in more of a traditional Japanese curved-tip style. The handle is spare of curves save for a slight finger groove and short guard. The scales are nicely rounded and Kizlyar provides a sandwiched matching green synthetic belt sheath for carry.

The Senpai includes a traditional Japanese tanto blade. The handle has nicely rounded scales spare of curves save for a slight finger groove and a short guard. The knife comes with a matching green synthetic belt sheath.
The Senpai includes a traditional Japanese tanto blade. The handle has nicely rounded scales spare of curves save for a slight fi nger groove and a short guard. The knife comes with a matching green synthetic belt sheath.

Given its weight and slim blade profile, I liked the Supreme Senpai for slicing and shaving from a utility standpoint. I roughed out a seasoned hardwood tent peg using a small hatchet, and tested the blade at finetuning the pointed tip and shaving the sides. The long blade came in handy as I could pull it through while slicing and shaving rather than simply pushing it downward against the tough hardwood—my reasoning being, if it could handle stout wood, simpler chores like meal prep and cutting rope would be a snap. The Supreme Senpai blade performed well shaping the challenging wood, leaving no doubt it could be handy around camp.

Kizlyar Supreme Senpai
Blade Length: 6.75″
Blade Material: AUS-8 stainless
Handle Material: OD green Kraton/ABS plastic
Weight: 10.3″
Overall Length: 12″
Sheath: Polyamide Nylon
Country Of Origin: Russia
MSRP: $150

Halfbreed Blades Medium Infantry Knife

How brutish is the Aussie-made Halfbreed Blades Medium Infantry Knife? Consider this—it’s around just one ounce shy of the other three test knives combined in weight! The blade is a whopping .23-inch thick at its thickest, features 1.5 inches of serrations from the tang forward, and has a black, rust-resistant Tefl on coating. The ample handle scales are “chunked” black G-10 and there’s a wicked skull crusher. The sheath has rear attachments for MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying
Equipment) or belt carry.

The Halfbreed Medium Infantry Knife incorporates brutish .23-inch blade steel. The author pulled it through five lengths of 3/8-inch rappelling rope in one clean slice using the forward plain edge portion of the blade.
The Halfbreed Medium Infantry Knife incorporates brutish .23-inch blade steel. The author pulled it through five lengths of 3/8-inch rappelling rope in one clean slice using the forward plain edge portion of the blade.

This overbuilt brute is a handful capable of chopping, slicing and shaving. Given its near three-quarter-pound weight it will no doubt chop, but the serrations somewhat limit the chopping ability of the blade’s plain edge portion. (Serrated edges will chop but it’s hard on them, and resharpening the teeth is a royal pain.)

I tested the knife at slicing and started with lengths of ⅜ -inch synthetic rappelling rope. Working my way up, I was able to slice cleanly through five lengths of the rope side-by-side before I ran out of rope. The handle offered superb grip throughout the testing process. The Halfbreed entry has the ability to perform heavy-duty camp chores like
shelter building, chopping branches for firewood and shaving wood.

Halfbreed Blades Medium Infantry Knife
Blade Length: 6.69″
Blade Material: Bohler K110 D2
Handle Material: Black G-10
Weight: 17.08 ozs.
Overall Length: 11.77″
Sheath: Black Kydex
Country Of Origin: Australia
MSRP: $335

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Fit and Finish 101: How to know it when you see it on a knife

Pat Covert
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Fit and Finish 101: How to know it when you see it on a knife

By Pat Covert

Fit and finish is bandied about so often in cutlery circles it’s almost become one word, pronounced something like fittenfinnish. A newbie collector who hangs around seasoned custom knifemakers, purveyors and collectors soon learns the “fit-and-finish thing” is a mighty nice trait for the knives in his or her stable to have.

All that being said, is fit and finish the key to a knife being all it can be, or does a knife exhibiting it simply look nicer and cost more? Or does the answer lie somewhere in between? We recruited a panel of authorities to help sort through it all, including purveyors Neil Ostroff of True North Knives, Dave Ellis of Exquisite Knives, Dan Delavan of Plaza Cutlery, and seasoned custom maker Tim Britton.

We started by asking our authorities how they define fit and finish. Britton, who makes highly finished customs, said, “There should be no adhesive or solder showing anywhere. No gaps in inappropriate places. Metal-to-metal joints should be indiscernible. And no visible scratches or grind marks, period. One thing custom knifemakers should be able to do well,” he observes “is finish metal.”

Having the grinds match on each side of the blade as on Marcus Lin’s Andalusian bowie is an indication of fine fit and finish.

In addition to being a purveyor, Ellis also is a retired ABS master smith and knows fit and finish from the maker’s point of view as well. “I define fit and finish of a custom knife to mean is it overall appealing to the eye,” he begins, “are there any obvious gaps in guard or handle fitting, is it a design that will truly work?” Ellis stressed that good, sound design is a factor. “The first thing I look for is the overall appearance. Is the design clean? Is there an organic flow? How does it feel in the hand in different grips? Then I look at the finer details such as guard fit, blade finish, handle design and comfort,” he explains. “As an ABS master smith I also look at things like edge geometry, tapered tangs and plunge cuts. All of these should be [executed properly] in a piece with excellent fit and finish.”

