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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.
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The Knife Junkie Podcast
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[0:00]Coming up, a very special custom knife for the Gentleman Junkie Knife Giveaway for July. We'll take a look at that. In the state of the collection, two new ones sent to me by Savivi Sencut. Pretty cool ones, I gotta say. And then we'll talk about great bull knives. These are summer weight folders that won't break the bank or pull down your swim trunks. I'm Bob DeMarco. This is the Knife Junkie Podcast. 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. One of my favorite comments from this past week was commented on last week's supplemental talking about near-knife nasty little implements, things that are like knives but adjacent. I carry a Winkler pick that has the tip handle sticking out of my front sling bag. It's super fast to deploy, faster than any knife or gun. And this is from Knife Toucher, which, by the way, when I was in college, there was a great college band where I was called Girl Toucher.
[1:14]Nowadays, you can't find that funny. But Knife Toucher, I like this because I've had one of those Winkler picks here on loan from a buddy of the show. And those things are impressive slabs, but also extremely useful, I would imagine, in all sorts of different combat adjacent roles. They talk about people cracking open crates with K-bars. Well, you take one of those Winkler picks, and you're in that thing pretty quick. But that's what I'm talking about when it comes to Knife adjacent and gun adjacent Tools that can be used In a pinch For self defense And maybe could be seen as Something else at the same time Thanks for that Knife toucher, appreciate it Next from Preacher2727 You seem so confused about knives You say one thing And then try to correct yourself I'm out Out. So I'm honored that between preaching the Lord's word, you have time to come comment on me. And yeah, but it is true. I am confused.
[2:20]Always. I'm confused about knives in a sense. I'm confused about why we're so drawn to them. But positively, we are. So that's, you know, it is a mystery. There are many mysteries. I know as a preacher, you know that there are great mysteries in faith. And well, it's too bad you're out. but thanks for the status update. Greatly appreciate it. All right. That said, let us now get to our pocket check. What's in his pocket? Let's find out.
[2:53]Here's the knife junkie with his pocket check of knives. It wasn't long until I was back to a Microtech. You know, I went through a vicious Microtech phase recently. And by vicious, I mean vicious on the pocketbook, on the wallet. There were a couple of knives there I had to buy And yeah, it took me a while to save up for them But they are great knives I'm so glad I have them And this is one of them I was carrying this a lot And then recently I went to Blade Show, as you know And I got the Integral, the Eck Integral From George, Les George and Alan Alishewitson So that has been dominating my pocket carry for a few weeks now.
[3:34]But had to get back to Microtech today and this is what i went for uh have some chores we've been doing that require a lot of cardboard cutting but also uh kind of rough plastic cutting and so i put this in my pocket thinking it might be used for that it wasn't uh but i love this thing and i'm really sold on the serrations um so much so i was sold on the serrations by d-ring a d-ring video where he was showing off for Microtech, the toughness of the SOCOM Elite. And in that destruction test and video, he pulls out his own Elite, which he'd been carrying for 20 years, and it had serrations that were never sharpened. And they still went through the rope faster than a brand new straight edge SOCOM.
[4:23]And that so impressed me, I kind of have gravitated towards partially serrated microtechs. I have a bunch of them, actually a majority of them. I'm such a nerd about it that when I was at Blade Show, I saw D-Ring. He was working at their booth, but I saw him, I don't know, maybe leaving the concession stand or the bathroom. But one way or another, I kind of ambushed him while he was walking. D-Ring, I really like your video. And he's like, oh, great. You know, have you seen my main channel? where I didn't like yeah I'm sure it's awesome but uh uh so anyway I told him about uh how he turned me on to serrations it was a big geek moment for me he was like great yeah nice to meet you and he took off he's probably like what a weirdo this place man um all right next up in in lieu of a slip joint I've been carrying this a lot this is the new Jack Wolf Knives, Fixed EDC This is the first fixed blade knife, By Jack Wolf Knives I'm loving this sheath A very well researched and super durable Tough leather Yet supple and nice You can look at the surface of that leather And see the quality of it But it's really nicely done I gotta say I only once have poked the tip Through there And I don't think I severed any stitches Oddly enough Maybe I did Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but.
[5:46]I have been careful not to do this, horse down on it. This is a BPS, it's a bushcraft knife with this sort of traditional pouch-style sheath, and you kind of jam it in there, make sure it's really securely seated in there, and so when you're out doing your woodland adventures, there's no threat of it coming out. You cannot do that with a with a knife like this because the blade is super thin and super hollow ground and very very very pointy so if you jam this down in the bottom of any kind of sheet be it a pouch sheath or a sheath like this it's going to go through stuff because that's what that tip does so gorgeous stone ground and not stone ground stone washed s90v blade the same three inch length as the midnight jack and then a smaller handle about a three and a half finger handle for me i can basically get all four on if i'm right up there um but definitely using this slope back here in the coffin style handle that that facet the facet on the bottom side a lot has a hidden lanyard post which i really like i put this little leather fob on there and it makes it it easier to draw out of the sheath um or the pocket slip but also it gives you room to uh.
[7:13]Express your hand grip room to express your grip you don't have to crowd yourself onto this little handle cool thing about this is when it's out it basically has the length or actually it's a little bit shorter than an opened slip joint and the idea being when it's in the sheath it's not too obtrusive by being too large. So the...
[7:38]Size quote-unquote sacrifice is in the handle and then that you can supplement with a fob i really like that it is definitely gentleman's carry um uh fixed blade and by the way it has a really excellent and stout clip that clip is not slipping off your pants at all your your pocket so you're you're good to go there uh.
