Automated Transcript
10 Great Daggers
The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 351)

00:01
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast, the place for Blade lovers to learn about knives and hear from the makers, manufacturers and reviewers that make the knife world go round.
I'm Bob DeMarco and coming up a sweet new Bowie from Spain.
Serge Panchenko has a big one on the way and 10 amazing daggers.
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast.
Your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting.
Here's your host, Bob the knife junkie DeMarco.
Welcome back to the show, my favorite comment from this past week.

00:41
A lot of good comments, but my favorite was.
As I was commenting on how the large 3V cold steel knives are hugely expensive and just me says 100 bucks for materials, 50 bucks in belts?
Insane energy prices for insane heat treatment.
Yeah, 500 bucks for a giant 3V blade sounds about right.
And then he added to his comment.
Not to mention overhead and labor.
This is where the small time makers actually have an advantage.

01:11
Support local guys.
It's the future.
So I couldn't agree more.
First of all, on the first point, yes, I I I was not taking into account some of these things like actually working 3V steel in a factory environment and how expensive that might get.
But you would imagine doing it on scale, it's going to get cheaper and cheaper.
So my my outrage still still holds.
But his second point even better.

01:37
Just in looking here on the knife Cam, here's an example of a quote UN quote local maker.
This is Matt Chase from Massachusetts.
Hog tooth knives.
You can get a knife from him, outrageously complicated with with Damascus steel, a complicated build, expensive materials, expensive processes for a lot of money.
Or get something totally practical and you that you're going to be carrying and using every day like this Tonto for way, way less.
And most makers offer this kind of range so when when thinking about buying knives and and so you might have to start with fixed blades because they tend to be less expensive.
From the customer end.

02:17
So take a look at some of your local makers.
Take a look at some of the the makers right here in the United States who are making small batches of knives or or one off knives and see what you can find.
So thanks again for watching.
And commenting just me and everyone else.
It's greatly appreciated.
Now what do you say we go to a pocket check?
Today I had a classic on me.

02:52
Now I'm going through two different kind of knife Jags or tears if you want.
Right now I'm going through a Bowie knife thing and I'm going through a dagger thing, two huge, you know, emblematic blade styles and and knife types.
And I happen to be going through a phase for both of them at the same time.
So.
Today I was definitely just looking at it now.
I mean I did not intend for this, but I went very clip point heavy today, very Bowie inspired today in my right pocket I had the most awesome, probably my favorite Emerson design of all time.
The CQC 13. It is a perfect Bowie blade and I am saying Bowie, I'm a yank.

03:35
I grew up in Ohio.
It's Bowie to me, but I I have respect for all pronunciations like.
Zoe and Bowie.
Now I'm just a boy, but this is my favorite of his clip.
Point Blades, and Ernest Emerson has a **** of them.
He loves clip point blades and he's designed a lot of them.
Paired him up with different handles.

03:59
And that that sort of thing.
But this I believe was his very second clip point in the production world.
I think his first one was the much sought after CQC something or other based on the AK47 bayonet which is A-frame lock I believe one of the first titanium frame lock he did.
Or at least in a in a production setting.
This handle is one that has been passed down to other blades.
I'm thinking of the tiger right now.
It is such an awesome handle.

04:34
It just it it really defines it is it is the epitome of Emerson ergonomics.
Nestles in the hand perfectly, bookends you perfectly.
I have medium sized hands.
If you have big giant mits you can get in there.
There's space in there for you too.
What a great feeling.
Knife and.

04:52
The one thing that my buddy Ian, who who teaches me knife stuff and knows a lot more about this stuff, practically speaking, than I always kind of gripes about the wave.
He's like, I love that you can pull it out and it waves open, but I hate that you can't put your thumb there and on some models you can actually on the tiger you the blade is low slung and you can kind of get over it.
This one not so much.
So I hear that I do hear that criticism, but.
You know, I can't level it against this if you're wondering why this knife is so.
Handsomely accoutered, I will tell you these are scales by vantage point.
Vantage point, uh, blade works and he makes awesome scales.

05:38
That's Tom engleson.
He used to go, uh, as blades and such, but he he sort of formalized his his business more.
And man, he does amazing stuff.
Emersons all day long, and then I've seen him do Z's.
And then I just saw him make a carbon fiber front show scale for a less George Vsep.
So he's just doing amazing work.
And The funny thing is, is when you get your knife back from him, I have a an elvia.

06:05
Varying scales from him.
You get it back and your and your Emerson has never performed as well.
You know it.
He in taking it apart and putting it back together he really kind of refines the action so.
Hats off to him.
Thank you, Tom.
OK, Next up.

06:22
A new one.
The new one from Jack Wolf Knives.
It's the Bennies clip.
His take him being Ben Belkin.
I'm sure you've heard the name by now, but Ben Belkins take on the lannys clip.
This is an awesome knife every everyone.
All six of them that I've had that I have and use.

06:44
I carry these things all the time.
He definitely resurrected my interest in slip joints, which as you know if you've been watching here, has.
Is deep and storied.
I have a lot of slip joints and I love them, but I hadn't carried them in about a year and then these started coming out and I'm hooked again.
But it it it seems like with only a few variations, it's all Jack Wolf in my front left pocket these days.
They are hard use.
Fine.

07:12
Knives work.
Knives they're they're like, uh, let me say, what do I want to say?
They're field grade.
That's what we say in the knife world.
Their field grade slip joints, but so refined, so beautiful.
Everything about them is really well made, hand finished, perfectly fit with a great action.
Fully flat, fully hollow ground blades on all of them.

