The tapered-tang Model 6 was one of George Herron’s best-known knives and was named in a poll as one of the 20 best knives ever made. The 4-inch blade is ATS-34 stainless steel and the handle is curly maple. Overall length: 9 inches. Herron made this one in his Aiken, South Carolina, shop. (Jay Mealing image)
Without a doubt, he was one of the best custom knifemakers to ever pursue the art. He gave information, expertise and precious time freely to those who wanted to learn. He was a crack shot, spitting in death’s eye during the Korean War and walking out of literal hell to fight another day.
Mr. Herron hardly went anywhere without his trusty pipe.
“George Herron wasn’t just a great custom knifemaker,” began Bobby Branton, a custom maker who knew Herron and collected his knives for many years, “he was a great human being and a great person. You didn’t have to make knives for him to have an interest in you.”
Branton met George and his wonderful wife, affectionately known by the many who know her as “Miss Barbara,” when he was “bitten by the knife bug” and wanted to buy a few of the great maker’s knives.
“I started out as a collector and wanted to buy some John Nelson Cooper knives from a lady in a shop and found out from her that there were a number of South Carolina makers out there,” he recalled.
In his early days as a knifemaker, Branton bought the leading books on the topic by Sid Latham and David Boye. He noticed photos of some of Herron’s knives in Latham’s book and traveled to Herron’s home in Aiken and later Springfield, South Carolina.
“I called ahead of time and asked if I could stop by,” Bobby said. “I bought two knives with all the money I had. We looked around the shop and he was getting ready to go to a show. We went inside and he pulled a big deerskin off the table like a matador, and his inventory was sitting there.”
After Bobby made his first knife, he returned to Herron’s home to get a review of the effort.
“He said, ‘That’s nice, but if you’re going to make a knife, make a knife,’” Branton smiled. “He gave me tips and mentored me.”
A Custom Knifemaker Who Gave Back
George Herron made many folders and varied his styles quite a bit over the years, including bolstered lockbacks, interframe lockbacks, slip-joint gent’s knives and others. The top knife is a slip-joint gent’s knife and the bottom three are interframe lockbacks. The scales are ivory. (Jay Mealing image)
George did the same for many would be custom makers who came calling. Custom maker Wayne Hendrix worked for him in the 1980s and learned to make custom knives from the master.
“He was a heck of a teacher,” Wayne said. “I tell you right now, if I went out there and picked a maker to work for, I couldn’t have picked a better one in terms of making working knives. His designs were simple and his knives were functional. He was a very intelligent man and he had common sense to go along with it. You don’t necessarily see someone with both that often.”
At the time he started working in the shop, Wayne indicated George was considered one of the world’s top five custom makers. Herron built a reputation of outstanding quality for a fair price, and part of his legacy is that his knives were affordably priced. He sold them by the thousands.
Wayne grew close to George, not just in the knife shop but in other aspects of life as well.
“I hunted with him and painted the inside of his house after they moved to Springfield,” he smiled. “It was super cold that winter, and he had an enclosed two-car garage where we set up his shop. We were a lot alike but he was a lot smarter than I am, and I consider him to be my second daddy. I couldn’t have picked a better maker to apprentice under, and I’m still riding George Herron’s coattails.”
The Secret To The Legacy
Named after Col. John Bigbie, the Bigbie skinner was another George Herron favorite. The 3.5-inch blade of ATS-34 stainless had a tapered tang and a stag handle. Overall length: 8 inches. This one was made in Herron’s Springfield, South Carolina, shop. (Jay Mealing image)
In an era when knifemakers looked to pricing of individual units as a barometer of their profitability, George was different. He never forgot that working people needed affordable knives.
“One time a committee of Guild members came to his table,” Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer and past BLADE publisher and editor Bruce Voyles remembered, “and they told him that he was selling his knives too cheap. He said, with a few words that I can’t repeat, that he would make and sell knives the way he wanted and they could do the same. Now, George sold most of his knives for $150 to $300, and most of those have doubled or tripled in value. None of the guys on that committee could say that their knives have done that.”
Voyles lighted up describing Herron as “a man’s man, gracious, courteous, or mean as he needed to be in a given situation.”