[8:01]Really nice ambidextrous ambidextrous or ambidextrous however that's actually pronounced sheath and um nicely done so uh just did a a conversation with ben belkin about the design designing of this it's definitely a good conversation uh next up uh carrying today the t-cal knives agent 002 this is i don't know if you'd call it a prototype because they're all they're dialed in they're in the works this is just an early one that he finished and brought to blade show there are going to be a couple tweaks or at least one tweak i know of which is uh chamfering the edges of the jimping there so that it's less saw-like on the thumb which it isn't right now it's a little aggressive a little aggressive all right so this is the handle of the agent 001 with the blade with a wharncliffe blade basically and this blade here is amazing now uh yes it is intended as a self-defense uh knife but i gotta say the reason i've been.
[9:10]Carrying this is for the same reason i had the stitch uh we've been uh putting in these uh these plastic pool tiles on the locker room floor at our local pool on which uh my wife serves on the board if you will and uh so uh this has been cutting through plastic when necessary necessary. Turns out we don't need to cut through it. I was just kind of cutting through it because I thought, because I wanted to use this knife, basically, but also has done a great job on all the boxes that we had to break down for it. But also, the handle here, the puño here, this pommel part, has worked great as a, what do you call it, improvised percussive device.
[9:53]Improvised hammer, basically, which was not really intended. Of course, that's a little glass breaker, but I wasn't really thinking of that. I was thinking of that surface more as a thumb grip. but yeah it works great as a little mallet or or or hammer so that's what i've been using it for basically cutting cardboard unnecessarily cutting plastic which later i regretted and then using that to to basically lock these two mechanisms together that were a serious pain in the pain in the butt and uh i did end up getting a mallet and a ball peen hammer those all they all work three are equally well. So I do love the Agent 002. I will be very excited to show that off when it comes out. And there will be others designed by others, you know, other designers putting blades on this agent handle. So very, very cool. Okay, last for emotional support, I had the DC Knives Scythe designed by Justin of Tier One Gear Reviews. He is one half of DC Blades. They've They've put out a lot of very cool, very aggressive designs.
[11:03]I shouldn't say a lot of designs. They have a number of them and growing. He's got one that's coming out that is so cool with a handle similar to this in that it gives you a place to put your thumb like a bird's beak on the pommel. This one is a bury-in-your-hand. This is the XL titanium scythe, and it buries in your hand so nicely. It's a little bit longer than the original gear pattern backspacer, which goes all the way around the punio, which is perfect for putting your thumb on. It gives you such an awesome grip. this of course is intended for self-defense in that picol style grip with the tip down and the edge in and taking advantage of the natural arcing motions of your elbow and shoulder and your caveman adrenaline dump energy this is a very good self-defense knife for that purpose and this is made by shielding so i guess it's.
[12:05]Maybe it's the Shield and Knives scythe designed by DC Blades, because that's how it seems with the maker's mark and the pivot.
[12:15]Very, very nicely contoured titanium here on the handle, filler tab, and then this cool sort of Todd Begg-style rollerball clip. I love this knife so much, and I've got to say, I'm so grateful to Justin. He just handed that to me out of his pocket, when I saw him at Blade Show. And I'm really grateful because I really, really like that knife. And, of course, I don't have an endless budget to get every knife I really like. So I'm honored to have it. I'm honored the way it came to me. And it's really cool to have an addition to my folding Picol collection. All right, what did you have in your pocket? I had the DC Blade Scythe by Shielden. I had the T-Cal Knives Agent 002 Prototype. I had the Fixed EDC by Jack Wolf Knives and the Ramlock Stitch by Microtech. Drop yours down below. Let me know what you had. Oh, so nice. This is so cool. Great. My favorite crossbar lock, I think, besides one that's going to be in the list later on here of pool knives. All right. Before we get to knife life news, I want to show you the knife we're going to be giving away for our Gentleman Junkie Knife giveaway. Gentleman Junkie, as you know, is the high-tier Patreon supporter That's $10 a month.
[13:39]Over there at Patreon, and every month we do a knife giveaway in appreciation to those folks. This month, it is a custom knife by Brent Smith of Bald Man Knife and Tool, and he's a great guy. He's been on the show before, and I've met him in person thrice, and this last time he gave me this and another one, which I am going to buy for myself once I review it. I'm not sure why I'm doing it that way, but he kind of insisted. This one we are giving away. This is his Thicatross. Now, this is a thick version. He does quarter-inch thick versions of all his knives, so he'll have a thinner version and then a thick version. The Thicatross is a thick version of the Albatross, whose profile is this. A very nice pointy utilitarian drop point with a sort of continuous belly but here, it's in quarter inch thick magna cut and it is wickedly sharp incredibly sharp a somewhat wedge like in cross-section but broad enough that uh it's a it's a good slicer um you're like a wedge slicer how about well i guess what i mean is it it it is pretty thin In behind the edge but it gradually Comes to this shoulder And um.
[15:09]Well, anyway, with paper it cuts really well. Got to be honest, I haven't cut anything more than that. But that will be up to you, the gentleman junkie who wins this beautiful knife. The G10 is layers of G10 alternating with a sort of rubber-like material, and it gives it a very, very gently grippy texture, like my hogtooth knives EDC Tanto. Man, I love the material a lot. I wish I had it on more knives. I think maybe people are spooked by the idea of rubber, like it's going to be some grippy dive handle or something, but it's not like that at all.
