KA-BAR’s website says that the Single Mark KA-BAR is the knife for those who have “never been in the military.” That’s less of a dig at those who haven’t served than it is being true to the brand. Every KA-BAR knife traces its lineage back to the USMC Fighting/Utility Knife. As such, the Single Mark is made to the exact specifications of that legendary knife.
Unlike the military, however, you can personalize the Single Mark right out of the box. One side of the blade is stamped with, “KA-BAR, OLEAN NY,” while the other side is blank. That’s a perfect spot for an engraving.
Plus, this made-in-the-USA slice of history is built for the masses with an MSRP of $113.45.
As of this writing, the MSRP for the Single Mark is $113.45. (KA-BAR photo)
Manufactured: USA
Overall Length: 11.875”
Blade Length: 7”
Blade Width: 1.188”
Bulk Weight: 0.7 lb.
Handle: Leather
Blade Stamp: KA-BAR
Steel: 1095 Cro-Van
Thickness: 0.165”
Grind: Flat
Angle: 20°
HRC: 56-58
Sheath: 1217I – Leather
Spartan Harsey Difensa
The Spartan Harsey Difensa is named after a battle fought between the U.S./Canadian First Special Service Force and German troops in Italy. Known as the Battle for Monte la Difensa, the courageous performance of U.S. and Canadian forces there was essential to the eventual Allied victory in Italy. (Caption and photo via Spartan)
Named after the 1943 battle for Monte la Difensa in Italy during World War II, the Spartan Harsey Difensa is a prime example of military history meeting modern knifemaking.
The knife got its start when the Canadian special forces commissioned Spartan Blades and William Harsey to produce a blade for it. This U.S./Canada collaboration harkens back to the Allied heroism of that 1943 battle, so the result needed to be perfect.
From the looks of it, the spear-point Difensa hit its mark and then some. Its design wouldn’t be out of place in either country, or abroad for that matter.
The full tang and handle of the Spartan Harsey Difensa allow for a neutral balance in the user’s hand. Combined with the textured, ergonomic canvas Micarta handle (modified from Spartan’s Model II with no rear jimping) this custom combat knife offers the wielder a comfortable, confident grip whether wet or dry. (Caption and photo via Spartan)
Designer: William Harsey
Overall Length: 11 5/8″
Blade Length: 6 1/4″
Blade Thickness: 3/16″
Blade Steel: CPM S35VN
Blade Hardness: 59-60 HRC
Blade Style: Spear Point
Grind: Flat ground main bevel with tapered top edge.
Coating: SpartaCoat – PVD – Tungsten DLC (Black) or ZrN (Flat Dark Earth)
Handle Material: 3D Contoured CE Canvas Micarta® Black or Green
Weight: 0.710 LBS
Spyderco Native 5 Abel Reels Exclusive Signature Series
The brown trout pattern. (Spyderco photo)The bonefish design. (Spyderco photo)
Spyderco’s collaboration with fine fishing tackle manufacturer Abel Reels has turned out a creel of keepers with the painstakingly detailed Native 5 Abel Reels Exclusive Signature Series.
One look will show you what makes this series of three knives stand out. The same proprietary process Abel Reels uses to make its tackle so realistic is also applied to the design of the knives. That’s not to say the knives can be used as fishing lures, but it’s pretty close.
Each work of art wraps itself around Spyderco’s popular Native 5 folding knife platform. These photorealistic knives might swim away if you don’t watch out.
QSP doubles down on the growing interest in urban EDCs with the Hawk QS131 line of four knives (A, B, C and D). The handle and blade material separate each of the four, but the rest of the specs are roughly the same.
The squared off handle design in each Hawk softens the overall design, staying true to urban EDC’s non-aggression ethic. The same could be said for the damascus on two of the Hawk knives; urban EDCs need to have something to talk about.
Ceramic ball bearings mean no matter which of the four Hawk knives finds its way into your pocket, it’s sure to pop open like a true flipper every time.
QS131-C-Hawk (QSP photo)QS131-D HAWK (QSP photo)
Mechanism: Flipper (Ceramic Ball Bearing)
Blade: Chinese Damascus Steel or CPM35VN (Satin Finish)
Handle: Carbon Fiber (A), Verawood (B) or Carbon Fiber (C)
Lock: Locking liner
Overall: 7.35”
Closed: 4.125”
Cutting edge: 3.225”
Net weight: +/-3.6oz
SOG Trident AT
(SOG image)
With flippers all the rage, is there still room for an assisted opener? Absolutely.
