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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.
©2024, Bob DeMarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
https://theknifejunkie.com

Transcript

[0:00]Coming up, two eutectic knives straight from the hands of Liang Ma, two Wingard wearables, one for me and one for Jim, thank you so much, and awesome, an aluminum. We're going to be talking aluminum-handled folders. I'm Bob DeMarco, this is the Knife Junkie Podcast.
[0:18]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 uh one of my favorite comments this past week was from mind body adam he says i live in israel i always carry a three inch folder since october 7th i carry a small fixed blade on my belt band for emergencies i'm waiting to order a t-kel knives night stalker cg next pre-order a couple things uh mind body first of all i couldn't recommend the t-kel knives night stalker any more highly as if you watch this show you know and then also i just want to give you my best wishes and say you know stay safe watch your back things get dicey here too things are getting dicey here for for kids on college students uh on on college campuses you know it's crazy so uh everyone's got to be careful everyone's got to kind of bring the temperature down a bit because we're having some dangerous situations happening on our college campuses. And I got to say, since I have this time right here, Harvard, Yale, Penn, and Columbia, those kind of Ivy League schools are not what they once were.
[1:38]They used to turn out captains of industry and science and policy and other great men and women. And now they're just releasing flocks of bleeding ingrates overprivileged without any sense of perspective and it's really embarrassing and i gotta say you can't just go from a privileged life to pretending to be revolutionary and uh expect to be taken seriously so anyway mind body adam get that tk night stalker uh tk knives night stalker wear it wear it all the time because you can it melts right into the waistband it hides under a t-shirt like nothing and uh not only brings great peace of mind but also happens to be a really good edc so couldn't recommend it any higher uh next favorite comment was from mr king human great name on my fixed blade knife collection and he did the mathematics this is what always bothers me you can't do the math people don't do the math he says you stop buying knives and sell these and you can get yourself at least a used Ferrari. Jeez.
[2:45]And uh we won't get technical i happen to know that ferrari is very selective in who they allow to buy their cars which i kind of think is cool uh they're the only ones who haven't made a grocery getter yet you haven't seen an suv ferrari yet i've been seeing the lamborghinis around, and it makes my heart break every time um you know i know maserati is lost and uh you know Even Bentley makes one, but Ferrari, hold off, hold off.
[3:13]But Mr. King Human, yeah, doing the math sometimes is painful. I realize that when I do these collection videos and I have them all out and I look at them, oh my gosh, when I bought that, it was easy to do. But now that I look at it, if I could get the original value on all these knives, I'd have a fatter wallet right now. Do you see how I said fatter? I've got this big. Wallet i'm sitting ah so uneven all right there we go uh so thanks for the comments one and all i really appreciate it i appreciate all the views all the likes all the subscribes uh and just you being here sharing videos is a great thing to do as well so i appreciate it one and all all of that being said let us do get now to a pocket check what's in his pocket let's find out here's the knife junkie with his pocket check of knives in my front right pocket today i had the titanium version of the dirk pinkerton designed night horse uh one of my favorite modern edcs out there because it's big it's four and a quarter inches long but of course that's not the real reason why i love this thing it's a dirk pinkerton design and i'm crazy about his design sense Nice guy, too, by the way. Crazy about his design sense because he has a very modern style.
[4:37]But he incorporates ethnographic and historical weapons into everything he does and takes those cues from history. And they either filter in in a subtle way or like right here, they are a modern interpretation of a traditional knife. In this case, the Spanish Navaja, the large folder men started carrying in their cummerbunds when they were no longer allowed to carry around swords to settle their beefs.
[5:06]I've always been a huge fan of the Navaja. I don't have a real Spanish one. I would love to have one made by Miguel Barbudo. If you don't know who that is, definitely check him out. uh check him out uh but the traditional horn shaped handle you got here you have the um spanish clip point which frequently looks something like this a long clip kind of shallow um with a with a pointy point and a deep belly and i just love this thing this is made by By Asymmetrical, that's the Beyond EDC line, which we haven't seen much from recently, and hopefully they, I know that they've had some, you know, bugaboos here and there working things out, not out of lack of experience, because it is run by a guy who knows, who used to work, we've had David on the show here, he used to work at Kaiser and all these other knife places, And I had a great dinner with him and Dirk last year at Blade Show and just kind of kept my mouth shut as much as possible. That's kind of hard for me to do, but kind of listen to them talking about industry stuff. It was pretty cool to listen to. Anyway, that's what I had in my pocket.
[6:22]Front right main stage, if you will, the Night Horse from the great and powerful Dirk Pinkerton. Also, an incredible knife, mostly in my right pocket, right next to the Night Horse, was the Midnight Jack, the Jack Wolf Knives Midnight Jack. This one in that twill carbon fiber.
[6:45]And not only do I like twill carbon fiber, the only one I've complained about, really, is the basket weave. And this twill looks really nice, especially when it's radiused and contoured like that. But just incredible quality.