07:35
But this one, because traditionally the lannys clip does not have a full, flat grind at all.
So to get that swedge and to get it just.
Right, it's like this, but super thin, behind the edge, incredibly Cutty.
This is every time I get one.
I'm like, I've used this one more than any other.
And I think I've been saying that just because I I carry it and it's the freshest in my mind.
But I do feel like I pulled this out for more than any other.

08:01
Use this as a steak knife this past weekend when we went out to dinner and I got to say I well, I'm always in the mood for steak, but this knife in my pocket.
Is what what clinched the deal.
That's how much of a nerd I am.
I was like, I I have to cut my steak with the bennys clip tonight, so I have to get a steak.
You know, even if I feel like salmon, it's got to be a a steak because, you know, it would be goofy to pull this out to cut salmon when you can just flake it apart with your fork.
Benny's clip it's going on sale on Friday, so man, get on it.
This one is going to absolutely fly.

08:38
And I've seen, I've seen the carbon fiber additions and I believe there are two different ones, the green and the purple man, just beautiful.
And you know, I don't say that often about carbon fiber.
And actually you're saying, Bob, you're saying that an awful lot lately actually, and it's true because carbon fiber has gone beyond basket weave.
So I've been digging it a lot more.
On my hip one that is.
Man, I'm thinking I got to circle back and get another one from Eric Kramer because Eric Kramer custom knives voodoo is my is in.
Is tied with the hog tooth knives, Tonto for most carried EDC fixed blade because it is just so easy to carry.

09:24
It's light, it's very thin, it's got a great sheath.
That's another thing that it has in common with Dogtooth.
It also comes with the.
Discrete concepts clip and look at this thing.
He calls it a Persian.
I call it a clip point upswept.
I had him double edge it and man this thing is it's it's a great knife.

09:47
It is a great knife.
I have not used this much for EDC like I like I have used the the hog tooth Tonto.
I have no doubt it would be very good and capable.
But it is hollow ground and thin and it does have a tip for thrusting.
And I did have him double edge it, so that makes it even.
More Umm, I don't wanna necessarily call it delicate, but you know, I don't wanna, I don't wanna risk this one as much on EDC tasks, but I've no doubt it would be fine 154CM.
And very slicy.

10:20
So I love this thing he does a a number of different thin fixed blades that are easy to carry.
The next one I get from him will be a double edged dagger Grinch.
And yes, that's because I'm saying that because I'm in this dagger thing right now.
Who knows, maybe by the time I get to buy another Cramer custom knife I'll be backing up a call stage.
He has a cool one of those two for emotional support today I had the the most awesome Pinkerton designed asymmetrical.
Contact this thing is awesome.
I love it.

10:54
This is.
This is the epitome of Dirk Pinkerton design, and I I I think he's nailed all sorts of magical ratios here.
If you look at the edge straight, as if it's on the surface it's cutting on, you've got a really great sweep up from the handle.
A nice arch on the spine of the handle nestles right behind the thumb muscle, and it fits in the palm perfectly.
The ergonomics are look at that.
That's a straight line down here.
Two straight lines up here, but it melts in the hand and then you have this perfect Warren Cliff blade.

11:30
It's a perfect Warren Cliff blade with that perfect angled point there.
I keep forgetting to get out of protractor.
I don't know if I have one, but I I keep forgetting to measure the actual angle of this because I've been talking about how it has the same angle as the Warren Cliff on the hinderer XM series and how beautiful that one is, looks and performs, and I think there's something golden.
About that Warren Cliff tip angle, but this asymmetrical by beyond DC is just nice and light.
Titanium.
Titanium, great action, really nice.
Pocket Clip works great.

12:07
Also looks very good.
A lot of micro milling as Pinkerton likes to put in his stuff around the the chamfering here.
Regular style jumping, but you do see the Pinkerton style half cup jumping on the sides of the titanium here.
This is on loan from Dirk.
I'm going to do a video on it.
Post haste and and and either get this back to him or offer to buy it from him because I I dig it and it's in my hand.
It's convenient just to say, hey, can I send you some money for it instead of sending it back and then buying one.

12:42
Actually, I don't even know if they're currently available.
I do have to check.
OK, so that's what I had on me today.
I had the Emerson CQC 13, the Jack, Wolf Knives, Bennies clip, the Kramer custom knives.
That's Eric Kramer by the way.
Voodoo, double edged and the.
Contact by.

13:05
My asymmetrical I just stabbed myself.
That's why I'm stammering.
Stab myself, trying to re sheath this knife, trying to put it in the wrong sheath.
That's that's doing too many, too many things at once.
But I will have you know.
That the hog tooth knives knife is quite sharp.
So now if you saw the video I did on which one was it?

13:25
I think it was the canine Jack.
I cut myself on that one pretty good and just bled all over the thing.
But I was, I was about.
7 minutes into the video, I didn't want to cut and redo the video, so I just kind of went with it, but it was a bloody mess.
All right.
Coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast, we're going to take a look at some new knives in knife life news and and then we'll go to the state of the collection.
But before we go there, if you're interested in supporting the show.

13:55
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14:29
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You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast.
And now here's the knife junkie with the knife life news.
I feel like this is a story we do almost on a weekly basis, but savvy has two new knives coming out.

15:08
Let me tell you why.
Why this time?
It's actually exciting to me, not.
That didn't sound right.
Yeah, it's always cool, but but savvy, you know?
We have has no problem with output, and their designs are frequently predictable.
But here we have two new knives that are both large, which I love, and both.

