Tomas Alas, Tactical Tavern - The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 399)

©2023, Bob Demarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
https://theknifejunkie.com

Transcript

[0:00] 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 to the Knife Junkie Podcast.
I'm Bob DeMarco.
On this edition of the show, I'm speaking with Tomas Alas of the Tactical Tavern channel on YouTube and Instagram.
I met Tomas at the We Knives booth at Blade Show 2021, where he made quite an impression on me.
He obviously knew his way around the knives, but also showed a certain charisma which comes across boldly in his videos.

[0:41] Though he has an obvious fondness for tactical knives and gear, as it's in his name, he does not come across, he does not present himself as an overly tactical guy.
He doesn't need to because he's got the skills to preclude talk.

[0:54] A notable thing about Tomas, without even knowing it, he is the first person ever in many years to convince me to spend over $100 on a flashlight. Yes, a hundred bucks on a flashlight.

[1:07] You know how I feel about flashlights, but we'll find out how he managed to do that in a minute.
Before we do, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and hit the notification bell and download the show to your favorite podcast app. And as always, if you wanna help support the show, you can do so on Patreon.
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Tomas, welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast. Hey there, how's it going?
It's going great, great to see you, man.
Likewise, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here.
Oh, it was my pleasure, my pleasure. So I remember meeting you at the Wii booth and you showed me that, now I'm forgetting it, I should have done my research, but you're the one who showed me that fixed blade knife that Wii sells that comes, that has that canted angle that you can adjust.
Yes, yeah, the orthrus.
The orthrus, and you had a tactical dummy there and you showed it off and I was like, whoa, that is rad.
How did you get hooked up with WeeKnives then?
Wow, that's a pretty wild story. I actually started the channel, I think I was at 200 subscribers, so we were doing really hot. And uh...

[2:34] I sent myself down to Blade Show West. I was like, you know, I'm going to take whatever budget I thought I had and I'm going to take myself and send it there. It was the most rewarding experience I've ever had because I was just, I was in the abyss. It was my first time at like a real Blade Show. I was like seeing people that I thought that I'd recognize and like Topps guys and Bashingin and all these crazy cool people. And I started talking to this guy at the wee booth, His name is Jim O'Young and he was like the most fun, energetic person and we just hit it off and he introduced me to a couple people and a couple months after he like followed up and he's like, you doing anything this summer? And I was like, trying to record and he goes, we got a spot open, why don't you come down and come work it.
And so, it didn't work out where I wasn't able to go to that show but the following one, the first show I've ever done was Shot Show in Vegas and so that's talk about like you know, drinking from the fire hose because that was just nuts.
So, they're incredible guys. Seth is the team leader over there and he's, I would follow that guy anywhere.
He's a fantastic human and Kyle, I don't know, you know, Cougar Kyle.
Yeah.
They got, yeah, he's a ball of energy. That guy's running like 50 miles a day, man.

[3:53] It's nuts. So yeah, great team over there and yeah. So did you always have fondness for the Wii knives? Was that a draw?
I did. The first one I got was like the Roxy 3, I think it was.
And it had like that flame anodized and I'd never felt something so smooth.
And I was like cage-tramming ball bearings.
What the heck?
And it just kind of grew from there. It was like one of the first knives I kind of like really started putting a lot of money towards and collecting and just hit it off from there.
Well, where did your love of knives come from originally?

[4:29] Originally, I would say working a lot with the Scouts.
I'm an Eagle Scout and grew up, you know, from the Cub Scouts all the way through.
So like whittling, you know, your pinewood derby car and having a blast with that.
And I just got hooked. That was like, we can carry these things like with us anytime, anywhere.
And and yeah, my first ever pocket knife was one of those like really small, Like Swiss Army knives?

[4:55] Sliced my fingers so hard with that. And I was hooked ever since.
Oh man, you were hooked.
See, some people, okay. So I've been a bit of a missionary at work, getting everyone knives, getting people into knives that originally, and this was the thing I would always get, oh, I couldn't have a knife, I cut myself.
And I was like, yeah, that's kind of the point.
It shows ownership.
Exactly. Yeah, in the martial arts world, it's like, it's not really yours until it bites you. Yeah, right.
So, martial arts, we got to talk about that. I recognized immediately that you've got some serious, some Kali skills for sure, or at least that's what it looks like to me.
How long have you been doing that and what style of martial arts do you practice?
Yeah, whenever someone on the street asks me that, because they'll see me filming crazy videos and they'll be like, what kind of karate is that?
And I'm like, oh, man.
I always respond and I go, I just watch a lot of YouTube. And they're like, oh, OK.
OK. I'm like, oh my gosh. So I just skirt the question because it's a lot to explain to people that are like, you know what?
But to answer your question, it's a variety.
I will train in just about anything I can get my hands on.
A great mentor of mine, Jared Arbuckle from Advanced Self-Defense Concepts, He's in upland California.

[6:25] The most lethal guy that I know, like hands down, like you could look at him.
You'd see him in like a Costco and you'd like never recognize him.
Just, you know, just a plain guy.
But he has a heart of gold, man. He is like the most fun guy to be with.
And he trains Kung Fu Sanso Defense Lab, which I was making a lot of fun of until he showed me some stuff from there.
Uh, have you heard of Defense Lab? No, I haven't. Okay.
So it's I'm going to try to do without like walking the mic, but it's like meant for multiple attacker situations.
So it's like you're covering using.
There's like seven points of like knockouts. You're like covering all those and striking.
And I sent him a video one time after we met and I and I just I was just rubbing myself like this and I got on the fence.
And and I was like totally like roasting him. And so we met up in person at his dojo and he goes, I'm going to show you defense lap.
And I go, all right, let's do it. No.
And, and, and he, and I, he beat the crap out of me. Um, it was beautiful because it's just, it's so body mechanic and everything is elbows and strikes.
And he goes, just so you know, this is what they taught Batman for the Dark Knight.

[7:38] And it's true. Like the it's it's a multiple attacker situation and I was hooked. So, anything I can get my hands on, I'm training. But yeah, go ahead.
Oh, I was gonna say that stuff is cool. I have seen I have seen that. It's I remember thinking it's radical covering. It's like covering to the point where you're striking, you know, know, with all the different guarding of the head and stuff like that.