[7:00]Fit and finish and walk and talk and all of the different things. It's a superlative knife. It is an outstanding knife. You would have trouble finding better slip joints than the Jack Wolf Knives slip joints. You might take exception to that. You might say they're overpriced. You might say, but I have a lot of slip joints and I, not from every company, but I love of Rough Riders, and they make some great knives that I love to carry. Case makes some great knives that I love to carry, but every Jack Wolf knife I've ever gotten, and full disclosure, I have gotten them straight from Ben himself. Thank you very much, sir. But every one I've gotten from him has been not only up a, I'm going to say it, perfect build, but the design is coming from someone who knows from an aficionado of this style of knife with little tweaks and updates from a modern man if you will even if you won't all right next up on my hip at the three o'clock position that's that's where i can carry this is the nova 2 loving this thing and yes it will be this week that we finally on thursday night knives release the details of this we've had a bunch of of stuff going on here and just to prioritize. We didn't want to jump into this until we were absolutely ready.
[8:25]So I'm going to be putting all the details out and opening up the pre-order and we're very excited about this. I am very excited about this because I've been carrying it and it is awesome. You can kind of see the tip has gotten a lot of work.
[8:40]Um it's it's very very much a tip knife it is a great utility cutter i mean look at it it's a giant kirid and that's not giant it's a it's a nearly four inch kiridashi uh or i initially i was calling it a sax but the more i i look at it my my real influence for this was the kiridashi the the japanese utility knife uh but with that extreme angle at the tip it's also pretty weapony So it'll cover a lot of different bases for you I haven't used it in that sense, never will, hopefully I know it would do great, But I've been using this a lot for everything else Because it's in my waistband And I want to use it Any chance I get to cut, I've been pulling this out.
[9:28]It looks really nice next to the Novit 1 I should have brought it out It is ever so slightly longer By about an eighth of an inch, I'd say But to me it has the sense of being It feels longer because of that straight edge The Nova 1 has the recurve and the upswept buoy shape This has that absolutely straight but upward rising to the centerline tip shape And that just kind of makes it feel bigger to me, And what else makes it feel bigger is the sheath, because the sheath has to come to a bit of a point due to the blade shape, as opposed to the more rounded sheath tip to the Delva I.
[10:11]Lastly, for emotional support, the TR-2 from ProTech. I love this knife. This one I got from Blade Forums. I got it from a farmer in Texas, is the story. And he had, I believe the story, because he said, I bought this and used it for harvest. This past season, and now I'm moving it along. And when I got it, it really, I cleaned it out, I flushed it out. I did not have the guts to take it apart. But I just flushed it with oil and kept opening and closing it and doing one of these numbers here where you kind of put the oil in there, kind of like you do with a slip joint. Put the oil in there and kind of flush it out. And all sorts of very light-colored tan, fine, fine grain, It must have been sand or whatever the dry Texas soil was came kind of flowing out in the oil. It was kind of neat. And it went from gritty to super smooth. And then when we repainted my daughter's room at some point when she decided she hated pink and we painted it blue, I used this as my knife. And I haven't been able to get that out of the knurling here. Really awesome knurling in this aluminum. Later, we're going to be talking about aluminum-handled knives. Thank you.
[11:28]And that's why I carried this today, because it tucks discreetly in my back left pocket next to my bandana, and I wanted to get in the spirit of aluminum. Aluminum um the knurling here these patches at the pommel and near the ricasso up here at the front is so grippy the um channels here the jimping right uh where the thumb rests and where the forefinger goes so sharp not sharp uncomfortable but sharp and decisive the jimping.
[11:59]It's something i love about aluminum handles especially with protech and microtech is when you mill steel gription of any sort whether it's knurling or um jimping in it it's so good it feels so good it feels better than than steel on my hand for some reason i'm not sure why or if that's psychosomatic or what it is uh but anyway the aluminum on this the milling is so outstanding and the action of course protech action it's amazing so i've been carrying um the the out the sides from microtech more recently than protech and have discovered when putting them next to each other that the protechs are crispy and the microtechs are crunchy that's the only way i can differentiate you know uh when it when i go between protech and benchmade autos i say bench uh that the protechs snap out benchmaids slap out it's kind of a uh uh.
[13:00]A different feel, a different looseness or a thwack or something from the Benchmade. And when I go between ProTech and Microtech, which are two of the best, it's crispy versus crunchy. Both are good. You want both of them in various snack foods. But in some cases, crispy is more appropriate. In other cases, crunchy. Like you don't want a crispy granola bar. You want a crunchy granola bar. You don't want a crunchy crust on your baguette. You want a crispy crust on your nighthack See what I mean? Alright, so that's what I had on me Let me know what you had on you today I had the Night Horse by Asymmetrical and Dirk Pinkerton I had the Jack Wolf Knives Midnight Jack I had the, Yeah, Midnight Jack I had the Nova 2 and the TR2 From ProTech Let me know what you had on you, drop it in the comments Because for me It always makes a difference I like knowing what y'all are carrying.
[13:55]Alright, next up So, for the Gentleman Junkie Knife Giveaway this month, we have a very special giveaway, and we will be joined by Chaz Fisher of Fisher Blades, Fisher Blade Company. This is the box. This is what he's going to be giving you. So, you open it up. There's a knife. There's the Constitution. There's a birth card. There's a sticker. There's a Band-Aid. There is a Beckwith Covert user manual That shows you where to stab if you need to And then under there, there's some Jack Links Some beef jerky My current favorite snack I love beef jerky Anyway, this is what he's giving away I'll show you what the knife looks like, though I've been carrying it quite a bit This is the new Fisher Blades Beckwith Covert Yes, named after Colonel Beckwith Who started Delta Force And this is definitely a purpose-driven tool.