SOG’s Trident AT is an overbuilt example of the enduring assisted opening category, marketed as being “designed for professional users.” Anyone can order up the AT, though, and why wouldn’t they? The assisted mechanism opens rapidly, and the blade stays securely in place with SOG’s renowned AT-XR locking system, including an ambidextrous safety in the handle.
Why so much security? SOG anticipates you’re going to beat the heck out this knife. SOG prides itself on taking its folders to the limits, and this is no different.
Plus, the line cutter and glass breaker mean that no matter what you encounter in the field, you’ll be ready.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of BLADE. However, the information presented is still relevant and useful to anyone interested in paracord-wrapped knife handles.
Advantages of Paracord-Wrapped Knife Handles
Affordable: Much less expensive than many natural and synthetic handle materials
Customizable: Available in a variety of colors
Convenient: Cordage is as near as your knife
Versatile: Paracord can be used in countless everyday and survival situations
Disadvantages of Paracord-Wrapped Knife Handles
Fixed blades only: Folders aren’t an option
Absorbent: Will soak up moisture (water, mud, blood), and may give off unpleasant odor as a result
Needs replacing: Wear and tear mean the wrap won’t last forever
Ergonomics: Some say gloved hands often find a better grip than bare hands
The Infinite Uses of Paracord
While for some it may be considered just a quick wraparound, for others it has proven to be a lifesaver. The simple paracord handle does more than meets the eye.
Functioning as a handle material that allows for the best fit for the size of the user’s hand, and one that can be added or removed in a matter of minutes, paracord is durable and relatively inexpensive. It also adds a dimension of survivability for those in the field.
Paracord pulls double duty as a bootlace, securing line, snare or even in a first-aid situation.
What’s the Best Kind of Paracord?
This Yurco model is available from Arizona Custom Knives. (photo courtesy of Arizona Custom Knives)
“The best paracord to use is military 550 cord,” explained custom knifemaker Mickey Yurco, who has employed paracord wrap for handles on as much as 40 percent of his knives. “It has seven inner strands of nylon cord, and the outer shell is tightly braided nylon. If you pull out the separate strands in a survival situation, you can make a bowstring, use it to catch a rabbit with a snare, use it for fishing line, and you can break down the inner core into three separate smaller strands for sewing a rip in a tent or as suture if you cut yourself.
“You can use the outer shell to lash branches together to build a lean-to or tie logs together for a raft. You can even use it to keep a fire lit because [paracord] will melt.”
Yurco also points out that when a paracord handle is unwrapped for another use, the gripping end of the knife is still intact. The entire piece is lightweight and, on the sheath or in a belt clip, as much as eight to 12 feet of additional paracord can be tightly wrapped as backup.
Two Schools of Thought
Interested in doing a wrap yourself? You certainly can. The Izula-B Kit includes the paracord wrap (upper right) and cod lock, and also the black molded sheath, large and small split rings, ferro fi re-starting rod, emergency whistle, plastic snap hook and MOLLE lock kit. (RAT photo)
Mike Fuller of TOPS Knives noticed its reputation rising around 2000.
“I first saw it during the Vietnam era, as some guys wrapped paracord around their sheaths just to have some extra cord if needed,” he commented at the time this article was published. “I did see a few homemade jeepspring knives with paracord wrapping.
“There are two schools of thought on the paracord,” Fuller continued. “In an emergency situation, you might have about 10 feet of cord to use for survival applications. In a wet situation, you might have a better grip, and some people feel that it assists when wearing gloves in the field.
“Paracord can in fact tear or become frayed and, if it gets soaking wet in really cold weather, some have said that their handles freeze and coat with ice. Several professional hunters have said that if you are field dressing an animal the blood may get into the cord and it’s difficult to clean and may carry a distinct odor.”
