The Knife Junkie Podcast is the place for knife newbies and knife junkies to learn about knives and knife collecting. Twice per week Bob DeMarco talks knives. Call the Listener Line at 724-466-4487; Visit https://theknifejunkie.com.
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[0:00] 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 really cool new Bushcraft folder from Real Steel Knives and Ivan Braginets in the state of the collection, a blast from the past and, then we get to the many faces of the Tanto blade.
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 came on a short that I posted and then unposted because after a while I thought, boy, this could be used in court in a future date.
So I just I took it down, but it was a little song I sung to my daughter about, the the possibility of this boyfriend and and, Someone commented this old man gear commented when my daughter brought a boy home for the first time I said come here. He walked over and I said show me your hands He lifted his hands up and I said are those your hands? He said yes. I said are they connected to your arms?
He said yes. I said if you don't want those arms to be broken keep those hands off of my daughter and.

[1:19] And very dramatic, I like it, I like the whole, you know, making him go through a little bit of a humiliation ritual.
I mean, I don't know if I'm gonna take it that far, but you know, I figured that short that I posted would send the right message, and then hopefully, my daughter doesn't bring home a Mama Luke.
She looks for a good man, and that speech never needs to be had, but I'm ready, and I'm rehearsing.
So thank you Old Man Gear for the material for that future interrogation. I do appreciate it.
All right, all that being said, I think right now it's time we do a pocket check.
In my front right pocket today I had the Emerson Elvia.
Haven't carried this one in a little while, but I've been re-engaging in my Emersons.
I've been wanting to get a couple of them redone, like I had this one redone by Tom Engelson.

[2:23] Who, man, he does beautiful work with Emersons especially, and he does other knives too, but this knife, it really is confidence in pocket.
My front right pocket is usually devoted to a four inch or thereabouts tactical folder.
This is much smaller, but I don't feel any less confident with this in my pocket.
I have this aftermarket wave opener on it, and the contoured micarta scales that are so comfortable and grippy.
Yeah, this thing is not only customized, but it's built for speed and ready for action, and heaven forbid I ever need that.
There it is. This was my dog walking knife yesterday, as it was hot as Hades, and couldn't carry much, and I felt like that, I felt confident with that.
Now, just look, I'm just looking at this picture of the Elvia sitting there.
Look at how the light is falling on that chisel edge right at the tip. So menacing. And that is the real spirit of this knife. It's in that tip and that curve.
Alright, next up in my front right pocket, one I haven't carried in a little while. Now I'm going through all the Jack Wolf knives almost wistfully, you know, remembering, ah, when this came and I was so... Because they were coming at such a pace, you really get into one and then a new one would come.
At least this was my situation because I'm a lucky man.

[3:51] But here, I had the low drag jack on me today. The low drag jack with that teardrop shaped spear point blade, I like how dramatic it is, how thin-waisted it is, and then how bulky it is down towards the tip with that nice big belly.
And my carda, I'm really psyched I have a whole bunch of these in micarta, because Ben Belkin made the business decision not to use micarta on the knives anymore, because people are so crazy about the different, different carbon fibers, he's using those fat carbons and camo carbons, they're exotic and beautiful and different. And I'm sure they evoke emotions in people that micarta just doesn't quite do.
So he's moving away from it, and he was gracious enough, knowing that I love my Carta, he sent me a bunch of these.
As they were coming out, he'd send me my Carta usually.
And I do appreciate that. This is beautiful.
I do love those carbon fibers, by the way. Don't get me wrong.
I like this bullet end jack handle. This is my first example like this.
This is just a really, really great cutter.
They're all great cutters, But the shape here under that raked down angle there, straight edge, really cuts in that triangle really well.
All right, that is the.

[5:19] The low drag jack by Jack Wolf Knives. And then in my waistband today, I had the Jack Wolf, I mean the Hog Tooth, I do this all the time.
It's two very different animals. This is the Hog. This is a Hog Tooth Knives EDC Tonto.
The one that started it all for everyday fixed blade carry.
And the one that inspired the Nova One.
And man, since we're talking Tontos today, I've been carrying this and been thinking about Tontos.
I love this sort of, well, this fully hollow ground straight with that wedge tip.
It's very dramatic and very effective, not only at piercing, but at scraping tasks.
We see that on the Chris Reeve knives, Tontos. I really am a big fan of that style of Tonto.
This one, I tell the story, I really grew to respect this for more than just its weaponiness when I was making feather sticks once with a whole bunch of folders that I brought out to make feather sticks with for the family fire pit, thinking, oh, this folder is so thin and slicey, it's gonna make great.
And none of them did well, and I, well, I mean, they were fine, adequate, but I kept feeling like.

