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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
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Transcript

[0:00] Coming up, the off-grid Mamba V3, the Jack Wolf Knives Bionic Jack, and 12 great discreet fixed blades for utility and defense. I'm Bob DeMarco. This is the Knife Junkie Podcast.

[0:14] 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. One of my favorite comments from this past week was from Cody Broadway, 8496, who says on the Off Grid Knives interview show, he says, I so badly want a straight clip point came in. I'm going to get the XL and the XXL as soon as I can afford it. But really, I want a straight clip. Love that Off Grid makes good slicers with a low tip clip point. Wish I found this company sooner. I'd have bought less knives I don't use. That last line I wish I found this company sooner I'd have bought less knives I don't use To me that is a great compliment You hear that and I'm, I'm sure it must make Kerry of Offred Knives feel good because his knives are cool and people like to use them, myself included. I'm always touting them as some of the best slicers, folding slicers out there. So thanks, Cody Broadway, for your comment. And thanks one and all for watching, commenting, subscribing, etc. All right. That's it. Let us get to a pocket check. What's in his pocket? Let's find out.

[1:39] Here's the Knife Junkie with his pocket check of knives. In my front right pocket today, I had the Boker Squail. I've been carrying pretty much exclusively flippers because my forefinger right now works better than my thumb. But as my thumb comes back online, yes, I keep talking about it. And as my wife and most women say, men are such babies when they're injured or sick. But I'm just letting you know. So when you damage your right thumb and the nerve in your right thumb and it feels funny, it really does affect your fidgeting and your use of a lot of modern knives that use the thumb a lot. So anyway, this one has a nice big egg-shaped opening hole. I love this knife, by the way. This is the production version of my Ultimate Grail folding knife. Anything from Charles Marlowe, but definitely the Squail. This is my favorite of his models.

[2:31] And he definitely catches catch can. His stuff is very, very valuable, inexpensive, infrequent. And I just don't think he makes a lot of them. And he spends a lot of time on them, and they're outstanding. So this is probably the closest I get to a Charles Marlowe in this here body. So I love this knife. And I figured that big lozenge, that big shaped opening hole would help me with my thumb just in the slow roll. Trying to get out of the relying on the middle finger flick and the forefinger flipper.

[3:06] As all of you have been very helpful, a lot of you guys have damaged your thumbs too. And you say you got to suffer through the nerve pain and stuff. And that'll bring you back online eventually. And that's what I'm hearing both medically and from you all. So thank you so much. All right. Next up from American Blade Works. This is the slip joint. Very, very direct and to the point in the name, naming of this. It is the American Blade Works slip joint and man alive. This is an awesome, awesome knife. This is the first slip joint from American Blade Works. It was really beautifully done. Very nicely priced. That's Magna Cut, super thin hollow ground Magna Cut. You can see right there that deep hollow grind in the reflection on the blade. Just so nice and slicey and cutty and good looking. The handle also feels great. This is titanium, and you've got a traditional style.

[4:10] Well, you do have a stop pin. Oh, no, no, that's a kick. I'm sorry. There's a kick. So this truly is a traditional slip joint in that it doesn't use a stop pin to stop the blade from hitting the frame. It uses this, the kick, that part of the ricasso that flares out and stops the blade from making contact. Anyway, I love this knife. I love carrying this in my pocket, not just in a slip. I mean, I prefer to just have this naked in the pocket is what I mean. No slip for this one. It is small, light, and discreet enough that I drop it in the pocket, even if it rides horizontally at the bottom of my pocket. It doesn't bother me just due to the size. All right, next up, I had a fixed blade on me, as usual, and that was the, as usual, T-Kill Knives Agent 001, One of my most carried knives And um.

[5:05] You know, I just love this one. I know that they're doing a drop again real soon. I think, like, tomorrow or whatever. Well, okay. Getting ahead of myself. I'm not sure when you're listening to this. You could be listening to this years in the future. But this is coming out in mid-October of 2024, and I know that he's going to be dropped. He, meaning Tim Kell of T-Kell Knives, they will be dropping a bunch of different models here real soon. And this is one of them, and I'm excited about that. Of course, the more Agent 001s that get on the belts of good citizens, the better, for sure.