15:32
Affordable which I love and they look different than the usual sort of elementum style of survival knife.
So first one here is a pretty classy looking looking affair and and the blade itself reminds me a lot of the new XL Begleiter by Kaiser Spear point with a with a swedge that goes about 1/4 of the way up the blade there very handsome looking blade in a in a very handsome looking handle there you got.
Speed holes, which ordinarily do not do it for me, but here I do not mind them in the canvas micarta background.
And then you've got a bolster there.
It's a flipper.
It's a nice looking knife.
I gotta say, Nitro V is the steel, you know that full front, full flat ground blade will be nice and slicy.

16:20
It's from savvy.
I like this.
It's sort of gentlemanly and at at 3.75 inches in blade length.
It's a it's a nice size.
Or 3.7, I should say, but the one that is really interesting to me is the more you know.
Bowie style or more aggressive style?
One here, the synesis I I think that's what it's called the cynicism.

16:46
Sin is cyst.
Yes, that's what it is.
That's INISYS.
It's a Bowie and it's got a slight harpoon on that swedge and just a nice 3.75 inch blade finger choil which acts as an awesome sharpening choil there.
In the example we see here on knife News, it's got the burlap micarta which I'm always a fan of, not only in looks but in feel.
And you know, I just like the look of it.
It it's got a much.

17:19
This reminds me of a send cut.
One of the first send cuts that came out had a similar blade to this.
But it just looks different, and the way it looks different for Savi and the way in which it looks different veers in my aesthetic direction.
So very happy about that.
So I am looking forward to this.
3.75 inches sounds like.
Sounds like someone's trying to get in here.

17:49
OK, well we'll put that one down and see if it comes out or see if when it comes out I get it, but that's on the way.
Here's one that if it comes or when it comes out, I should probably get this because it's so beautiful.
And I've always had this excuse not to get this, this designer and this makers knives because they tend to be very small.
But in this case, the Serge Panchenko.
Uh, what?
What are they calling this?
What is he calling this this 3.75 inch?

18:22
Cleaver Ish cleaver.
Esque blade.
Oh, the trisect is just.
Oh my God, it is a gorgeous looking thing here.
Uh.
Hang on a SEC.
I don't know if she's got to go in here.

18:48
Into her little.
OK, I got to go.
We're in the middle of the show, damn it.
You can you stay in there.
It's beautifully shaped blade is Cleaver Esque, it's got an awesome looking swedge and a big giant sharpening toil under a lazan shape opening hole at everything about this knife is is beautiful to me.
It looks futuristic, it looks tactical, it looks classy with the inlay material and and it's all Serge Pachenko all day long.
It looks like you might be able to front flip it.

19:29
But yeah I guess that's exactly what Ben Schwartz says.
Looks like you might be able to front flip it but I would say it depends a lot on how you jimp the blade or how you jump the the front flipper there.
So very beautiful knife.
Exciting to see Serge Panchenko come out with something large.
I think his aesthetic deserves it.
But it sounds corny but I do believe it.
And I I believe that for being such a a good person I deserve it.

20:02
So maybe that is in the offing for me.
But if you want to get good deals on knives, check out our knives ship free link.
Just go to the knife junkie.com and knives ship free man.
We get these emails from them every week with just these drool worthy knives with at at AWESOME offers does that awesome offers and so always exciting.
Go check.
That out still come coming up on the Knife Junkie podcast.
We're going to take a look at new knives in my collection and then 10 great daggers.

20:34
And now that we're caught up with knife life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast.
OK, so I mentioned earlier that I'm on a bit of a dagger tear.
And what does that mean?
Well, that that just means that my wandering eye has settled on daggers right now.
Daggers and bowies.
I know, I know.
But for the sake of this conversation, right now it's we're talking about the daggers.

21:02
And I was getting some work pants on Amazon and wouldn't you know, this was in my cart and it and it.
Popped over in from the wish list into the cart and it's the.
It was only 28 bucks.
It's the.
I think even calling this thing again, the counter attack two.
Sorry the cold steel names, they all sound very, very alike.
The counterattack too.

21:29
This is a dagger that has a really awesome chisel grind so look at that.
Those very steep bevels on this 3 inch dagger, very small knife.
Then you flip it over.
It's got this spooned out flat side.
Just a wicked knife.
You can totally slash and cut with this.
Totally.

21:48
You can cut and slash with this.
But this is a thruster.
This thing is puts a triangular hole in in that into whatever you're pushing it into if you can.
I'm trying to get close in on the tip so you can see it is A and it's like a pyramid.
Very, very nice knife, very light, very small.
As I mentioned, it is a I can get 4 fingers on it.
Lynn Thompson can get 4 fingers on it, but it's a. It's a tight fit for sure, but but that's the whole point.

22:22
If you have this thing gripped in reverse grip like this and you just have a fist, first of all it the the handle is slender enough and contoured enough that you can actually use it as a fist load and punch effectively with this.
I generally don't like punching with things in my hands.
I prefer to punch empty fisted, that's what I'm used to, that's what I'm used to.
I don't want to Jack up my knuckles cause but this right here in in the hand.
First of all it's soft and it's contoured and I can grip it and make a fist solid enough to punch with it and still have it in my hand.
And to me that's a that's a that's a good benefit to have in something you're going to carry around your neck or it also has a belt sheath and carries very nicely on the belt.
It just it's just hard to hide.