[6:37] This is gonna break, like, this edge is too thin, or this pivot, I don't know, because it was pretty hard, that kiln-dried wood you get outside the grocery store.
So, I busted this out, it was in my belt, and this made feather sticks all day long.
It's a, or at least for the 20 minutes I was making feather sticks.
It's a really excellent cutter.
The geometry is just perfect for a knife that you're gonna be using mostly for utility, but then, who knows, you might have to stab it through something reinforced.
Just a great knife, carries beautifully. I mean, and look at the size.
It's a sort of a perfect size for EDC Cherry, compared to like the OpenLVF for instance.

[7:18] All right, lastly on me, of course, I needed something for emotional support to dispel some of the nervous energy.
Not that I have much of that, but, you know, I do like to fidget with knives.
And this is a great one for that. Emotional support fidget. This is the O-Knife Freeze. These are currently on sale.

[7:36] If you're watching this in July 2023, these are on sale at the O-Knife O-Lite website.
And this one is my favorite O-knife thus far with that beautiful Tonto blade, I meant Wharncliffe, beautiful Wharncliffe blade at about a 35 degree angle tip there, 40 degree angle tip.
This is going to pierce amazingly and it's also going to do a lot of pull cut tip work, you know, or cutting out things from paper for school projects, that kind of thing.
It'll be great at that.
At pull cuts because this nicely ergonomic handle is actually great in all grips. I especially like it in this reverse grip with the edge in. Seems it would be very effective in this going against the stop pin, which is an internal stop pin. To me that adds confidence. And to boot, it's got great action and feels good in hand.
I like that sort of powdery, anodized aluminum feel.
So this is what I had in my pocket today, the Emerson Elvia, the Low Drag Jack from Jack Wolf Knives, the Hogtooth EDC Tonto, and the O-Knife Freeze, on sale at the O-Knife website.

[8:56] What did you have on you today? Let me know, drop it in the comments below.
Always love the inspiration and just like to find out what you classy ladies and gentlemen carry on you.

[9:07] All right, well, one of our lucky gentleman junkie patrons might be carrying this on them shortly.

[9:14] We have this, we're going to be giving this away tomorrow night on Thursday Night Knives.
You've seen this here before, I got three of these from Kerry at Off Grid Knives, kept one for myself, and then we gave the satin one away a while ago, and now I'm giving this one away.
The blackout 154CM Crucible, bladed Centerpoint Viper 2. I'm calling it center point just because this design, this redesign, this is a version two, is a really good and practical redesign.
The tip on the last one was much higher up.

[9:56] It looked cool, but it did not, I don't know, because I didn't have it, but I don't think it was as utilitarian and just as overall a good design as this, that did not come out right.
But you know what I mean. In profile, it almost has a Gladius sort of look, but very, very sharp, very thin.
Like all off-grid knives, this is a great cardboard cutter, but it'd be great for a lot of other things.
You've got a very nice contoured handle. It's reminiscent of the Stinger II XL, but just a little bit smaller, just slightly more manageable, if you will, but it has the contoured feel because of those really broad chamfers.
And then it has very nice G10 grip, and then a filler tab over here.

[10:42] Deep carry pocket clip with the little notch cut out and the flat head screws, great action on this.
And then you've got the benefit of this really cool combination of sort of file work jimping, old school file work jimping with new school groove jimping, I don't know if that's new school, but grooved jimping, in combination all the way up that blade.
And man, it is, I love that. I don't know why people are so demure with their jimping.
I say if you're gonna put jimping on, like, jimp almost all the blade like this.
Like if your thumb can reach out three inches down the blade, well, put three inches worth of jimping.
I don't know, I love it. I know some people are just like, don't need it, don't want it, if you have to have it, it's not well designed.
I disagree, because if you've got a smooth spine or even a crowned spine, and you have your thumb on the back and you're applying pressure, it could slip.

[11:38] You know, if you've got sweat or viscera on your thumb, if you don't have those little grooves in there, you really might slip off the back.
And when you're exerting power and force, you don't want to slip, that's exactly when you don't.
So, I'm all for jimping. I think that's an old knife fight topic of conversation on Thursday Night Knives. Maybe we'll revisit that.
Because I think I just honed my argument You All right, so tomorrow night, keep your eyes peeled if you're a gentleman junkie, if not, go to Patreon and check out the different things you can benefit from. And of course, you benefit us and we appreciate you greatly. Just go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon and check it out. I'll repeat that very complicated address.