[8:05] I thought it looked ridiculous until I felt it and I think that that's a cool thing too.
It taught me to keep an open mind, I'll tell you that.
Don't judge everything just from what you see. It's good to feel it and pressure test it and I think Jared will attest that he likes that I ask him questions and I push him.
So you did pick up on some Filipino martial arts. I also train Escrima which is pretty wild.
So that's with original Garona Screamer.
And it's like from World War II. So it's like battle tested, real deal stuff.
So it's pretty... So you're pretty lethal, man. No, it's a good thing to be.
I mean, you know, it's the Jordan Peterson thing. You want to be a monster, but keep it under wraps until it's absolutely necessary to use.
Agreed. some of the most like deadly people that I know are like the kindest people ever.
Like they would literally give you the shirt off their back or help you in any situation. And those are the kind of people that I want to surround myself with.
And it's because they have that confidence because they know like, you know, but yeah, but, but it's, it's just, it's that humble nature.
It's the humble warrior is, is, uh, what I try to strive, strive to be, and then just follow the footsteps of great people that came before me.
Yeah, so I would, what would you say to anyone? I mean, I like to encourage everyone of all ages to do something like that.

[9:34] Well, what would you say if someone's kind of got, got it in their mind, maybe from watching your videos, man, I like the way this guy moves and it's obviously practical, it's obviously applicable because you're showing how you can actually use it.
You're not doing anything approaching instructional videos. You're doing fun videos.
I mean, with the masks you have behind you, but you're also doing cut tests.
And it's obvious that you know what you're doing.
So how do you encourage people to involve themselves?
That's a great question. I would tell anyone that that comes up to me and ask, I always tell them, I said, there's no good martial art.
And the usual reaction is like, Oh, what?
That's all what my sensei said. I'm like, no, there's no good martial art.
There are only good martial artists.

[10:23] That's really important to distinct like separate from because it's like you could have the most perfect system in the world, But that might not work for everyone body type. So I always encourage people to like go check it out like, I had a friend recently who was in the similar boat. He goes like dude, you're a ninja. I'm like, I'm far from a broom. I'm thick. Okay, that's what I am and and he's like, well, how do I get started?
And I said go to every dojo in your area and see what they're like and And for me, it's like you want to connect with people.
They should open the doors and invite you in and treat you like they've already known you for a long time.
At least in my opinion, that's how I would do it. Because you want to welcome people into this art form, whether it's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Krav Maga or even Taekwondo.
No matter what it is, they should be welcoming. And then just from there, kind of see what fits your body type, what fits your mentality, and what are you trying to do?
Are you trying to do something stun and get away? Or are you planning on doing some UFC stuff?
And then kind of gauge what you found out from that.
Yeah, yeah, I think that's really important. Knowing what you're going into it for.
It's a great sport. If you're just someone who wants to do sport, it's a great way to compete, great way to stay in shape and that kind of thing.
Or you might wanna, you talk about pressure testing.

[11:47] I'm doing something right now it's the first time I've actually been involved in like actual pressure testing martial arts where, you know you wear a cup and you use it and and and it's important because um well it gets you into certain positions so that the person you're training with can continue with the technique, or or uh well anyway I do think it's important to distinguish whether you want to go into something where you're just going to be getting the exercise or whether you want to.

[12:18] Be a little bit more aggressive with it. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's always about finding that mindset of like, what's your end goal? It's usually a good question to kind of like, base it off of. You mentioned cups. One of the best cups that I found is called the Nutty Buddy.
This is not sponsored in any way, shape or form, but I tell you what, that thing has saved my butt But multiple times it there's video on YouTube of them like taking like a softball pitcher, you know, yeah shoot up and the guys just like taking them and So the Nutty Buddy is highly recommended if you want that full protection right there.
Yeah. And the baseball players wear those. That's why they do that in their ads. So if you want to be protected against a 95 mile an hour baseball, it's a good option, man.

[13:09] So Eagle Scouts, Boy Scouts, which I really admire, I didn't do that, didn't go that route.
But so you're going from knife usage in a self-preservation way different than the sort of knife usage you get in the self-preservation way in martial arts.
What I'm trying to say is in the Scouts, you learn how to camp, you learn how to use your knife for woodcraft and survival and, you know, camping and that kind of thing.
What was the crossover like from that kind of practical knife usage to the kind of stuff you're featuring on your channel now?

[13:50] That's a really good question. The crossover kind of happened out of martial arts demo, if you will.
Like I said, I'm always a student. I'm never going to think, ah, I finally got it all.
At all. Like the moment you have that mentality, like you're done. So I always like to go to seminars. I always like to meet new people and see what other kind of cultures and martial arts are.
And I was probably like, I was like, right, maybe like 14 or something. I was kind of, you know, really curious and there was this just old you know crotchety like a Filipino guy, And he pulled me up for a demo and I'm like, we want to do, I'm like.
And in like three seconds, he like hit every major artery that I had, you know, with the training. Yeah.
And I was like, I've never seen anything like it before. And I go, part of the scout motto is, you know, always be prepared.
Right. And so for me, it kind of like, kind of shifted my mentality of like, I better be prepared for everything, not just the outdoor type stuff. And that's what kind of got me into the everyday carry.
And it's really a lot of mentors that are like, if you're going to carry a pocket knife, you better know how to use it so it doesn't get turned against you.
And that way you know what the capabilities are so you actually respect it.
So that's kind of where that paradigm shift happened.

[15:13] Yeah, that's interesting to the famous boy scout, always be prepared motto.

[15:20] Well, it evolves after the boy scouts, you know? I mean, I don't know if the Eagle Scouts, if they do anything like that sort of, you know, fighting kind of training.
But yeah, living in this world, it's always been, you know, it feels to us like it's especially dangerous, but it's always been dangerous and probably way more than it is right now.
And to be prepared and to flow in your own environment in such a way that you've got some mastery of it, or at least feel like you can walk around without feeling excessive fear all the time.
That's a very important thing. It's all mental too. I mean, you can choose to be a victim or you can choose to be someone that would help prevent other people from being a victim.

[16:13] You see it every day of people stepping in or everyone coming together to lift up a car and It's like all it takes is one person.