23:09
Because it's, it's set up to sit on the top of your belt, and if you put it on the inside of your belt, it's a little too grippy on the shirt and.
On the love handles, you know, but around the neck it is super, super light.
And yeah, like I said, just really excellent.
And then forward grip, the handle is small enough that that rounded pommel nestles butts up against your palm here.
So you get really good force behind that thrust, super sharp tip.
You can also do it sideways like this in a sort of.
Shovel grip.

23:45
That's what I call it.
That's what I'm calling it.
From now on, it's a shovel grip.
And yes, you can hold it like that and you have these side guards to push your thumb up against.
Just a really really awesome little dagger for 28 bucks it's AUS 8 Steel.
It is the neck knife that I always see Lynn Thompson carrying around his neck and and all the most recent deadliest weapon videos.
So I I make fun of it, but I love those videos.

24:14
I love when they come out.
So counter attack two, check it out.
The counter attack one is a 5 inch version of this.
More of a, you know boot knife.
This is sort of a boot knife form factor here and.
And the so the counter attack one is a bigger version of this.
I had that at one point, and then I don't know what I did with it.

24:34
I sold it, gave it away.
Something happened to it.
I didn't lose it.
I know which knives I lose.
It's always a heartache.
OK, so.
Going from my dagger fascination to my, you know, my recent dagger phase to my recent and current Bowie phase.

24:51
Gotta check this one out.
This is a knife that I was made aware of by Legion tactical.
I love his channel.
I just started following him not too long ago.
I think he's only been around a year or two, but he we've got some similar taste in knives.
Big, burly fixed blades and he got this one recently.
It's a kudamon.

25:15
Bowie knife from Spain and I I do not have any knives from Spain, but I do remember in my high school days getting catalogs and with knives from Spain and wanting like ators and I remember kutiman and what was the other brand.
Where was junglee from?
I think they were Japanese, but there was another Spanish brand that I that I really admired.
But look at this thing.
This is a wicked, wickedly sharp, hollow ground.
Sort of classic looking Bowie with the straight handle reminds me a lot of the handle on my Bontempi Bowie just a big stick.
Basically.

25:59
This is what the human body is optimized to grab.
The human hand is optimized to grab on to something like this, you know?
Stick and we like to put ergonomic flares on to make it fit even even more securely and stuff.
But but really, in essence all we need is a stick.
And this is my Carter here, so if your hands get sweaty or you know, bloody or oily or whatever it is, maybe not oil, but you're going to get as much grip off of this surface as you would anything or more grip off of this surface because.
You know my card gets grippier when wet.
So this is a molybdenum, molybdenum, vanadium, steel, that's what they call it made in Spain.

26:41
Kudamon, JBK.
I'm not sure what the J is, but Bowie knife is that what I'm saying?
The BK IS-1 a nice steel guard.
I got to say the steel Guard is a little, could could handle a little chamfering.
I might just take a piece of sandpaper and lightly go around both sides of it.
Would only take a couple of passes just to knock off the edges a little edge on it.
Very, very deeply hollow ground.

27:08
Uh, and it's just incredibly sharp, incredibly sharp.
And what I really like about this knife is that I don't have to abuse this and beat this up to know it is a real, real.
Hell of a woods knife.
And how do I know that?
I know that because Legion tactical took his out and abused it and pounded on it and did all sorts of chopping with it and all sorts of point, you know, point stabbing and putting it in in wood and all sorts of stuff.
And after about 1/2 hour of testing it and abusing it not not horribly or anything like that, it was cutting paper, slicing paper beautifully.
So this is a really nicely well made knife.

27:52
I guess this this molybdenum, vanadium steel is very well heat treated because it and the grind is awesome.
It just it works like a charm.
So I have only cut paper with mine, but I'm looking forward to taking it out this coming weekend in the backyard and just noodling around with it.
See how it does with the vines.
See how the Virginia Creeper does this?
Sheath, I want to point out, is beautiful.
It's a nice sturdy stout boat Bowie.

28:20
I just can't stop saying the word leather sheath.
Beautiful red stitching and then you've got this their their elephant logo engraved on there.
Just a beautiful beautiful Bowie knife.
I got this from Chicago knife works and it was the lowest price I found anywhere.
That was also a recommendation from Legion tactical to go there because I got a screaming deal on it as I did get a screaming deal on this next one.
The last knife here in the state of the collection and now we've your back into my.
Uh, dagger fascination and this one man.

28:58
I had to get this one right away.
This is brand new from tops knives.
This is the express by Lacey Zabbo.
I am a big fan of Lacey Zabbo knives, his designs and.
In the I feel like in the late 90s, early 2000s, he was on my radar.
And.
I would go to his what?

29:23
He had a website with all these crazy designs that were made.
He had certain makers make them, or he made them himself and all just really.
Very tactical, very self-defense, very ergonomic and purpose driven, this kind of thing.
So this is his new one with tops.
He has another one which I'll show you in a minute, but.
It's the express, and it's a dagger, but it's a different kind of dagger.
It's a dagger with an asymmetrical handle, and it also comes with a you can get this single single edge, and now I hold it like this, and you look at the blade and it's actually a little bit more of a fighter.