[14:57]Pocket Carry Fixed Blade. Purpose driven because it is intended as a self-defense weapon. To me, though, it makes an ideal EDC as well. You know me, I carry knives, especially fixed blades, as self-defense tools. This would do excellently at that, but it doesn't come up often, so I end up using this for a lot of other things, and it's great at all those other things. I know the philosophy behind it is you keep it sharp, always really, really sharp, and never use it so that when you need it in a pinch, it's good to go. But I got to be honest, when I use a knife, I'm just not going that hard because I don't have that lifestyle. So I don't have to really worry about keeping 60 to 62 Rockwell AEBL sharp. By cutting my sandwich, it's not going to dull. By cutting the string off of my lapel, it's not. Kind of dull and these are the kind of things I use it for ordinarily so So Chaz even though you say this is Just a self defense thing I gotta say It also makes an excellent EDC And of course he doesn't Alright so he will be giving this Away with us at 10pm eastern standard time May 16th.
[16:11]Gentleman Junkie knife giveaway If you want to become A gentleman junkie you can go to the Knifejunkie.com slash patreon And And you can become entered to win this. Now, your chances are pretty good because it's kind of always the Patreon number is kind of always hovered in the same area. So it gives you good odds. And you could be the proud owner of one of these in a couple of weeks.
[16:39]Alright, coming up, we're going to get to Knife Life news. We've got some cool stuff to show you, and I'm excited because one of these I really, really want to get. Coming up on the Knife Junkie Podcast. Among this week's specials at Knives Ship Free. The Bark River Gunny Sidekick has a beautiful clip point blade with a high convex grind. It's the perfect candidate for the high performance MagnaCut stainless steel, and we have new handle selections available. Two Spyderco favorites just arrived in the Crew Carter combo for the first time. The Para 3 and Military 2 are both available now in brown canvas Mikata with CPM Crew Wear Toolsteel, and the Civivi Midwatch is a lightweight EDC that features a clip-point blade with a full-height grind for excellent cutting geometry. The integrated finger ring makes it easy to deploy and allows forward or reverse grip. Get these deals and other great specials from our friends at Kniveshipfree. Just use our affiliate link, thenifejunkie.com slash kniveshipfree. That's thenifejunkie.com slash kniveshipfree. Support the show and get a great new knife at the same time. Thenifejunkie.com slash kniveshipfree. You're listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast, and now here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life News. Along with the Cold Steel Desperado, the Benchmade 710 is one of those knives from the old days that got away.
[18:09]That is the knife designed by Bill Henry and Jason Williams that... I'm sorry, Bill McHenry and Jason Williams that introduced the Axis Lock to the world. They designed that knife and they designed the lock and...
[18:25]Shot Benchmade into the stratosphere, let's say. Anyway, I always loved the 710. Long drop point, 4-inch drop point blade. A lot. Most of the tactical folders back in the day when this came out were 4 inches. That was a respectable length. I love that. That's why I always tend towards the larger knives. So in honor of the Axis Lock, they are re-releasing this in their gold class, which translates to expensive class and there it is it in my estimation i'll say right off the bat doesn't look as good as the early one i don't care for the cerakote or the um milling on the handle but the fact that they're releasing it is pretty damn cool so it's a modernized update to the classic uh 710 and uh it's so that's a four inch recurve but it's magna cut this time yes that's right magna cut flat dark flat dark earth cerakote and a black anodized aluminum handle now we're talking aluminum today so you know that i love aluminum i'm just not crazy about the way that handle looks i gotta say but that blade what a beautiful knife look at the contours the profile of this classic bench made i mean to me that is an enviable that that is a knife i want in my collection not in this iteration i don't care about the magna cut or this special dress but, looking at this i realized every time i'm at blade show i'm looking for new stuff.
[19:53]But i know that i would be able to find a classic 710 somewhere at blade show so maybe i need to do stuff like that one of these anyway uh limited to 2500 it's available now um you know do you want a classic 710 black aluminum i have no idea how much it's going to cost it's in the gold class.
[20:15]If you're a 710 collector, for sure, you got to jump all over this one. This next one is cool also from Poltergeist and Real Steel. Poltergeist, Jacob from Poltergeist. I've never heard his name pronounced, and I got to say I can't really even approximate it from looking at it, but he's Polish, an amazing designer. I've always loved Poltergeist designs.
[20:39]He's got a new one with Real Steel. uh that's his sort of uh avenue for his more pedestrian models things you and i can afford and this one's called the sylph and it is aimed at the it's an integral yeah that's right an integral aimed at the sub 100 market have you ever heard of such a thing sub 100 market now i know you you probably already figured out how they're doing this and you're correct it is folded over stainless steel for the handle it's not milled out like a uh like a over 100 titanium integral, it is folded over uh but this has two layers which not only looks cool but i think it adds to uh well a little bit of the heft because it's only a thin piece that's folded over It adds to the heft and also makes it a lot more modifiable, which is interesting. So here it is, beautiful straight back blade. That's a 3.15 inch Nitro V blade. So it'd be cool if it were larger as far as I'm concerned, but this is solidly in that EDC range. But if you look closely, you can see those two folded over pieces of steel that comprise the handle. Uh an under under layer that is full and then a an over layer that omits part of the backspacer so you you can see underneath.