Equality of all aspects on both sides of the knife is one sign of top fit and finish. Greg Cimms achieves it on his kitchen knives.

“Fit and finish is a standard required for all knives,” Ostroff says. “It used to be almost exclusively for custom knives—which are at a higher price level—but more and more the buyers are demanding the same standard for a factory or mid-tech knife which will sell for a remarkably lower price. Fit and finish is generally a well-centered blade—in the case of a folder—no blade play in either direction, flush-fitting bolsters, and a blade finish as the maker intended. By this I mean one cannot expect a stonewashed blade, or handle, not to have scratches. Recently the matter of the strength of the detent has become an issue—again, another subjective item.”

The late Bruce Bingenheimer centered the blade of his folder in the closed position (right), splitting the gold anodized standoffs right down the middle. Note the symmetry between each side of the knife (left) and the slick fit between bolster and handle material (center).

“The criteria for fit and finish depend on the expectations of the buyer,” Delavan qualifies. “Plaza Cutlery also believes design as well as craftsmanship is important. Most important is the design. It has to make sense to me. Any guards should be clean with no gaps, bevels should be the same and no 2-inch glitches. Also, handles have to be clean to the tang or guard with no gaps.”

According to Tim Britton, metal-to-metal joints should be indiscernible. Note the partial knife image second from left. The seam between the blade and backspring of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Ron Lake’s tail-lock interframe is invisible.

 

PERFORMANCE

Does fit and finish affect a knife’s performance? “Poor fit and finish will really show when a knife is put to hard use,” Ellis advises, pointing out potential problems such as hot spots from badly designed and finished handles, guards or buttcaps with sharp edges, bad edge geometry that might cause the blade to dull quicker and be difficult to remove from the sheath, and so on.

David Mirabile achieves a nice, tight fit between the habaki (collar) and tsuba (guard) of his Asian-style piece.

Britton’s take was interesting, to say the least.

“One of my first knives was made in 1972. It was ugly and poorly finished,” he recalls. “[BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member] Frank Centofante helped me sell the knife to a hunting guide from Montana. The guide later wrote to me wanting four more just like it. The knife skinned and dressed three elk before needing sharpening. Steel was Latrobe D2 and Paul Bos did the heat treat. Fit and finish had little or nothing to do with function. Quality of steel, heat treat, grind and sharpening angle were much more relevant.”

Mark Bartlett gets the bolster of case-hardened mild steel and gold-anodized titanium spacers to meld seamlessly with the curly koa handle of his fixed fighter.

“A good finished knife just has a better feel, but a lot of people will not use it,” Delavan notes. “A knife with a lot of cosmetic issues can still be a good tool, and there are makers that don’t worry about those details. Most makers say a knife is meant to be used, not to sit in a safe.” Ostroff tends to agree. “Performance is not typically an issue [with fit and finish]. For example, a knife with an off-centered blade will still function as well as one that is centered—but the customer has the right to get what he or she wants, so we do whatever it takes to make them happy.”

Top fit and finish includes the knife exhibiting no visible scratches or grind marks. Tim Britton’s lockback follows this dictate. As Tim noted, “One thing custom knifemakers should be able to do well is finish metal.”

 

F&F: OVERRATED?

Are there cases where fit and finish is overrated? In other words, are there knives that perform very well even though they may not have the polish of an expensive model but have excellent heat treat, blade geometry, comfort and a more affordable price?”

“Fit and finish is not overrated when trying to satisfy the buyer,” Ostroff opines, “but taking out the collector/safe-queen members of our community, all knives are meant to cut, and all will do so if built to industry standards.”

“I have seen a few knives that performed well with poor fit and finish,” Ellis says. “Usually if a maker takes the time to finish their piece to tight tolerances, they also have taken the time to be sure that the piece has a credible heat treat, edge geometry and an overall good feeling in the hand.” Adds Delevan, “Many of the small production companies do a good job. Fit and finish is good, not perfect, but you have an excellent tool at a more affordable price.”

Note how each grind, bolster and slab mirrors its opposite on the Fenix fixed-blade hunter by Evgeny Khokhlov.

 

WHAT do YOU WANT?

Our authorities made excellent points for and against performance being a factor in fit and finish. Though there were several substantive points about design, in this writer’s opinion it isn’t really a fit-and-finish issue. Design is, of course, very important because no matter how well a knife is made, if the design is poor so will be the performance. From an aesthetic standpoint fit and finish is everything, but, as Delavan points out, many collector-grade knives become safe queens, never seeing action in the field.

A good analogy here would be comparing a Bark River Knives fixed blade to a comparably sized one made by ESEE Knives. Both companies have a huge, extremely dedicated following. Bark River’s fare is finely finished while the ESEE knives are more roughly done, but the latter are half the price or more of the former, depending on materials. Will both knives perform well? You better believe it. Both have stellar performance records. It really depends on whether you want to pay extra for a nicely finished knife or a rough finished one. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and both do their job in spades.