[12:23] And you can also scan that QR code so conveniently located on the screen.
Again, that address is theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon.
If you're a knife junkie, you're always in the market for a new knife, and we've got you covered.
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That's theknifejunkie.com slash knives. You're listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast, And now here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life News.
Coming at you from Knife Life News, the new Real Steel Pathfinder.
This is a cool one. This is from designer Ivan Braginets. I have a couple of his.
My Arcona Nettle is by him, and my Crystal Aurora, both knives I got from Russia with Levon, so greatly appreciate those.
And really cool, kind of futuristic, yet classic designs.
Here's his new one. This is a zero ground, standy edged, 14C28N.

[13:39] Because that's what that steel was invented for, drop point three and a half inch fuller blade on a crossbar lock thumb stud platform, and it's got really elegant lines.
I think this is immediately appealing to me, and it's not because I like Ivan Bragnett's designs.
I really like this design.
And you know, I never got that folding Scandi from Cold Steel, and I never got that folding Scandi from Topps Knives, but this one just looks like, hard to say no to.
The one thing is that Fuller does look like it descends below the line of the handle, so I don't think you're gonna be using that to flip it open.
I think it's merely decorative.
But I find this so appealing. And then you put the micarta scales, in this case, the natural, I know they also offer it in other colors, like blue, but that natural, I just think it's a knockout.
So I'm gonna, I think I wanna check this one out.
And I say that every time, every news story here on Knife Life News, I say that, but I mean it this time, guys.
This is available, so you'll be able to call me on it if I don't get that.

[14:56] But it's so cool. All right, next up is the Vosteed Corgi. This is the latest to hit the Vosteed lineup.

[15:03] Which is just blowing up.
A Vosteed company that was launched by a gentleman who left Kaiser.
Yu Dong is his name, a knife enthusiast. He left designing for Kaiser, started Vosteed.
And they sent me the Vosteed Morgan chef's knife about a year and a half ago.
Got my attention, and they sent me a couple of other knives that we've given away here.
They're just really, really nice knives. This is curious to me, though, because Kaiser already has a knife called the Corgi, designed by Ray Liconico. And I gotta say, this one looks a little bit like a Justin Lundquist to me. But anyway, I can't tell if of the waters are getting muddied, or if the knives are starting to look too similar, or, the fact that this is named after, or also has the same name as a Kaiser, like it's all getting, it's all getting kind of muddy in my mind. But anyway, Vosteed Korgi, as symmetrical as possible, with that trek lock right behind the pivot, and that pivot is located in such a way that that knife, that blade, disappears entirely inside the handle.
That does look nice with the blue Jean Mike Carter there. You're looking at just a hair under three inches, at 2.99 inches, 14C28N, and available soon.

[16:31] This knife is 3.49 ounces, and they say like an ounce per blade inch. I guess that's okay.
All right, when I saw that at first, I was like, that seems heavy, but.

[16:44] And it's a little bit heavier than an ounce per inch. All right, next up, what happens when a utility knife, and a modern folder catch each other's eyes across a crowded room, have a few drinks, and embrace?
Well, they get the Boker Plus Bill and Ted operation. Yeah, that's what it's called.
It's called the Bill and Ted operation.
Why is it called that?
Well, their designer is Keanu Alfaro, I guess maybe Keanu Alfaro was named after Keanu Reeves, or at least recognizes his name as the same, and then the Bill and Ted sort of crossover, and then Bill and Ted here would be the blade and the blade.
Anyway, it's an interesting little knife, bridging the gap between utility knife and modern folder.
Of course, you have a replaceable utility knife side, which is handy, and then a nearly three inch full flat ground drop point D2 blade on the other side with a liner lock.
So kind of an interesting thing, and also, interesting thing there is that you can see.

[17:54] It looks like two different knives put together. Like if you cover up the utility knife part with your eye and just go up to the pivot, it looks like a regular liner lock knife.
And then as if the liner lock knife is the bolster to the other part of the knife, the other part of the knife starts up, and if you cover up the modern folder part of the knife, it looks like a utility knife that you bought at Home Depot.
So very interesting design, ways to sort of.
Crammed together. And then on the clip side it looks like a unified G10 scale there. So very interesting. I don't know. It's not something I'm interested in, but it's cool that Boker's trying new stuff. And this, I believe that something like this could have a real appeal because you have two types of blades on there too. You've got that wharncliffe from the disposable razor knife side, and then you have a nice, belly, swept belly drop point on the front.
Or other more just usual cutting tasks.
All right, that's the Boker Plus Keanu Alfaro designed Bill and Ted operation.