[22:09]Deep carry pocket clip. It's got thumb studs. It's a liner lock. Here it is taken apart. Not much. Or not taken apart, but in its various aspects. And there's not much to it. Simple, beautiful to my eye, and 3.3 ounces. So very light. And if you want it this very moment, it is available. So it has that going for it too. Next up, from Peter Carey, one of my favorite tactical folding knife designers. He's a maker, but I could never afford anything that he actually makes. I do have a Monterey Bay Knives Turbo from him. I love his designs. That's all I'm going to say. Great interview with him. Check it out. But he's releasing a new one with Wii. He did one before called the Mini Nitro, or Nitro Mini. Mini so it was this design but smaller and this is the fully realized version with a 3.75 inch 20 cv blade beautiful swedge up front i gotta say it's this is both aggressive looking and also refined and beautiful looking because the way he handles and combines materials uh is uh.
[23:25]Well, he's known for that. It's classic, and it's always complex and beautiful. Here we have a bolster lock, but then you compare it with the overall profile, which is quite simple, looks comfortable to use, and also looks easy and deadly to use. So it's got that combination that I like of refined and gentlemanly, and also total badass.
[23:47]I mean, that blade looks like something off the battlefield to me. This will come in a variety of carbon fibers, marbled, kind of standard marble, but it will also have a nebula carbon fiber offered. I think that's fat carbon. And then copper or aluminum infused. And that's what we're looking at here. That's the aluminum carbon fiber right there. So really nice high-end 5.03 ounces coming in May of 2024. 24 all right last up in knife life news k-bar knives we talk about them a bit because they're pretty active and they have a custom shop called state and union i imagine that's where they're located that's their intersection at state street and union street like all american intersection i love that uh but they are releasing a beak uh a an ethan becker design the bk 76 uh this is a classic beautiful um all the do-it-all outdoors knife and it it almost looks like a kept heart but has a little bit higher tip i don't know i think it's pretty just looking at it but what's special about this it's coming out of the custom shop 4.88 inches of magna cut steel that's right magna cut steel on the ethan becker designed bk76 from kbar and their state and union Super ergonomic.
[25:13]Denim my car to handle I like the way it looks especially On top of the Carhartt denim there.
[25:19]That's a nice picture there, And it's got a, and I haven't heard this term yet, Selcon sheath. Selcon. Selcon is presumably yet another brand of thermal mold plastic because when you look at it, it looks like kydex. Available now, but very limited. So if you're an Ethan Becker collector, a bar collector, or an outdoorsman that's been looking for a great new 4.88 inch magna cut full flat ground knife, jump on it because these won't last long at all. All right, coming up, we're going to take a look at some new knives that have come across my desk, sent to me by various makers, and then a pen? Looking for a new knife? Use our affiliate links and support the show at the same time. TheKnifeJunkie.com slash knives. Adventure delivered. Your monthly subscription for hand-picked outdoor, survival, EDC, and other cool gear from our expert team of outdoor professionals.
[26:23]Thenifejunkie.com slash battlebox. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast. Liang Ma, great, great knife designer. Just had him on the show. He sent me a couple of knives to give away. And he did say to give away. He didn't say, I'm going to send you a couple of knives for you to check out, Bob, and to hold on to and integrate into your collection. And uh he didn't say that but uh he could have said that and that would have been awesome because i would have loved that because these knives are really cool this immediately you know what this is this is the everyday field the edf that stands for everyday field duty and i say you recognize this because it's the exact contours of the field duty is one of his most popular designs designs. When it is in titanium and carbon fiber and fancy steel, this is a eutectic. This is his more affordable line. So he took that great profile from that great blade, the Field Duty.
[27:28]And put it into this. And it is awesome. And I have to say, of the two knives he sent me, I was thinking that this would be my second favorite, but it is actually my first favorite. I'll show you my second in a minute. It is also super cool. And you'll probably be surprised that that isn't my first favorite. This one, oh man, I don't know what it is. I really, really like it. It's got great front flipping action.
[27:56]I like how the jimping changes in gauge from the sort of wide gauge to very fine gauge. Let's see if I can do this with my left hand. Yep, easily. Easily do it with my left hand. And let's see if I can do the reach around, the terribly termed reach around. There we go. Works great with my right hand anyway. That's what he said. Okay. And then... There we go. Great on the middle finger flick. You wouldn't know it from the fact that I did it with my left hand. I'm not so practiced that way, but I'll show you with my right. So really excellent 14C28N blade steel, fully flat ground, nice broad leaf-shaped blade with that elongated lozenge-shaped hole, opening hole, love it. And in this case, orange G10. It comes in a variety of different G10s, but you've got a great spot.
[28:51]To come choke up on it's like a 50 50 choil but it's not super rounded on the handle side and i like that also very comfortable back here deep carry pocket clip and a liner lock so the other one he sent is the trinity and the reason i say you probably think i would like this better is that it's a little bit bigger and it's got that gorgeous clip point blade and it is gorgeous i love it it's got one more way to open it i.e the flipper tab and who knows maybe this maybe i do like the other one maybe i do like this one better but i keep picking up the efd um the trinity it has the same exact build uh in this case the same materials that orange g10 14 c28 and blade steel full flat ground uh with the with the in this case three ways of opening it. You've got the opening hole, the flipper, and the front flipper. I do find, hang on, I'm going to use my right hand for this. I do find that sometimes if you're not careful, a flipper and a front flipper work at odds, as you can see by how I just dropped that. That is not proof of my theory. That's just me being a klutz. But sometimes I feel like when When you use a front flipper, you risk pinching your finger or at least slowing or stopping the progress of the blade with the regular flipper unless you're really paying attention to be further back.
