I’ve always been a fan of Ek Commando knives. They have a certain look that distinguishes them as their own entity, and now KA-BAR, a knife giant in and of itself, announces the acquisition of the Ek Commando Knife Brand.
Ek Commando Knife was created in 1941 by John Ek in Hamden, Connecticut. During World War II, Ek Commando Knives were restricted to military personnel. The knives featured serial numbers that were recorded and kept for tracking and identification. Luminaries ranging from Gen. George Patton, President Franklin Roosevelt and actor-turned-soldier Clark Gable owned Ek Knives during the Second World War.
Ek Commando Knives have served our military in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless other hotspots around the globe. Today, Ek continues to be a staple of the United States military.
Don’t miss the June 2 deadline for the June 9 public meeting on the federal ivory ban. Jimmy Lile used pre-ban ivory on his classic Lone Wolf Gonzaullas knife he made in the late 1970s. (image courtesy of Jack Lucarelli)
If you care to express your views concerning the federal ivory ban, you are urged to participate in another public meeting—scheduled this time for June 9—by the Advisory Council to the Presidential Task Force on combating wildlife trafficking. Signup deadline to attend is June 2. If you want to submit talking points for discussion during the meeting but cannot attend, you must submit them in writing by June 2 as well. No e-mails or faxes will be accepted!
The meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at the U.S. General Service Administration Building, 1800 F St. NW, Room 1153, Washington, D.C 20405. For more information on deadlines, where to send your written statements, etc., visit https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/05/06/2014-10295/advisory-council-on-wildlife-trafficking-meeting.
According to scrimshander Sandra Brady, you may attend the meeting in person or you may participate via telephone. “At this time, we are inviting submissions of questions and information for consideration during the meeting,” she noted. “If you or anyone you know would like to have their voice heard, now is the time. You must sign up to make a statement or sign up to be present during the meeting by June 2. I believe letters would be appropriate if received no later than June 2.
“If you are a knife club member or in charge of a newsletter, please get this info out. Also, those of you who are active on forums, please pass this around there, too. We need a strong showing, lots of letters, and don’t forget to contact your congressional representatives. We do not want sales in pre-ban ivory to become a felony!”
The Advisory Council is called upon to hold such meetings as a result of Executive Order by President Obama (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/01/executive-order-combating-wildlife-trafficking). The June 9 meeting will be the third one held by the Advisory Council. According to an Advisory Council release, the meeting will be held to “discuss administrative topics and hear public comments and questions.”
Stay tuned to a special ivory site, www.elephantprotection.org, for updates and more information.
The Chris Reeve Sebenza 2014 BLADE Show Knife is available NOW—and you’d better hurry if you want one because they are in a super-limited edition of only 12. Historically, the lower the number of the limited edition, the more valuable the knives will be, and 12 is one of the lower limited-edition numbers on knives you will see, especially for a BLADE Show knife.
Only 12 of the Chris Reeve Sebenza 2014 BLADE Show Knives will be sold.
Voted No. 2 in BLADE® Magazine on the list of the top custom knives from the years 1989-2000, the Sebenza is Reeve’s most famous knife and remains his most popular model. Made today in a factory iteration, the knife recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with the introduction of the Model 25, an exclusive version of which serves as the 2014 BLADE Show Knife.
Featuring the official 2014 BLADE Show logo and limited-edition number embossed on the handle, each of the dozen knives includes new concepts Chris Reeve brought to the Model 25, all in celebration of the 25th anniversary. Click here to buy one of 12 BLADE Show Sebenzas.
Those concepts include:
The first blade to feature Large Hollow Grind Technology, a blend of the best of hollow and flat grinds;
A shaped phosphor bronze washer on the lock side brings additional stability to that side of the blade;
An eighth-inch ceramic ball acts as the interface between the lock bar and the blade, and doubles to drop into the detent, ensuring the blade stays in place when closed;
Larger perforations in the washers reduce friction, store more lubricant and offer space for small dirt particles to move away from the blade/washer interface, helping prevent the blade action from becoming “sticky”;
416 heat-treated stainless steel drop pin;
Asymmetrical pattern thumb serrations on the blade’s curved thumb ramp give excellent purchase, and;
At .140 inch thick, the blade is more robust than previous Sebenza models.
The ARA TACT is the newest addition to the top-of-the-line ARA XL series of rescue SOS knives by Antonini.
The blade is upgraded from the already high-quality hardened steel to Aisi D2–a higher carbon content semi-stainless that exhibits a terrific combination of excellent edge endurance and corrosion resistance.
The black anti-reflective Mil-Spec coating also increases the corrosion resistance of the blade.
Included are all of the fine features found on the rest of the ARA XL line: The blade has a slot and twin pegs to aid opening with either hand and with gloves. Cut in a “combo” blade (partially serrated), the slight curve and rounded safety tip aid in cutting on the pull and the handle includes a curved slot for cutting through ropes.