[15:49]Feels really good in the hand, especially with those grooves. Those are Anzo grooves, I think. That's like an Anzo pattern. Okay, so bald man knife and tool, custom knife. Do you have a custom knife? Do you have a custom fixed blade? Do you have one with a swedge and a drop point and a really nice point? By the way, if you needed to, in reverse grip, this would be a very nice defensive option, you know, for a small knife. This is basically a do-everything. And the other one that I have, which I don't have on the table with me um i know from a buddy who was working with him who's been using this that knife uh on a construction site and doing all sorts of obscene things with it uh you know pounding it into concrete and that kind of thing and having it having it work really well so brent smith is dialed in his grinding he's dialed in his heat treating and he's using magna cut which which is pretty awesome. So if you're interested in that knife and winning it, you can become a Gentleman Junkie. Just go to thenifejunkie.com slash Patreon and sign up there and check out what you get. You could also be a Tactical Junkie at five or a Traditional Junkie at three.
[17:04]Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to thenifejunkie.com slash Patreon. Among this week's specials at Kniveship Free, the Woods Monkey Curve Carver, is back in stock while supplies last. These are made in the USA by L.T. Wright Knives with a Scandi ground blade of AEBL stainless steel. The new Benchmade Bushcrafter has been upgraded with carbon fiber scales secured with hollow titanium tubes. The SuperTuff Crewware blade has a protective black Cerakote finish and a sharpened choil for easily striking a fire steel. And the new Bodacious is a USA-made workhorse designed by Spyderco co-founder Sal Glesser. It features nested stainless steel liners with smooth G10 scales and Spyderco's patented compression lock. Get these deals and other great specials from our friends at Kniveship Free. Just use our affiliate link, thenifejunkie.com slash kniveshipfree. Support the show and get a great new knife at the same time. TheKnifeJunkie.com slash KnivesHipFree.
[18:09]You're listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast, and now here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life News. New England custom knife maker Chuck Gidritis and Boker Knives are back with their follow-up to this knife, the beautiful and acclaimed Smatch-It, which is a tribute to the famous William Fairbairn Smatch-It, a large, double-edged war knife, battle knife from World War II. Not meant to be a tool, definitely meant to be a weapon. Well, together, Chuck Adritis and Boker came up with this amazing folding tribute to it. I love this knife. Well, they have a new one. It's based on basically the Rex Applegate knives, and we know Boker has made a lot of Rex Applegate daggers over the years. This one pays homage to those knives, like the Applegate Fairbairn and the Applegate knives, with this beautiful folder. Look at this thing. Really nice bayonet ground blade.
[19:10]Very pointy and sharp. That is 4.13 inches, which just warms the cockles of my heart. This one is also a, well, this is straight four inches, so that's going to be even a little bit larger. But we see some of that, some of the groove patterning and the handle continue. And there is a one-side only, right-pocket side only sculpted pocket clip which I imagine looks like this one or is similar. So I'm very, very excited for this one. Micarta handles, a thumb disc, and out on August 2nd. That blade, by the way, is VG-10 if I didn't mention it. Also VG-10 on the Smatchet. So check that one out. Very excited about that.
[20:21]Until Blade Show. And this one i really like it reminds me a little bit of the barong i'm always talking about that i like so much it's called the bow fin and it has an overall bow shape with that arch uh overall handle arc handle by designer uh chas snyder i think i got that right or is it charles i'm sorry if i abbreviated in my notes chas and you actually don't but uh mr snyder designed this a very nice 3.7 inch so another big blade and look at how broad that blade is so this thing is really nice in hand i can say firsthand uh air rpm 9 blade thumb studs and a front flipper so i like that and only 4.9 ounces i say only because it's a pretty darn big blade uh already out uh check Check it out. And this one I can vouch for personally. All right. Next up from Best Tech Man. Best Tech Man is the budget line from Best Tech. And they've had a very slow dribbling of designs. And I got to say, like, it feels like you got to come out with a little more momentum if you're going to come out with a new brand. At least, like, come out with a lineup and really hammer it. But they came out with the Best Tech Man, the first one, I don't remember what it was called. It was nice, designed by Ostap Hill, so good.
[21:46]But I would like to see more from them because I love Best Tech. So Best Tech Man is kind of, it's already baked in that it's good. This one is called the Cicada Wing, and it's got a really cool blade. That reminds me a bit of a chef's knife. It's like a santoku almost. most uh on a pretty uh you know neutral ergonomically neutral handle uh with a crossbar lock i know that best tech man does a good crossbar lock um d2 three inches uh this one is of course cerakoted red with that white handle a sort of evocative of star wars i think right isn't that right.
[22:26]I don't know if that was the intention, but they also have an all-black model coming out, 2.11 ounces, and out soon. So, 2.11 ounces for a three-inch blade, that's pretty light. So, keep your eyes peeled for that. That looks like a very useful blade, I've got to say. Cicada wing. I do like cicadas, and thankfully, we sort of avoided this horrible year for cicadas. just didn't have any. I mean, I haven't heard any so far. I guess I should knock on wood. All right, last up, you know, I'm into Civivis. I can't put them down. I can't quit you, Civivi, even though I want to. Like my buddy, my friend Jaime gave me this. It was a little too small for him. This is a Ferrum Forge knife, and I love it. I love it. I haven't carried it. I think I've dropped it in the bag but um it just kind of sits around and gets fiddled with uh but very nice knife i love civivies up and down whether they're in my wheelhouse or not in terms of size this new one is definitely in my wheelhouse because it looks cool and it's got an awesome uh double peaked clip point blade let's take a look at it it's called the bio phase the bio phase uh this this This one here is, as you can see, a black-coated blade.