[19:06] All right, here's a cool little story. The University College London Institute of Archeology just unearthed a huge, or a very large, are very large, a cache of stone artifacts, and in that, these are 300,000 years old, by the way, in that they found a very large hand axe.

[19:28] And this is in Kent, in Britain, and that hand axe there that you can see being measured, is over nine inches, and it's got a very long blade for the type, and you can see it napped down a point there, which is kind of a rarity. Oftentimes, the flint knives and handaxes that they unearth have straighter, flatter blades that are more for like dressing game, apparently. But this looks more warring, and the question is whether this was for actual use, or is it more of a ceremonial thing?
A very large hand axe. I'm not really familiar in hand axes and how they're used.
I imagine you just grip the dull end and then use it like that.
But the archeologists here seem to think that it was rather large and were unsure how it would have been used.
This one is the third largest hand axe unearthed in Britain.
At, oh I'm sorry, it's 11.6 inches, and made of flint.

[20:41] So interesting, you know, there will come a time, 300,000 years from now, I mean this thing is 300,000 years old, 300,000 years from now, they might find my Chris Reeve knives, you know, sebenza, and since it's, probably the steel will be gone completely, but that titanium in my card will probably still be there.
Anyway, interesting, interesting to think of how we fit in the larger continuum.
All right, something I want to raise your attention to is...
My good buddy, Clay Alders, over at Knife Magazine. He's a great guy, he's very, very knowledgeable.
You may have met him if you've been at Blade Show. He's all around Blade Show, just talking to people.
Great guy. Ends up, we discovered, we went to the same high school, which is crazy.
The same little high school outside of Cleveland. So that was interesting.
But anyway, on Knife Magazine, every weekend, He has an open weekend thread, a weekend open thread, and it is meme after meme.

[21:48] My man is a meme lord, and I don't throw that term around loosely.
I would consider Dirk Warning also a meme lord of the highest order.
If you follow his Instagram, you know what I mean. But I've been checking out Clay's sites every weekend.
I glance over it because I'm looking for stories for Knife Life News, and I always get a laugh here.
So I thought I would just let you know.
This is funny. I would just let you know that this is out there.
So go to Knife Magazine on the weekends.
Go to the weekend open thread and just check this one, I love this.
I was born a male and identify as a male, but according to Stouffer's lasagna, I'm a family of four.

[22:29] You know, those kind of things brighten my day. So yeah, if you're interested, head over to the Knife Magazine.
And while you're there, check out the five from the grinder.
That's five questions to a new knifesmith, or not new, but someone who wants exposure, getting exposure, you can always discover new people there.
And also just really great historical articles and other things, and then you can join the magazine, and get all this archived stuff, it's pretty amazing.
But yeah, go check that out, and have a good laugh, lighten the mood.
All right, still to come on the Knife Junkie podcast, we're gonna take a look at the many faces of the Tanto blade through folders I have here. But before that, we're gonna go to the state of the collection and take a look at the Tantos, the two Tantos that started it all for me right here on the Knife Junkie podcast. Don't take dull for an answer. It's the Knife Junkie's favorite sign off phrase and now you can get that tagline on a variety of merchandise like a t-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, long-sleeve tee, and more, even on coasters, tote bags, a coffee mug, water bottle, and stickers. Let everyone know that you're a Knife Junkie and that you don't take dull for an answer. Get yours at theknifejunkie.com slash dull and shop for all of your Knife Junkie's merchandise at theknifejunkie.com slash shop. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life News, Let's hear more of the knife junkie podcast. Okay, so I'm.

[23:58] Calling it 1989. Because that's the year I graduated high school. I'm pretty sure that's when I got this. But this is the master tanto from Cold Steel here. Look at this. It's got the classic sheep. Look at that Velcro. It's an estate. I wish I could get a new version of this leather sheet. But I just think it's not possible these days. But this is the one that started all for me. I had heard stories about this knife from a good friend of mine who had read about it in some magazine. And I was hooked on the stories of how it was pounded through car doors and how CIA agents carry them and all this stuff. I was like, Oh my gosh, and it looks like a samurai sword. Dear Lord, what kind of blade is that? Like I'd never seen anything like this. And I, I saved up for it and I bought it at Remington Knife Store in Randall Park Mall.