[16:22] And I just, I would want to be that person to just start or just be there to help someone else.
So I hope that there's other people out there that would be the same.
And I know there are just trying to surround yourself with as many of those people as you can.
Yeah, yeah. And out there on the street, people today are more willing, as we are well aware, to pull out their camera and help that way.
Oh, I'm going to document this so the guy can get arrested. Well, really, you're right. It does take just one person to inspire action, to jump in there and pull the pitbull off the old man, you know, and then other people run in.
That's just an example that just popped in my head from recent news. But the point is, it's just, all it takes is one person to actually do something and then could snap people out of their.

[17:06] Malaise. Oh, yeah, that's right. Let's go help. And to be that person is, you know, is what you want to be. Yeah, absolutely. So what about your channel then? So how did this lead? How did this abiding love for knives, but also for being prepared lead to the Tactical Tavern channel?
Yeah, I love that question. It started in the scouts, honestly. There was this one campout.
It was really my first campout long term. It was a week and I go, I have nothing. I got to get ready for this. And so, I went to Walmart, like every scout goes to and I think it was like then big five to get the rest of it. And I got talked into buying the worst kind of gear that they had. And.

[17:57] My backpack weighed probably like 80 pounds of just nonsense. It was terrible. So we were hiking up this hill and we were in a campionary called the Rooster's Nest, I believe is what it was.
Which is just like up a steep grade and I'm like, oh crap.
So of course my friend and I, Matthew, we're like the slowest because our packs are the biggest. You know, we had to get like other scouts and both get it on because we had all this game.
We get the worst, the last like tent, you know, these are like 1960s like military tents that are just, you know, hanging on for dear life.
And that first night, a storm blows in like a nasty one and it wasn't really predicted.
And I had, you know, this waterproof sleeping bag, right?
No, it definitely was not waterproof. It contained a lot of water by the end of the night.
The entire tent collapsed, we're soaked, we're like, you know, shivering.
And to make matters worse, there was an anthill underneath like these boards that the tent was on. just if you can imagine like a horror movie like these.

[19:10] Bugs coming out everywhere and you know, we like ran out like made a fire And we're just like drenched, you know, it's like in the rain. We're like huddling under a tarp, it was awful and.

[19:24] In the morning a lot of scouts, you know came up helped us like drought or stuff. We made a big fire and, It was that moment that like horrible moment of me just like freezing my hands are numb. I'm like, like, I'm never gonna be this unprepared again.
It just, it was burned into my mind. Like, I never wanna feel this, you know, vulnerable again.
And so from that day on, I was like, I'm dedicating myself to gear and that I was known as the gear guy in my troop.
Like, if you had a gear question, come to papa. Like, I'm gonna help you out.
And it kind of evolved into like, people would ask me like a lot of questions and I'm like, well, I've already answered this four times like why don't I just record it and so I thought uh you know what maybe I could help out a lot more people kind of reviewing gear and sharing with them some experiences and just having fun with it uh and then the tactical tavern was born with the slogan be prepared be practical and stay tactical and you went out there thinking you were prepared that's the thing uh you know you you went to walmart you bought all the kit you just didn't know the right stuff, and you went out there and it could have cost you dearly being out. I'm seeing an old canvas surplus tent. I'm seeing an old metal frame backpack and all that.
That people kind of make fun of gear nerds and I get it. you know, I get it, but really that stuff can save your life.

[20:52] It can and it also taught me too that it's not so much the gear at times It's more so the mentality because one of those old Scout Masters You know some like old vet that was just like, you know, you don't mess with this guy, He came over and he like used some paracord and lashed it up and like slapped some duck And then like the tent was as good as it was better than it was before.

[21:14] He's like that's how you do it right there boy. And I'm like, whoa, and he like hooked it up man And he had like a pulley system and I was using a shoelace and like, you know, bubblegum.
I'm like, holy crap, this is beautiful to watch. I want to be like that.
Like I want to be able to like fix things on the fly.
And again, it just goes back to like helping people and Scouts we call it like do a good turn daily.
And it's like that, that just really stuck with me and it's a beautiful thing.
So are you still involved with the Scouts? you export your knowledge to the Scouts these days?
Whenever I can, absolutely. Yeah. And it's obviously changed a little bit too. But I try to live every day to the fullest. And so maybe it's not necessarily a Scout that I'm helping, but maybe it's just some random person or, you know, getting a grocery for the person that's next to me. Like whatever, if I can do it, I will. And I've seen it happen where like you just affect one person's life and has this beautiful ripple effect of like, oh my gosh, you know, you just, if you can like positively share something good with someone else, they're more likely to do it to someone else. So kind of, Flows it just keeps going and now you do it on mass with the tactical tavern, channel, so tell me about your videos and.

[22:37] What inspires you to make them? Well, you got some great shorts You know your short videos are awesome. And then your your breakdown videos are really good, too They're they're different and that variety is always welcome on a channel like that But first you have an obvious love of horror movies as we can see from the masks behind you, Yeah, yeah Tell me about the the inspiration you get from that and and how it feeds your creativity, Absolutely, it's a it definitely few fuels like the the passion for martial arts because you know What if you're facing this invincible, you know, like Michael Myers, right? Like what are you gonna do?
You know, and how are you gonna handle that? You know, because there's no real Michael Myers out there, And so that's always kind of like well, she's man like there's obviously a love for horror movies and coming close to, you know dare I say like, you know death or just you know that gore without really immersing yourself in it so it kind of like comes.

[23:41] So we can see it and I thought what a cool way to like branch out and kind of like bring more people into the community and and preparedness and just have a blast with it.
And it was the first video that I ever made that got like over a million views and it was Michael Myers doing a workout.
And I went to my gym and I was just dressed up in the Michael Myers get out and started just going ham with a knife doing what I do.
And people left the gym immediately.

[24:13] For good reason, you know what I mean? I was like trying to be nice and play like, Oh, she may be using this equipment and they're like, you know, um, and I just, I personally think it's just a really fun way that you can, you can open it up to a variety of people, start a conversation and honestly, just have fun, just have fun with it.
You know, uh, just in your description, just there, it just struck me, um, that horror movies, you're right. They're a way to...