The Secret is the Simplicity
The Yumi (top) and Ya (bottom) from Kanetsune/Kitasho offer paracord-wrapped handles and blades of 15-layer White steel damascus. Each piece comes with a cowhide sheath. Overall lengths: 7.68 and 8.07 inches. (Kanetsune/Kitasho photo)
“People like paracord because it is so simple,” said Justin Gingrich, a consultant with Ontario Knife Co. “It allows them to customize a handle and still have a knife they can carry close to the body. You can wrap, rewrap and even change the cord to match the outfit you’re wearing.
“Paracord allows users to tailor the knife to themselves, beefing the handle up or thinning it out, and, if it gets dirty or frayed or messed up in any way, it’s easy to replace. It will absorb water and hold it, so you don’t want it on an unprotected high-carbon steel knife. You could get rusting issues with water or any other fluids. It will absorb blood if you are hunting, but then again, it’s a give and take since you can change it out pretty quickly.”
Conclusion
As with any knife feature, whether to go with a paracord-wrapped knife handle or not is up to the user. However, many knife collectors enjoy the versatility and customization that paracord offers. Far from a trend, paracord is here to stay as a handle option.
BLADE’s Cutlery Hall Of Fame Welcomed Five New Members In 2021 At Induction Ceremony In Atlanta.
BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member B.R. Hughes set a most appropriate tone for the Hall’s 2021 inductions early Saturday morning of the BLADE Show in the Kennesaw Room of the Renaissance Waverly Hotel.
“Over the years I’ve noticed one thing about the man and lady selected for the Cutlery Hall Of Fame,” said one of the co-founders of the American Bladesmith Society in his speech inducting Joe Keeslar. “They are not so interested in themselves so much as they are others.”
In addition to Keeslar, B.R.’s words apply equally well to the four other new inductees: Beverly and Billy Mace Imel, Jay Hendrickson and Jim Sornberger.
Joe Keeslar
Joe Keeslar
Speaking of Keeslar, along with Sornberger, Joe was voted into the Hall last year. However, since the pandemic canceled BLADE Show 2020, it also postponed their formal inductions until this year—none of which dulled Keeslar’s appreciation for B.R.’s speechifying ability.
“[BLADE® editor] Steve Shackleford contacted me last spring and told me I would be inducted into the Hall Of Fame … The first thing I did was call Mr. Hughes and asked him to do my induction speech. You can see why. I asked him to give his best $20 speech,” Joe deadpanned to laughter from the 60-or-so gathering of the inductees’ families and friends. “I think I’m going to have to give him a few dollars to make up for that.”
In his baritone voice and measured manner, B.R. outlined Joe’s early history as a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, marriage to Suzanne, making knives and also fine muzzleloading rifles, and getting his college degree. In 1989 Joe earned his ABS master smith rating and it was also about that time Suzanne, who, in her job as a professor at Murray State University, started taking her students to France in the summer to enhance their French language skills.
“Naturally, Joe had to build a shop over there so he could make knives, and he taught many Frenchmen how to make knives,” B.R. noted. “He also was asked to demonstrate at the Thiers Knife Show, the second largest knife show in France. This practice continued for years. He’s been a wonderful ambassador in preserving the art of bladesmithing.”
Joe went on to become chairman of the ABS, serving in the position longer than all but two others, ABS master smiths Bill Moran and Jim Batson, both members of the Cutlery Hall Of Fame. He’s taught knifemaking at the William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing, Haywood College, hammer-ins in Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Ohio, played a lead role in the rapidly expanding ABS youth program, and taught classes for the first four years of BLADE University. He also authored two how-to books: Handles and Guards and Forging and Finishing the Brut de Forge Knife. Joe thanked three people in particular: Suzanne, their son, Kurt, and B.R.
“Suzanne and Kurt have given me so much over the years in terms of support,” he began, “but the thing they gave me most, they gave me time. Time is a special commodity. You can’t put it in a box or on a shelf and come back in a week and retrieve it. The time is gone. You have to use it when it’s available to you. They gave me time to be me, to do what I wanted to do, in this case the knives and some with the guns, too.”
He also credited B.R. for 30 years of friendship. “I trusted his judgment on the things that came up when I served on the ABS board of directors,” Joe said. “He was there as my mentor and savior, he was helping me decide on the things I needed to be involved in, understanding how the ABS works, what our goals are and all the things I needed to know.”