[30:21]Probably a personal problem more than anything else. I find personally, now just looking at the screen here, the knife cam, I find that when you turn a knife upside down, where we're used to seeing the spine on top and the sharp edge on the bottom, when you turn them upside down like this, you can really look, you can really see the shape of the blade in a better way because it's, I don't know why, but just because. And I really, really, really like the shape of this clip point blade. It widens out after the peak of the clip, which is something I love in a Bowie knife. And it just looks great. It's a great knife. I love them both. I kind of wish they were both mine, but I can go. These are affordable, so I can go buy them. And I will. Not sure which one. Maybe both. So these are the eutectic line, the more budget-friendly line from Liang Ma, featuring all his designs.
[31:25]Okay. Next up, I want to show you something that Zach Wingard sent Jim and myself just out of the blue. And I'm so grateful. Thank you so much, Zach. So he sent me two dick pics, not those dick pics, the kind that he sells. So they're special. These are the micro and the regular dick pic. So just so you know about the name My wife was like, these are cool, but why are they called that? I'm like, well, because they're picks.
[31:58]And basically, they had a naming contest And dick pic was the best, you know, the most catchy People resonated with it, so that's what it's called But what is it? It's an extra finger It's an extra very, very sharp and utilitarian finger Here's the original size dick pic, Now, it gives you the obvious weapon-y options here It would be great, it is great I've practiced against cardboard like this In the reverse grip with this sort of pry bar jutting forth Yes, you could use it like that This pry bar is actually sharp, And this could do a tremendous amount of damage if you were to use it as a weapon But that's not the primary function of this The primary function of this is as an all-around EDC tool You can do all sorts of prying, different kinds of prying and gouging and that kind of thing with this bar. You can be percussive with this. It's like a micro hammer pull. I've actually used it to hammer in nails to the wall behind me to rehang the Fairbairn Sykes. So it's a good little hammer, little hammer. And, you know, you're hammering something into drywall, that kind of thing. And Scraper All around great thing to have on you It's got a million uses It's similar to To his Where did I put it.
[33:25]Similar to the quill is another implement like this that's weapon-y but has a million other uses. Now, this is the micro dick pick. Or mini or micro? I can't remember now. Mini. I see it right there. This is the mini dick pick, and this is going to gym. And this is actually a great, this is almost a little more weapon-y because it's easier to hide on you because it's smaller. But you still get the benefits of pain compliance with this top part and piercing with the bottom part. So if you wanted to use it as that, I know Jim's not going to use it as that. This will go very thoughtfully, as Zach said. I know Jim has an ice pick collection.
[34:12]This can go into that collection and do a great job at picking ice, no doubt. Out so very thoughtful gift and i just want to say thank you to zach wingard of wingard wearables not only for sending these really cool items but for making really cool items like this back ripper tomahawk that's my desk tomahawk we all need a desk tomahawk and this one is light and doesn't take up too much space and it would it would do in a pinch i'll tell you that much so very Very interesting, very well-researched and developed products coming from Wingard Wearables, and I'm so excited to have this right here. My dick pic, by the way, I put a Discrete Carry Concepts clip on, but it ships like this, and you get this springy cord with these alligator clips, and it gives you a lot of great options for mounting this in the waistband, in your pocket, etc. Check out Wingard Wearables for really awesome concealable tomahawks and other interesting weapons and tools like that.
[35:21]Last up, this is a pen that's been around for decades. It's the Parker Jotter. You all know it, the Parker Jotter. You've seen it in lawyers in movies and guys who work NASA Master Control. Not Master Control, Mission Control.
[35:39]You've seen these pens throughout the ages. The barrel is usually made out of plastic, but now they have their whole line. They've been doing this for a while. I'm just kind of into it now, with stainless steel barrels. So the whole thing is stainless, screws together with a stainless joint, unlike the Safari click pens, which I also love, but this is more stable. The whole thing is stainless steel, and when you push that out, you've got yourself a little improvised weapon.
[36:12]And it doesn't look like a tactical pen. Pen and you know no doubt it's not as sturdy but uh tactical pens i think you know they they they go way beyond what they need to be this in the throat or in the eye or in the back of the hand someone someone grabbing you or whatever uh something as simple as this could do a lot of damage and and these bark uh parkers are great pens they're not only great ballpoint pens if the um arrow clip and they're classic man people have been using these pens for a long time and i just think they're great i have a number of them but i only have two in this stainless and i think as the years go on when i buy new parker jotters i'll keep them all stainless because they make four great little i'd much rather go to court having stuck a pen in someone than a knife let Let me say it that way. And hopefully I never go to court for anything.
[37:12]But anyway, Parker Jotter Stainless, highly recommended here. All right, let's talk about aluminum. We were talking about stainless right here. Let's talk about aluminum.
[37:22]I've been carrying, I've been into Microtex a lot. You know that. I've been into them a lot lately. And I've gotten a few new ones, and I have a couple of old ones, and it made me take a look at the other aluminum. I really like aluminum as a material. I can't tell the difference in strength between it and titanium.