[24:38] Sort of experience that violence and sort of experience that core, which is in real life shocking and horrifying, hence the term horror movie, but without the full investment of that.
Sometimes I've thought, well, with all these knives and all this tactical stuff and the swords and my area of interest in Filipino martial arts, When you look at the techniques and how they would actually affect another human body, it's grim and it's kind of horrible to think of.
And you have to think of that, but maybe you can approach it in a different way, you know?
And maybe that's part of what you're doing, at least for me, you know?
I hope so. I mean, it kind of like makes people again, like come face to face with like the fear of that, of what they have and then putting like a little spin on it and just having fun.
And yeah, we got a lot of fun stuff planned with that because it's gotten a really good response.
People have just like gone wild with it.

[25:52] Hey, you know, let's go. People are like asking me to like dress up and come to their work and I'm like, what are you guys doing?
You wanna give me a shot? What are you talking about?
Yeah, we're gonna walk down to my local McDonald's like this.
What are you talking about, man? So, I'm very selective of like when I have fun with it.

[26:10] But again, it's like, it's fun. And that's, I think a lot of times, I always met with like all this like stress, it's like taxes and relationships and kids.
And I think if I can share some joy and just like make some people's day for, whether it be 15 seconds in a short, or maybe they're watching some videos comparing the screen knife and the Michael Meyers knife.
It's like, I want to give people as much joy as I can. So I think it's just a fun way to do it, It definitely has a fun culture behind it.
Yeah, yeah. And of course, there's the Buck 119 that we all recognize and, you know, the knives that we... Oh yeah.
One of the best. Yes. Oh, that's the 120, right? 120. And I picked this one because it's versatile. I don't know. I just finished reviewing it. But yeah, keep going, keep going.
Oh, well, it's a great knife and we all recognize it. Whether or not we know it's a Buck 120, we all recognize it because we've seen it in hardware stores our whole life.
And then we see it in the screen movie posters.
And to get that review is pretty cool, especially in that context.
Now, the stuff you do is fun, but it's not all fun. I mean, you really know what you're talking about with knives.
What do you go through to evaluate a knife? What do you look for? And is it different?
Are you looking for different things depending on boulder fixed and all that?

[27:36] Absolutely. When we first started the Tactical Tavern, I wanted to have this ranking system where I was like, I'm going to make it scientific.

[27:47] And I don't know, it just kind of took away some of the fun after having to be so like, I rated it on like pricing, functionality and design, dependability, versatility and carryability.

[27:58] It was a lot of math and I was like, I don't know, I don't think people care that much.
So I kind of like shifted away from it and I'm like, here's my experience with it.
Is it good value? Is it something that I would purchase again?
And what can you do with it? Right? Like, are you going to be like, like, for example, that tops cut 4.0, it's pretty versatile knife.
But it may not be the best thing if you know, you're taking your kids to and from like daycare, right? Like, you might want something a little bit like a pocket knife.
So I always kind of think of like the end user in mind and then what can they do with it? And yeah, it's just been wild because there's so much gear and I do love knives.
So I do feature a lot of knives, but it branches out my flashlights, backpacks, escape and evasion gear, just all sorts of cool trinkets.
Let's talk about flashlights for a second. So as I as I mentioned up front, it was a story you told that finally convinced because, you know, I've been flirting with the idea of getting, you know, I've got I've got flashlights all over the place, but they're little, you know, lights and stuff, nothing too powerful.
And two things actually, you were the straw that broke the camel's back.
Congratulations. But I remember seeing a video with a Navy SEAL saying, oh, best urban weapon so that you don't get thrown in jail and you can thwart attack is a good tactical flashlight that's bright, that has a strobe.
I was like, interesting.
I'll file that away and buy another knife in the meantime.

[29:27] And then I saw your video. Tell us that story because maybe you can help someone else take flashlights a little bit more seriously.
Not so seriously that they call them torches, but seriously.
Absolutely. It was an interesting evening. I was picking up a friend from a party.
And I've always been that person where it's like if you're drunk or you're high and you can't drive, call me.
I don't care what time of night it is, just call me.
Just call me because I'd rather give you a ride than never see you again or you hurt someone else and have to live with that. So I pride myself on being on call right? I'm just like you know Tomas's uber services like I'll come get you okay we'll figure it out later. So a friend did call me and I was like alright like I'm coming to get you. So I was picking her up and we kind of like got on to the freeware.
And I noticed that two cars followed behind me and I was like, it's odd.
And of course, my mind starts racing. You know, I'm like, well, what are we going to do? Is this the moment? You know, like.
And I was like, OK, keep calm. It's probably nothing.
And, you know, in training and relying back, it's like just breathe, relax.
Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. And in this case, it was as bad as it seems.
So my guess is that they were possibly either coming for her because they saw her leaving the event or they enjoyed the vehicle that I was driving.
I don't know what it was, but as I was driving, they kind of sped up and then slowed down.

[30:57] It was really interesting because they were trying to like block me in to like get me to turn.
So I used some evasive and defensive driving maneuvers to quickly get them off of me.
I got one off and he kept going and then kind of like into a gas station.
And that car was nimble enough to come with me and I'm like, okay, something is off, right?
Like I checked all the bells like this is not normal it's been multiple turns and back onto the freeway and they're still after me or, Whoever I was with and so they were in that gas station and I never stopped and it's quote from Ed's Manifesto was was rolling in the back of my head Stillness is death, right? Maybe the moment you stop, You're gonna die or worse or whatever and so I kept going around once and they followed me and tried to get closer and I and I, I was like, okay time to do something so I pulled out my flashlight and I had the Phoenix TK 20 RV 2 and, I lit them up and there was two hooded figures in there and it burned right through whatever tint they had and I tell you What they saw our Lord and Savior in that moment. It was beautiful they went from all mean mugging to go get it to oh heck and they tore out of there and.

[32:10] It was awesome. Now. I'm glad I had it on me and I'm glad I didn't have you know, like a little you know, Battery double-a flashlight, you know, this is an investment But ten times out of ten, I would buy this again the.