30:10
If you look at the blade, it looks a little bit more like a clip point, even though there isn't a clip, but it has a shape that is not symmetrical.
It is.
Not exactly dagger shaped, so maybe maybe this shouldn't be in the upcoming list, but I gleefully put it in there because in essence in effect it is a dagger.
You've got both sides sharp, both with a belly and and the primary cutting edge seems to have almost a recurve at a little bit of an angle down, and that will just of course aid in the slashing power of this.
You've got that medial Ridge that flattens out towards the ricasso.
You just got a really, really sharp top edge and and then as you work back towards the handle of this, a 1095, it's a coded 1095 blade steel here.
You've got this tremendous thumb ramp here.

31:12
You are not going to be sliding up onto this onto this blade.
That's just not going to happen, especially in this Saber grip like this.
Of course you cannot do the Filipino grip on this knife with the thumb up on the spine.
You will.
You will slice yourself.
And if you get the single edged one, it will not be comfortable either because the swedge comes to a very thin but flat edge.
New for Lacey.

31:36
Zabbo are unusual for Lacey.
Cabo designs is this somewhat neutral handle.
You have this arching dorsal side and then a sort of flat, gently arching top.
You've got a attitude adjuster here on the pommel.
Point there, which is just comfortable enough to cap.
Uh, you probably don't even need to if you grip it hard enough.
You've got really awesome texturing on these micarta scales here, and it's nice and thin, but grippy.

32:07
And you got that?
Those red liners.
This thing is class all day long, made in Idaho, USA and designed by Lacey Zabbo.
If the name sounds familiar, let me show you real quick what he his other design here that I have?
This is the felony stop.
Also made by TOPS, also designed by Lacey Zabbo, this was also about to go in the dagger.
This might be even more of a dagger than the express when looking at it.

32:33
It's a little more even from top to bottom, but it's bayonet ground so I didn't put it in the in the upcoming list, but a great knife self-defense and just melts in the hand this.
This very unique profile here.
O very excited to get the new tops expressed.
I knew as soon as it was announced it had to be mine.
I had to make it mine.
And it's a great coincidence that it comes during this this time of dagger love here in the knife junkie den.
OK, I'm going to set this aside and I'm going to move on to 10 great daggers.

33:13
Let's talk about these ten grade taggers.
Spoken about a few of them.
Here, let me just show you before we get into this.
This is a trainer.
This is a trainer by cold steel, and it's based on their this is.
This is a trainer for their safekeeper one.
It's a which is now out of print, but you can still get the trainer for it.

33:35
This is one of the trainers I use solo, just when I'm just noodling around at home and I really feel like swinging a dagger around and I'm not sure where the girls are or where the dog is and just don't want to be.
You know, doing something dumb.
This is a great thing to get.
You can get trainers and all different configurations and from a bunch of different companies, but.
I figured I'd just show this as we move into the this conversation about daggers because they are dangerous and they they are double edged and so sometimes you might not be used to that.
So it might be a good idea to get something like this just if you feel like swinging it around.
All right, so the first one here is the cold steel taipan.

34:18
I showed this off last week and I've been wanting this for so long.
And finally, finally got it.
A really great dagger in that it is a Jack of all trades.
You have two, well I should say 4 hollow ground bevels that that lead to very thin and sharp edges and.
Down the center line you have a nice medial Ridge where they all meet, and then you have a nice sharp point.
But the belly on these edges is part of the.
The selling point of this is because you can slash with this just as well as you can thrust, and that is not always the case with daggers.

35:00
Daggers, as we know, are point oriented.
They're thrust oriented.
They're generally stabbing weapons, but Lynn Thompson here, never wanting to be out under knifed, designed this thing to cut both ways and to be great on a thrust.
So the taipan is the world's deadliest snake apparently, and this is you can see the sand my lines, this is VG10 sanmi, so I think that's 420 steel jacketing VG10.
Just beautiful knife.
Feels great in the hand with that create town.
That's a big generous 5 inch handle.

35:40
You have an attitude adjuster here.
And then a nice big guard like a Suba almost.
So it's round, it goes all the way around and even if you have this in a sort of shovel grip, you have something to push your thumb up against.
As all of the cold steel knives it comes in an awesome Craig sheath used to or secure ex sheath.
They used to come in leather that would have been cool.
I missed the leather days.
Cold steel did some awesome leather shoes, but practically speaking and I'm sure in terms of expense on the manufacturing side.

36:16
It's it's it's all about the multiple plastics.
OK, NEXT is the Columbia River knife and tool Stinger.
This at one time was a bathroom knife.
I've since rotated it out because it's 1075 steel and even though it's coded on the edge it would always rust and I was like, alright, I'm done cleaning this up, move something else into the bathroom and have put this in back in the the drawer.
But here this comes with a bunch of different ways to attach it to your body.
I remember it came with.
Straps.

36:46
So you could like strap it to your arm, which or your leg which.
You know, this is kind of corny.
I don't know, maybe, maybe there's some use for that, but it comes in also in a plastic molded sheath, this one surrounded by nylon.
And this is an AJ Russell design.
AJ Russell, he died I think about a year ago now, but he was a Class A. A stalwart in the knife world and knife design, and this is one of his most famous designs, the Stinger.
His had bolsters and a wooden handle and you know, he had a bunch of different dressed up versions of this CRKT licensed the design.
It's a nice sharp dagger, very small.

37:30
I have this cord on it because.
If I were to actually use this, I would not want to slide up onto that blade, and there's just not enough there to ensure that I wouldn't.
So to do this stops the blade.
I always thought that this sheath might be a little.
I don't know.
Insufficient, but I had a buddy at a place I did Krav Maga for a little while.
He used to carry this on his belt upside down and ride a motorcycle, and he said he never had problems with it.