[23:52]That maroon on top, the maroon scale, which is very web-like, is G10, and then the handle of the frame is steel. The other two versions of this, that G10 on top is replaced with aluminum. But they all have that sort of web-like build, something that we don't see from Civivi ever. I think this is a very new sort of thing. Kind of a complex liner and handle scale. There it is. And handle scale configuration here. This one is green steel and then anodized aluminum. But I'm loving that deeply hollow ground double peaked Bowie blade. It reminds me a bit of the SOG, you know, the famed MACV SOG style knife, but futuristic in those three opening holes in that depressed divot on both sides. I'm pretty sure you could probably middle finger flick and thumb flick that with no problem. That is 3.48, so basically three and a half inches of Nitro V and a bottom flipper.
[25:02]Very cool knife. Only three ounces because it's missing a lot of stuff and no release date yet. I'm excited about this one. This one will definitely, I'll have to get and put in my Civivi collection, which is totally unintentional. I just can't, it's hard. You know, I've given some away recently and it's hard to do. They're such great knives.
[25:22]Okay. All right. Well, that does it for this edition of the Knife Life News. Next up, we're going to go to the State of the Collection and check out another Civivi and Ascent Cut. But before we do, I want to ask you to download the show to your favorite podcast app, or best is to share the show. If you think that there's someone in your life who's got a latent blade habit just waiting to be enabled, please send me their way. I would greatly appreciate it. Or you can just go to one of these podcast apps or all of them and subscribe, but only ever listen to it on one. That's what I do with most of the shows I like. All right. Coming up, State of the Collection right here on the Knife Junkie Podcast. Adventure delivered. Your monthly subscription for hand-picked outdoor, survival, EDC, and other cool gear from our expert team of outdoor professionals. TheKnifeJunkie.com slash BattleBox. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life News, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast.
[26:29]So we talked about this knife on Knife Life News a few weeks back. This is the new Sencut Excalus. And I remember kind of dishing on the name O.X. Gallus rolls right off the tongue And I remember stating And I think this was a little bit of influence From Ben Schwartz of Knife News But how it's just kind of a, Run of the mill it's going to sound Negative but it's a very Sort of Plain and utilitarian EDC Knife, As of 2024 The bells and whistles Are no longer really bells and whistles like this has aged ceramic bearings, which at one point was a big deal. This is just a very competent, that's not even the right word, this is just a very capable and well-done knife that doesn't have much to write home about. And I've got to say, having it in hand, it's really won me over. Let me start first with the blade. That is 9CR18MOV, a blade steel that they have, that Civivi cut their teeth on and continues to do in a really great way in SenCut. And Civivi still uses it, I believe. But this blade shape, I love this blade shape. And in pictures, I was kind of ambivalent about it. Now, to me, this is a better-looking 940 blade. This is as if they took a 940 and compressed it this way.
[27:59]And it didn't fold, it just sort of reshaped. You've got that great clip point up front, putting the point center line, so you always know where that point is, no matter how you're oriented with the blade. But you get some strength in that sort of diamond shape that happens with the clip. And then you have an actual clip that is a great place to put your finger, or just thins out the blade and makes it easier in a sort of thrust or puncturing motion. Now, this is not a self-defense knife. Of course, it could be used as one. So when I say thrust, I'm talking about you're opening clamshell packages and doing other knife-like stuff with it. And then you have this nice continuous belly here. But you have a usable portion of it that may as well not be curved. It's so gently curved.
[28:54]Um i really like this knife uh the handle is though a little bit short it's broad so it gives you a lot to hold on to uh in my uh rule of small knives if it's got a a short handle meaning from here to here i'm sorry i shouldn't call that uh a knot if it has a tall handle it can be short in length. If it's got a short in length handle, it has to be wide to make it a good small knife. Something's got to give. You can't have both without it being an uncomfortable small knife to use. So the handle is totally dialed in, very comfortable, as neutral as can be, but also gives you a very sure grip in the standard grip here.
[29:41]Off the shelf pocket clip. This is the one I like without the holes, the non-ventilated pocket clip. Let's see if I might have a ventilated pocket clip around here. Yeah, like here's one I don't care for as much.
[29:55]Uh, also speed holes, four speed holes. I like that. It lightens up the knife, obviously, and it looks cool. And if you do need to reorient your grip, uh, it helps you hold on as you do so. Um, so, uh, I really like this knife. This is, uh, let's see, let me, let me tell you about the, I want to see if I've got the, yeah, 58 to 60 Rockwell hardness on the 9CR818 MOV. Yeah, Yeah, very cool. 2.9 inches. I said 3 inches. I was in error. It also comes in a... Oh, this is a cool lineup. Black and black, which is what I have. A white and satin.
[30:38]A black and green micarta. And a geoborcia wood and a satin. So, very, very diverse group of colorways you can get it in and materials. And I like it a lot. This is a good one. And what is it? 47 bucks. I'm sorry.
[30:58]Map pricing is 40 bucks on these things. So 40 bucks. The next one is the Savivi of the group that they sent me. This one is really cool. This one is definitely making it. I have a feeling the Excalus is going to be a giveaway knife. This one I have to adopt or foster for a while at least. This is a Brian Brown design. And I don't have anything by Brian Brown. His knives are pretty pricey, and his knives are smaller than I like to spend that money on. But they are beautiful knives, and he's a great designer. So this is an awesome opportunity to have a Brian Brown design and have some of the hallmarks of his design in a great, wonderfully built, inexpensive production knife. So uh i have been carrying this a bit uh as a um emotional support knife and it's great it's great okay so it's got a sheep's foot blade or almost like a cleaver blade but a nice point deeply hollow ground kind of gets really thin behind the edge you've got a fuller here that allows for uh middle finger flicking or thumb flicking on a majority of the blade so it's It's grippy all the way down to about here.