[32:22] Any high-powered practical flashlight it is worth its weight in gold. So we were able to get home safely So man there there is a lot in that story that you can learn from. The very first thing is being observant and trusting your instincts, trusting your gut. Do you think that your martial arts training gave you that or do you think or is this just something we all need to cultivate a little bit more? Being aware and being nice but not being so nice that you're not willing to go.
To the suspicion area? For sure. I would have to say that one of the best resources that has changed my mindset on everything is Ryan Atkinson. He goes by Fieldworks online.
Oh, yeah. And he's my adopted father, like adopted as a joke. I accept him as my dad. He accepts me as his son. And I took one of his classes and the rest is history. And he went over, because he's He's professional security, he's 54, 55 countries, he's an awesome person.
And I took one of his classes and he went over a lot about kind of like executive protection philosophies of watching your back, kind of having, walking in a room, having your exit planned out, things that a lot of people kind of I think don't think about.

[33:46] And so anytime I get on the road now, I'm always kind of like a little bit more cautious and especially at that time of night, it was a little bit more easy to spot because it's like, you know, with only cars out there. But I would say definitely if you can, it's called the Cerberus mixed skills class with Ryan Grizzly Medical and Jared from Advanced Self Defense Concept. They team up and do this incredible class. And that taught me so much about interacting in an urban environment and just having a plan and knowing how to deal with things under stress because you do get pressure tested, as you said earlier.
Yeah, I've been following him for probably since I got familiar with Ed Calderon.
And I guess the algorithm, you know, fed me Ryan Atkinson. And his page is fascinating on Instagram.
And I've seen some of the classes he'll put up, you know, he'll put up multi-picture carousels of the classes.
And it looks like there's, what do they call it?
Live, not live, but organic medium testing and then they'll- Protein baby.
Tie you up, get you out of, you know, getting out of situations like that.

[35:01] Is it like getting handcuffed and getting out of that and all sorts of things like that?
Anti-bondage, yeah. It time, Oh, I'm all serious. I call it that as a joke because it's like, you know, what other like grown men and women are like just in this gymnasium like, oh my dude, you know, it's just, it's a great skill to have and don't get me wrong, I'm using humor to like, you know, make it accessible to people because I don't want them thinking like, oh my god, I don't want to get tied up. Like, it's not that bad. It's a great thing to learn because you never know. Nowadays, You never know. I mean, we've heard about people, even in home invasions, right?
Like you just get zip-tied or simple duct tape and you know, just learning how to break out of it or use your environment like the edge of a counter to like pop it and, and be able to help people. So, yes, escaping evasion techniques.
It just changes your mind on how you think about the environment and, you know, different sorts of weapons that are all around you.
This incredibly unfortunate story, very sad story, That just happened this past week where four Americans went down into Mexico, and two of them two of them having you know, two of them have been killed and, I'm not sure what the state is of the other two, but but it was.

[36:16] And you know kind of seemed like innocent like they kind of went in there to to have fun and it ended horribly, Or it hasn't even ended yet, you know haven't helped them but a little bit of awareness in that situation may have, and in many situations, may have stopped them from going at all. In your case with the flashlight, you were there to help a friend, and if you weren't there, who knows what would have happened, you know?
So a little bit of that awareness and a little bit of that trusting your instinct.
You know, where I live, people fall all over themselves to be perceived as polite.
There's not a lot of politeness, but there's a lot of, I want to be perceived as a good person.

[37:07] And so people are, in a sense, I mean, just from the people I speak with, with less willing to make assumptions about people, even if they're not voicing the assumption, but in their mind, oh, you know, I don't wanna think that about that person because then I'm casting aspersions on their whole group.
And it's just, doesn't seem to be the case.
No, I think you can always go in with an open mind, but kind of like I mentioned earlier, like have a plan, you know? It's like, you're kind of being prepared for that situation.
Like, you know, trust, but verify, right? It's always good to follow that instinct that, you know, like the hairs on the back of my head, something just feels a little off.
Listen to it. The majority of the time, you're probably going to be right.
But like I said, you know, I use humor a lot of the time to de-escalate situations and you know, it's okay to use self-deprecation, you know. It's like, oh man, I messed up.
Sorry, you know, like whatever. And it's like you can kind of shut, change people's, you know, reaction to you.
They're like, whoa, what?
And so, like, you know, there's a little tidbit there.

[38:12] Just have a couple of things in your back pocket that you've already pre-planned and just have them ready to go and you can always you know test people out, kind of get a feel for them and classic McQueen, I don't know if you know about him, Micah, he's one of my people I look up to, he's like a mentor in social engineering and he has a lot of good stuff. He's also battling cancer right now so send some prayers his way and I know he has like GoFundMe and all that so check it out but he is fantastic at social networking and just being able to like read people quickly.
And I think that comes with life experience too. You know, like getting outside of your comfort zone.
Cause a lot of people just, you know, they live in this bubble, right?
And they're like afraid to get out there, but you don't grow unless you're outside of that.
Well, that instinct, I'm shifting gears just a little bit. That instinct, now that for me, it's been age that has given me some instinct in when I'm being done with knives because I've cut myself and stabbed myself in so many different ways, privately, publicly, at parties when I'm trying to be cool.
You know, I've done it all sorts of ways and now I can kind of predict when I'm about to do something stupid with a knife, and I can kind of stop myself.
Now I say kind of because I'm not gonna rule out being stupid, not drinking helps, you know, and not being a professional dope helps, but there's been those things in the past.

[39:42] Okay, so with knives, what are your, what do you gravitate towards?
I know you feature different things on the channel. You just, I actually went to your channel, to do some Puzan Bowie research. That knife is so nice, and they just released the Predator version of that.
And I'm so incredibly excited. I went to your channel and you were totally, to me it looks like a nasty fighting Bowie, and you were showing it off as an outdoors knife.
And I was like, oh yeah, that's the main purpose of this.
What I'm trying to get as what do you prefer? I know you have to feature certain things for your channel things that.

[40:20] That might be more relevant to people's lives. But what do you like better these fixed blades or folders?
That's a great question and just real quick before we touch on that I did want to say thank you and I'm happy that you got a flashlight and, Good that makes me feel so good that you know, we're changing people's lives out here. Okay, Yeah, and and and and actually just back to your back to that I guess the real summary of that for me is that I don't, I don't, you know, I carry multiple knives on me and many, and most of them are bent towards tactical use.

