Page 217 – BLADE Magazine

Website Details Knife Laws By State

Knife News Wire

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August 29, 2014

The American Knife and Tool Institute has launched a revised version of its website, www.AKTI.org, with improved features for members and accurate information about the laws that impact knife businesses and owners in every state.

“Making state knife laws available online to our members and easily accessible has been a priority for AKTI in the last year,” explained AKTI Executive Director Jan Billeb. “Ensuring that the information is complete and legally accurate has been our primary goal.”

Members of the organization are able to see knife law information for any state, while non-members can see quick legal facts about each state. The information was compiled and written by AKTI’s legislative consultant, Dan Lawson, a lawyer who has been involved in the knife industry for more than a decade. Topics include which knives are prohibited, which knives can be sold or manufactured, critical dimensions, major cities with ordinances and more.

The website also features news and action alerts; education on knife use for kids, the general public and law enforcement officers; popular resources like AKTI’s approved knife definitions and guide to traveling with knives; and a monthly fundraising auction that supports the organization’s ongoing legislative efforts. In addition, visitors to the site can buy or renew their memberships, give memberships as gifts and purchase AKTI merchandise online.

“Every year we see more and more people – both our members and the general public – looking for information about safe and legal knife use,” Billeb said. “Our website has been redesigned to make it even easier for visitors to learn more about all facets of knife use in the U.S.”

Access the site at www.AKTI.org. For more information on knives, click here.

Most Influential Knives of the Half Century

Steve Shackleford

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August 28, 2014

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Most Influential Knives of the Half Century

LILEKNIF-1000 — Jimmy Lile’s Rambo knife is one of the most influential knives of the past half century. (Jack Lucarelli photo)

This being the 50th anniversary of the Buck 110 and all, it got our friendly staff to thinking: What are the most influential knives of the past half century?

As with any such list, the parameters must be set. Those would include knives that have been emulated most (unfortunately, this would have to include the many unauthorized copies, knock-offs and downright counterfeits that have long plagued the industry) and/or knives that dramatically changed the knife culture (one observer explained it as “the knife that changed all knives after it”). There are other common denominators among the most influential knife designs, but we’ll stick with these two for the moment.

The Buck 110 obviously would have to be in the mix, as its overall look, size, feel and lockback design have been emulated by many. The K.I.S.S. folder designed by Ed Halligan for CRKT has been knocked off/counterfeited perhaps as much as any knife over the past 15 years or so. Michael Walker’s LinerLock™ folder changed the way the industry approached locking folders. Jimmy Lile’s Rambo knife was THE knife of the 1980s and was emulated by scores of factory and custom makers alike.

Ernest Emerson’s CQC-6 and/or CQC-7 had a monumental impact on the tactical knife phenomenon that continues to this day. Bob Lum’s American tanto galvanized the industry in the 1980s and is still seen. Spyderco‘s Worker, introduced in 1981, was the company’s first knife with the blade hole and pocket clip that changed modern knives completely. Bob Loveless‘s drop-point hunter was and remains an international sensation. Though not a knife, Bill Moran‘s reintroduction of damascus steel in 1973 and the repercussions and the many spinoffs from it continue to this day.

There are many others. Which ones would you pick from the above or add of your own?

For the latest knives, knife news and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.

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Ivory Ban Proponents Feel The Heat

Steve Shackleford

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August 20, 2014

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Ivory ban proponents are feeling the heat from those who would protect their right to own and sell legal ivory on both the federal and state levels.

If recent developments are indicative, the actions of those fighting to protect their right to sell their legal ivory are having the desired effect.

However, much work remains to be done.

According to Rob Mitchell of the Elephant Protection Association, ivory ban proponents have been scrambling to torpedo pending Congressional bills that would stop a nationwide ivory ban. “In the past few weeks, the Wildlife Conservation Society [WCS] has e-mailed its members praising the the New Jersey ivory ban while soliciting contributions to fight back the bills pending in Congress to stop a federal domestic ivory ban,” Mitchell writes.

New Jersey’s ban is especially heinous as it bans not only elephant ivory but fossil ivories as well. Like New Jersey, New York has instituted a state ivory ban that exceeds the restrictions recommended by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

According to Mitchell, John Calvelli of the WCS said, “I can’t overstate what a threat this is. These bills could be attached to any larger piece of legislation and swiftly passed at any time.” Meanwhile, the WCS is calling on its members to urge their lawmakers to halt any and all efforts to stop ivory bans on both the federal and state levels.