[32:17]You have an excellent sharpening tool per usual with Sabivi. Really nice jimping. Those three jimps really grip the thumb nicely. Here's Brian Brown's logo and maker's mark, which is nice to have on a blade. I'll take it.
[32:36]You know, my goal, my sort of unofficial goal with my collection, among other goals, is to have a knife by everyone I've interviewed. And that's not going to happen, but I can get close. And a knife like this allows that for me because, you know, like I said, Brian Brown knives, you kind of have to pursue them and really want them to get them. They seem hard to get when they drop and stuff like that. So this is a great way to get that. uh keenness and knives another great example they just came out with the blue tick i believe the uh everything is named after hounds and dogs by keenness and knives but they have a knife that you can get from savivi now uh in the 60 range and and those are one-of-a-kind custom-made incredible uh knives the knives that come out of keenness and so um it's great to see companies Companies like Civivi doing deals with great designers and makers so that guys like me can have them without, you know, going poor or spending all my time looking for them. I'm sorry, I didn't even tell you what this one is called or give you any details. Let me finish.
[33:50]Nitro V, deeply hollow ground, Nitro V at 58 to 60 Rockwell. Well, this is the green micarta with black stone wash, which is gorgeous. They're calling it a reverse tanto. Okay, whatever. I'm not going to fight. I'm tired.
[34:07]It also comes in the geoborcia wood, if that's how it's pronounced, with a, what do you call it, stainless damascus. And then it also comes in an ivory G10, which is very nice, off-white G10 and a satin finish. That also looks beautiful Great action on this And what a cut This thing is a great, great cutter This is just going to do You know, you got actual cutting chores This thing will be great The ergonomics are nice, It does have a large sharpening choil, as I mentioned, that you can kind of cheat with if you have thin fingers, but I mean, I wouldn't, and I have thick. So, kind of a larger than usual sharpening choil, or smaller than usual, but a great knife, fidgety as the day is long, and just full of style without being too much. All right, so that is it for the state of the collection. Now I want to talk about great pool knives. I was talking about earlier about how I was using this in installing a locker room tile, that plastic stuff that keeps your feet off the floor.
[35:21]And it got me thinking about all the, you know, we're back in pool season. We have a community pool. Do you have one or do you have your own pool? pool. But I'm now in swim trunks a lot of the time. And there are only certain knives that I carry in that situation or even in light shorts, workout shorts. I find myself in two because they're light and it gets hot here in Virginia. So these are some of the knives that are great for the pool. And part of that is if you lose it, you're not going to break the bank and it's not going to be the most heartbreaking thing, though you can grow attachments to anything. But these knives won't put you out too much. There's one here that's over a hundred bucks, but there's only one. I'm going to start with this very researched group, and I'll say it's researched not only by me, but I have fostered some of the knife junkies in the neighborhood. Like I mentioned, Jaime, who gave me this. He's a neighborhood knife junkie now, and I love it. And he has a thing for Civivis And he spread that word to another friend So lately I've seen two of these Just hanging out on the table Next to kids snacks and things that have been Cut up and that is The Civivi Mini Praxis.
[36:39]The Mini Praxis is a $30 version of the original full-size Praxis. The full-size Praxis has a 3.7-inch blade and, you know, we're running about $60 depending on the material you get it in, handle material. But this, $30 and a small version of it, not as threatening. That is just barely 3 inches. I think it's a 2.93-inch blade. laid. This one was also given to me by Jaime, actually. He thought this was too small, moved down to the large Praxis. So this one has, well, has seen a lot of action at the pool and then was given to me and is continuing to see a lot of action at the pool. And then our other friend had one in black and satin the other night. Whose is this? Oh my God, this is great. I love it. I love just seeing random Civivis hanging out at the pool. It's not what you're expecting to see. This knife has a great finger choil We were talking finger choils before Full size for this small size knife, This of course in the G10 I believe it only comes with a G10 handle I have not yet seen this one with a Micarta handle.
[37:56]In the minority of Civivi knives That's nearly full flat ground This one is so thin I mean the steel is super thin, nice and light and again 30 bucks cut with style cut any kind of food stuff or whatever you're going to be cutting at the pool uh for sure this is a great and classy option uh also small and will not will not be a huge heartbreak if you lose it but don't lose it all right next up this is the most expensive one on the list but um i have found myself carrying it again this year This is kind of a summertime knife for me, actually. And that is the Demco AD 20.5 with the shark lock. This was the first non-cold steel and non-custom Demco knife to be released. And this was in that first batch. So when this was only in gray and in Aus 10 colors.
[38:55]And here it's with the, in my opinion, ugly shark's foot blade, but I had to get it because it's unique and unique to them. I still need to get around to getting a clip point version of this. Now it comes in different blade materials and different handle colors. And I think it comes in G10 also. Also, this is a great knife, though. I remember I got this right before my 50th birthday, three summers ago now, and carried it on my 50th birthday and carved a whole bunch of bamboo tiki torches, made them sharp to stick in the dry ground. Yeah, me hard using my knives. I remember that in particular. This was a great knife for that and very comfortable to use. That shark lock is so great And it's so strong And it's one of the best innovations by Demko, Andrew Demko I just saw this past A couple weeks ago They're going to come back on the show Got to have that taken care of, One of his best innovations But I mean he designed the triad lock And a number of other great locks But this one The AD 20.5 A great flex At the pool no doubt.
[40:11]Okay, next up, this one, on paper, I would say, hmm, maybe not But it just so happens to have tagged along a lot So it has been a great pool knife This is the Opinel No. 8 And there would be two reasons why I'd say, really?