Bottom line is you have some very good options available—and choices make the world of knives go around!

Note the tight fit with no gaps between the color-case-hardened bolster, stainless steel spacers and stabilized ringed gidgee handle of Steve Filicietti’s bowie.

Best Big Knives: Four Behemoths That Are A Cut Above The Rest

James Ayres
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Best Big Knives: Four Behemoths That Are A Cut Above The Rest

Looking for a blade that can handle jobs and and small? These four giants are some of the best big knives out there.

What Are The Big Knives:

Little knives are convenient to carry but, if you have a lot of work to do, big knives are it. I’ve lived and worked with indigenous peoples in Latin America and Southeast Asia and found that wherever folks live close to the earth, they use big knives—machetes, parangs, goloks, bolos and the like. They use them for everything from rough work such as cutting poles and opening coconuts, to dressing out pigs and game, to delicate work such as slicing mangoes.

The advantage of the big blade was illustrated to me one day when I was working alongside a villager who, with his bolo and its 14-inch blade, cut wood for a fire, bamboo poles for a cooking rack, and lopped off a banana leaf on which he filleted two large fish and sliced them thin as a sushi chef—all in the time it took me to bring down a few stalks of bamboo with my hair-shaving-sharp Randall Model 1.

We reviewed the test knives with that standard in mind. We chopped and split wood and sliced meat and tomatoes. We also, just because, cut hanging rubber hose and slashed through water-filled plastic bottles.

A tree branch succumbs to the reflective blade of the Boker Arbolito El Gigante. It cleaved 2-inch pine saplings in one stroke
A tree branch succumbs to the reflective blade of the Boker Arbolito El Gigante. It cleaved 2-inch pine saplings in one stroke

Boker Arbolito El Gigante

The Boker Arbolito El Gigante is a handsome classic bowie with a stonewashed blade, comfortable handle and nice leather sheath. Balance is excellent, all very much in the bowie tradition. Construction is top quality; so is performance. It cleaved 2-inch pine saplings with one stroke. The quarter-inch-thick spine was brought down to a well-supported edge fine enough to slice tomatoes thin enough to see light through the slices. We slashed rubber hose and the water bottles with ease.

Like all well-designed and crafted bowies, this is a versatile all-around knife.

BOKER ARBOLITO EL GIGANTE
BLADE LENGTH: 9.25”
BLADE STEEL: Bohler N695 stainless
BLADE THICKNESS: .24”
BLADE GRIND: Flat
BLADE FINISH: Stonewash
HANDLE THICKNESS: .94”
HANDLE MATERIAL: Green Micarta®
WEIGHT: 15.75 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 14.75”
SHEATH: Leather
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Argentina
MSRP: $229

The KA-BAR Gunny chomps into dry pine. Its forward weight and blade design promote effi cient chopping
The KA-BAR Gunny chomps into dry pine. Its forward weight and blade design promote effi cient chopping

KA-BAR Gunny

The KA-BAR Gunny is a hybrid design that resembles a bolo. I suspect R. Lee Ermey, the unforgettable Gunny who serves as the knife’s namesake, spent some time in jungles because this combination chopper/slicer’s performance is on par with village-forged bolos I’ve used in Southeast Asia, and that’s a high compliment. Its forward weight and terrific blade design promote efficient chopping. We cut through 3-to-4-inch-thick saplings with two strokes. We took down a tree with a 6-inch-thick truck just because we could. After the chopping, the blade was still sharp enough for camp kitchen work. The belly, good balance and fine edge combined to make slicing meat and vegetables a pleasure. Slashing hanging rubber hose and the water bottle were a piece of cake. The comfortable handle lends itself both to heavy chopping and fine meat cutting, which is unusual.

The Gunny is an excellent all-around bush knife. The sheath has a pocket for a sharpening stone, which was not included with the review model.

KA-BAR GUNNY
DESIGNER: R. Lee “Gunny” Ermey
BLADE LENGTH: 9.75”
BLADE MATERIAL: 1095 Cro-Van carbon steel
BLADE WIDTH: 2”
BLADE THICKNESS: .2”
BLADE GRIND: Flat
HANDLE WIDTH: 1.5”
HANDLE THICKNESS: .94”
HANDLE MATERIAL: Wood
WEIGHT: 15.29 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 15.5”
SHEATH: Leather
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
MSRP: $292

The Medford Knife & Tool Bonfire slashed through water-filled plastic bottles with more consistency than the other review blades
The Medford Knife & Tool Bonfire slashed through water-filled plastic bottles with more consistency than the other review blades

Medford Knife & Tool Bonfire

The Medford Knife & Tool Bonfire came from the maker absolutely razor sharp! The blade design is interesting in that we do not often see a contemporary styled drop point and hollow grind on such a big blade. I don’t know its Rockwell hardness, but the steel is hard and tough.