[24:53] In outside of Cleveland, which is now, you know, has been bulldozed over, had a really sad and creepy ending.
It was abandoned for a while, and I saw some photographs from that place.
Anyway, this thing has been with me ever since 1989, always, always next to the bed, and it's been on adventures with me, it's been camping, it's been all over the place.
It hasn't left the country, though, but it's been all over the country.
Just a great knife. I haven't really used it much in all these years, but I have scratched it up trying to make a kydex sheet.
That really bummed me out. Okay, I'm gonna be interviewing someone very.

[25:33] Well, I'm gonna be interviewing Lynn Thompson.
I can't wait to show him that.
All right, next up is, I got this in 1999.
I remember I was working on the film crew of a movie called Judy Berlin, which won a prize at Cannes that year.
I think it won in 1999, or for 1999.

[25:55] I remember buying this about halfway through the shoot, and I bought this at Paragon Sporting Goods at Union Square in New York City.
It was the only place after they outlawed sale of knives that you could buy knives, because they sold custom, and Chris Reeve, they sold some really expensive custom knives as well as this kind of thing, and somehow that gave them a pass.

[26:17] Somehow. somehow. But anyway, probably some palms being greased there.
This this was used and used and used and resharpened and resharpened. And then when I got a KME, I practiced on this got it wickedly razor sharp. So these are the two tantos out there that that started my love of the type and they are the American style with the with the faceted front and the hollow straight. And that's pretty much, so that's the theme that each one of these blades are gonna have. They're gonna have a secondary point right here and a flat ground forward portion. They're not all gonna have this hollow ground back portion, but they're all gonna have, in other words, none of them look like a quaking. None of them have that graceful uninterrupted sweep to the tip.
All right, so blast from the past. I'm gonna leave these right here on my desk so I don't forget when I actually do talk to Lynn Thompson.
So I can't be like, let me run up to my bedroom, stay right there, but I do wanna show it to him.

[27:26] All right, so now the many faces of the Tonto. Let's start with center point Tontos.
Center point Tonto, what do you mean, Bob? Well, I mean knives that have, Unlike, unlike the Master Tanto here, which has an upswept blade, slightly upswept, and then the tip is at the very top where the spine is, this, in the off-grid Viper 2, that I, this is my version, I showed you the one that we're giving away before, you see that tip is right in line with the pivot and with the pocket clip.
So it's right in the center there, and that is good for a couple of things.
First of all, if you're using this in a tactical way, you always know where the point is, no matter what your orientation is.
And I would imagine that comes in handy, though I haven't been in that situation, thank you God.
But also, it's good to have that tip down there because you get all of the benefits and strength of that sort of wedge-like tip, but you also get use of the tip in sort of pull cut, utility dragging cut kind of ways.

[28:36] So the center tip, I think, to me, right now, is the most useful style tanto, but it doesn't have to look like a gladius.
To me, that looks like a gladius. Speaking of gladius, here's one, that is never characterized as a tanto, but I beg to differ.
This is the immortal, and this is sort of based on the Gladius, sort of based on that ancient knife, but if you look at the way they ground it, it's really like a tanto with a really big drop swedge.

[29:16] It's not exactly like a Gladius. So to me, it's more like, yeah, it's got that profile, but this is more like a center line tanto.
Discuss amongst yourselves, is this controversy with the Cold Steel people, do you think that's crazy that I'm calling this a tanto?
Well, clearly it is, open your eyes, people. And you can have another center line style knife like this, instead of having it symmetrical, like these two, are relatively symmetrical and having the point there, You can do what the Kaiser Mad Tonto does.

[29:50] And it has this overall curve to the spine of the handle and the spine of the blade.
And you get that result in the tip being in the center line.
Again, if you run a line from the tip to the clip and through the pivot, it's a straight line giving you that tip in the center so it's easier to access and use for those kind of tip-oriented tasks.
So, really excellent tactical design, but also just a really excellent utility design.
And also, you get the scraping factor with this forward portion.
As a matter of fact, I used a tanto to scrape off some gummy crap on my floor.
And I didn't do too much scraping, but I just kinda got underneath it and popped it up.
I used this old one just in case. But yeah, so the Mad Tonto, an excellent knife.
So these are, oh wait, there's one more center point Tonto I want to show you, and that's the SOCOM Elite, my official road trip knife.