Mitchell indicated the WCS is disseminating false stories to trigger public hysteria about the possibility of elephant extinction in attempts to snuff out rational discourse on how to both protect elephants and Americans’ right to sell their legal ivory. He added that the WCS is “an organization with over $210 million in annual revenue and over $750 million in assets” that “continues to lead the publicity campaign drawing misleading relationships between legal ivory in the United States and poaching in Africa.”

For information on how you can help protect both the elephant and the rights of Americans to sell their legal ivory, visit elephantprotection.org.

The latest issue of BLADE is on newsstands now! — The BLADE Magazine 2014 Knives Of The Year® highlight the new BLADE®, on newsstands now!

Stay abreast of the latest developments on this and many more knife rights issues with a subscription to BLADE.

Which Knife Collaborations Would You Arrange?

Steve Shackleford

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August 15, 2014

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Which Knife Collaborations Would You Arrange?

Steve Culver's cut 'n shoot would make a great collaboration with Browning. (SharpByCoop image) — Steve Culver’s cut ‘n shoot would make a great collaboration with Browning. (SharpByCoop image)

Which knife collaborations would you like to see between today’s custom knifemakers and knife and/or gun companies?

There have been many great knife collaborations over the years—from such early ones as those between Smith & Wesson Knives and Blackie Collins and Bob Loveless and Schrade, to those between Spyderco and Bob Terzuola, CRKT and Kit Carson, Benchmade and Mel Pardue and many more—all of which got us to thinking: What great collaborations that never happened would you like to have seen?

Or, perhaps better yet, which ones would you like to see among today’s companies and knifemakers?

Here are a few, first of the former:

•Bob Loveless and Marble’s: Hey, the man behind the dropped hunter and one of the leading hunting knife companies of a bygone era. Seems like a natural collaboration;

•Bill Moran and Busse Combat Knife Co.: Moran made those big, sweeping fixed blades and Busse does, too;

•Bob Lum and Cold Steel: OK, so it probably never would have happened, but the possibilities for a special American tanto collaboration would have been intriguing.

And now for the latter:

•Wolfgang Loerchner and William Henry Knives: Two great makers of fine knives would make an awesome pairing in anybody’s knife book;

•Joe Keeslar and Spartan Blades: Joe’s a retired Marine and Mark Carey and Curtis Iovito of Spartan Blades are retired Special Forces. I bet they could put their heads together and come up with a really cool combat knife collaboration;

•Steve Culver and Browning: Culver’s cut ‘n shoot is a tour de force of the genre and a collaboration with Browning would be a real breakthrough in terms of a special limited-edition crossover between the knife and gun industries. Browning has experience working with the knife industry—for example, Russ Kommer and Jim Crowell are two makers who have collaborated with Browning on knife projects—so Browning would not have to break new ground.

How about it? What knife collaborations would you like to see/have seen?

Knives Don’t Make the Man

Knifemaking

Joe Kertzman

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August 14, 2014

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DREW24F620 — Photo by Alejandro A. Alvarez.

It’s always nice when mainstream media, in this case the Philadelphia Daily News, covers a local knifemaker and the knives he creates. Such was the case recently, July 24, 2014, when philly.com ran a story titled “Brewerytown Knifemaker’s On Point With His BiltSharp Products,” about knifemaker Adam Balkovic of BiltSharp Manufacturing Co.

Drew Lazor, writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, starts out:

KNIVES don’t make the man. But in the case of Adam Balkovic, founder of BiltSharp, a man definitely makes the knives. Emphasis on the singular. In addition to being the creator of the Philly-based bespoke forgery, founded in 2012, Balkovic also serves as its CEO, creative director, marketer, chief fabricator and sales coordinator. He is the steadily growing company’s only employee – and he’s happy to report that he’s got an excellent relationship with his supervisor.

“When I come to work now, I do whatever the hell I want,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling.”

Look at the pieces Balkovic, a native of the small York County town of Dillsburg, produces with his bare hands, and it’s easy to assume he’s been at the craft for years, apprenticing under an experienced blacksmith, or maybe an elderly Japanese blademaker.

But while the work screams veteran craftsman, Balkovic has been at this for only a few years and is entirely self-taught. Right now, in his inventory there’s a nearly foot-long chef’s knife, made from raw, military-grade 52100 carbon steel and mounted on a gorgeous polished handle of rare Southeast Asian amboyna burl. There’s a one-of-a-kind hunter’s blade … Click here to read the rest of the story. Click here to see more quality cutlery.