[37:43]And the weight is negligible, in my opinion. So I think that if you open yourself up to aluminum knives, You're opening yourself up to an entire world of great knives you may not have considered. Let me start with this dazzlingly um anodized purple gen 2 ludt from microtech ludt large underwater demolition tech tech something large under tech i don't know stands it this is this was made for for underwater divers quote unquote so like seal types i guess uh or underwater welders which i know is what um seals used to call themselves to keep themselves secret, i'm an underwater welder but gorgeous very light and with the aluminum you have so many options for what you can do in terms of coating and anodization this comes through as blue oftentimes electric blue but it's more of an electric purple there's a little more red in it than any way my monitor will allow.
[38:57]M390 blade steel, this was made in 2023, and one of the very last Gen 2s on the open market, I think. I mean, I wasn't able to find too many options, hence the purple, but I really love it in this case. And I also love that it's got serrations. Basically, all the microtechs I get from here on out are going to have some serration, Because I just like it. Their serrations are awesome. And truly, truly, if you use it for a long, long time and never get a chance to resharpen it, those serrations will work at least 20 years down the road. And we know that from various trusted voices, whose name I can't remember now, who did a whole bunch of testing. But part of that testing involved a serrated Microtech that he'd been carrying for 20 years, and it's still cut better than a brand new Microtech without the serrations. So to me, that is good. All right, next up, this one, I highly recommend. No matter what your knife budget is, this thing is awesome. And it makes me feel great about the company too. This is the Kershaw iridium and it's got this is the black version obviously it first started with the regular kind of raw aluminum.
[40:20]And they came out with this, and I just couldn't resist it. It is a beautiful knife. Personally, I think the blade, it's one of the most compelling drop point blades ever. And the handle is great ergonomically. It feels great. And it's got my favorite Axis style lock, bar none. And I'm talking, I like it better than the Ramlock. I like it better than the Axis Lock. I like it better than whatever Kaiser calls it. This one done by Kershaw on this Iridium, who knows? I don't know if all the other Iridiums are as awesome as this, but this straight out of the box was perfect. It's so good that I constantly check for blade play, which isn't there. I'm like, oh, it's got to be. Like, to be this smooth, it's got to be blade play in there, but nope. D2 blade steel, it's got to have a great heat treat I've done a lot of work with this thing And the edge has lasted longer than the coating On the blade The coating on the blade marred shockingly quickly It doesn't bother me, it to me looks great But if you're someone who does a lot of work with their knives But also likes the blade coating to stay pristine, This one won't But again in.
[41:37]On this, it looks great, I think. That's D2 blade steel and an in-house design by Kershaw. Just eminently flippable. This is very frequently an emotional support knife for me because it's just such a pleasure to open and close. And by the way, it's also a pleasure to cut with.
[41:57]All right, next up in my list of awesome aluminum-handled knives, you could not have a list like this and not talk about Victorinox. Here's the Victorinox A-Lox. This is the Swiss Army II, a very, very special model that's extremely hard to find. This was gotten for me by Byron of Splitting Slices, the Splitting Slices channel. Go check him out and subscribe.
[42:22]He was on it in Europe and went to a Swiss Army Knife store and got this special for me, and I really appreciate it. He's got Bob on one side and then the Knife Junkie on the other. Really, really extremely nice gift. He sent it to me for being supportive of his new channel, which is uh super nice but crazy and totally unnecessary but i accept uh the thing that i love about this knife and gives it so much use is that hawkbill blade on the on the back side it is a single spring single layer swiss army knife um and this is the only one i have like that where where both tools are on a single spring i like that setup personally keeps it slim but you have a lot of utility here. And this curved hawk blade is so nice. I use it all the time, and I should have cleaned it before now, but I use it all the time. The handles on these ALOX models are.
[43:27]Great. Just like I was mentioning about ProTech and Microtech with the milling in aluminum, same thing with the milling here on the Victorinox. There's a field of knurling or whatever these are, these little peaked pyramids for texture, and they are both soft and grippy at the same time. Aluminum has a quality to it that is forgiving that i like um it's not that it's soft and that i'm able to move it with my fingers but it it's just forgiving you can you can have two things at once with aluminum you can have super grip but also comfort all right next up protech the Protech RockEye. I love this knife. This was the knife that allowed me to get my first Les George RockEye slash VSEP design knife because they were very hard to find from him and also very expensive from him. And then this collaboration with Protech came along and they became, this form factor became attainable to me and probably many others.
[44:38]Same dimensions as the vsep and the rock eye but in a pro-tech context pro-tech does such an amazing job with their automatics again they're crispy or or or snappy automatics depending on who you're comparing it to very very crispy um.
[44:58]Also, not super, like the spring is not hard to close at all. Doesn't give you much resistance when you close it, but it does snap out with authority, real authority. This one has CPM D2, so powder metallurgy D2, not your average ingot D2. And then this gorgeous and comfortable aluminum handle. Handle oftentimes you'll get that hard uh hard anodizing on aluminum and it has a chalky feel to the hand this does not this came super smooth and has only gotten smoother personally i like the chalky feel i know a lot of people uh tactilely that's uncomfortable um to me it's not i like both the smooth and that sort of uh chalky feel and by chalky i mean it's like a micro texture, There it is. The ProTech RockEye.
[46:18]Aluminum griptilian handles now i think they make a number of different handles for different knives but i snapped them up and put them on this mini griptilian which i always thought had a bit too small of a handle now the length is about the same between these awt scales and the original, phenol or the original what is it just grn handles but the taper is so extreme on the the original handle that it makes it feel smaller here you don't have that taper you have a constant width all the way to the pommel and so it fills the hand much better um.