It was just as razor sharp after we put it through its paces as when we started. The fine edge made for a very good slicer and slasher and lopped off thin branches with one cut. The hollow grind tended to bind when chopping wood, though that’s to be expected—hollow grinds aren’t chopping designs. It’s better to think of this knife as a well-designed and crafted big knife rather than a bush tool such as a panga or kukri. It sliced rubber hose with a snap of the wrist and slashed through water bottles with more consistency than the other review blades, and cut meat just fine. You probably could dress out a bear with it. Use it as a big knife on soft materials and you won’t be disappointed. It comes

MEDFORD KNIFE & TOOL BONFIRE
BLADE LENGTH: 8.25”
BLADE MATERIAL: CPM 3V carbon steel
BLADE THICKNESS: .24”
BLADE GRIND: Hollow
HANDLE THICKNESS: .64”
HANDLE MATERIAL: G-10
WEIGHT: 19.16 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 13”
SHEATH: Nylon
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
MSRP: $450

TOPS Bestia

The TOPS Knives Bestia’s kukri-styled 13-inch blade and hefty weight made it the blade of choice for serious chopping or, as the author puts it, “zombie cleaving.”
The TOPS Knives Bestia’s kukri-styled 13-inch blade and hefty weight made it the blade of choice for serious chopping or, as the author puts it, “zombie cleaving.”

The TOPS Bestia is just a beast. A kukri-styled 13-inch blade and hefty weight make it the blade of choice for serious chopping or zombie cleaving. We hacked through a 3-inch sapling with one stroke, and used it to clear a stand of saplings and brush. The handle remained comfortable during an hour or so of work. Heavy as a small hatchet, it is more versatile and safer in use, especially in thick brush.

During many survival classes, I’ve seen more injuries from hatchets than from big blades with their longer cutting edges. Given its heft, blade design and chopping ability, the Bestia is surprisingly usable in the camp kitchen. We found it could slice meat quite well, allowing for adjustments in maneuverability due to its blade length.

TOPS KNIVES BESTIA
DESIGNER: Leo Espinoza
BLADE LENGTH: 13”
BLADE MATERIAL: 1095 carbon steel
ROCKWELL HARDNESS: 56-58 HRC
BLADE WIDTH: 2.25”
BLADE THICKNESS: .25”
BLADE GRIND: Flat
HANDLE WIDTH: 2.125”
HANDLE THICKNESS: .97”
HANDLE MATERIAL: Green Micarta®
FRAME/LINER: Micarta
WEIGHT: 1 lb., 13.18 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 19.5”
SHEATH: Kydex
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
MSRP: $300

VERSATILE BUSH TOOLS

If you haven’t spent much time with a big blade, try one. Work with it for a while. Direct close attention to your work and you’ll find a good big blade to be a terrific, versatile bush tool.

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2021 BLADE Show West Factory And Custom Knife Award Winners

BLADE Staff
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2021 BLADE Show West Factory And Custom Knife Award Winners

See who took top honors in Long Beach for the 2021 Blade Show West Awards.

BLADE Show West took place Oct. 8-9, 2021, at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calf. It was the show’s inaugural year in California and drew custom makers, manufacturers and collectors from around the county.

It also drew an impressive cadre of entrants for the BLADE Show West Factory and Custom Knife Awards. For Factory Knives, awards were given in five categories, while the Custom Knives awarded six categories.

The Factory section was evaluated by a panel of undisclosed industry experts who judged the blades on a number of factors, including utility, design, creativity, materials and other traits. The Custom section was judged by a number of expert knifemakers along similar lines.

Factory Knife Award Winners

Best Tactical and Best In Show


Civivi Tamashii designed by Bob Terzuola, SharpByCoop Image

Purchase it here:

Best Hunter


Bradford Knives M390 Guardian 4, SharpByCoop Image

Purchase it here:

Best Big Knife


Bradford Knives REX 45 Fillet, SharpByCoop Image

Best Folder


Pro-Tech Malibu Custom Limited Edition w/textured bronze aluminum handle, SharpByCoop Image

Best EDC


Monterey Bay Knives wharncliffe flipper folder, SharpByCoop Image

Custom Knife Award Winners

Best Folder and Best In Show


Mike Tyre mosaic damascus folder, SharpByCoop Image

Best Damascus

Mike Shindel Merovingian Sword in a 4-bar Turkish twist, and a random-pattern wrap-around edge of 1084 and 15N20 carbon and nickel-alloy steels, SharpByCoop Image

Best Slip Joint


Luke Swenson split-backspring whittler, SharpByCoop Image

Best EDC


Tobin Hill one-blade trapper, SharpByCoop Image

Best Chef’s Knife


Nicholas Berkofsky/Fell Knives 7.5-inch Protein Petty, SharpByCoop Image

Best Hunter


Mike Shindel integral bolster hunter, SharpByCoop Image

Stay up-to-date on Blade Show Events by signing up for the Blade Show Newsletter Here.

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Last Little Mester of Sheffield: Remembering Stan Shaw

BLADE Staff
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Last Little Mester of Sheffield: Remembering Stan Shaw

The author remembers Stan Shaw as only she can

By Grace Horne

Sometime in the early 1990s, a journalist—to the chagrin of the handful of other knifemakers also still working in Sheffield, England—described Stan Shaw as “The Last Little Mester,” and the title stuck until Stan’s passing in February. Stan made many fancy pocketknives but “Little Mester” was never simply a title that denoted mastership of a craft skill.