[40:57] But that's because that's really my taste.
Of course they're on me and I know how to use them and I, and heaven forbid that ever happens.
And hopefully, you know, I would rise to the occasion if need be, but God, man, I never, ever want that to happen.
And if I can use a flashlight and blind someone and then sweep the leg or whatever or run like hell, man, that is, you know, I want to live with my family.
I don't want to live in a cage. So and that's what happened.
You know, even if, even say, oh, it was self-defense.
People do not look kindly upon other people who put steel in bodies, you know.
And even if it's in self-defense, who knows?
It could be that niceness thing again. Oh, well, you know.
He stabbed that person, he stabbed that entire group of people. And to avoid that, man, is the best way just to avoid it. And if you can do it with a light, you know, brighten their day a little bit. Make them see the light. Yeah. So you asked fixed blades or folders I think was like the general question. I enjoy folders for the accessibility. And Luckily with Cold Steel there's a ton of giant folders so you can get away with that.
But I have recently kind of shifted to carrying a fixed blade when appropriate.

[42:19] I love them. I've recently, or I'm gonna release a video on like my five or seven, I think I couldn't even make up my mind. Like seven favorite fixed blades and one of them that changed my mind. Let me see if I can find it here. There was two of them honestly here.
This one is the Compliance Edge Henchman. It kind of like reminds me of like a, what was it?
I think you just featured it, the Amtac Northman or Minuteman. Yes.
But this one's like on a Jenny Craig diet. But this was like one of those first knives that I just like I saw in a photo and I go with what I know, this is probably going to melt in my hands.
And sure enough, it just it wraps in there like show perfectly and just feels so good.
I love his knives, man. I've never had one, never held one, but I love them.
It's really enjoyed that. So I love that that fixed blade aspect of having the versatility and strength behind it, But for a lot of the times a lot of applications, I would rather take a folder, Just because it's a little bit more concealable a little easier to carry and doesn't seem to scare as many people as like, Draw on a fixed blade. So yeah in the, Just depends on what you're gonna do in your day. We'll just carry both live the best of both worlds, Well you you practically almost sold me on the Wee Chareth.
Right.

[43:44] Chareth, you just put up a video very recently on that knife and I remember when that came out, well, a little while ago we featured it on the Wednesday supplemental show I talked about it, and I remember thinking, that's nice, that's nice, but when you were showing it off, first of all, it looked great because your camera work is great and it's aesthetically pleasing, but you basically brought me down to earth with that in showing this three inch knife and how great it is for actual use in actual.

[44:23] My kind of lifestyle.
Where actually, even though I do carry a lot of big heavy knives, yeah, this is way more suitable to the kind of pants I have to wear for work, for instance, slacks and that kind of thing.
And here you're still doing your Kali with, or your Escrima with it.
So you gotta get it. It's still a knife, you know, but it has a charm and a...
You know, sort of, I don't want to call it precious, but it has a little preciousness to it that, is not so grr and it makes and it works. It's elegant is what I like to say. Very elegant folder.
Yes. Yeah, I was also going to say another one that I recommend for if you're along the lines of that the the Wee Kool-X is another fantastic one and I love this because of the button lock.
It's just ultra fidget friendly and it feels a little bit larger than what it is just as a handle and blade shape. So the Wii Kulex would be another great option with multiple ways to open it as well.
Oh nice. Well while we're here, besides these two Wii knives, what are the ones.

[45:33] This year or in 2022 that really got your motor running?
That's a good one. I like that. Let's see. You know, I know it's a Wii, but I also, I love you guys at Wii and this one, this is the Wii Evoque.
Oh, that's a Laconico, right? Ray Laconico and that one did it for me.
You know what doesn't get a lot of love? I'll show you two of them. One of them is uh...
Have you heard of Xtrema Ratio? Sure.
Yeah. Oh yeah. The BD4 Lucky. It just does sort of super thin so I can wear it anywhere.
Very elegant. It's like a tie light, you know? It's just more refined.
You can... It looks like you can wave that open with the Quillians there on the blade. There it is. Oh yeah.
And I show this and it always gets an uproar whenever I bring this one out.
Like people are like, oh, that's really cool. I like that. I don't know. People are like, why you want a pair or not? You know.

[46:34] But this is the Craig Douglas recall. Sweet. Love that. So sweet. The spider coat. I mean, so they were the first I always forget about that knife because I'm usually, I usually only bring up the Emerson Elvia or the inversion. Oh yeah. Oh, you got the wave one too.
But also the inversion by Dirk Pinkerton and Kaiser is a sweetie.
And then Tier 1 gear reviews is coming out with a shield and made OEM little sight.
His folding sight. And I was thinking that those were the only three.
And I forgot all about the Spyderco pick-all. They were doing it long before anyone else.
I mean, that knife predates the Emerson Elvia by at least 10 years, I think.

[47:19] And yes, and the cool thing about that too is there's one more I want to talk about but it's a nice community like in that regard because Craig Douglas is one of those people that pressure tests everything, right? That's where that came from.
Ed's manifesto, Ed Calderon, he pressure tests everything. And so those are cool people to follow and check out and take classes from.
And one of the other new ones is from Fox Knives. It's basically the 599 Karambit, except it's inverted in a Picolle, and it's gorgeous.
I think Julianne or something is the designer, but it's basically reverse.
So you pull it out and it's like a Picolle knife with a ring.
Sweet. Sweet, I love the 599. I mean, as far as Karambits go, I have that and the Super Karambit from Emerson.
And I generally, ever since I discovered Picolle, that's way more my speed because, well, I've done some karambit stuff, but I never, you know, I've never went too deeply on it.
And that's the kind of weapon that like the less, you can know, you have to be like really good with it, at least in my mind to make a karambit functional.
But with a Picolle, you know, you can kind of rely on some caveman instincts.

[48:42] What did you just reach for there? I went and grabbed the Bastinelli Mako because this I feel is like a really good versatile blade. You get that classic blade shape. You got the ring, right? But to me, I take it one step further because it folds perfectly and fits right in your hand for an icebreaker for parties, right? So it has some versatility there and I love that. So like if you're nervous about like, or for anyone, like carrying a karandit, because it's like, what am I going to use that blade shape for the Mako from Fox and Bastinelli is superb. It's fantastic.
And while we're on Bastinelli and you used the word elegant before, I think his designs, man, they are just, every single design of his I've ever seen or held is just perfection and beautiful.
Very. And it has a sexy, you know, what's the word like? like a Genesee-Croix, essentially. Yeah, yeah.
These French, right? Yeah.
One of my fixed blades that I've been carrying and one of the ones that I was gonna have on me, like if I could only have one blade, yeah, at one point, if this was the one that it was gonna be, cause it's just super thin.
And then you're talking about fixed blade versus folders I'll open it quietly for the microphone.