[31:05] So again, you got that tip low down, a long, well you got a short clip and a long swedge.
This is just a beautiful Tonto design to me. It's just, it's one of the most stunning Pantos out there.
And I'm not sure how long they made, how long MicroTek made this style, this grind, but man, I do love it.
I think it changed in 20, this is a 2013, I think it changed in 2014, like right after this one.
All right, so just to briefly run down these knives, the SOCOM Elite has an aluminum handle with carbon fiber inlays is tipped down only and that this is one of two knives that I give a pass on that for.
My first knife with the S35VN blade steel.

[31:54] Very kind of stoutly ground, but very thin and slicey at the same time. I don't know. I don't quite understand micro tech, They get really screaming edges on Geometry that doesn't seem like it should, It should go that sharp or be that keen. I guess the Kaiser mad tanto was 154 cm and and, Canvas micarta with a deep carry pocket clip inset with flat screws and this amazing.

[32:23] Button lock action. The Immortal, this one is XHP steel and I know later they ended up doing it in S35 and then discontinued it. G10 handle scales scalloped, you got a little attitude adjuster on the back that also has jimping on it so if you're using it in reverse grip you get great purchase on, it. Centerline tanto, I say. Gladius, you might say. Potato, potatoe. And then this one, the off-grid is 154CM Crucible and a G10. Really excellent bearing action and awesome, awesome jimping.
Great, great knife. This, by the way, the SOCOM Elite was my very first bearing action knife, and I didn't know they were putting bearings in knives at the time, and I couldn't figure out, Why this thing is so smooth? It's like too smooth. I don't get it.
All right, next up are upswept, um, upswept tantos, and, um...

[33:27] Upswept and recurve tantos. Okay, first is the Kaiser K1. So here you see the tip.

[33:36] Coming up just slightly above the spine of the blade. If you set it down on a table, you'll see, it's actually, yeah, it's just a hair above the spine. So everything's straight and then it just curves right at the end.
Another very elegant and beautiful designed a tanto blade, Americanized tanto blade. I say Americanized because of that faceted tip, but it really does look more Japanese to me than say a cold steel.
And it must be the subtle lines and that long swedge on top. So another upswept, let's see, here is the TS-336 from Tucson. This one has a compound grind. This is a complicated blade if you look at it. I'm still categorizing this as a tanto, but it also has the sweep of a quaken and then like the clip of a bowie, kind of, and then the flat portion of a tanto and the recurve hollow grind, of a tanto. It's an exotic blade shape and as Mall Ninja as it might look to you, it's actually a very, very useful blade shape. There are a lot of different surfaces here to work with, or a lot of different runs of sharp edge and point, that are useful here.

[35:02] All right, and then lastly in this category is the Keen Natter from Civivi Knives.
This one has the center point, so it's not an upswept, but it's got that recurve, so it's flat ground here. The whole affair, the whole blade is so thin that it appears, that it's harder to tell whether it's flat ground or hollow ground when you're running your fingers on it, it's just so thin. This is so slicey and I love a recurve tanto for the way you can capture material right here in the recurve before that very definitive point. When it's rounded out there and on like a vacuero or something, it still very, very, still cuts very, very well but that definitive point there really traps material.
Yeah, so this is the recurve and upswept tanto styles.

[36:05] Let me tell you a little bit about the knives. The Civivi Keen Natter is a canvas micarta with a deep carry pocket clip.
It is not inset, but it does have the flat screws, so you're not even gonna feel that.
Liner lock, amazing action.
Fuller, that's great for a reverse flick. Very, very comfortable, somewhat neutral handle.
And the one thing I'm not crazy about is I kind of wish this were rounded for some reason just for looks, It doesn't affect any of that finger choil is great. I just think it would look better if it were rounded.

[36:40] Uh, and then that blade is um 14c28n That's the Keen Natter. This is a Wong design, the TS-336 is a Wong design.
That blade is 14C28N again. And you have a beautiful titanium frame lock with overlaid burlap micarta sculpted really nicely to fit the hand really, really well.
Feels great in all grips too, this one. And I love in reverse grip, you have this sort of gear pattern back spacer here that you can really grip onto if you need to jam this through the top of a 55-gallon oil drum full of Yeezys at the border.

[37:28] Alright, and then this last one here, the very coveted, people love this knife, KnifeJoker did a whole bunch of different versions of this on their, at their proprietor, or at their website.
This is S35VN, really nicely hollow-brimmed, and that thing I love about Riat is their machined satin.
It's just so nice looking.
And then you have this fully sculpted titanium handle that looks to me like a dragon.
It's got minimal jimping, but all in the right places.
This gear pattern back here on the pommel, and right before the pommel on the underside make this reverse grip a dream.
Feels so good.