Included are a seat-belt cutter, 10.3mm hole for attaching a carabiner or rope, glass-breaking nib, and a 1/4″ bit holder complete with a neodymium magnet.
Click here to order the ARA TACT straight from the manufacturer for $148.
Be sure to visit Antonini Knives June 6 to 8, 2014, at booth 237 at the BLADE Show in Atlanta.
After over 30 years of operation, the National Knife Museum (NKM) is “being dissolved.” However, the old museum’s knife inventory will carry on at three separate museums, according to Lisa Sebenick, president of the National Knife Collectors Association (NKCA) and secretary of the NKM.
The only museum of its kind in the USA, the NKM had been housed on the mezzanine of Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee, since late 2006. The original rent for the space was all of $1 per year. “The officers, directors and staff of the National Knife Museum sincerely thank Smoky Mountain Knife Works/Kevin Pipes for giving our collection of cutlery a home these past seven years,” an NKM release stated.
The National Knife Museum is being dissolved. Its knife inventory will be relocated to three new locations. (Mike Carter image)
According to Sebenick, the museum’s knife inventory will be donated to three different museums: the National Rifle Association Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama, and the Janney Furnace Museum in Ohatchee, Alabama.
As for the 50 or so Bill Moran knives that were exhibited at the NKM, an official statement from the Moran Foundation was that no decision had been made for those knives at press time. At some future date, perhaps some of the Moran knives would be put on loan elsewhere, the statement concluded.
According to Pete Cohan in BLADE’s Guide to Knives & Their Values, 7th Edition, while many NKCA members were heavily involved in the original museum’s creation, it was the donation of three major individual knife collections—those of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Frank Forsyth, Dr. James Wilkison and Dr. William Rosenthal—that created the foundation for a comprehensive museum display collection.
During its run at Smoky and in addition to the many other knives it exhibited, the NKM also included the custom knife collection of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Joe Drouin, a number of club knives from knife clubs around the country, various knife ephemera and more.
For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.
The BLADE Show‘s new exhibitor layout is designed to improve the overall show experience for the thousands of patrons who will attend and the close to 750 exhibitors who will display the industry’s finest knives and knife accessories.
The new BLADE Show exhibitor layout is designed to improve the overall show experience. (PointSeven image)
The world’s largest knife show is set for June 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
In the past, the rows of exhibitor tables were dissected by lines of factory booths in some areas, making it somewhat difficult to pick up where you left off from the previous table row. It also presented a somewhat choppy look to the overall setup.
When you walk into the show hall this coming June, a new layout will greet you. Instead of being dissected in some areas by lines of factory booths, the exhibitor tables will be in the right-hand portion of the show hall and most of the factory booths will be in the left-hand portion. There will be no lines of factory booths dissecting the rows of tables. As in the past, there also will be factory booths along the walls of the entire hall. According to one exhibitor, the change should make it so show patrons are not so overwhelmed by the visual challenge of negotiating the large number of exhibitor tables and booths.
As a consequence of the changes, the booths have been renumbered from last year.
Looking from right to left, exhibitors’ tables will be divided in the usual fashion: Antique, American Bladesmith Society, the Knifemakers’ Guild and Handmade. The collector displays will continue to be in the right-hand back portion of the show hall. The Stage and Demo Areas will be in the back center of the hall. The Knife-Of-The-Year® Display will be in the middle of the floor starting where the booths are.
For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.
Learn how to make a cut ‘n shoot “pirate pistol,” what effect the federal ivory ban has on your knives, all about the BLADE Show’s groundbreaking new BLADE University and much more in the latest issue of BLADE®, on many newsstands today.
New, pirate-pistol-packin’ BLADE® hits many newsstands TODAY!
Steve Culver won “Best Of The Rest” in the 2013 BLADE Show custom knife judging competition with his “Laffite’s Revenge” cut ‘n shoot, and he takes you through the building of his award-winning knife pistol in this month’s issue.
On the ivory knife front, the federal government is targeting any and all items made of elephant ivory, including the very same knives that have been legal to sell for decades! Find out what the new regulations mean for you and your knives on page 10.
BLADE University is a brand new approach to knife show seminars. In fact, instead of seminars, BLADE University is a curriculum of classes, each concentrating on specific subjects and including some of the world’s best-known knife professionals as teachers, including knifemakers Jerry Fisk, Chris Reeve, Jerry Busse, Tony Bose and Bill Harsey, to name a few.
A chief concern among many in the knife industry is there are far too few young people making knives. In “Kids Just Want To Make Knives,” three young aspiring makers show off the knives they’ve made and tell how they make them, and also explain the support system of family and friends that has sustained their knifemaking endeavor.
Other stories in the new BLADE include: the heartwarming tale of how many in the knife community came together to help damascus maker Zoe Crist and family after he suffered a debilitating shop accident; the end of an era is saluted with a story on the closing of Aldo and Edda Lorenzi’s famous retail knife store in Milan, Italy; and much more, all in the new BLADE.