[40:30]And one of them is, you're around water at a pool And usually they are 1095 But this one happens to be Enox or stainless steel model bottle that I got at REI years ago. And it's done the rounds. It used to be at work. And then it came home, ended up in the pool bag. Nice and thin. This one is great for food. I gave my mom one of these and she takes it. They travel a lot. And when they travel, if they eat out, it'll be one meal. And then they always have food that they take along and do picnics and stuff. And she loves it for that purpose um it is a great food knife i have one a number 10 that's larger that i have customized the handle and um patina the blade and it's one of my going out to dinner steak knives it's excellent these are great cutters very thin easy to sharpen easy to keep sharp uh the enox or the the stainless happens to be great for the pool the one the one benefit or not benefit the one drawback is the wooden handle um if anyone has open l's here you know that when that gets wet and it swells well it's it's swelling up and being held in by uh.
[41:49]Two rings of steel so it makes something's got to give in that case and it gives inward so it makes it more difficult to open but we don't really have open L's for the action right I mean I this one has been swing shut before but definitely not necessary and no need for that so even if it does get a little wet and it swells up a little I don't care it gets wet even if I'm not going to the pool because oftentimes I use these for food and I'm going to clean it and oftentimes water will get down there in the base. So a great knife. Also, these here are 20 bucks. So an Opinel like this is 19 bucks. They used to be like 12 and then they crept up to 15. You know, they're keeping up with inflation and they're still very, very inexpensive. The French peasant knife you know sford makes makes a swedish peasant knife and you know americans have the sod buster and that's a peasant knife but you know what i mean like a working man's farm knife kind of thing well that's what the open l is uh all right next up this one i love and and haven't paid much attention to since last pool season and out it comes and i'm resolving to carry it more and And that's the CJRB Large Pyrite.
[43:10]I used to take the regular Pyrite, the 3.25-inch Pyrite, to the pool a lot. And then a friend of mine there needed a knife. I gave it to her.
[43:21]And then recently, her husband lost his 940. And so he grabbed her Pyrite, which burned her up because he uses knives real hard.
[43:31]Anyway, it's all's well that ends well. He got a new 940. she got her pie right back and it's still in good shape anyway this one is mine and i love that that hunter green micarta it's a really nice even weave canvas micarta very thin slabs on both sides feels great and again it's a broad handle so it's though it's slender this way it's broad in hand so it's not it's comfortable and it's not going to turn uh in your hand as you use it. Um, The liners sit just a little proud, which I like. I haven't had an opportunity to pick this up when it's freezing cold or burning hot. I'm not sure if that would make it uncomfortable. I know that if it didn't have that, it would probably be more comfortable. My card doesn't really conduct too much in the way of heat or cold.
[44:27]Great button lock on this. I think CJRB does the best button lock, I think. Or in my collection anyway because instead of cutting out a cone into which the button the flange on the button is is always being pushed ever further into it's milling out a perfectly sized and shaped notch so that that flange locks in there perfectly with zero tolerance and so i think that's the way to do it i think the other way which is more common which is to have, that cone shape and then have the square flange kind of be constantly the idea is is as the flange wears away it's going to push ever deeper with that spring tension into that cone yeah i don't buy it and it also i think allows for um thing for it to pop open and it also it also allows for uh more slop in manufacturing if you will so i think cjrb did a great job That blade, AARPM9.
[45:35]Say that twice in a row. Nicely broad, beautifully shaped blade for a drop point anyway. Very nice centerline point. It's kind of like a spear point. And nice in the way of the sharpening choil. So just a great knife. Big. This one is a 4-inch blade. This might be too much for you. But they do have the regular version, which comes in that blade style. And in a gorgeous wharncliffe. I wish they would bring the wharncliffe out in this large version.
[46:09]These run you $60 in the large version. $60, people. $60. So a great knife. This is a really great knife. All right, next up, another really great knife. And if you're an old fan of the show, you know I used to carry this a lot in my waistband back in the day. This is the, well, in this case, it's the Broken Skull. This profile has gone through various iterations with Cold Steel. Now, it's called the Range Boss, and it has, instead of thin G10 handle scales, it has thin GFN handle scales, instead of, in this case, XHP, which they later changed to S35VN before they discontinued this model. Model um in in the range boss case it has 40 34 i believe crux steel so different uh different grade steels but the same size and um same profile and you know it's sharp as hell it's just gonna not be as luxurious and handle material and it will take less time to dull the blade uh just incidentally um.
[47:20]When I sat down to breakfast with Lynn Thompson. Guess who's coming to breakfast?
[47:25]It was a great, we had a great breakfast, and it was unintentional. I just said hi to him. He came over and sat down with his friend Richard, and we just ate and talked for an hour. But he had this in his front pocket, in his breast pocket of his shirt, and he had a little flap that was covering it over, and he had the blue one, not the pink one, no surprise, but he was singing the praises of this knife. And uh and then i i mentioned that they don't make it anymore and then he said well you can you can get it in a range boss and that's still an awesome steel and um i love it because it's thin it's light it's a four inch blade fully flat ground super slicer in my case you pull this out it's like a big black bowie knife but it's got a pink handle and and a little pink ear here what's that little pink pink bow for you know it's for waving it open out of your pocket or out of your out of the waistband of your swimsuit.
[48:22]Nice and thin, nice and light, super capable, and stout, stout as the day is long. So if you like this design and you don't feel like going on eBay or somewhere to try and hunt down a broken skull, an XHP or S35VN, you can now get the Range Boss in less premium materials, but you know it'll still be an awesome knife. And thin and small and stashable And that's what you want You want the most you can carry With the least amount of impact In terms of carry.