[46:59]This knife for me is the ultimate Griptilian because I'm not a huge Griptilian fan anyway. Maybe it's not the ultimate. Okay. I would like that Sheep's Foot Griptilian with the hollow grind. But taking this and removing that handle and putting this very special and sort of blocky handle on here has really made it way more usable to me. And I don't have giant hands. So I would imagine this would make a mini grip even better for those with large hands. This one is a 154CM version, and I used a consistent angle sharpener to give it an ugly but extremely sharp edge. Great knife. I love this aftermarket deep carry pocket clip, too.
[47:46]All right. Next up, another Microtech. So they're known for their out-the-fronts. And here is a perfect representative of an aluminum out-the-front from Microtech. This is the Ultratech, of course. And I've been carrying this one a lot also recently because it's a great in-the-waistband knife. There are some days where I don't feel like carrying a fixed blade. This goes great in the waistband. It's small. It's discreet.
[48:17]It is not as easily accessible. It's not as easy to draw as a fixed blade and also deploy. Not only do you have to draw this, but you have to actuate it. So is it a realistic replacement for a fixed blade? No. No, but I do like to have more than two knives on me. So this one has M390 blade steel. It's got a straight edge, plain edge, and then a serrated edge on the top, which I love. I love this combination. When I got it used on the secondary market, I was not crazy about it. Oh, I wish it was just plain edge, but I'll take it. I got a great price for it. And I think I got a great price for it because it's very stiff. But it has made my thumbs stronger on both hands. So there you go. But I was very excited to have now, to have those serrations because that's the mode I'm in.
[49:17]Lots of great aluminum knives from Microtech, and this is a great example of one of their out-the-fronts. Next up, from a company that does everything here, everything in Texas, and most things in titanium, This was a great way to breach the market, the sub $300 market, and it was to use aluminum handles. Of course, I'm talking about the Tactile Knife Co. Chupacabra. A really great utility knife, handsome and classy EDC. It uses the Snex Super Lock here. Snex, an Indonesian knife maker and engineer who spent many years, or Malaysian, I'm sorry, I can't remember where he's from now, spent many years developing different kinds of locks and hardware-free knife designs. And this was first adopted by WeKnife and Civivi when they did the.
[50:17]Fusion FG and now it is licensed to Tactile Knife Company and they have it on this Chupacabra. Great thing about this knife is well, it's ergonomics, it's feel, the blade is the best part the blade is outstanding, um it's a flat ground saber ground knife so sharp uh they they really nailed it here they really nailed the grind here but the handle is also outstanding of course the the main player here is the is the cool lock because it is the second time that lock has been used on a knife other than a snex knife and it's on a knife made to be more affordable from a brand that due to the kind of company it is makes some expensive knives the aluminum is the main player here that allows for that if this were titanium the price would would have jumped back into the regular area that tactile knife company deals with for smaller knives less materials so the aluminum here saves the day for those of us who are consuming the product it also saves the day for the maker who wants to create something that has that all metal feel and that heft and that solidity but wants to offer something that's not titanium so they can offer it to a broader market and that's what the chupacabra which just bit me.
[51:47]Right there.
[51:49]That's what the Chupacabra brings. Love Tactile Knife Company, and that Chupacabra has been a game changer for them and for me in terms of carryability of their knives. I have the... What's their first one? Not the bear.
[52:06]But anyway, I keep that one, or the Rockwall, I keep that in my back pocket when I carry it. But this, I'm much more likely to carry more regularly because of the size. All right, next up, a great one from a great company. We were talking about WE before.
[52:21]This one is from Civivi under the WE umbrella. This is the Sentinel Strike, one of my favorite knives from 2023. The Sentinel Strike is aluminum with an integral backstrap here of FRN, but the handle frame itself is aluminum, and man, this thing is great. Uh the 14c28n blade is outstanding yeah 14c28 blend blade is outstanding great shape perfect size for me at 4.6 inches uh with the choil but the aluminum handle really takes the cake on this one um and it's one of the reasons why i sprang for this i didn't spring for it like it was tons of money but yeah i wasn't in a civivi buying mode but i had to get this for their button lock which is outstanding with the aluminum handle and they all year long people were talking about the quibbit the quibbit the quibbit and i was very excited because it was the aluminum handle uh a push uh button lock combo coming from that company but the knife itself just didn't excite me so when that same thing came out in this very exciting design also very kiridashi like if you align the spine and the handle i was super excited so jumped all over it this one in in my My taste is the best looking one, but they come in a variety of options and colorways.
[53:50]Next up, this is the knife that inspired the whole doing of this list, and this is the Microtech Stitch Ramlock in aluminum. You can get this and the Amphibian in either fluted aluminum or fluted G10, and the price is no different. For this one, I opted for the aluminum, and the reason is, well, you know I like aluminum now, out but also i had a chance to check out this knife in a preview from jock of jock's knife he had one sent to me for me to send to him so when i had it i had a chance to check it out and loved just fell in love with the aluminum handle so when i finally decided to buy a stitch of my own and found one with serrations which actually wasn't difficult most people don't prefer the serrations uh i jumped on it it was difficult for me when i bought this to find the aluminum Most people had snapped up the aluminum, and the G10 were what was available. Both are awesome. I have the Amphibian, which has the same sort of fluted handle, same sort of build, different form factor. I have that one in the G10, and it feels equally solid, just a different feel. You know, something about an all-metal knife has a certain feel. It also has a certain sound.