[50:01] The the brachial from Microtech and Bastinelli and the Bastinelli is the chopper chopper, And and that is a beauty and a good friend of mine carried carried that pretty much exclusively, he goes between that and the and the PY and the red folder.

[50:21] But and and I noticed recently you've been carrying the big the big Drago tack, which is one of my absolute favorites I love big folders and most of my big folders are cold steel but you know because they're.

[50:34] Preeminent ones. Absolutely. They do it right.
They do and actually it's funny you go to the Bastinelli booth at Blade Show and you know he's so cool. He's such a nice guy and he's very charming and then he has like all these French guys who are like, hey you want to take it. You know they're all cool. They all look cool.
They all look like badasses and they're the only table or I shouldn't say the only table but there is always a bunch of women around the Bastinelli table.
And I have to believe it's not only because of that, but because the designs are so appealing universally. You do not have to be into knives to recognize the beauty of those things. 100%.

[51:12] So let me ask you, you have a sharpening business. I was not aware of that until right before we started talking. Tell us about that.
Yeah, it's called Eagle's Edge Sharpening. And it is something that just keeps the time I'm going it's a it's developed in a pretty nice little business and, It's very relaxing right just being able to Sharpen or use a whetstone or sometimes you know grinder depending on the kind of work But again it started out of necessity because I'm like I have all these blades how the heck am I gonna take care of them?
That's going to be expensive to keep, you know.
Buying a new one might as well learn how to resharpen it. So yeah, so because of that, it's also taught me a lot about steels and the properties and what I look for.
And it's truly helped the review process as well.
Being able to give my input on the on the blade quality.
Well, what have you learned about steels? Which ones do you love?
And are they all super steels? Are we nuts for for spending all this money on super steels?
No, we're not but sometimes you know you walk into one of those conversations, Actually, oh that's 30 me. I'm like, oh The vanadium, you know, they like have it all like memorized I'm like.

[52:32] You know you like the design does it feel good I always tell folks cuz I get that question all the time What's the best deal people be the sweats like?
Like, say the one I like. I'll tell you what, if you're traveling and all you have on you is, there's one of my favorite travel knives, a pressure cold Raptor, or excuse me, pressure cold Nomad.
It's a box cutter. Okay. And that'll do the trick, right?
You know, it'll open up your package, whatever you need.
To me, the most important blade is the one you have on you, right?
And it's like, you know, if you got your super steals at home and you're in a car crash and trying to cut your seatbelt, but that dude with a Gerber or even like a Tac Force, you, know? Yeah. It's just is what you have on you. So, to answer your question with the steals, it's more so like for me, what I've noticed is the tempering. So, for example, on that buck, it has like the Paul Boss heat treat. It's a great heat treat and it does what it needs to do. It really brings out those properties of the 420. So, it just depends on what you want to do. If you had to like, you know, tell me like, which one's the best?
Right now, I'm really digging a CTS XHP.
That one has been really sweet. I have not tried the Magna Cut.
I haven't hopped on that train yet but I want to test it out.
I want to see what it's like. Maybe it'll blow my socks off.
I'll keep you updated. I have no idea.
But I always, I'm like for most people, you give them a blind, you know, like a blind over their eyes and you tell them, you know, like cut through this.

[54:00] I've not found anyone on the earth that would be able to tell me what steals in their hand based on you know how many cuts it's gonna get so I don't know. I mean I must admit I've fallen for the super steel mine virus a little bit. I mean especially when it comes to pricing you know my oh 200 bucks it doesn't even have a super steel like you know there some of that is valid because you don't want to feel like you're you're paying too much for what you're getting but by, the same token, that super steel mine virus has gotten me at times to, it's caught me, or I've caught myself feeling like, oh, this is 420, this must be like one use. And it's like made of butter. And you know, I press it into, it's just going to like melt or fall apart.
But that's just not true. Our worst steel today is like a hundred times better than what they had, you know, 200 years ago. Yes. Yes. And don't get me wrong, there are some amazing steels out there, you know, the M390, you know, S35 CPM1. I think, what was it? Spider-Code just came out with CPM15V, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah.
Is that what it is? Yeah. Big Brown Bear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm like, okay, what's up with that, fool? Like, let's try it.
I'm into it. I love it. And I want that competition and I want that healthy, you know, progression of the steals. I think it's like, yeah. But to me, it's like, I don't want to see other people like putting people down because it's like oh you don't have a sprint run.

[55:27] Shit dude he's carrying a knife you know like let him be let you know like bring people into the community and sometimes i think when you get into like this steel debate it's like you know people like tune out and you know sometimes it's hard enough just trying to get someone to carry a pocket knife for the first time let alone you know ragging on them for you know the steel that that they went with, so.
To me, it's a lot like, you know, martial arts, the martial arts world or the professional sports world. It's like, you know, you can argue about a kicking technique for hours if you have the right group of martial arts nerds together. And it's fun. And it's a thing of a matter of debate and a matter of banter. And sometimes it evolves into something worse, certainly with, you know.

[56:11] Know, teams and that kind of thing. But, but the, the notion that that you need those things to make a knife a knife, you know, it's just, there's not much to it.
Yeah, it's, it's fun. What about you? What's your favorite steel right now?
My favorite steel? I mean, I love 154 cm. I'm an old fashioned guy. I love 154 because it's something that I can easily.
Yes, thank you. Protect does a beautiful job with it. It's It's something that I can easily sharpen.
It's something with my cutting, I mean, really there's very little cutting that I do, honestly.
So anything will do, but I like 154CM because I can get it razor sharp and I can get it to a nice edge that both, it has a little bit of grip, but also is, I just feel comfortable sharpening it, maintaining it.
And that's what I love. That's half of it is can you maintain it?
Because I've been working at shows and people come up and they'll have a high end knife and you go for the edge and you're like, it's like a butter knife, dude.
What are you doing? Can you keep it sharp? That's half of it, right?
One interesting thing that's going on right now, I think it's Angler Knives.
He does a really beautiful Scandi grind. And if I'm correct, I think he actually does it by hand, but I could be wrong.