Jim Sornberger
Jim Sornberger
Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Ken Onion gave the speech inducting Sornberger and outlined Jim’s pre-knife career, which was pretty impressive in its own right. “Guns, knives and tools were the things that molded Jim,” Onion began. “His grandfather gave him a Rudy Ruana knife when Jim joined the Boy Scouts, and his uncle in Redding, California, owned a gun shop with a large knife display. It was there Jim met Harry Morseth in the mid-fifties.”
Sornberger joined the Army in 1963 and became an advisor in Southeast Asia, moving around Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and other countries. After his discharge he joined law enforcement and shortly thereafter became a deputy with the Santa Clara sheriff’s office. From there he became an agent for a federally funded narcotics task force for several California counties, and later worked as a narcotics intelligence officer for military and other agencies in and out of the state.
Following a work-related injury, Jim focused on one of his lifelong loves—making jewelry—while recovering. One of the places that sold his jewelry asked him to make knives. He became a regular attendee and table holder at the San Jose gun show, where he met such storied knifemakers as D.E. Henry, Dave Pitt, Ron Richards and Bob Holt. They and others started a knife show—the Bay Area Knife Collectors Association Show—for which Jim wrote the bylaws. “BAKCA,” as it was known, enjoyed what Onion called “30 years of great shows and wonderful memories.”
Jim joined the Knifemakers’ Guild in 1976 and served on the board of directors, including a stint as vice president. By the late ’70s he’d won several awards for his knives, including his San Francisco-style dress bowies. In 1981 the industry was having quality control issues with 154CM stainless steel, so Bob Holt and Jim started H&S Supply and sold ATS-34 stainless in large quantities, as Onion noted, “essentially introducing it to the entire knife industry.”
Jim gave thanks to his two grandfathers for the time they spent with him and serving as his role models. “It’s really nice to be rewarded for something you’ve done a good part of your life and still enjoy doing—and I’m not quitting,” the 75-years-young Sornberger reassured the audience. “I’ve still got plenty of years left, I think.”
Indeed, for the man Onion called an encyclopedia of the history of the custom knife world, who continues to write for KNIFE Magazine and other outlets, and who travels worldwide, the best may yet still be to come.
Beverly & Billy Mace Imel
Beverly & Billy Mace Imel
Beverly and Billy Mace Imel served as secretary/treasurer on the Guild board of directors for 15 years and were rocks in terms of doing the behind-the-scenes work that was so important to the running of the organization. In fact, when Billy first started making knives in the early 1970s, Beverly did all the bookkeeping for Billy’s knifemaking operation and has ever since, the two celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary June 11. Notably, they are the first married couple to be inducted simultaneously into the Hall. (Cutlery Hall-Of-Famers, Mr. and Mrs. A.G. and Goldie Russell, were inducted separately.)
A tool-and-die maker by trade, Billy was inspired to make knives in 1972 before going on a hunt. He saw a Ted Dowell integral hunter and decided it would be a good knife for the trip, but it cost $100—too much for him to pay for a knife at the time. One thing led to another and Billy tried his hand at making knives, and soon discovered how much work it took to make a good one. Someone saw them and asked Billy how much he wanted for one. “Bill said he never thought about that but he wasn’t charging a hundred because that damn sure isn’t enough, so he said two hundred,” Jim Sornberger winked in his speech inducting the Imels.
Billy joined the Guild in 1973 and the Imels eventually exhibited at shows in Japan, Europe and elsewhere, basically doing everything together. In the process, Billy became one of the world’s best knifemakers. “In the mid ’70s there were several people I was really fascinated with who did a really good job on their knives, the fit, the finish, the detail and the sharp lines,” Sornberger recalled. “And Billy was No. 1 on my list.” A long-time member of the NRA, Billy also made knives for the speakers at the association’s annual convention, including one each for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
In 1984 the Imels were elected Guild secretary/treasurer and Beverly in particular changed forever how the position would be viewed. “She was unbelievable,” Sornberger stressed. “This was in the day before portable phones and you didn’t have a stenographer to take notes, but no matter what we asked her during business meetings—How much did it cost? How many tables did we have? Who made a motion at this meeting?—Beverly had the answer. She’d just tell ya’, boom, who made the motion and who seconded it, and how she got all that stuff I’ll never know. She was the backbone of the Guild for 15 years.”