[5:44] Love this thing. He does such an awesome job in making and designing knives. Also, just a fantastic human being. And it's good when you come across those. I mean, I know a lot of fantastic human beings, which is awesome. And he's one of them. Okay, next, my emotional support knife, my ESK today. I'm trying to make it happen. trying to make it happen uh this shield in empoleon i really do like this knife uh i i take exception i'll say the one little nitpick i don't like it's purely aesthetic i don't like the little unnecessary kind of texture on the nicely contoured handle scale i would just go with the nicely contoured handle scales. 3.7 inch blade here. It's a really, really nice knife. It cuts so well. I mean, I got to admit, well, they sent this to me. Shieldon sent this to me, and when I opened it up, I was like, okay, I'm definitely the least excited about this of the three that they sent. And lo and behold, it's the one I carry the most. I got to say, the flipper added something to that because I need a flipper, needed a flipper recently.

[6:55] And I kept coming back for that blade. Yes, it's a generic drop point, kind of. But look at that shape, thanks. Look at that shape over the dark of the pattern, the dark of the leather there. It just has a really nice shape. That drop point puts the point right at the center line. If you look at this body screw here and the pivot and then the point, they're all in a straight line. Which is a great place to have the point and then you've got a nice belly up front but a long straight portion something about that blade it hits all the right um, Hits all the right proportions for me for an excellent drop point. And it's sharp. It's D2. It's got great action. And I've just found myself picking it up and carrying it. And I haven't done a review on it. And I think I will be doing that shortly because now I've actually carried it. And I have great things to say about it. And I've used it. I've marred the tip up a little bit. But nothing, no damage. And so I've got a little bit of time on it. And I'm excited to actually talk about it. and not just say, Shilton sent me this, it's really cool, which was the first review because I couldn't wait to review it, the Bulbasaur. Because I remember when it came out I made fun of the name, but when I had it in hand, I was like, this thing's awesome.

[8:18] But this one, a little less glamorous, is the one I end up carrying the most. Okay, this is what I had in my pocket. Look at the difference between the Agent 001 and the Boker Squail. And note that this is just evidence that carry a fixed blade knife, okay? You can carry a fixed blade knife. Look at the size difference. Now, this is a three-inch, three-and-a-half-inch blade. That's a four-inch blade, but it does, here, if I move it over, you'll see. But that half-inch does make a difference. This, of course, we don't need a longer handle to accommodate the blade. Of course, we do have a longer handle because we can afford the space. But all I'm trying to say here is, if you think you can't carry a fixed blade knife, chances are you're wrong. Alright, Shieldin, Empolian, T-Cal Knives, Agent 001, or, yeah, 001, I had the American Blade Works Slip Joint and the Boker Squail. Let me know what you had on you. I always like hearing that. Just drop it in the comments below, and let me know. And let me know why you carry what you carry, and what you like best, and why you're carrying that. That is always of interest. Also always of interest, Gentleman Junkie Knife Giveaway Knife. And the one this month is very special, beautiful, new knife from Off Grid Knives. This is the Magna Cut.

[9:47] Magna Cut and Titanium Mamba V3. Sorry, guys. A little brain freeze there. The Mamba V3. We've shown off the Black Mamba, the V2, which is a three and a quarter inch version well this is a full four inch blade and man it's awesome a nice thin blade stock for that size blade nice broad modified worn clip modified because well it's this shape it's a reverse tanto basically a very very nice slicer very nice cutter wickedly sharp this one we are giving away it's a black titanium frame lock Deep Carry Pocket Clip, awesome action. You're giving this away with a really great bit driver, also by Off Grid. And I have the V1 version of this. This is the V2 Bullet, and it's got incredible action there. It's kind of like a fidget spinner on top of the fact that it's a really, really nice tool. Comes with the three most used Bits there And you're good to go So these two are going to One lucky gentleman junkie Next week, that's October By next week I mean Tomorrow.

[11:08] October 17th 2024 we will be giving these away One lucky gentleman junkie So go to theknifejunkie.com And sign up if you want to get this It's a great great knife to be given away. I'm excited. I'm really excited about this one because honestly, I've been carrying this other one that he sent in the package quite a bit, and I love this knife. I really like the Mamba V3. Probably my favorite of the folding off-grid at this point. It has sort of eclipsed the XL Cayman, which I love, because look at that bowie. With the whole overall package of the Mamba. It's awesome. Alright, so that's Gentleman Junkie Knife giveaway knife coming up for you tomorrow evening or on October 17th, 2024.