[57:30] But he's testing out different steels that I think is really interesting to pay attention to, because he's testing out the Magnacut. He's testing out and comparing it, to like that 154 cm like I don't know. It could have already gone by, but I think he's trying to figure out what is the best in terms of outdoor aquatic style bush crafting tools. So that's probably going to be one of the next fixed blades that I'm going after. The Amtac and an Angwere Meth, the ones I'm looking at.
Oh, the Amtac is pretty sweet. Well, okay. You mentioned the community before.

[58:04] Actually, you've had a really nice growth. You haven't been... Your channel hasn't been been around for that long and you've gotten, you've grown very nicely kind of, it seems steadily and quickly. What are your impressions of the knife community?
What do you think of it? The knife community as a whole, I think there are some outstanding people in there. Like I said, Jim that I met from the We Knives booth from the very first time, I'd literally call him like my uncle now.
He's like, Uncle Jim, like he's just someone you can call and talk to.

[58:41] It's a small community and I think a lot of people fail to realize that sometimes that it is so niche, right? I mean, there's not too many people into the knives. Like, you're going to start seeing the same people over and over again. And for me, it's like, I'm going to treat everyone with respect. And, you know, there's always like those little rifts and stuff that go on and I'm like, guys, really? What's the goal here, right? We're all in the same team, at least I like to think, like, get, like, grow it, right? And for me, it's like being prepared as part of that. Like, oh, do you have a Pogmaf on you? Oh, wow, I'd never thought about carrying one. Like, and I'll bring people in and just, you know, make as many friends as you can because it's a small community and there's a lot of great people in there that, that, you know, call them up, ask them a question.
Here's a great example of it. We met one time, really, in person at, you know, Blade Show, and it's like we've been friends since. So, it's an easy way to make some new friends.
I've also heard that from a lot of knife makers. Man, people are so generous. You know, even.

[59:44] The big, big, big makers. Like, I've heard someone recently, and I can't remember who said this, but reaching out to Bob Terzuola and asking him a question and getting an answer. It's like, He knows, Bob Terzowula knows that Bob DiMarco is not going to be making his knife even if I have every single one of his techniques. It'll take me another 60 years to come close.
So I think that that kind of generosity, just like all, you know, everyone, you know, a rising tide raises all ships or whatever that term is, seems to be very prevalent in the knife world. So here's something I want to do. I wrap up every interview with someone who's got a channel and who evaluates knives with a speed round.
And so we're going to really, really find out the cut of your jib with this.

[1:00:33] Okay, fixed or folder? Face. Okay.
Flipper or thumb stud? Thumb stud. Washers or bearings? Barriers.
Tonto or Bowie? Bowie. Hollow ground or flat ground? Hollow.
Okay, now we're gonna move into the fixed portion of this. Full guard or half guard? Half.
Full tang or stick tang? Full tang. Contoured handle or neutral, like a coffin style grip? Neutral.
Condor or Ontario knife company? Ontario. Cold steel or work tough?
Oh! Oh! I got dude like that, man. I knew I'd get you with that.
Ah, shoot. Oh, I'm sorry, Jeremy. I would have to say Cold Steel.
I got more Cold Steel.
All right, single edged or double edged?
Single edged. V ground or convex.

[1:01:34] Convex. Finger choil or no choil? Finger choil. Okay, form or function? Function.
All right, and I think you already may have answered this, but your desert island knife, the one that you get to keep out of your collection for the rest of your days.
For the rest of my days. If I could only pick one that I would like have fun with, but now you said desert island.
So well desert island. I just mean that metaphorically, A and B this this this precludes all like sentiment. Well, my grandfather gave me this so I'm gonna hold on to not, Those kind of things you get to keep I just mean one of your uh, one of your others, you know.

[1:02:17] That's a fantastic question The one that I keep coming back to like if I could only have that one knife to do just about anything that i'd ever do, it's the spider-coat military, right on man good as I'm sorry. No keep going man praise me please. I love that knife and it gets, it gets zero attention compared to the paramilitary 2 and the para 3 but I love it because it's the four inch one and I've had that knife a long time and I am so excited for the military 2.
Me too. Now the one thing is because I'm a lefty and a lot of people like don't know that so it So it gives me another perspective on how I evaluate knives.
I would love to see a left-handed compression lock on that bad boy.
Yeah. Probably not going to happen. Same with the Ojimbo.
I don't think they do one with the Ojimbo left-handed compression.
So that sucks.

[1:03:10] But typically with everything, I just, I don't know, I feel like I could do just about anything with that blade. It's not over the top.
It's big enough to, you know, cut a bagel and small and delicate enough that you can pop a seam and, you know, remove a tag on a dress. you got to do like that blade yeah it'll get you there.
Oh man, so those are basically the two things I use my knives for. Cutting bagels at work and taking little threads off and that kind of thing. Well Tomas, thank you so much. I really appreciate your coming on the show and spending the time and sharing not only your love of knives but also of preparedness and different strategies for being prepared. It's greatly appreciated.
Absolutely. Thank you so much for the opportunity and it's awesome. I wanted to say this too. Like, I've grown up in from when I was younger, like listening to your channel and watching you from the start and to be invited on is just, it blows my mind and thank you so much. Seriously.
Oh my God. The pleasure is mine, sir. Thank you.
Take care. All right. All the best.

[1:04:11] Don't take dull for an answer. It's the Knife Junkies favorite sign off phrase and now you can get that tagline on a variety of merchandise. Like a t-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, long sleeve tea and more, even on coasters, tote bags, a coffee mug, water bottle and stickers.
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There he goes ladies and gentlemen Thomas Alas of the tactical tavern channel, Awesome guy and a great channel. You got to go check it out Not only does he feature great?

[1:05:00] Knives and other equipment But those stories are invaluable as some of the stuff he shares like I mentioned that flashlight Sorry really did shift my paradigm a bit and I really appreciate that there will be more conversation with Tomas over on on Patreon, so if you want to hear more, come join us on Patreon.
Quickest way to do that is to scan the QR code or go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon.
For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.
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[1:06:13] Music.