Historically, workers in the Sheffield cutlery industry were notoriously independent. As the industry moved from craft-based to industrialization, nearly all cutlers were on piece-work and would rent space in the workshop—a yard of bench or a “trough” for grinding. Work came from other workers, and each worker did a very specific task on the knife before it was passed to the next worker. The process was efficient because of the hyper-specialization of all of the workers in the chain. There was a complicated, ever-changing network of subcontracting, renting, supplying and rivalries, but no one learned all the processes to make a knife—there was no concept of sole-authorship.

In her thesis, Sally-Ann Taylor* states that the “differing opinions regarding the status of the little mester reflected the actual diversity in his possible position and role. Some felt that the title implied that his enterprise should involve him in a certain number of commercial risks and liabilities. Sometimes he was an actual workman himself, obtaining orders from larger factors, merchant or manufacturers, and then employing a few men to help him … sometimes even these workers would employ others beneath them, but usually only members of their own family—particularly women and children.” Hence, little mesters were small-scale flexible employers, recruiting workers to supplement their own labor as required.

In 1844, a commentator on the cutlery trades stated that “there are several modes of conducting the manufacture, but the factory system is not one of them … there is no large building, under a central authority, in which a piece of steel goes in one door and comes out at another converted into knives, scissors and razors. Nearly all the items of cutlery made at Sheffield travel about the town several times before they are finished.”**

 

HE KNEW at 14

Stan didn’t come from a cutlery background. He was born in 1926 in a small village outside Sheffield, and, after seeing a market stall of knives, decided at 14 that that was what he wanted to do. By chance, he walked into the prestigious company, Ibberson, and spoke to the owner, Billy Ibberson.

Pointing to a showcase displaying the firm’s best pocketknives, Stan said he’d like to learn how to make such knives. As Stan recalled, “Billy then fetched up one of the cutlers, Ted Osbourne—a little bloke about 5 feet or so tall—and asked, ‘Will you have him?” He said, ‘Yes.’ And I started on the Monday at an apprentice’s wage of 10 shillings a week.”

When Stan joined the firm, the old patterns of working had long gone; “little mesters” and “factors” had morphed into the more familiar patterns of factory working, with all the workers employed by the company and paid a wage. He was one of the last apprentices to be taken on and his curiosity about the entire process of making folding pocketknives was insatiable. As he moved through Ibberson and other companies over the years, he actively approached other workers to learn their processes as well as his own. It was this breadth of training that made him unique and was vital to him in later life.

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A sampling of Stan Shaw’s pocketknives with richly fileworked blade spines and backsprings. Look close and you can see the Maltese crosses for which Stan was so well known. (image by Carl Whitham, Sheffield)

 

THEIR PATHS CROSS

By the beginning of the 1980s, the contraction of the Sheffield cutlery industry was such that there were no more companies left to employ him, so he set-up his own workshop in Garden Street. It was there, 10 years later, that our paths crossed.

I had made a set of three folding knives for a college project and hadn’t been able to find anyone still making traditional Sheffield slip joints to ask for advice. A couple of years later, I heard Stan being interviewed on the radio and realized that I still desperately wanted to learn to make knives. I packed up my workshop in London and moved to Sheffield to persuade him, in person, to take me on as his apprentice. He welcomed me into his workshop but said that he was nearly 70 and too old for an apprentice.  Instead, he offered me his bucket of old, handforged blades and springs, told me to select a handful and “go and figure it out yourself because it’s not that hard.” He would always be there to help if I got stuck.

Stan Shaw as he appeared in the early 1990s. (Geoffrey Tweedale image)

A few years ago, when I was gently teasing him about still having a 10-year waiting list for his knives, he said, “I should have taken you on then, lass, you’d just about be useful to me now!” So, for all the times our paths crossed, for all the gentle encouragement and for completely changing my life’s path when I was 23 years old, thank you, Stan.

Stan was not a “little mester.” He was a master and was proud that he could make his knives from start to finish, a concept that would be completely alien to Sheffield knifemakers a hundred years ago.

Stan Shaw, whose career of making classic pocketknives spanned almost 80 years, passed in late February at the age of 94.

He started work for W.G. Ibberson in Sheffield, the old knifemaking capital of England, in 1941. Apprenticed to Fred and Ted Osborne, men Stan described as the two best cutlers in Sheffield, he eventually succeeded them in 1954 as the company’s top maker of pocketknives. Though the Sheffield knife industry was in rapid decline, he continued making knives, renting an old workshop in 1983 and becoming an independent cutler.

As Stan moved through Ibberson and other companies over the years, he actively approached other workers to learn their processes as well as his own. It was this breadth of training that made him unique and was vital to him in later life. (image by Carl Whitham, Sheffield)

As an independent he did it all in the making of his pocketknives, and he did it all quite well. As he said in “Stan Shaw: Little Mester of Sheffield” in the May 1994 BLADE: “I have to do everything now because there are no forgers, grinders, scissor-makers and so on left. My earlier experience with Ibberson’s has proved invaluable in that respect. All my knives are hafted, ground and assembled by me. It’s harder work but the satisfaction is greater. Scissors, files, punches, shields, shackles, handles, scales, bolsters—the list is endless—but each part is made by me on these wheels and dollies with only hacksaws, files and a few other traditional tools, such as my parser. The only job I don’t do is the occasional engraving I have done on the bolsters.”