[55:11]And I was mentioning before to really gauge the contours of a design to turn it upside down and here.
[55:18]I thought initially, if you look at that jocks knife video where I reviewed this knife, I said the cutting edge to handle ratio is off. I couldn't deal with that, but that's all bologna sausage. This thing is awesome. I go back on that. All right. Next up, this one is probably the most sellingest of all here on the table. The kalashnikov uh by boker knives this is an xl this was sent to me by lavender pants haven't seen him around in a while hope he's doing well uh this one was sent to me by him to kind of get out of his house he had some young ones at the time and his wife didn't like a giant switchblade hanging around so um appreciate it man aluminum handle here textured and contoured, keeping this thing pretty light aluminum is a pretty light material that's why it's used a lot in, aircraft the aircraft industry easier to keep aloft, it's lighter, here it really benefits because it's a big knife, that's a 5 inch blade and it balances it out so that the blade isn't so light compared to the handle that it's balancing right there in that first finger coil and for, tactical fighting knives, that's kind of where you want it, right at the front finger toil or at the guard. I like it a little bit further back, right where it is here on this Boker.
[56:47]I've had a number of these, and they're all awesome. They all have the same solid feel and build. If you don't like the design, you don't like the design, which I got to say, personally, I'm not super crazy about the design. But I can't argue with the jimping on the pommel, Really can't argue with that. And I also can't argue with the aluminum handle itself. I mean, it's what we want in an automatic knife, but also it just feels good in hand and it's nice and sturdy. Also, I think that aluminum, I could be wrong. You could leave your nicely stated opinion in the comments, but I feel like aluminum is not as conductive of cold in the wintertime as steel or titanium.
[57:35]Hot take, am I wrong? Am I right? All right, second to last here on my list, one of my all-time favorite out the sides, that's the TR-3 from ProTech.
[57:45]The TR-3, this is my snappiest, crispiest ProTech. It just, it jumps out, and it's so polite at the same time. It's not, it's not a brute. It's just like Johnny on the spot. No play in this blade at all. Everything thing about this is super solid it's like that microtech it's just that the action is different and it doesn't feel weaker that's the weird thing it doesn't feel weaker so i don't know what they do differently uh between those two companies i don't have the guts to open them up the guts or the druthers uh to open them up so i won't here we have beautiful fluting in the side and i like the fluting here better than on the microtech the microtech has great fluting don't don't get me me wrong uh but the protech fluting on the side is a little more engaging and i guess by that i mean slightly sharper but not sharp in any sort of uncomfortable way but just in terms of the purchase of the fingers wrapping around and digging into the sinking into those grooves i think protech really has it nailed here great shape perfect blade shape a great size at 3.4 inches.
[58:59]I got this knife when I saw a video of a soldier who had served in Iraq or somewhere very, very sandy. I can't remember when or where. I mean, lost it for a long time, dug it back up, found it, dug it back up, and it worked perfectly, even with sand and grit in there. And I decided I had to have one.
[59:23]Glad I got it. All right, one more in this list. And yes, Yes, it's a Microtech, and you probably know what it is. It's my SOCOM Elite. It's my official road trip knife. And this was a first for me for a lot of things. First S35VN. First knife with a glass breaker. First knife with bearings. Didn't even know bearings were in there. I just thought it was spookily smooth.
[59:49]Uh, not my first aluminum handled knife, I don't think, but my first premium aluminum handled knife. This one goes with me every time I'm in the car for longer than an hour. If I'm driving somewhere further away than an hour, I have this. It's a superstition or whatever. That started because of that glass breaker. What if I'm in the car with the family and I have to break glass? You know, well, I'll bring this.
[1:00:14]And you know how you get about things? Maybe you don't, but you kind of start your own little traditions or superstitions and you just got to keep going with it. And this is, I'm glad I started that superstition with this knife because it is so outstanding. I mean, this is a great one to trust your life to. I've seen other people use these, abuse these And test them into the ground And even when they're at their worst and at their last They're still kicking it, they're still going strong So I consider this a perfect knife for that road trip knife roll And yeah, I love it, I love it The light aluminum handle puts the balance right in the perfect spot Look at that All right, there we go, ladies and gentlemen. Aluminum, less expensive than titanium, lighter than steel, makes a great handle. And sometimes you'll see they mix the steel liners with the aluminum scales, and you still get the lightness, but you get more strength and all of that. So aluminum, I don't know. I don't know if it gets a bad rap, but it's sort of like people kind of look like, oh, yeah, it's aluminum. That's fine. That aluminum's got a great personality, but doesn't turn me on kind of thing. But take another look. Aluminum just might turn you on.
[1:01:36]All right, that's it for this edition of the Knife Junkie Podcast. Be sure to join us on Sunday for Andrew Farlano. Great conversation with a great dude, and his knives are super awesome. Trained Monkey Blade Co. Andrew Farlano, Trained Monkey. If you like tactical fixed blade knives, this is from another Marine. Who knows? And you will love it, so check that out. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer. And join our Facebook group at thenifejunkie.com slash Facebook. And if you have a question or comment, email them to bob at thenifejunkie.com or call our 24-7 listener line at 724-466-4487. And you may hear your comment or question answered on an upcoming episode of the Knife Junkie Podcast.
[1:02:49] Music.