38:02
So it put a little faith, put a little more faith in this sheath than I had before.
Here is an example.
Now, these these bevels here are just slightly hollow ground.
You can feel it and it's pretty.
They're edges are pretty sharp, and I've dropped them to about as sharp as you as they're going to go, but this is something that is primarily a thrusting tool.
For sure.
So you set it up in such a way that it fits in the palm of your hand and you have that nice pinch there.

38:33
So without this cord you could still make it work in the hand just by the by dint of the fact that the handle is short and it can **** up into the palm.
Alright, so that's the CRKT sting.
Sting just like Frodo, not Frodo.
Bilbo's sword.
OK, this one, as you just saw.
It definitely makes the list.
I'm very happy about this.

38:58
I carried this all weekend long, including two IKEA.
I carried this under my shirt and just kind of forgot about it.
It's light enough that as a neck knife it really works light and you know, it's not thin, it's not thin, but under a, you know, on top of a T-shirt, I should say this was not against my skin on top of a T-shirt.
But under a collared shirt, this thing worked great, and I discovered that it's really OK. So the first time I wore this out, we went to the diner, one of our favorite little places to eat.
We went to the diner that night.
I had this under my shirt and right around, hanging right around my what do you call this part?
The solar plexus.

39:42
And I figured that would be a great place to have a knife, because if I'm sitting here eating.
And my arms around the table, they shouldn't be, but OK, say my say my hands are on the table like this.
And then someone comes in and I need to get a knife, but I can't be seen reaching for my pocket.
It's right there.
I could just slip my hand in there and grab.
So this is the kind of thing I think of.
Of course, this is not a. This is not a real scenario.

40:09
This is the kind of thing that's happened to me before.
I'm like, oh, I better remember next time.
It's just the kind of imagination I have.
So but in any case, made me feel secure.
And it was light there and it was.
Not a bother at all to have this very effective 3 inch triangular hole maker hanging around my neck.
Really, really awesome.

40:30
OK, Next up, another one that I just showed off, but I will, I'll just show it again just for completeness of this list is the express, the Lacey Zabbo Express.
You know, like I said, holding it like this you can see it's not exactly a dagger, it's more of a fighter with the top bevel being slightly smaller than the lower and then with a with technically a bayonet grind because the the grinds don't terminate at the same.
The plunge grinds aren't parallel, but that's just.
Getting nerdy really, isn't it?
This is just sort of a modernized dagger with an asymmetrical handle and A and a modified.
It's modified dagger.
That's all you got to do is say modified with anything in the knife world.

41:12
Modified dagger.
Love this thing.
Lacey Zabbo, I'm coming for you.
I want to talk to you on the show.
All right, Next up is one that gets a lot of attention.
I pull this out, and people are like, oh, oh, I didn't know.
This is the Spartan harsey dagger.

41:29
And it's wearing my favorite of the sheath options.
This is the Chattanooga leather.
Chattanooga leather sheath for the Spartan harsey.
Dagger now interesting thing about Chattanooga Leather there are owned by RMJ who also owns American Tomahawk.
So RMJ the the the Tomahawk specialists.
Mad scientists over there also bought up American Tomahawk and they also own Chattanooga Leatherworks.
So such a cool triumvirate.

41:59
I love it.
And I think Chattanooga Leatherworks makes the best leather shoes.
I love them.
So I'm going to take it out of this.
It has the Spartan hoplite.
Helmet with the crossed arrows and the sword.
Very cool.

42:12
But here's the dagger.
Just outstandingly gorgeous based, uh.
You can see a lot of influence from the the Fairburn Sykes here.
If you look closely here, you'll see the hoplite helmet, and then right to the right of it, that's the Spartan logo.
And then to the right of it is the big giant Evergreen tree logo for Bill Harsey.
Bill Harsey grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a logging family, so a sturdy stock and knife designer to special forces and.
Green berets.

42:50
And he's had his designs made by everyone from Chris Reeve to Spartan to Gerber to you name it.
He's he's had a lone wolf.
Remember Lone wolf knives?
I think they were bought up by ZT or something.
Who bought up Lone Wolf?
Oh, oh, bench made, I think.
Bought Lone Wolf and then suffocated it in its bed.

43:12
But it was a they he did some beautiful designs for them.
Umm, but this dagger?
Look at this.
This is more a a thrusting implement.
Yes, it does have hollow ground bevels, but those bevels are only about 1/2 inch, so they are or maybe even less.
So you will be able to slash and those edges are sharp, but you don't have the belly you have on some of the cold steel daggers.
And so, mad thrusting great, you have a great pommel here or not pommel guard.

43:46
I love the forward facing quillions.
You know, it doesn't matter the orientation of this knife.
You have it here, you have it here, it doesn't matter.
It's symmetrical, including the the quillions.
And I love that some people like to push up against the back.
I just like knowing they're there, you know, and and, you know, I don't use this knife, so I'm not exactly sure how I would, in a pinch, grab this thing, but you know, it would be pretty intuitive.
Beautiful knife.

44:16
This also has a. Noggin knocked her attitude adjuster.
So this is the Tang protruding from the fully sandwiched.
G10, so this G10 handle fully sandwiches the Tang.
So you take that off, take off both handle scales and there's a groove, you know, channel cut in there and the Tang fits in there.
This is really a fine, fine, fine knife.
I got this for a really good deal from someone who took great care of it.
And a very, very good one of the best second secondary market purchases I ever made.

44:55
I would keep your eye out for it.
It is expensive.
It's like a $400.00 knife.
New.
I did not pay that, but.
It is worth it if, well, I don't know.
Depending on your value system, I'd say it's worth it.