Regrettably, the Imels were unable to attend the ceremony but sent a heartfelt written thank you instead.
Jay Hendrickson
Jay Hendrickson
As inductor Johnny Perry noted, when Jay Hendrickson started making knives in Frederick, Maryland, in 1972, it wasn’t long before he learned there was another bladesmith in the neighborhood who just so happened to be the best in the world at it—Bill Moran. Jay met Moran, visited Bill’s shop now and again, and, through practice and dedication, became a bladesmith and joined the ABS.
Jay earned his ABS journeyman smith stamp in 1986—the same year being elected to the ABS board of directors—and his master smith stamp in 1989. Around that time, he was instrumental in establishing the William F. Moran School of Bladesmithing and also taught bladesmithing there, writing and illustrating the manuals used in some of the courses.
He was elected ABS chairman in 1991, succeeding the only chairman the ABS had ever known—Mr. Moran. In all, Jay served on the ABS board of directors from 1986-2018. He and his wife, Nancy, helped develop and coordinate the Bill Moran Hammer-In in 2003 in Frederick and kept it running for two more years before Mr. Moran’s passing in 2006.
Jay was co-chairman of the All-Forged-Blade Expo in Reno from 2003-07 and was instrumental in forming the William F. Moran Jr. Museum and Foundation in Frederick in 2006. He was president of it for 10 years, and today remains on its board of directors. The museum includes a number of Moran’s top knives, “a dressed-up version” of Moran’s knife shop and much more.
“All the effort Jay has put into the museum and foundation is immeasurable,” Johnny noted. “It required years and years of responsibility, but Jay bore it well and got the job done.”
The inductee gave special thanks to his wife, Nancy. “I wanted to thank her for all her help over the years, taking care of all the details, all the flight reservations, all the laundry, all the packing of suitcases. Sometimes when she gets tired she even lets me mow the lawn,” he said to audience laughter.
Jay went on to relate the story of when he was a kid shopping at a sporting goods store with his dad, who told the young Hendrickson to go pick something out for his birthday. Jay went to the magazine rack in the back of the store and saw the Gun Digest Book of Knives.
“I’d been making some knives, nothing big, but I’d been making them since I was a kid, and I looked at the book and it looked interesting,” he recalled. “And I looked down at the bottom and I see the names B.R. Hughes and Jack Lewis. Well, I didn’t know who these characters were but it didn’t matter, so I thumbed through it real quick and said this is a deal!”
Jay’s dad bought the book and Jay read it and told himself, “I can do this.” Looking at B.R. seated in the room, Jay remarked, “B.R., you helped me out a lot with that book and little did I know that one day I would get to meet you, serve on the ABS board with you, and over the years you would help me quite a lot with my knifemaking.
“I remember when B.R. got inducted into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame and he said something like he didn’t think he was worthy of this but he wasn’t going to give it back. Touché—the same with me.”
There have been tons of stories on how to be a knifemaker. Most are great and deal with subjects like taxes, suppliers, marketing, sales, bookkeeping and safety. Other great articles cover the technical side of how to make the knives you wish to sell, including stories on forging, grinding, heat treating, handles, sheaths and more.
My story will outline some things I have learned over the years as a full-time knifemaker in a home-shop setting that I think will benefit you, your knives and, most importantly, your family.
1) A Toaster Oven
Your kitchen will get messy in a hurry if you don’t take things outside. Buy a cheap toaster oven. Problem solved.
The kitchen is not the place to be tempering knives, warming up knife sheaths for waxing them, heating Kydex® for the molding, or burning out axe heads. A $5 toaster at the flea market will do all that in your shop and is a bargain.
2) Pots & Pans
Get a selection of pots and pans, cutting boards and a small scale from a thrift shop. Don’t be tempted to use a “good pan” for that one, little task.
3) A Shop Sink
Would you want to eat out of this sink? No. That’s why it’s the dedicated shop sink, not the one inside the kitchen.
Install running water in your shop, or at least have a five-gallon bucket handy. Make sure there’s a countertop, too, in case of spills.
On that note, wipe your feet off before re-entering a home.