[48:58]Next up, I mentioned this foreshadowing. There was some foreshadowing when I mentioned the Ramlock and how much I love it. And I said, this is my favorite crossbar lock, bar none, except for one, perhaps. And that is this one right here. The Kershaw. The Kershaw bar lock is, I think, the best. The best I've experienced. This is the Iridium. And I got this one. I've always been fond of the design. And then when they came out with the black one, I couldn't resist. Exist i'm not sure why because that's not my my main my usual protocol but i i loved how it looked in black so i got it and i absolutely love it it's got an incredible blade a d2 blade steel it's a spear point but with an oh an oddly asymmetric swedge that i like a lot of course to lighten the blade but also thin it out i give you less resistance when you're slicing but also when you're piercing nice uh i'm using nice a lot a usable straight length here a slight bit of belly and then a center line point and well contoured aluminum handle scales nice and light.
[50:08]And uh neutral there it is again and neutral you can hold it any way and man alive it feels great this one to me feels luxurious this was a made in america one right negative this is not a made in america one but that's okay uh feels nice and light in pocket is nice and light uh very stout and with this incredible action always makes me grab it and test to make sure there's no blade play. Indeed, there is no blade play. It is just great, great, great action. The coating on the blade, I gotta say, looks like I've been using this. I've used it for years at my job or something, but that's not true. That's only, like.
[50:57]One batch of of amazon boxes for the week or something like that so not very much to mar the coating on this but i don't care i think it makes it look cool so a great great pool knife this will definitely be getting a lot of use again this year deep carry pocket clip this is the only one the open l is the only one without the pocket clip because uh honestly it's got a clip into the the pocket of the pool bag uh the inside pocket of the pool bag where we keep our towels this one ends up going in the uh out out outboard pocket of our yeti like thing called arctic okay uh next up this is going to be a new one this year um and that is the eutectic Everyday.
[51:48]Field duty The EFD Everyday field duty And this oh by the way the iridium Is 68 bucks range boss Is 40 bucks I keep forgetting the price So if you want that cold steel Range boss it will only set you back 40 and that iridium 68 This since I have it out The EFD this is the second Most expensive one on this list At 85 dollars If you don't know, U-Tec-Tec is the budget-oriented or high-value brand from famed designer Leong Ma. And this one is based on his Field Duty. And his Field Duty knife has this basic outline or this basic silhouette.
[52:34]Profile but it's made by riat with bolsters and and titanium and nice materials and and different different kind of uh treatments of material treatments and such so if you like that knife but don't have the whatever it costs to buy it when it's available uh which is not frequently you can get one of these eutectics and uh leong ma sent two here one we just gave away as a knife giveaway uh knife junkie giveaway knife and this one uh kind of nestled its way into my collection uh i'm fascinated by how how much i actually like it because it's really not much in my uh in in my type of knife you know it's a kind of a neutral drop point leaf shape laid uh but and and kind of a neutral i love it i love it it's nice and thin it's nice and light one side is has the liner the other side is linerless g10 so it keeps it nice and light the orange i'm loving um i wouldn't have got it and gotten this myself in orange but i'm really glad he sent it in orange a i don't have any orange knives b i don't have any liang ma knives until this and c the orange really helps to find it in the bag yes it should be clipped in the bag but i'm not the only one going in there, so oftentimes the knife will end up at the bottom. So that orange makes it highly visible.
[54:03]14C28N, really excellent front flipper action. I mean, this is just so easy to do with either hand, or you can middle finger flick it, or you can use the thumb stud, or you can slow roll. I mean, it's just a fidgeter's daydream here. And you've got ambidextrous pocket clip, This thing is great. And also, kind of in the similar spirit to the pink knife here, but even more so, it looks friendly. You know, it's got like a... It's got a friendly look to it, you know, and that orange helps. 85 bucks. Next up, this is a new one. This one, totally, I came by a chance. Andy Armstrong gave it to me when I was talking to him at the Rosecraft booth.
[54:52]That sounds like a name drop, but hey, that's what I do here, I guess. I talk to a lot of people like this. And I was very, very grateful he gave me this knife. He wanted to spread the word. I know he gave it to a lot of different knife fluencers. How do you like that? Knife fluencers. Now, if anyone says that, they owe me money. We're going to work out how to see how that works. So this is the Easton, Easton, two N's on that. Designed by, in-house designed by, I think, I didn't get the story right. I think one of the designers, like the son of a designer or the son of an executive, designed this. It's really nice. Nice.
[55:33]Contoured G10 with the orange pivot collar is very handsome. Also feels great in the hand. I like that it's very wide here because you might be tempted to thrust with this great centerline clip point tip. But without a guard, I like how it widens substantially larger than the blade itself to give you kind of a stopping point. Very nice in reverse grip as well You have a great top to arc over This of course is an EDC but I always look at a knife Through this lens, also how would it be in Pakal Well, very comfortable if you needed to, heaven forbid, Very nice button lock on this one This is more of a notch actually.
[56:21]That jimping is only felt When you're front flipping it, you cannot feel it when it's open it remains kind of buried i like that maker's mark that rosecraft blades maker's mark very cool uh kind of a stout grind here um i wouldn't have minded if they went higher with that grind but you know uh it it could be hard use it's sharp sharp enough um not very slicey i gotta say but it feels more like you could horse this through lots and lots Lots and lots of cardboard or lots and lots and lots of, you know, something. Wood. You can even carve wood at the campsite with this. But I do know that the past two weekends and weekend nights, it's been coming to the pool. Okay, that's the maker's mark of the designer.