Perhaps the best tribute anyone could provide to the life and legacy of the great George Herron was Voyles’ effort to be at the only place on Earth he wanted to be when his friend passed away.
“We were in New Orleans at Mardi Gras,” Bruce commented. “On Fat Tuesday morning the telephone rang, and it was Bobby Branton telling me that Mr. George was gone. We loaded up and went home right then so we could attend the funeral in South Carolina. There are very few people I would have done that for.”
Such an effort proves one thing for sure. George Herron, larger than life, remains with those who knew him in undiminished spirit.
Meet Your Knifemaking Heroes At BLADE Show 2019
The world’s largest knife show takes place this June in Atlanta. Learn more here.
The entire process rekindles fond memories for this writer, most of which involve the Hall Of Fame ceremony itself that annually occurs during the BLADE Magazine Awards Reception the Saturday night of the BLADE Show.
Bob Terzuola (left) presents Sal Glesser (right) with his BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® plaque during the Hall-Of-Fame ceremonies 20 years ago at the 1999 BLADE Show.
The first such ceremony that stood out for me was in 1988 when A.G. Russell and Ken Warner inducted each other—with neither knowing at the time the other would be inducted as well! When each inducted the other the expression on the new inductee’s face was priceless, and that ceremony remains like no other before or since.
Hubert Lawell’s induction in 1989 was memorable for his bringing a copy of the old and now defunct EDGES pocketknife newspaper we used to publish up on the stage, holding it high in the air, and praising it and everything it/we did as the greatest thing for the knife industry since sliced bread. Never mind that many in the audience appeared unsure of what Hubert was saying in his low Tennessee drawl, at the end of his speech he had everyone on their feet cheering—though I’m not sure all of them were cheering because of what he said so much as he was finished saying it.
The 1993 inductions of Col. Rex Applegate, B.R. Hughes and Bruce Voyles were unique. They were the only inductions ever held outside the BLADE Show venue, specifically under a big canvas tent at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Bruce became the first-ever member inducted by acclimation of the membership, which was a pleasant surprise to him. Not to be outdone, upon his induction B.R. uttered perhaps the best acceptance line ever.
“I don’t know that I deserve this Hall-Of-Fame plaque,” he deadpanned, “but I’m not giving it back!”
Following it all everyone retired to a giant fireworks presentation courtesy of the park.
Spyderco CEO Sal Glesser’s induction in 1999 was particularly memorable. Not only were we able to keep Sal from knowing until the last minute that he would be inducted, but Mrs. Gail Glesser was able to keep secret from him that she would be there, too.
Al Buck, M.H. Cole, Bill Williamson and Jimmy Lile receive their Hall of Fame awards from James F. Parker at the BLADE Show banquet.
Gail was supposed to miss the BLADE Show entirely that year due to a scheduling conflict. However, when we told her Sal was going to be inducted, unbeknownst to him she begged off on her other engagement and arranged to arrive at the show just before the ceremony began. So not only was Sal surprised to be inducted, he was equally tickled to have his wife there to share in the honor with him.
In recent years we’ve had to forego all the cloak-and-dagger stuff involving keeping the inductions secret because we have been announcing the inductions on our website well before the show, which we will do again for this year’s inductions sometime next month. Stay tuned to blademag.com for that announcement.
Editor’s note: Knives are first and foremost tools that offer tremendous utility for making everyday life easier. However, a few unsavory elements of society misuse these tools for criminal purposes. Because of the frequency of the topic in conversations inside the knife community, BLADE is bringing you this glimpse at that type of behavior as a means to better inform our audience. Remember: the intent of the person using the knife is always more significant than the knife itself.
How Do Criminals Use Knives In Attacks?
An associate of mine, Travis Roesler of Fight Smart, recently studied more than 200 real attacks criminals made with knives that were caught on CCTV security cameras from around the world. Here’s we learned.
How Criminals Use Knives: The Percentages
Roesler came up with the following statistics:
As would be expected, around 90% of the criminals were right handed (which coincides with the percentage of the dominant hand of the populace).