[38:11] And this is the kind of knife you want to hold like this anyway, just because it feels good.
And it feels like it might have been made for that, at least part of the time.
And you can see how the light dances on that hollow grind.
So beautiful.
All right, so that's that for this category. I'm going to set this aside.
Here's one that doesn't fit any sort of category.
And here's two of them, actually. But this one right here is one of my absolute favorites.
Okay, so this is the, this is more like the hogtooth EDC tanto I was talking about before, where you have a long straight blade with a hollow grind and a relatively straight cutting edge and then up at the tip you have just a little wedge.
And the angle is somewhat extreme and it makes it super strong.

[39:12] And it also gives you an exaggerated secondary point. So that is, I only have maybe two or three, I used to have three of this style knife.
This Umnumzan, that Hogtooth, and then I had the Pret-a-Tu Tanto from Concept that had that same sort of tip.
That's what drew me to the knife in the first place.
Look at that. That just looks so cool, the way the tip meets the swedge.
Now this one, you know what, I'm just gonna continue with this category because I'm remembering, I'm also categorizing these as, in different ways.
These are now all we're entering into clipped tantos, like this.

[39:56] Speaking of concept, here's the concept Pelican by the same guy who designed the Pret-a-Tu, K. Maxram, from France.
This one has that double peak on the spine. This almost looks like a clip point except for that secondary point there.
And you've got a tip that's higher than the center line and a grip that's amazing.
So this knife is good for, well, it's good for all sorts of stuff, but for any sort of task where you have to be power cutting and you really need that thumb in the swale there, feels really good. This whole, this little three-inch knife locks into your hand.

[40:41] All right, and then next up is the Zero Tolerance 0630. So this one has a clip, just like a, like a Bowie. It's got a clip coming down. Putting that tip on center line, I guess this could fit in a number of categories. You know what? My generation doesn't categorize things like, like this new one, so maybe I should just drop the categorization and just say this is another beautiful Tanto blade.
This one has a centerline point and then a long clip starting from the center of the blade. I'm a huge fan of this knife. These zero tolerance Emerson knives really really performed really well. I say performed because they've been out for so long but I have the 630, this is the 6 point, the 630, the clip point one, I've used and abused in many sort of working around the house situations, the most dire of which was cutting carpet. And it did an amazing job. So yeah, I want zt to come back with more of this kind of stuff.

[41:50] All right, next, a classic, classic, classic, this is the Emerson CQC-7, in this case, the Super CQC-7.
So that's a nearly four inch blade, this is a pretty big knife, the handle is large on this, like the handle to blade ratio to me has always been slightly cattywampus, I wouldn't mind seeing a little shorter handle, but what do you have here?
You have that long clip, it's a drop point with a point nearly center line, drop point tanto with the clip.
I mean not the clip, with the swedge and the secondary point.
But you're noticing, yeah, this is flat ground here.
That boy, that looks like a faceted diamond almost.
You put it on its side and you see, oh, it's all flat on that side.
This is totally chisel ground.
If you ask me, it's chisel ground on the side for lefties.

[42:48] Because when you're cutting with a chisel ground blade like this, you really want the flat side on the inside portion of what you're cutting. So that you have a flat reference, and you don't have to try and cheat it at whatever angle this bubble is ground at.
And when I was talking with Ernest Emerson on this show about that, he said, He said, oh, I grinded on that side as purely decorative.
Purely so that the show side is uninterrupted. You know, so that you're not seeing the labels and stuff, like the show side isn't on the clip side.
And, you know, I dug the honesty. I'm not sure I, I, I...
You know me, I am a shallow guy when it comes to knives. I do like the looks of knives, and it is very, very, very important.
But in this case, it seems like the utility should outshine that.
But if you do want a CQC7 ground on the other side, more optimized for chisel ground blade use, in the right hand, Tactical Elements has, from time to time, come out with special versions of it.
So they exist, good luck finding one on the secondary, but they do exist.

[44:02] Yeah, so this is a chisel ground drop point swedged tanto. And last up on this list, I'm just gonna go classic, classic on ya, the Recon 1, in this case XL from Cold Steel.
This is just the straight up Americanized tanto, that's kind of how I'm looking at this.
This is kind of the blade shape that started the trend, just like this back here.
But it does a couple of things that I like a little better than this knife.
Even though this Master Tanto with the upswept tip, I like the looks of this better.
On the Recon 1, there's a gradual drop, slight but gradual drop, putting the point a little lower giving you access to all of this sharp flat up here chisel-like area and, And then you have this very long, hollow ground.