[11:58] Alright, coming up knife life news, but just to remind you, if you want to help support the show and be privy to giveaways such as the one you just saw, go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon. Check out the different levels of support and thank you very much for those of you who do that. If not, just watch, like, comment, subscribe, Share the damn show And you can also scan that QR code Alright, we're coming up With Life Knife News right after, these messages. If you search Google for the best knife podcast, the answer is 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 battle box. You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. And now here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life News. One of the best new looking folders I've seen in a long time that's the best looking new folders I've seen in a long time is from Ray Lacanico and that happens a lot I really like Ray Lacanico's aesthetic I only have, one thing I think now I have nothing by him anymore actually.

[13:09] But I love the simple design simple graceful beautiful like I was talking about the Empoleon blade just hitting all the right ratios that seems to be Ray Lacanico's thing I've tried to have him on the show and I will reach out to him again maybe he wants to come back or maybe he wants to come on uh when i asked him last time he's like thank you but no thank you um but very nice guy and what a designer what a maker uh look at this thing this is beautiful this is his first collaboration with vastid and they know how to make an awesome folding knife well here they have a titanium and s35vn clip point uh frame lock just a gorgeous clip point that is like a perfect clip point uh sometimes we talk about the perfect clip point like the 110 from buck that is a perfect clip point or the or the recon one by cold steel there's a perfect clip point right there the western w49 well here you go this is a perfect clip point i think it's beautiful uh luckily it's only three inches long uh so i can avoid getting this if this were four inches, it would be a moral comparative for me. A nice neutral profile. Those are contoured titanium handles. 2.6 ounces, which is pretty light. It used to be an ounce per inch of blade. I don't know if people still talk about that anymore.

[14:36] But 2.6 ounces. Pretty light. Available soon. So I'm not sure when that is. But keep your eyes peeled. I think it's gorgeous and I love this light blue, gray, ghost gray sort of anodized titanium handle and the black clip point blade. I think it looks so cool together. So very cool. Next up, from Parade 365, Patrick Ma's company, and Daryl Castellan of D-Rocket Design comes the CAS Auto. CAS stands for California Special. And you'll know when you see the picture why it's called the California Special. That's right, 1.9 inches of terevantium is the blade. First of all, I got to say, you don't hear me say this too often, but very beautiful. Well, I guess you heard me say it once before today, but a very beautiful drop point on this knife. Something about the swedge and something about the lighting, I guess. Really nails it, but cool-looking knife. And it's sort of being Daryl Caston, if you ask me, but really nice nonetheless. I really, really like the look of this little tiny 1.9-inch teravantium-bladed aluminum or titanium automatic. And in that sliding button on top, there's an ultra, what do they call that, ultra glow? I think a bit of like a tritium-type insert.

[16:05] And so pretty cool little thing. 100% rust-resistant is teravantium. Because I know you heard me say teravantium, and some of you may have said, what the hell is that? Terevantium is their dendritic cobalt alloy that is a proprietary to Terrain 365, so it's 100% rusty because there's no...

[16:30] Well, it's a cobalt alloy, and all that that implies, there goes my chemistry degree. Okay, this thing will be available soon. Of course, that's an auto out the front if I hadn't mentioned it, and if you don't have eyes or are just listening. Really cool comes in four colors. It'll be a gray, a black, a green, and a purple. All right, next up is from Savivi. Now, they've come out with a bunch of cool new knives this season, and two of them so far have been fixed blades. And I love Civivi's Fixed Blades. And this one is the second. It's the Zatumi. It's an in-house design that was also introduced and shown off at Blade Show West in prototype form. 4.3 inches of Nitro-V. And according to Ben Schwartz at Knife News, that puts this knife squarely in the outdoor companion category, which I like. I didn't even know there was an outdoor companion category. But I like it. That's a perfect description of this knife. Yes, of course, you could carry it and use it as a tactical fighting knife, but it's not that kind of knife. It's more of a four-inch kind of do-everything-in-the-outdoors kind of knife. What is it? I don't know. Those speed holes? That accommodates a quick grip change pretty quickly. And I don't know. That belly is pretty good for slashing, but they put the point right in the middle there, so easy to access. And then there's a big, long swedge, great for puncturing.

[17:58] So I don't know. See, that's what I love about Civivi fixed blade knives. They definitely walk the line between, yeah, you want to carry this in the woods? Go for it. It'll be great. Oh, you want to carry this as a little self-defense tool? It would also be great. So that's what I like because that's where my aesthetics lie. So cool new knife. This one has that skeletonized handle full tang with the lightning holes G10 and 6.5 ounces with a pancake kydex sheath. Now, the article says pancake and the press release says pancake, but I'm looking at a taco sheet on screen. So who knows? Maybe it's a taco. Maybe it's a pancake. Either way, you don't lose because they're both delicious. You knew that was coming. All right. No release date for this one yet. So keep your eyes peeled.