The most common attack was a straight stab with the right hand accompanied by a collar or clothing grab with the left hand (40%)
The second most common attack was a non-augmented straight, right-handed stab (25%)
Straight stabs were used in 65% of the attacks
The third most common attack (24%) was an overhead stab, with the knife in a reverse, or “icepick” grip
The fourth most common attack was a downward diagonal slash from the right (10%)
Backhands came in at less than 2%
55% of criminals wore sleeves
In other words, attackers simply do not behave the way that traditional training has suggested that they act. Because of this evidence, training to defend oneself against a knife attack is now within reach of the common person.
Kate Opre, of Montana, is still in high school, but she’s taking up scrimshaw in a way that’s catching the attention of many in the knife world. Who says the kids aren’t all right?
Opre wrote to BLADE about why she’s interested in this rich tradition, and she sent in some of her work. Who are we to keep such feats to ourselves? With her parents’ permission, we’re running her submission here.
How a High Schooler Came Into Scrimshaw
For Opre, the permanence of scrimshaw is part of the appeal.
“I love all forms of art, but scrimshaw is really special,” she wrote in an e-mail. “It’s a challenge because you can’t really erase; if you mess up you have to sand off the whole thing and restart.”
That requires focus, something it seems is in short supply in today’s technology-drenched world.
“It takes a lot of patience to scrimshaw. Some pieces take days, but others could take months to complete,” Opre wrote. “Not very many people know about scrimshaw anymore. Hopefully, I can have the opportunity to show people what scrimshaw is.”
She trained under Thomas and Debi Rucker (Knives By Thomas), and she makes knives in addition to handling the scrimshaw. Horses are a favorite design, and she displays her work at horse shows.
By the looks of things, BLADE expects a rewarding career to come. Keep going!
Pistol-grip knives from left, with manufacturer’s suggested retail prices in parentheses: Outdoor Edge Game Skinner ($88.95), ESEE Tertiary ($103.99) and TOPS Knives ATAX ($225).
Pistol grips aren’t only for firearms; they’re functional designs for knives, too. Here is a review of three examples.
Solid Build: ESEE Tertiary
The ESEE Tertiary was super sharp out of the box. The author used the knife to make aggressive slashes on a work jersey suspended from a hanger. A good test for an edge is not necessarily cutting something hard but something loose that could easily recoil from the edge when cutting. If the edge is sharp enough not to push the material but sever it, then the edge is truly sharp.
The ESEE Tertiary is a standard push dagger design. According to ESEE, SWAT officer Lee Smith designed the knife and named it “Tertiary” because of its place in a person’s weapons system. That is, first there’s your primary firearm, then your back up and then the Tertiary, which is for hand-to-hand.
It is a double-edged knife with top blade grinds. The top grind extends a third of the blade length only. The blade profile is that of a drop point. It is important to remember that a double-edged knife is illegal in some states (one such state is Michigan). Check your local knife laws whenever you choose a knife for everyday carry (EDC).
The Tertiary sheath’s clip can be changed to accommodate right- or left-handed carries and vertical or horizontal positioning. The large hole in the tip of the sheath allows you to rig the Tertiary as a neck knife as well.The Tertiary comes with a molded sheath that sports a steel belt clip for you to attach the knife on a waistband, boot or assorted gear.
The Tertiary is a full-tang design with the blade positioned between the index and middle fingers. It has a flat-ground blade of 1095 carbon steel with a textured powder coat and textured G-10 scales.
The knife works as expected as a push dagger. For an edge to get the job done it takes getting used to the grip, but you can do minor chores like the type you normally encounter.
After a while, though, the pressure of the post between the two fingers really starts a hot spot. For the most part, given the nature of ESEE’s push dagger, I would carry a folder to do my EDC work and leave the Tertiary concealed and out of sight.
Comfy Classic: Outdoor Edge Game Skinner
The author tested the Game Skinner gut hook on a number of materials, including pulling it through a jersey with only the weight of the shirt holding it in place. How razor sharp does an edge have to be to slice a loose material instead of dragging it?
When it won the BLADE Magazine 1988 Imported Design Of-The-Year Award, the Outdoor Edge Game Skinner took the world of hunting knives by storm. It remained an Outdoor Edge mainstay ever since, and appears to have been ahead of its time.