45:09
Uh, I like Bill Harsey, and this is the pinnacle of his design, I think.
All right, Next up is one of those knives from cold steel.
There's a lot of cold steel on this list for, I think.
But this one is.
Even more so than the taipan is a slashy dagger.
This is the.
Safekeeper no Peacekeeper 2, meaning it's the smaller of the two peacekeepers.

45:37
This is a discontinued knife.
This was also a secondary market purchase within the last four or five months.
And if you can see this.
You'll see that.
Towards the tip, the belly really widens out.
OK, so it's it's pretty thin down by the ricasso, the hollow ground bevels widen out about 2/3 of the way down and and sort of Crest and then come back in for a less pokey point.
But that less pokey point is incredibly pokey.

46:15
It it it's you know coming to a razor sharp diamond tip so though it doesn't look as.
Acutely tipped say as this.
Spartan harsey.
It still penetrates in insanely with very, very little effort.
And that is because it's not relying necessarily on the point, it's relying on the convergence.
Convergence of four very sharp edges, and.
Here you're looking at a needle tip.

46:47
Both great, both effective.
I'll take them both, but really, you get a lot of slashing and cutting capability with this one.
The handle is a little crowded on this smaller version, but I have learned that.
Sort of like some of the smaller knives in Saber grip.
This works best when you kind of cheat down a little bit and and put the pommel in your palm against your palm and then you can you can exert a lot of force that way in reverse grip.
It's perfection.
It is absolute perfection.

47:20
You have nothing really extra in terms of pommel.
If you're in some sort of dual with a very sophisticated collie fighter and you have too much pommel or too much Puno, they can disarm you in in the theoretical super sophisticated collie knife fight.
OK, but here you don't run that risk.
It's a small enough handle and you cap that thumb or cap the pommel with the thumb and it's going to stay there all day, very comfortable.
You've got a coke bottle in in both directions.
You get that with almost all of these.
Except for the tops, pretty much.

47:58
You get a contoured Coke bottle style handle on these daggers.
Yeah, really the only one without it is is the sting because it's just a piece of metal and the tops because it's just flat scales.
So that is the Peacekeeper 2 or safe Keeper 2. See, I can't ever keep wait, which one is that?
That is the peacekeeper too.
Safekeeper 2 is coming up.
Can't ever keep those keepers straight.
All right, next is.

48:28
Another very, very, very, very prized one.
This is a classic Randall made model #2-77 standing for Blade link length, and so this is the seven inch look at that.
First of all, it's just comes in a beautiful package that beautifully stitched.
Thick leather sheath is just so appealing to me.
You've got a sharpening stone in there.
I believe that's an Arkansas stone and I got the stacked leather handles.
This is the Commando style handle.

49:01
I didn't have to wait five years for either of my Randall knives.
All I had to do was be lucky and find them on knife Center, knife center cells, very limited quantities of Randall knives.
And lucky for me, the two that I got from them were basically the exact knives from Randall Knives I wanted.
And now of course I want many others, but these were the two prerequisites and this chief among both of them.
The combat stiletto.
Hmm, now this might have.
This might be the first one, the first dagger in this sort of modern lineup that that had those.

49:39
Big.
What do you call them?
Edges.
Big bellied edges for slashing?
This one would be fantastic for that.
It also is hollow ground.
Comes to a thin as it is it.

49:52
Yeah, it's very, very subtly.
Hollow ground must be done on a very big wheel, but you can kind of tell it is you've got a very stout, sturdy stiff blade.
I mean, look at this.
Full thickness of the blade comes up at least halfway and then it distal tapers from.
No about 2/3 of the way up the blade and then it distal tapers from there and that last third.
So it's still a very stout tip, but not needle like so you know we'll be able to stand up to some abuse.
The Randall made knives were big in World War Two, used a lot in World War Two and in Vietnam.

50:29
But World War Two is where they really.
The first came, came out and shown and.
So looking at this dagger, you can sort of see that it is meant for, you know, some some.
I don't want to say hard use with that.
With that dagger.
Most daggers aren't put to hard use, but it's meant to go through a lot, both literally and physically or literally and figuratively.
Oh man.

50:57
The stacked leather though just gets me every time.
Just a beautiful shape and I love the pommel every this is a collectors piece.
Obviously all of these are because I don't use daggers, thankfully, so they're all collectors pieces, but this one is one that.
Is for the ages definitely with its lineage and such.
OK, the next cold steel keeper is the safe keeper too, and this one is a push dagger and I have just come to the conclusion that I do not have enough push daggers in my life.
This is the only one, shocking as that may sound, the only push dagger I have.
I've had some of the little ones and I've given them away, but.

51:40
I think I need a custom here, but anyway, let's talk about this one.
This I've had for quite a long time.
It's an old school kydex cold steel sheath flat on the one side, somewhat contoured on the other.
So it sits up against your body.
Well, has the integrated clip.
And great retention.
This was the first kydex that replaced the leather for this.

52:04
Just another beautiful hollow ground slashy bellied dagger in a push dagger package here.
How big is this one?
Two?
It's a three and wait, see?
Yeah, three and a three and 3/4 inch blade.
Very comfortable contour at Crayton handle and really just you know just a force to reckon with this is would be very very difficult to disarm basically you'd have to make someone open their hand and let go of it to disarm it and there are ways to do that I'm sure but just a very hard knife to to
just grab out of someone's hand because there's nothing to grab the only the only stuff to grab is going to is going to do you harm and I think it's unrealistic to think you.