Knives Of The Year in New BLADE

Steve Shackleford

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August 12, 2014

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BLADE MAGAZINE 2014 OVERALL KNIFE OF THE YEAR@ went to the CRKT HI JINX. This flipper folder, designed by Ken Onion, sports a 3.320" blade made of Bohler-Uddeholm Sleipner. Made in a limited edition of 525 in Italy, the knife is already sold out and no more will be made. It had an MSRP of $500. — BLADE MAGAZINE 2014 OVERALL KNIFE OF THE YEAR@ went to the CRKT HI JINX. This flipper folder, designed by Ken Onion, sports a 3.320″ blade made of Bohler-Uddeholm Sleipner. Made in a limited edition of 525 in Italy, the knife is already sold out and no more will be made. It had an MSRP of $500.

The BLADE Magazine 2014 Knives Of The Year®, the top knives of the BLADE Show, the latest inductee into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© and much more highlight the new BLADE®, on newsstands NOW!

Gracing this issue’s cover is the Rat Worx MRX, winner of the first-ever BLADE Magazine People’s Choice Award, voted on by visitors to the BLADE website, blademag.com.

Other top Knife-Of-The-Year winners named at the 2014 BLADE Show include the CRKT/Ken Onion Hi Jinx, Kershaw’s Kershaw/Emerson CQC-7K, Shun Dual Core Kiritsuke and the Zero Tolerance/Rick Hinderer 0562, Spartan Blades’ Les George V1-14 Dagger and Les Halpern Nymph and others.

The BLADE Show was one of the most successful in recent memory and, in addition to the Knives Of The Year, also featured the winners of the custom knife judging competition, the introductions of many new factory knives, the first-ever induction of a woman—Goldie Russell—into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame and much more.

In the custom knife judging, the Tembo Bowie by Russ Andrews, David Lisch, Mike Quesenberry, Steven Rapp, Jim Small and Jane Tukarski took home both Best Of Show and Best Collaboration, and was auctioned off to raise money for the Elephant Protection Association.

Other knifemaker winners included Mike Williams, Stephanie Lemelin, Brian Nadeau, John White, Joe Szilaski, RJ Martin and more.

And among the factory knives that debuted at the show were the “Battlechef” from Olamic Cutlery, the Emerson Knives, Inc. “Vindicator,” the Chris Reeve Knives “Impofu,” the Winkler Knives “Operator” and many more.

In one of the more popular inductions ever, Goldie Russell entered the Cutlery Hall Of Fame for her many contributions to the knife industry, including her pivotal role as president of the American Knife & Tool Institute when it helped defeat a U.S. Customs proposal that would have defined all one-hand knives as switchblades/autos, thus making them illegal nationwide.

These stories and many more are all awaiting your perusal in the latest issue of BLADE.

Well, Modern Rambo, Which Knife?

Uncategorized

Joe Kertzman

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August 8, 2014

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Among other things, the movie First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, revolutionized the knife industry through the sudden vast popularity of the Rambo knife.

Though the movie was more action flick than true survival doc, the premise was solid when you think about it—a Spec Ops soldier returns from war, highly trained, but suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome, has a hard time fitting into society, and hits the road, hitchhiking. He meets up with a sadistic cop who brings him in and mistreats him. The soldier reaches the boiling point and takes justice into his own hands.

It could happen today. So, if it did, and you were the soldier, which knife would you choose to have with you in the mountainous Western terrain while U.S. Marshals, the National Guard and your commanding officer searched for you? Would it be a hollow-handle Jimmy Lile Rambo survival knife? A newer, more modern version thereof? Or maybe it would be a tactical tomahawk like the CRKT Kangee T-Hawk? A Buck Pathfinder? A Famars USA SRT Survival Knife? What would your ideal survival knife be in a true Rambo situation?

BLADE Magazine

Website Details Knife Laws By State

Most Influential Knives of the Half Century

Recommended:

Ivory Ban Proponents Feel The Heat

Ivory ban proponents are feeling the heat from those who would protect their right to own and sell legal ivory on both the federal and state levels.

Which Knife Collaborations Would You Arrange?

Which knife collaborations would you like to see between today’s custom knifemakers and knife and/or gun companies?

Knives Don’t Make the Man

Recommended

Knives Of The Year in New BLADE

The BLADE Magazine 2014 Knives Of The Year®, the top knives of the BLADE Show, the latest inductee into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© and much more highlight the new BLADE®, on newsstands NOW!

Well, Modern Rambo, Which Knife?

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