His knives are testaments to the classic exhibition pieces, many with a host of blades and other tools and implements. In 2003 he became an honorary freeman of the Company Cutlers and in 2017 was awarded the British Empire Medal. As late as 2019, into his 90s, he continued to clock in bright and early in the mornings to make pocketknives at Kelham Island Museum. In the interim he served as a mentor to many makers, including award-winner Grace Horne, among others.—by BLADE® staff

Editor’s note: An award-winning knifemaker from Sheffield, England, the author currently makes traditional folders. For more information contact her at Dept. BL9, The Old Public Convenience, 469 Fulwood Rd., Sheffield, United Kingdom, S10 30A [email protected], gracehorn.co.uk. Also: Steven and Kylie Cocker, Instagram @steven_cocker_sheffield; Michael May www.michaelmayknives.com; and/or Michael and Ashley Harrison plus apprentice at A Wrights & Sons www.penknives-and-scissors.co.uk.

*Tradition and Change: The Sheffield Cutlery Trades 1870-1914; Sally-Ann Taylor

**The Penny Magazine Supplement, April 1844, p.168; Thomas Allen

 

Spyderco Yojimbo 2: Fantastic Straightedge Folder

Abe Elias
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Spyderco Yojimbo 2: Fantastic Straightedge Folder

Now in its second iterations, the Yojimbo 2 nails exactly what a straightedge folder should be.

It isn’t hard to review a Spyderco knife.

Anyone who has ever used one can tell you the company has an uncanny ability to nail the making of folders as well as fixed blades. What is even more uncanny is how the company can do it so consistently while being so prolific. Hence, if you want to talk about good straight-edge knives and also the features of folding EDCs in comparison to fixed-blade EDCs, you might as well include one of the best folding knifemakers in the business. If you’ve ever talked to BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Sal Glesser, you quickly realize the thing that drives Spyderco’s outstanding record of knife offerings is Sal’s passion for the trade.

The wide blade on the Spyderco Yojimbo 2 gives plenty of real estate for your thumb to clear the scale and fi nd its way into the hole so you can open the knife easily.
The wide blade on the Spyderco Yojimbo 2 gives plenty of real estate for your thumb to clear the scale and fi nd its way into the hole so you can open the knife easily.

Yojimbo 2 Rundown

The Yojimbo design has been out for years, but to be truthful I am just getting around to reviewing it now in the Yojimbo 2 iteration. At 7.55 inches open, it’s in the midsized folder range. I prefer a small-to-midsized folder because once I get into the large folders, I start asking myself why I didn’t just choose a fixed blade. The blade has a sharp-angle execution of a wharncliffe style, resulting in a very articulated tip. With a blade width starting at 1.5 inches, the steep angle still provides a sturdy tip. Spyderco uses a hollow grind that results in a thin geometry.

The handle is subtly textured G-10. The texturing for me has that Goldilocks feel to it—just right. Sometimes because of new machining technology companies do things they can do and don’t think about whether they should. One of the things I most often find is over texturing of handles to the point the knife is uncomfortable to use. This isn’t the case with the Yojimbo 2. The texturing is very slight but undoubtedly present.

Straightedge’s Performance

Opening and closing the folder is smooth. It features Spyderco’s compression lock system, which has a crisp lock up. There’s no doubt your blade is locked thanks to a crisp snap as the lock engages. A handle profile with a number of broad finger grooves provides a secure grip. The broad grooves allow the knife to remain nimble in your grasp.

Out of the box, the Yojimbo 2 was razor sharp. It made eff ortless cuts through this packing crate strapping like the medium wasn’t even there.
Out of the box, the Yojimbo 2 was razor sharp. It made eff ortless cuts through this packing crate strapping like the medium wasn’t even there.

If I were to mention only one issue I have with the knife it would be something particular to me and people who suffer the same affliction: fat hands. My hands are beefy. On occasion, the compression lock, because it is located on the spine, catches me ever so slightly between the lock and the liner. Would this version of Spyderco’s would be No.
1 every time. The overall profile makes it easy to capture the rim on tight and loose pockets alike. Not every knife I have reviewed over the years comes back around to be a personal carry. I can tell you, though, the Yojimbo 2 will be making it into my EDC rotation.

Spyderco supplies one of its full-metal pocket clips for the Yojimbo 2. I can’t say this enough: If you had to make a list of the top-five-designed pocket clips, this version of Spyderco’s would be No. 1 every time. The overall profile makes it easy to capture the rim on tight and loose pockets alike. Not every knife I have reviewed over the years comes back around to be a personal carry. I can tell you, though, the Yojimbo 2 will be making it into my EDC rotation.

For more information on the Yojimbo 2, please visit spyderco.com.