52:57
Pry, come under here and pry.
Especially if the individual has bigger hands than I do and most, you know, many might.
Alright, so that's the safekeeper too.
It's a push dagger.
Something that I I I need more of.
I like the supposed past.
I like the idea of these being something that Riverboat Gamblers would keep in their, you know, in their belt to take out in case there's some sort of.

53:25
Disagreement over the card game or whatever.
You know, you produce that little little push dagger in and go to town.
OK, second to last.
We're going to dip into history here.
One one of them that is the most iconic of all time.
The Fairburn Sykes.
My brother got me this example.

53:44
It's got a slightly bent blade, which I I remember reading was a thing that would happen.
Very.
This one is very sharp there.
It's 40 ground bevels edges here I don't remember.
This is one that I've done a little bit of research on and you can see from the some of the seaming work here this was done in somewhat of a rush.
This was not a a knife that was labored over in in great detail but was very effective.
This one in particular, I know it had a number of different.

54:24
Here's this means something.
Right here on this engraving on the pommel.
A number of different companies were licensed to make this knife.
It did, and it had a couple of different design evolutions.
And then just due to the fact that it was not a great knife for flexing into a utility, they, they, they ended up phasing them out as they did with this next knife I'm going to show you.
But here you go with the with the all all aspects of WASP wasting or coke bottling of that handle.
So you get that, that thing, you've got a heavier pommel here which makes the the blade itself so lively and it makes it move.

55:11
Uh, in a way that reminds me a little bit of a sword.
How a sword has the weighted pommel and so the tip can can be put to put where it needs to be put very, very easily because you have that counterweight in the back.
This is one of the knives that hangs behind me, one of the great.
My my brother has some collects firearms from this era or has a few I guess I should say from this era and and has some has some guys and he's been able to get some really great knives for me.
One of them is also a K bar hanging on the wall from Korea or World War Two.
Haven't been able to figure that out.
OK, last up here is my most impressive dagger and and by far.

55:58
One of my lifetimes Grail knives and my brother Vic got this for me last year and such a cool gift because I know he wanted to keep this himself.
This is the US 1918 trench knife.
It's got these nasty cast bronze knuckles and.
And a dagger blade.
The dagger blade is is is serviceable right now, but it's not razor sharp.
I am not going to make it razor sharp.
But this knife, as you can imagine, has been.

56:39
I don't know.
It's just been one I've wanted forever.
And to have it is a real it.
It is a real GRAIL achieve.
So thanks to my brother for that.
But you've got this big heavy knuckle dusters with the points.
Not all of them had the points.

56:55
And then you have that giant bolt, not bolt nut on the end that comes to that steep point.
Every everything about this is meant to cause damage anyway.
You anyway you apply it.
You got stabbing, you got slashing, you've got, uh, punching and tenderizing here.
You've got the skull crusher, and look at all the hand protection you have from this, from this guard that's almost sword like.
And then you have that forward facing quillion for additional force with the thumb if need be.
What's kind of interesting to me about this is that I have a couple of other knuckle dusters modern day this and this is from McNeese Knives and I have the.

57:46
These station 9 knives and the knuckles I've tried, modern day knuckles are bigger.
They're they're big for my hand.
And I think that's because, you know, back in World War One, World War Two, and this thing was around, people were smaller.
There wasn't so much bovine growth hormone in all the meat and milk.
So people are seem to be bigger now so that the hands are bigger than knuckle dusters are bigger.
But this one from back in 1918 fits my hand perfectly.
So I think.

58:16
I think.
Maybe.
Maybe men were more of my stature back in the day.
I mean, I'm, I'm 6 foot.
It's not like I'm short or not like I'm of small stature, but I'm not a big meat meat hook kind of guy.
So someone with Giant hands might have an issue with this knife.
I'm I'm just not sure.

58:36
But the way these knuckle holes, the way these finger holes are designed, is really ingenious.
First of all, it gives you a deeper troil here for the finger for the forefinger, which puts the knife in a slightly downward canting, which gives you a little more force behind that cutting main, cutting edge, forward, cutting edge.
But then it gives you.
These tall knuckles.
So maybe you have gloves or, you know, gives you some room to accommodate something you might have on your hand, but they come out in a fanning.
In a fanning shape, just like our our, our finger bones, whatever.
These are called metatarsal.

59:15
They're all anchored down here, and then they splay outward.
Well, you can see how that continues in the ergonomics of this knuckle duster.
And you might say, Bob, they all do that, but I don't I I don't think they do the two that I just show you do.
But anyway, I just think it feels really comfortable in hand.
And I could see how what a devastating weapon this is, but they needed a devastating knife that could also open up crates and do other things.
So this one also went the way of the of the dodo bird after not too long in deference next to the.
M3 trench knife with the stacked leather handle and the bannet double edged a ground blade and then eventually the K bar.

01:00:02
Man, what a what an awesome knife this is and what a what a great way to wrap up if I do say so myself.
This this cavalcade of awesome daggers.
Do you like daggers?
Let me know in the comments below.
Which are your favorite daggers?
Do you lament the fact that I got rid of my tops Rangers edge dagger the way I do?
Probably you do.

01:00:25
Be sure to join us on Sunday for a great interview with a knife luminary and then join us on Thursday for Thursday night.
Knives, 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, right here on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch.
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All right.
For Jim working his magic behind the Switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.
Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie podcast.

01:00:54
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