[45:02] Flat section for cutting. This is one of my most coveted knives. People ask me to buy this and it's clip point version all the time and I always say no. These are actually very hard to get and and I got them when they were still offered.
They're no longer offered therefore they are very hard to get. Lots of cold steel.

[45:25] People and lots of tanto people want these. Okay so let me tell you a little bit about the knives and bring it on home. So the Chris Reeve Knives Oom-Num-Zahn I got on the secondary. I got it from Blade Freak I think his name was. S35VN, Blade Freak I think put a really screaming edge on this, polished edge on it. This is a very, very sharp knife. Titanium, interesting handle here. That unlocking spot is just unusual.
The lock bar axis is great but the lock bar itself is unusual but when you're gripping it, it doesn't feel unusual. It looks like it should be uncomfortable and it's not. One, of the few knives that I've taken the lanyard off and then put it back on, it just kind It goes with it, and I like it.
That's S35ZN.
And the opening of this knife is unusual. It's very hard to slow roll.
It's just easier to pinch the thumb studs between your finger and thumb, and just flip it out.
Or you can just use your thumb, actually, works nice.

[46:36] All right, next up is the Concept Pelican, designed by Jonathan Renaudin, who goes by kmaxrom.
A very, very ergonomic knife, melts in the hand. That's anodized black titanium handle scales and clip.
Really nice S35VN blade, right? S35?

[46:58] Yep, S35VN blade. Who doesn't love a little S35VN? And then it's on washers.
Who also doesn't like a, I'm not washers, I'm sorry, bearings.
A clip, a thumb stud bearing knife. Who doesn't love that?

[47:13] Zero Tolerance 0620, this is LMAX, and this is after Zero Tolerance kind of worked out their LMAX issues.
I don't know if any of you remember that. They were grinding them too hot and burning the edges.
Aftermarket Micarta scale on this titanium frame lock.
Do wish they'd do more of these. popular knives for them especially the 0640 Emerson collaboration. Next up speaking of Emerson the classic CQC 7 in this case the super meaning it's about a 4-inch blade and that's 154CM as part of the course with Emerson knives I do love 154CM and then G10 I do love 154CM sorry I don't know why I was moved to do that but it's kind of what it sounded like. I had to sand down the G10 on this side because it's like a it's like sandpaper. This was donated to the channel and then for a raffle years back, a few years back, then my brother bought it being a very nice brother and helping support the channel. He tried he did that to push up the bids and then it ends up no one else went for it and I'm man what a great guy. He bought it and then a year or two later he gave it to me which I that was cool. Very tight action on this, I've never quite fully broken that in.

[48:41] But a great knife nonetheless. And then lastly, in all of its XHP glory, the.

[48:49] Much-coveted Recon 1 XL Intanto. Of course you have that amazing sort of brick pattern G10, so, so grippy. Of course this one I also had to sand down the G10 under the pocket clip so that it wouldn't shred the pockets any more than they already, are.
Great thing about probably all cold steel folders, but at least the ones I know, the triad lock ones, you can close them one-handed very easily.
If you put your finger forward in that forward finger choil and drop the lock, there is always enough tang to stop the blade and then get you to close it.
So just do it like that, boom.

[49:33] You're closing a five and a half inch knife one-handed and looking like an absolute rock star.
All right, that's it for our look at the many faces of the Tanto blade.
I love the Tanto and I'm frequently inspired towards it and away from it.
I come and go with the Tanto.
I think the most recent one that got me super... The most recent two that got me super excited are the Mad Tanto and the Off-Grid Knives Viper 2.
Don't forget, tomorrow night, Gentleman Junkie knife drawing for the Viper 2, the blackout version, which is of the three that were sent, the smoothest, but I mean, that's like just.

[50:14] That's like, you know, cutting hairs, because they're all, they're all, they're splitting hairs, they're all very, very smooth.
Don't forget that. Don't forget to check in with us on Sunday for a great interview show.
What was it, Mr. Bieber, Aaron Bieber, Beaver. He is so cool and his knives. I have a feeling that a, good buddy of mine is gonna is gonna grab one as soon as he sees this. We'll see. It's just a theory I have. So check that, out. All right, everyone. Thanks for watching. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher. I'm Bob DeMonaco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.
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[51:30] Music.