Also Read:

Best Barlow: 4 Of The Sharpest Factory Offerings

Dexter Ewing
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Best Barlow: 4 Of The Sharpest Factory Offerings

Four of the latest factory barlows that are sharp in more ways than one.

What Are The Top Barlows:

Probably no pocketknife pattern has as rich of an American history as the barlow. It is perhaps one of the most well-known patterns even among non-knife people, because their fathers or grandfathers carried and used one.

What exactly is a barlow? It’s a simple pocketknife comprised of either one or two blades, a lengthened steel bolster, and a teardrop-shaped handle, usually of bone. There’s nothing fancy about the barlow. It was and still is a workhorse knife that gets the job done.

If you trace the barlow’s U.S. lineage, it goes back at least as far as John Rus sell, an American entrepreneur who established Green River Works in 1834 in Greenfield, Massachusetts. One of the knives his company was famous for is the barlow. Green River Works manufactured barlows in mass quantities, and even today vintage Green River Works barlows are highly sought after by collectors. The bolsters are distinctly marked with an “R” pierced horizontally by an arrow.

The Lionsteel CK01 and Böker Barlow Expedition have half stops (page 28), meaning the blades pause midway through the blade rotation cycle. Half stops allow safer closing of the blade and provide good tactile reference of where the blade is even if you can’t see it when opening or closing the knife.
The Lionsteel CK01 and Böker Barlow Expedition have half stops (page 28), meaning the blades pause
midway through the blade rotation cycle. Half stops allow safer closing of the blade and provide good tactile
reference of where the blade is even if you can’t see it when opening or closing the knife.

Aside from manufacturing excellence, the barlow was immortalized with appearances in literature (Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers); in music (bluegrass legend Doc Watson); and even Abraham Lincoln was said to have recounted a story from his past that included a barlow. Few patterns have as rich a history. Even in today’s knife market where aerospace-grade materials and advanced blade steels rule the day, slip joints remain popular, including the bar low. They simply are great working tools stripped down to the bare essentials.

BÖker Dalichow

“Traditional patterns like the camp knife or barlow have been a part of our product line from the very beginning onward, and they always will be,” says Carsten Felix-Dalichow, CEO of BÖker Germany. “In the last couple years, those patterns enjoyed a renaissance in the international knife markets.” Dalichow adds that both modern interpretations and classic versions sell well—including the BÖker Barlow Expedition (manufacturer’s suggested retail price [MSRP]: $199.95).

Böker’s Barlow Expedition is a smaller barlow that rides in the pocket easily and is ready for general tasks like cutting a length of twine.
Böker’s Barlow Expedition is a smaller barlow that rides in the pocket easily and is ready for general tasks like cutting a length of twine.

The 2.5-inch clip point blade is 440C stainless, which at one time was aboutthe best knife steel money could buy. It remains a great blade material even by today’s standards. It exhibits superb edge retention and enhanced corrosion resistance, and is fairly easy to resharpen. The blade opens via a long-pull nail nick. The action is nice and stiff. The extended-length bolster is brass, and the scales are green canvas Micarta®, the left one inlaid with the BÖker Tree logo shield. Brass liners complete the overall color combination, which looks marvelous. The blade is bead blasted, not satin finished, which rounds out the subdued appearance.

Size-wise, the Expedition is pretty much average for barlows. It’s a great balance of utility and pocket-friendliness. The thin profile carries well and is not heavy at all. The Micarta is lightweight, weather/impact resistant and an excellent choice for any working folder. I did note during heavy cutting when a tighter grip is required that the thin handle left me wanting a handle thicker and perhaps longer as well. However, for large or extensive-use cutting tasks, select a knife with a more appropriate handle size.

“The response of the international knife markets on this new product line of modern traditionals is tremendous,” Dalichow says, and BÖker will continue to develop new iterations of classic favorites using both up-to-date materials and modern knifemaking techniques. “The trend will be long term. We at BÖker are happy to be a part of it.”

Kershaw Culpepper

The Kershaw Culpepper ushers the barlow into the modern-day knife market in contemporary materials and economy pricing. “Opening mechanisms, blade steels, handle designs—a lot has changed since the peak in popularity of barlows,” says Dominic Aiello, marketing manager at KAI-USA, manufacturer of Kershaw and Zero Tolerance knives. “I don’t believe that barlow-style knives will see the popularity they once had. However, they are still enjoyed by many users, and we want to provide them with a quality, affordable option.”

The Kershaw Culpepper has a 3.25-inch clip-point blade suitable for larger and tougher cutting tasks. The 7Cr17MoV stainless steel provides good edge holding abilities. The long, large handle offers a good grip.
The Kershaw Culpepper has a 3.25-inch clip-point blade suitable for larger and tougher cutting tasks. The 7Cr17MoV stainless steel provides good edge holding abilities. The long, large handle offers a good grip.

The 3.25-inch clip point blade is 7Cr17MoV stainless steel for increased strength, toughness, and wear resistance. The Culpepper is a larger modern barlow suited to heavier cutting tasks. The blade spine boasts gimping for a non-slip rest and extra control when cutting, a feature often found on tactical folders. The satin-finished blade has long-pull nail nicks milled into each side. This offers ease of opening with either hand, but also the convenience of using a pinch grip to pull the blade open as opposed to digging your fingernail into the nail nick and pulling up as you would with a traditional slip joint.