As the name implies, the knife is for skinning game. It combines a blade edge with a gut hook. It is a beefy specimen with a 3.25-inch blade that is 2 inches wide. A hollow grind forms the main edge. The blade is AUS-8 stainless steel. I have had plenty of good knives made of AUS-8. It all depends on the heat treat and grind.
The handle is a textured, molded Kraton. I was impressed with it. It is brawny yet still comfortable, and the textured grip along with the slight give of the rubber kept the knife steadfast in my hand no matter how slimy things got.
The molded grip of the Outdoor Edge Game Skinner is designed for a three-finger hold. The rounded spine makes it easier to use a pinch grip and enables you to put forward pressure on draw cuts while maintaining a comfortable position.
During testing on leather, meat and hair on hide pieces, the edge held up well. The blade belly makes slicing cuts easy to perform, helping you get in there and skin. As for the gut hook, you might as well have a zipper on the animal.
It comes with a well-built leather sheath with snap closure. Though I personally wouldn’t have much use for this knife on my belt, I would keep it with my gear until it was time to field dress game. If you see yourself using this style of knife for hunting, it is a good quality edged tool. Over the years, I have learned that many hunters have their own style of cutlery they like to use and their own way of handling it.
Multi-Functional Tool: TOPS Knives ATAX
The author extended the ATAX handle using a piece of dry wood to make an axe for light chopping. For heavier use he would have used green wood and lashed the top. The addition of a long handle creates an obvious physical advantage.
From the get-go the TOPS Knives ATAX is one of those knives that catches your eye and maybe inspires a little pupil dilation.
The knife is designed as a multifunction tool. I have to say, though, sometimes you end up with something that does many things but never any one of them exceptionally well. Looking at the overall design, I would be more apt to see the ATAX as an ulu variant over a push dagger.
TOPS has been selling the knife for years. It is the design of the late Ron Hood. There are so many different tools involved in it that it would take a while to review each one. I will try to hit the main functions for now. The blade is quarter-inch-thick 1095 carbon steel with a powder coating. The handle is a black Micarta® affixed with screws. A saber grind forms the cutting edge, which I found too chunky for doing standard chores easily. The edge runs parallel to the grip just like on an ulu, but the grind is so thick that manipulations of the edge are difficult—not impossible but difficult. The design could be a great meat processor with a higher grind.
Use a rocking motion to remove the ATAX from the sheath. As the knife emerges the sharp tip presents itself, which the author stated he found a bit dangerous.
There are a number of ways to complete a cut with the knife, as the platform allows you a variety of holds. For instance, holding it upside down enabled me to better do things like whittling or shaving. The ATAX requires getting familiar with, and even then some using methods are more practical than others.
Taking a long period to set up your handholds and the material for cuts should be balanced with the practicality of effort toward the job being done. One of the design purposes for the knife is to attach it to a stick and use it as an axe. The thick edge serves the chopper feature well and allows the ATAX to take a beating. Still, as noted, the grind does many things but none exceptionally well.
Other tools designed into the ATAX are a range finder, clinometer, compass, bowl drill socket and wire cutter. A molded Kydex sheath with double steel clips provides Scout carry. The way the sheath operates gives me cause for concern as the method of drawing the knife from the sheath can easily result in injury if you are not paying close attention.
Unsheathing requires a rocking motion that leads with the pointed part of the curved edge. You will want to make sure everything is clear of the blade tip as it rocks free.
The design shows ingenuity and in a pinch serves as a backup tool. Would I want it as my primary knife? I would have to do some major changes to the edge geometry, as the ulu-style use is very serviceable.
“Vicious fantasies of omnipotence, idolatry… barbaric and sadistic atrocities, and monstrous violations of the accepted values spring from the cult of the weapon, and the switchblade knife is included in this. Minus switchblade knives and distorted feeling of power they beget – power that is swaggering, reckless, and itching to express itself in violence – our delinquent adolescents would be shorn of one of their most potent means of incitement to crime.” –Representative Sidney R. Yates of Illinois, 1958
The quote above is not from a Hollywood movie or dime novel. A politician in support of the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act said those words more than 50 years ago. To understand why, we need to look at history, society in the 1950’s and a popular magazine from that time period.