4) A Coffee Thermos
If who like your coffee as much as I do, get a big thermos, fill it in the morning, and take it to the shop with you. This cuts down on the trips away from the shop, as a trip inside the house to grab another cup can turn into an hour away by the time you get the cup, peek in the fridge, check for phone messages, etc.
Plus, every time you re-enter the house, you track shop dirt and oils in with you.
5) Discipline/Knowing When to Stop
Know when to quit for the day. This is one lesson I’m still learning. You get wrapped up in your work and the next thing you know it’s 2 in the morning.
Not only will you spend that night on the couch, but you may spend the next one there too if, as a result, you also forgot the plans you made, dinner, one or more of the kids’ school activities, etc. Besides, it’s tough to make good knives after a rough night on the couch.
6) Do Something Special for Your Family
Make knives, buy flowers, repeat.
Use some of your knife money to buy your wife/husband/partner/significant other flowers. Buy them on a regular basis. Put it on the calendar if you must so you will remember. Think of the flowers as supplies, like grinding belts.
This is very important!
7) Mind the Dust
Know that what happens in your shop does not stay in your shop, and act accordingly. Dust from exotic woods will make it into your home. You may not be allergic to the dust but your wife, kids or family pets may be.
Keep an eye peeled for anything out of the ordinary when introducing new woods or materials into your shop. This also goes for smoke from quenching. Use “green” quenchants when you can, including vegetable-based oils and water. And keep the door to the rest of the house closed until you clear the air.
8) Consider Where Your Shop is Located
If you’re considering moving your shop away from your house, think long and hard about it.
Yes, a home-based shop offers some challenges. However, it offers quite a few benefits, too. Namely, the morning commute is a thing of the past, and people know how to find you.
Move the shop away, as some friends of mine have, and you may end up moving it right back anyway.
9) Make the Most of Breaks
Maximize the time between your work by throwing in a load of laundry, starting supper, taking care of a household task, paying bills, etc. This helps your family’s day-to-day quality of life.
10) Test Your Knives in the Kitchen
If you make them, there is no better test of the kitchen knives you create than to use them in making dinner. This is a twofer in that not only do you get the immediate feedback from hands-on testing, but also the household benefit of preparing meals.
11) Double Up Your Shop
With your shop set up, you have all sorts of tools on hand you can use for other projects. From fixing your kid’s bicycle to tuning up a lawn mower, you’ll find taking care of these everyday things can reset your focus for knifemaking later.
One of the more unusual patterns in the long history of folding knives is the marlinespike. It is a blend of the early rope knife—not the sunfish, but the wharncliffe version—and the singular, knitting-needle-like marlinespike.
These were combined into a single folder and have served many a sailor and diver well. The blade is a sure-handed rope cutter, and the spike is made for working with knots and splicing rope. In fact, there is a knot dubbed the marlinespike hitch that serves as a temporary knot for various needs.
Also known as rigging knives, marlinespike knives live today in the form of reproductions of the original folders and thoroughly modern send-ups. Climbers, who use a lot of different knots in their endeavors, also find marlinespike knives useful.
Example 1: Colonial Knife’s Marlin Spike
The press-lock is a common blade release for marlinespike folders that dates back to the knife’s early days. However, there’s more here than meets the eye: The Colonial Marlin Spike’s lock also serves as a bail and a shackle opener.
Colonial Knife’s Marlin Spike is a reproduction of the original marlinespike knife issued by the U.S. Navy in World War I—with some modern touches.
The locking, 440C stainless steel spike and partially serrated—a plain-edge version is also available—sheepsfoot slip-joint blade are both 3 inches long. The scales are a simulated brown jigged-bone Zytel and the bolsters are stainless. The spike locks via a press-lock on the base, which also serves as a shackle opener and bail for a lanyard.
Example 2: Boker Magnum Catamaran
The marlinespike hitch is a simple, temporary knot that can be easily removed once it has served its purpose. The knot is attached to the Boker Magnum Catamaran’s spike in a scenario for which it can serve as a handle.
The Boker Magnum Catamaran has the traditional profile of the old marlinespike folders, replete with a press-lock bail/shackle opener for the spike tool and a 4.375-inch stainless steel frame.
The 3.3-inch spike and 2.75-inch partially serrated sheepsfoot slip-joint blade are 440A stainless steel. You’ll find a nifty shackle opener on the handle, also stainless steel, pinned to the frame.