[57:15]Yep, it might be 2024 pool knife of the year. I'm not sure. We will see. Another one that has been getting a lot of carry, period, is the Caracara. This is the Bird Caracara. And, well, it's a, oh, by the way, the Easton. Sorry, before I go any further. The Easton, 60 bucks. 60 bucks for the Rosecraft Easton. That's a cool thing about their knives. They are super high quality, and yet they keep them very inexpensive. The Bird Caracara, while I'm on it, $48. This is the inexpensive analog of the Endura. I like it because it is less expensive. So Bird, if you don't know, is the budget brand from Spyderco.
[58:10]Using 8CR13MOV blade steel Which, you know, they've used quite a bit And they know how to use it They know how to heat treat it, And an FRN handle that is It just has a slightly less finished feel Than, say, an Endura or a Delica, This is in the Endelica Yeah, in the Endura size range Endelica This is in the Endura size range but it has a pointier blade. I really like that. It's got more of a dagger-like blade than the Endura. This one has the wave. I got it because Scott Babb of Libre Knife Fighting uses one of these in his videos and it's just kind of an inexpensive weapon-y tool here. I, of course, got it since I'm on a serrations kick. Got it with those serrations and I have taken this a couple of times to the pool and people always comment on that like it looks weird to them spider codes already look weird but knife junkies like ourselves are used to that so even within the weirdness spectrum of spider code this looks extra weird and then you add the um serrations which are stepped in as opposed to say the serrations on um.
[59:31]On this microtech uh where that where the serrations are uh the tips of the serrations are lower than the main edge which means that they did them first and then ground from there so serrations are proud here here the main edge is proud and it also like gives you a nasty little hook there uh so if you were to use this in self-defense draw it and have it in this position Like Scott Babb of Libra knife fighting. You get quite a dagger. You get a 3.7 inch blade that has quite a daggery tip. And then you have all of this nasty cutting serration.
[1:00:12]Portion. But at the pool, I'm cutting hot dogs, I'm cutting hamburgers, I'm cutting watermelon, that's particularly fun. And I'm cutting other stuff, mostly food, occasionally a tag off of something, but mostly this, mostly food. So this is a great knife for that. And if you lose it, you're only out 48 bucks.
[1:00:36]Next one, if you lose this one, you're only out 32 bucks.
[1:00:39]And this thing is outstanding uh the time tested um and mother approved usp penguin this is the very original version of it with the blue jean micarta and the d2 blade steel i don't have to say much about this uh a high height flat grind very very sharp uh excellent heat treat on this d2 i've never had to really do much to keep this thing going because this has been a desk knife for a little while now and now with uh pool season this is uh dusted off for that uh this is one of those knives that is also very um unthreatening with that tip that sheep's foot blade and um the the balloon g my card that kind of adds to it it it just doesn't look like a scary knife so you can pull this out and use this at the pool uh without without any trouble it's not it's not the lightest of the the knives here most of these knives i haven't even mentioned their weights but most of these knives are super light this one veers it doesn't have any uh weight relief on those steel liners so it veers towards the uh heavier of the bunch but again at 32 bucks and with all of that non-threatening utility um you're not going to be heartbroken if you lose this you just will get another one no doubt or maybe you'll upgrade and get one in titanium with a flipper and a fancy steel.
[1:02:06]Last up, like the very first one in this list, I've seen this one from the same guys, same group of knife junkies on the table at the pool. And I love it. This happens to be what most of these dudes like to carry all the time lately. This is the most of those dudes are three guys. So shout out to shout out to Jaime, Steve and Keon. This is the Civivi Vision FG designed by Snex, a Malaysian designer who makes really, really cool and unique and innovative in terms of engineering designs. And this was the first time we saw his Super Lock in production by Civivi. We was the first one to actually come out with the Vision, but they made the FG for slobs like you and me. Really outstanding knife. I know it looks like a utility knife all day long, but when I have this in pocket, I'm also confident in its ability to be a pretty nasty self-defense knife. It's a thin, slicey, slashy blade with a down, well, it's like a midline tip, but it's a little bit lower. And maybe it's kind of a worn, cliffy orientation, even though it's angled up like a Kiridashi.
[1:03:32]The ergonomics are great and neutral, so it's comfortable literally in any grip. It's equally comfortable. And then you've got the speed holes, again, like we saw on the Excelsis. So I like that. Though, I've got to say, actually, with the clip, that's not as... Here we go. On that last hole, that's the way to do it.
[1:03:51]But so yeah, this one has been out on the table. One of them is white or that ivory with the Damascus. Very cool knife. All right, well, let me know what your favorite pool knives are or what you like to wear in the summer when you're wearing the real light workout shorts or just mowing the lawn or you're in your bathing suit. Let me know what those favorite knives are. And that's what these are for this year. I think I've done this show before. It seems familiar, but every year it changes. So there you go. All right. Thanks for joining me. And Jim, be sure to join us for all the shows. We are not going to be doing a Thursday Night Knives tomorrow night. If you're watching this as it drops, as I will be on vacation.
[1:04:37]So have a wonderful end of June, and I'll see you next time. For Jim, working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying, until next time, don't take dull for an answer. Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review at ReviewThePodcast.com. For show notes for today's episode, additional resources, and to listen to past episodes, visit our website, TheKnifeJunkie.com. You can also watch our latest videos on YouTube at TheKnifeJunkie.com. Slash youtube check out some great knife photos on the knife junkie.com slash instagram and join our facebook group at the knife junkie.com slash facebook and if you have a question or comment email them to bob at the knife junkie.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.
[1:05:31]Music.