History of Switchblades in the United States
The Italian stiletto (middle) is the most iconic subset of switchblades, but the other styles on the left and right are also switchblades. They’re commonly called “automatic knives” as well. (Blade HQ image)
While the word “switchblade” might conjure up imagery of tough guys in the 1950s with leather jackets and stiletto knives, it’s just another term for “automatic knife.” Automatic knives range from the iconic Italian stiletto to the modern OTF (out the front). The defining features are always the same: the blade, biased to open and kept under tension in the handle, deploys at the press of a button or lever on the handle.
The United States led production and distribution of automatic knives for most of the early 20th century, boosted by George Schrade and the onset of mass production. Schrade set up shops all over the country as well as abroad. Schrade produced and advertised automatic knives mostly to and for ranchers, outdoorsman, hunters, and farmers as quick, one-handed utility tools. Business was good, and people liked their snappy, modern Presto pocketknives. Then World War II happened.
This SKM is an example of a modern, Italian-made switchblade knife. (Blade HQ image)
During the war, many U.S. soldiers carried and used Schrade’s automatic knife, but they found something even more attractive while deployed in Europe: the Italian stiletto.
Demand stateside grew as American GIs returned home with these exotic knives, and that led to large imports from Italy. It may have been the sabre-ground bayonet blade, the highspeed look, the undeniably foreign influence or a combination of all three, but it did not take long for the stiletto and, by association, all automatic knives to get noticed by up and coming politicians trying to make a name for themselves as peacemakers and protectors.
Why Switchblades are Illegal: The Toy that Kills
This is the hyperbolic article that started it all.
Fast-forward to November, 1950. Subscribers all over the U.S. received their new copy of Woman’s Home Companion. It contained one of the most lurid examples of anti-knife muckraking to ever be written, an article titled, The Toy That Kills. Jack Harrison Pollack, a freelance writer and ghostwriter for then-Senator Harry S. Truman, wrote the article. He filled it with a number of quotes and statistics without ever referencing a single citation. Even in today’s digital world, we have a hard time finding many facts to back up Pollack’s claims.
What exactly was he claiming, you ask? In short, Pollack alerted the mothers of America that the switchblade and the switchblade alone was the sole cause for juvenile delinquency, gang violence and ruined lives. In his own words, “Designed for violence, deadly as a revolver – that’s the switchblade, the ‘toy’ youngsters all over the country are taking up as a fad. Press the button on this new version of the pocketknife and the blade darts out like a snake’s tongue. Action against this killer should be taken now.” The article asserts a handful of shaky anecdotal experiences and dubious statistics.
Pollack offered five tips for the concerned mother, condensed into the following:
Make sure your kid is not carrying a switchblade.
Make sure to “de-glamorize knife-carrying” in general.
Use all your power as a mom and wife to get knives out of stores. (He even included verbiage for signs to hang up in stores.)
Help police round up “dangerous knives,” even though there were no significant bans or laws in place at the time.
Work on a state and national level for switchblade bans that are to be “strictly enforced.”
The end of Mr. Pollack’s article also marked the end for easy automatic knife use and possession in the United States.
Pop Culture Origins of Switchblade Ban
The Toy That Kills was the match that started a switchblade wildfire throughout the country. Newspapers ran embellished stories about gang violence and switchblade use. State legislatures started looking into the “issue,” and New York became the first state to ban automatic knives in 1954.
Even Hollywood jumped in on the frenzy. Movie studios released no less than six major titles in just as many years that included Rebel Without A Cause, 12 Angry Men and West Side Story. Every one of these blockbusters placed the switchblade front and center as a tool for violence and delinquency.
The 1958 Federal Switchblade Act Arrives
Out the front (OTF) knives are a subset of automatic knives. The blade moves vertically in and out of the handle. This is a Guardian Tactical RECON. (Blade HQ image)
It only took eight short years from the publishing of The Toy That Kills for the issue to make its way to Washington, D.C., in what would become known as the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act. Hearings fielded reports from law enforcement and concerned citizens. However, a lack of hard data pervaded the inquiries.