Example 3: Camillus Marlin Spike
While the plain edge of the Camillus Marlin Spike’s sheepsfoot blade might not quite match the speed of a serrated edge, when it comes to wood it vastly out-carves the rest of the pack. This is a big consideration if you need a knife that will step outside The Rope Zone.
The Camillus Marlin Spike is a modern take on the original. The stylized, 4-inch frame is black G-10 with stainless steel liners. The 2.75-inch sheepsfoot blade—the only one of the test group without serrations—is VG-10 stainless steel with a black, carbonitride titanium coating.
It secures via a linerlock. The folder’s 2.25-inch spike locks via the press-lock/bail and is black coated as well. It is the lightest (3.2 ounces) of the test knives.
Example 4: Fox Sailing Knife
The Fox Sailing Knife has a cutout in the blade that serves as a shackle release. A shackle’s screw tab is caught in the jaws of the blade’s open maw.
The Fox Sailing Knife delivers with a cool, 4-inch handle of textured blue G-10. Stainless liners house linerlock mechanisms for both the 3-inch modified wharncliffe blade of 420 stainless steel and 2.25-inch spike.
The partially serrated blade has a cutout that serves as a shackle opener, along with a hole in the base of the frame that can accept a lanyard.
This year’s two new inductees to the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame® have a decidedly military connection: ABS master smith Joe Keeslar and knifemaker Jim Sornberger.
Both military veterans—Keeslar in the U.S. Marine Corps and Sornberger in the U.S. Army—were selected in a vote of the sitting members of the Cutlery Hall Of Fame after an extensive nomination and final ballot process.
The two new members are scheduled to be inducted at BLADE Show 2020, Aug. 7-9, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
In order to qualify for the Cutlery Hall Of Fame, the inductee must have…
demonstrated extraordinary service to the knife industry;
displayed honesty, character and integrity;
advanced the industry by the creativity and originality of their works or contributions;
as ambassadors or outstanding contributors furthered the positive impact of the knife industry on the world at large; and
in summary, demonstrated a worthiness to be a member of such a prestigious group.
The number of votes each new inductee elicited from the sitting Hall-Of-Fame voters would seem to indicate they qualify on all fronts.
Joe Keeslar
Joe Keeslar
A resident of Almo, Kentucky, Joe has had an extensive, storied career in the American Bladesmith Society, earning his ABS master smith stamp in 1989. Known for his forged fixed blades, many in the brut de forge style, he also is noted for his beautiful handles with silver wire inlay and matching leather sheaths, the latter often adorned with conchos and other rich embellishments.
Joe joined the ABS board of directors in 1991, served as ABS president from 2003-07, and completed his second term as president in 2015. He has had a dramatic influence on bladesmithing in Europe, where he was chiefly responsible for the first modern hammer-in held in France. He is also a frequent demonstrator at the Thiers Knife Show, one of Europe’s largest knife shows, in Thiers, the knifemaking capital of France. He is the only American knifemaker to receive an honorary membership in the Confrerie du Couteau de Thiers, a French knifemaking organization.
Joe Keeslar (inset) is known for his gorgeous brut de forge fixed blades in silver wire inlay and sheaths to match. (SharpByCoop knife image)
As one nominator wrote, Joe is “the most effective maker in the USA to extend forged-blade activity in Europe,” and is the most active in spreading the ABS’s “high level of information.” He has taught knifemaking at the William F. Moran School Of Bladesmithing and at Haywood College, at hammer-ins in Alabama, Arkansas, North Carolina and Ohio, and at the first four renditions of BLADE University at the BLADE Show. He is author of the books Handles and Guards and Forging and Finishing the Brut de Forge Knife. He also is primarily responsible for the rapidly expanding ABS youth program, which holds an annual hammer-in at Smoky Mountain Knife Works.
According to another nominator, Joe “embodies the calm and consistent leadership, knifemaking skills, education and friendship that is so valuable to the entire world of knives.” According to another, “Joe has done more for the ABS than any person besides the late, great W.F. ‘Bill’ Moran.” Lastly, Keeslar was awarded the first annual Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award at the 2015 BLADE Show for his many contributions as a mentor to bladesmiths worldwide.