[18:44] All right. Lastly, Kaiser and you or Kaiser XU design contest winner. Now, this was something that was a design contest for fans of Kaiser that came out in April to May 2023, and you could send in your version of how you would finish an unfinished knife design, just the start. I think what they did was start with the guts, like the pivot area and how it's going to work mechanically, and then you come up with the design. So this is called The Bulldog by a designer, first-time designer named O. Show. O. period, show. And...

[19:29] I think it's really cool. It's called the Bulldog, and you can see why. It looks pretty aggressive, but also like it's going to be a pretty good worker. Because that's only a three-inch blade, it's not meant to do. I think it's much more of an EDC-type blade. You've got jimping all the way in the finger swale for the forefinger down below, and then on the top of the blade leading up to the thumb ramp, and on the thumb ramp, and then once you go over the thumb ramp and there's that beautiful swale on the back of the blade, well, there's jimping there too. So it's jimping galore, and I love that.

[20:09] This one for me, I mean, I said it's not a self-defense knife, but it looks like you could really use it that way, and it might accelerate that way. Very nice point placement. You have a long sort of gradual belly there, And an interesting sort of offset angle on that modified wharncliffe to the handle kind of resembles a kitchen knife. It looks like you have some pretty decent knuckle clearance for any sort of cutting motion that you would do on a surface like a cutting board. Of course, that also features the clutch lock there. That's Kaiser's Able, not Able, Axis lock style bar lock. And it's coming in two different flavors. The one you see right here with micarta and a satin blade. And then one that is aluminum with pink accents. So black aluminum knurled and such with pink accents. Green micarta, 3.4 ounces. Textured aluminum with pink, 4 ounces. A very cool looking knife. Congratulations to O Show.

[21:15] I love hearing this. I don't know if he's a heresy. But O's show started designing knives like a year before the conference. So that's always nice to hear. Beautiful knife. Love it. All right. Let us go to the State of the Collection. We're going to check out and talk about a beautiful knife. This is a new one that came to me from Jack Wolf Knives. But before we get there, I just want to remind you that another thing you can do on theknifejunkie.com is search for really good merch. And I'm not saying that we're coming up to the holidays But we're coming up to the holidays I think I heard Mariah Carey on the wind And I know that I've already had my last day of shaving Until next April So I'll see you next time.

[22:01] So it's time to start thinking of this. We'll be, anyway, we'll be coming up on the State of the Collection, but you go check out the merch on theknifejunkie.com slash shop. Check out, maybe you're going to buy a t-shirt for someone, maybe you buy a mug for someone, or for yourself, because let's face it, we all need odor coffee to get through today. All right, coming up right here, the State of the Collection. The Shockwave Tactical Torch is your ultimate self-defense companion. Featuring a powerful LED bulb that lasts 100,000 hours, a super sharp, crenulated bezel, and a built-in stun gun delivering 4.5 million volts. Don't settle for ordinary. Choose the Shockwave Tactical Torch.

[22:41] TheKnifeJunkie.com slash Shockwave. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast. I just got the new one from Jack Wolf Knives. Ben Belkin of Jack Wolf Knives just sent this to me, and I'm so excited to show it to you. This is going live on their website and all of the dealers' websites on this Friday, October 18th, 2024. You will be able to get this knife for yourself. I'm going to put this under the knife cam. This thing is a beauty. This is the new bionic from Jack Wolf Knives. And you know Jack Wolf Knives. You know them well enough that they've been making these incredible modern slip joints for the past two plus years and have begun to sprinkle into their releases these incredible folding versions of Ben Belkin's designs. And this one is a true original Ben Belkin. Now, a lot of the Jack Wolf knives, most of the Jack Wolf knives.

[23:49] Are Ben's modernized takes on classic patterns. This is a pattern he came up with all on his lonesome. This sort of angled pattern that looks very modern, sort of space age. And it looks angular, but man alive, does it feel comfortable in hand?

[24:08] Especially with these contoured scales, beautiful contoured scales, polished bolsters, and this is frost fat carbon. I can never remember my fat carbons. But I think this one is Frost, called Frost. Really beautiful, fat carbon with all the beautiful striations, the different mixtures of color. This looks so nice. And then these angular offset asymmetrical bolsters are so cool. I love the way they look. With the polish on them, they really pop out and are more apparent than they are on my other two models. The first one with green micarta, the second one, the mini, in all titanium. So this one really shows off those bolsters with high contrast. And then here you have this beautiful swooping long clip point blade with the machine nail neck there, machine cut neck. Is that what they call it? Machine cut, I think. Long straight and then a deep belly and an upswept tip. And then of course you have incredible action I am not as good at front flipping but the front flipping is good and I love these little grooves on the side of the blade, these fullers are so perfect for the front flick, or the middle finger flick now I'm going to do this in front of my mic so you can hear it, this is the best sounding.