One well-sourced report came from the police chief of Kansas City, Missouri, which had a population of more than 400,000 people at the time. In the calendar year of 1956, this city reported around three dozen switchblade-related misdemeanors, crimes and juvenile goofing off.
Testimonies also came from the two federal entities that would ultimately oversee enforcing the Act if it passed: the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice. From William P. Rogers, the deputy attorney general:
“The Department of Justice is unable to recommend enactment of this legislation. The Committee may wish to consider whether the problem to which this legislation is addressed is one properly within the police posers of the various States…Switchblade knives in the hands of criminals are, of course, potentially dangerous weapons. However, since they serve useful and even essential purposes in the hands of persons such as sportsmen, shipping clerks, and others engaged in lawful pursuits, the committee may deem it preferable that they be regulated at the State rather than the Federal level.”
From Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks:
“The intent of these legislative proposals appears to be to improve crime prevention by control of the use of the switchblade knife as a weapon of assault. This approach gives rise to certain objections. One is that, at best, it is an indirect approach which addresses itself to only one of the many implements useable by an assailant. This casts doubt upon the resulting effectiveness in the reduction of crime in relation to its enforcement problems. To us, this ignores the needs of those who derive and augment their livelihood from the ‘outdoor’ pursuits of hunting, fishing, trapping, and of the country’s sportsmen, and many others. In our opinion there are sufficient of these that their needs must be considered.”
At the time (and in retrospect), many of the lawmakers agreed with the quotes above but said they were acting symbolically against crime. In other words, they made themselves look good to their constituents while doing little concerning the issues they claimed to care so much about. And so, on August 12, 1958, congress enacted Public Law 85-623, more commonly known as the Federal Switchblade Act.
This Protech Godson represents a modern, side-opening automatic knife. (Blade HQ)
The Act itself dealt with banning certain transportation and sales of automatic knives, as well as outright banning automatic knives in certain areas and places nationally. It also defined by law what a switchblade was:
“The term ‘switchblade knife’ means any knife having a blade which opens automatically-by hand pressure applied to a button or other device in the handle of the knife, or (2) by operation of inertia, gravity, or both.”
All in all, the Federal Switchblade Act is a hard read with more than a handful of seeming contradictions. If you want to dive deeper into what exactly the Act says and how it’s parts work together, we recommend you check out Knife Rights page on the document (https://kniferights.org/resources/federal-switchblade-act/).
Just as the United States had led the way in automatic knife production at the beginning of the 20th century, it led the way for knife legislation in the mid-20th century. As soon as the Federal Switchblade Act was passed, many other countries around the world followed suit and banned switchblade knives. This led to a domino effect in many countries, where owning anything short slip joint with a blade under 2 inches is now illegal.
The Rise of Knife Advocacy Groups
Knife Rights is one organization pushing for repeal of the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act. Successes at the state level continue to build momentum for a federal repeal. (Knife Rights image)
Knife Rights and AKTI are both organizations doing a lot to amend and repeal a law that seems to have been put in place without proper foresight and consideration. With their efforts, they successfully rolled back automatic knife restrictions in 40 states and counting.
One of the biggest wins for the knife world came in 2009 when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tried to reverse prior ruling on assisted opening/spring-assisted knives. Essentially, the CBP tried to define any one-handed opening knife as a switchblade. The revision would have dealt primarily with the importation of these assisted knives. The real concern came from the confusing nature of the Act. If CBP got their way, it would have been easy to extend the restriction broadly on both a national and state level. Luckily, many groups, including Knife Rights and AKTI, stepped up and prevented this from happening.
For knife enthusiasts, supporting Knife Rights and AKTI are the best ways to help revise and repeal the national and state restrictions on what, at the end of the day, is just another knife. Until that day, know your local laws and stay sharp!
BLADE was on the ground for the 2019 SHOT Show. Here’s a look at what’s new.
Be sure to follow BLADE on Instagram for the most up-to-date coverage and more content from the event. More videos will be posted here as they become available.