Jim Sornberger
Jim Sornberger
Calling Volcano, California, home, Jim is a veteran stock removal knifemaker known for his award-winning fixed blades and folders, among the former especially his ornate California-style dress bowies in exotic handle materials such as lapis lazuli and gold quartz.
According to a nominator, when Jim started building knives in 1970, there were only a handful of makers in northern California. As more people became interested in knives and Jim’s “knife family” grew, they experienced difficulty buying knifemaking supplies because no one on the West Coast sold them.
As a result, along with Bill Holt, Jim started H&S Supply in 1981. Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless and Jim made sure H&S had the right-size steel for knifemaking, and when 154CM stainless steel became “unclean,” they helped bring in ATS-34 stainless so many West Coast makers would have it available. Jim and Bill helped support many of the makers who could barely make ends meet by selling them the steel on credit. In fact, Jim still has a bar of 154CM that Loveless gave him many years ago.
Jim Sornberger specializes in 19th-century-style dress bowies such as this San Francisco knife that won Best In Show at the 2019 ICCE. (SharpByCoop knife image)
Circa 1980, along with a few others, Jim sponsored and organized the Bay Area Knife Collectors Association (BAKCA) Show, which went on to become the most successful club show on the West Coast. Jim would generously give up his table space to help makers get started, including his good friend and outstanding knifemaker in his own right, Stan Fujisaka.
In later years, Jim helped bring interest to the California-style dress bowie in gold work and engraving. He shared most everything he learned with other makers, helping many to learn the craft. He writes articles for KNIFE Magazine and has written for BLADE®, and also helped write BAKCA’s by-laws. For a number of years he served on The Knifemakers’ Guild board of directors, including as vice president.
If you’re lucky enough to attend a knife show in-person this year, take advantage of the time to use your smartphone—or even a camera, heaven forbid—to help establish the provenance of the knife you buy.
A provenance that not only can you show proudly to anyone and everyone who might be interested in the cool little enclave of makers that comprise the knife industry, but also to help increase the knife’s value.
What Is “Provenance?”
Provenance, in case you don’t know, is defined by Webster’s as “place or source of origin,” and proof of it is something those who deal in the world of collectables value almost as much as the collectable itself.
Such is the case in the world of edged collectables, where the knives of certain makers can be extremely valuable. Being able to prove beyond almost a shadow of a doubt that one of those makers made the knife you assert he or she has made can mean hundreds if not thousands of dollars of difference in the amount of money you can get for it—if and when you decide to sell it.
In later years, if you keep the knife and its provenance together, it can mean even more money and prestige than that.
What Forms of Proof Count as Provenance?
Even if you can’t make it to a knife show in 2020, such as this scene at Jerry Van Eizenga’s table during a past BLADE Show, you can still request signed business cards, specs, receipts and photos from the knifemaker through the mail. A notary public isn’t out of the question, either. (file photo)
Provenance can take any number of forms, including dated written and signed documentation, sales receipts, product boxes (with the overall condition of those boxes playing a large part in value, too), etc. The more legitimate examples of proof you have, the better the provenance is.
Among other forms of such proof are photographs, and such photographs can come in any number of renditions.
For instance, once you buy the knife from the maker at his or her table, you might ask if it’s OK if you:
photograph the knife on the maker’s table, perhaps even with his/her autographed and dated business card situated next to the knife;
have your photograph taken with the maker, with you and/or he or she holding the knife; and
any other image you can think of to date or memorialize the occasion.
And you don’t have to stop there. You can keep the maker’s autographed business card from the photo, any kind of signed and dated receipt, knife specs (including name of knife, steel, blade length, handle material, lock, any unusual facts or descriptions of how the knife was made, etc.) and so on, and store it all with the knife.
If you feel even more enterprising, bring a recorder and record the maker’s answers to questions concerning the knife.
Of course, you will need to ask the maker’s permission for all of the above beforehand, but, if you’re paying the maker’s asking price for the knife, chances are he or she is going to be more than happy to comply and help you establish the knife’s provenance.
Provenance Benefits Both Ways
After all, the more money you get/more prestige you establish for the knife is probably going to benefit the maker’s ability to get top dollar for/reinforce the collectability of his/her knives, too.
Besides, it helps you establish a better rapport with the maker and is all kind of fun to boot.