The handle is black G-10, a lightweight, strong synthetic associated with tactical and outdoor knives. It’s a stable material and resistant to fluids, impact, and weathering. The finish is polished, giving an ultra-smooth look and feel. The black and silver appearance is timeless and never gets old. In my opinion, the 4.15-inch closed length pushes the limit of how big a pocketknife should be to carry comfortably in the bottom of a pocket. When you carry it, you’ll know it’s there. The trade-off is the extra blade length to tackle tough, tradesman-like cutting jobs. My only complaint lies with the back spring. Ideally, I would like to have a stiff spring action and a half stop (page 28). The half stop provides great tactile reference as to where the blade is during opening and closing. If not a half stop, then a stiff er spring would suffice.

The Culpepper’s spring tension needs to be increased. I found that if the blade hangs up on what you’re cutting, and you lift up a bit on the handle trying to free it, sometimes the blade will close slightly. Normally you apply downward pressure, so during most use this isn’t an issue. Otherwise, it seems to make a great work knife for tasks unsuitable for a higher-end slip joint. And, in case you lose the Culpepper, the price is such that you can procure another one easily due to the low MSRP ($39.99). One of three traditional slip joints Kershaw offers, the new barlow is made in China.

Bear and Son’s 2281R Rosewood

Bear and Son’s 2281R Rosewood Barlow is the only two-blade of the test bunch, sporting a small pen pattern (21∕16 inch es) in addition to the larger clip point (2.75 inches). The pen gives the option of a shorter blade for smaller cutting tasks or to get into tighter areas. It is also good for scraping, thus saving the main blade’s edge for traditional cutting jobs. Ground from 440A stainless steel, both feature matching long-pull nail nicks for ease of opening. Nice satin finishes round out the overall look and hide scratches.

Trimming string is one of the general utility tasks performed by working knives like the Bear & Son 2281R Rosewood Barlow.
Trimming string is one of the general utility tasks performed by working knives like the Bear & Son 2281R Rosewood Barlow.

The handle features nickel silver bolsters paired with rosewood scales, adding a touch of class. Some prefer the look and feel of a wood handle as opposed to bone or a synthetic. Moreover, rosewood has a reddish-brown hue some find quite attractive, kind of like finely crafted upscale furniture. Granted, the two-blade barlow has a wider handle but the trade-off is the extra width makes the knife easier to grip and bear down on to apply pressure to the cut. The knife’s pocket presence is more noticeable due to the added weight and width, though no more noticeable than some other popular multi-blade slip joints.

The 2281R Barlow balances value with function in a good ol’ USA-made pocketknife. It adapts well to a variety of tasks, from wire stripping to cutting cardboard. It might not be as fancy in appearance as some of the others in this article, but it works well. The blades are easy to resharpen as well. MSRP: $53.75.

Lionsteel CK01

Offering four different blade shapes, the Lionsteel CK01 series is about as high end as you can get for a production barlow. Built from Bohler M390 super steel, titanium liners, and bolsters, and a variety of higher-end natural and synthetic handle materials, the CK01 barlows are show stoppers.

The M390 blade of the Lionsteel CK01 Don model was super sharp right out of the box. It provided plenty of bite for tough tasks such as cutting thick rubber hose.
The M390 blade of the Lionsteel CK01 Don model was super sharp right out of the box. It provided plenty of bite for tough tasks such as cutting thick rubber hose.

The Don model has a 2⅞ -inch sheeps-foot blade. The 3.75-inch closed length makes the knife large enough to tackle tough cuts while small enough to be carried comfortably in a pocket. The light brown Micarta® scales are handsome.

The bead-blasted titanium bolsters sport a subdued appearance. Torx-screw construction and a half stop augment the mix—and so do the crowned liners and titanium handle spacer. The knife’s overall slightly rounded/not flat appearance lends an interesting visual appeal. I really dig the crowning—any manufacturer who does this on its knives definitely pays special attention to detail.

The sheepsfoot blade is less common in barlows but is a highly effective pattern for a variety of cutting and slicing chores. The straight-line edge severs cardboard, tape, and plastic sheeting quickly. It also strips electrical wire easily. The pattern is rather easy to resharpen due to the straight-line edge—that is, there is no blade belly with which to hassle. Since the sheepsfoot lacks a defined blade point, there is enough tip left for effective scoring. The Don’s sheepsfoot incorporates a couple of visual features that stand out. First is the long pull on each side of the blade for easy ambidextrous opening. A swedge on the blade spine is a refreshing look. The knife slices like a dream and the M390 steel really holds an edge well. MSRP: $122, plus shipping, and is available exclusively through CollectorKnives (collectorknives.net).

This about as high end as you can get for a production slip joint, integrating titanium, a high-end super steel, and a lightweight, high-tech handle material. For an additional $9.95, you can order the optional leather slip sheath available in multiple color options

Also Read:

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