[25:37] Jack Wolf knife since the late night jack hear that?

[25:42] Early after hours jack Thank you.

[25:46] One more time. Let's see if I can get it right. I don't know if the mic is picking it up, but it has a beautiful ting to it. And that is, you know, it resonates through that super thin hollow ground S90V blade, which happens to be hand rubbed and absolutely gorgeous. Ships with a clip. And this comes in the typical tube with the two stickers. This one does not come with a leather pocket slip. It is large. It is 3.5. 2.5-inch blade, I believe.

[26:20] Yep, 3.25-inch blade. It is one of the big models, and so those don't ship with a pocket slip. Instead, they ship with a tab filler, filler tab there for the pocket clip in case you want to take the pocket clip off and then buy a leather slip to keep it in. I love it. I love these flipper folders. I'm just going to show it with a couple of the others. This is the After Hours. This is the Benny. So cool. That's the biggest. The beefiest. I mean, these two are the same size, but this one feels a little beefier, I guess. And then here is the Sharpshooter.

[27:02] And then they've released this. He's released this one twice, and I think that's it. So these things are stupendously awesome. They make for great front pocket carry knives, and it is a rare 3.25-inch knife that I say that about. Think about the Jimbo, and that's about it. So this thing is awesome. I really love it. Check it out on October 18th of 2024. I got to say, he has definitely increased access to the lock bar here over, say, this one. Look at the difference there. So there's a little bit of a divot in this one But this one he really widened it out So that's pretty nice It's very easy to close this one I mean it's pretty easy to close them both But if we're going to look close in picnets Like we like to do, This one is slightly easier to close With that expanded access to the lock bar Alright that is the Jack Wolf Knives Bionic Jack In the Cyborg Family.

[28:07] Okay, let's talk about 12 great discreet fixed blades for utility and defense. Now, when I talk about discreet, I mean these are easy to wear under a shirt as a neck knife or in the waistband or in the pocket or out in the open, but it's discreet, so no one's going to care. There's one in this category that especially fits that bill. But let's start with, oh, and I want to say before we get into this, I was originally going to call it shivs, like 12 great shivs, because that's kind of how I think of most of these knives, because they're small enough to keep stashed on your person. And if you needed to, you could you could use them for that. And but I figured Shiv is a inaccurate. These are not Shivs. These are not, you know, handmade knives in prison. And that's it's become a colloquial term for small, slender knives.

[29:06] But also, I don't want to give any of these knives like a bad reputation because they're all great, great tools and can be used as such. and so I just wanted to give that disc claim. All right, first up from Cold Steel, the Spike series. Now, I'm going to show you two different spikes here because I have some from different eras, the two different eras. This is the current Spike type. So this is a faux G10 handle, no mechanical connection. I think it's just epoxied onto that handle there, But full tang handle and just got this incredible sharp. This is 4116 Krupp steel, I believe.

[29:52] Made in germany and um the steel is made in germany and it's that classic american tanto point nice and thin super light this one is uh you know 4.1 inch blade so a nice blade size i added that jimping on the spine it was easy enough to do with a small round file.

[30:12] And i it just accentuates the grip because this is a very skinny grip and it you kind of have to curl it into your fingers and and it locks in for sure but uh it's a little bit harder to to hold on to um you know when you're when you're hitting something hard with it like wood which is stupid to do but i've done it um you can use this uh this sort of pinching um saber grip but with this knife uh i like this the best right here reverse grip is so good on this knife because you can go either way it makes absolutely zero difference in your hand um so this is of the current slash modern uh rendition of the spike um i think retooled in about 2016 they redid these maybe earlier and then this is an origin from the original series the original series had a very thin cordage wrap of course i jute wrapped it uh i had done i've done all sorts of different wraps on this over the years but it fills the hand nicely and you know, I like it aesthetically I like how it feels and it keeps it light but grippy.

[31:28] So this was the Hawkbill Spike. This one is great in reverse grip. Of course, it's very much like a Picol style knife like that. And these are both great. They have great sheaths. And it's the largest neck knife that I can carry and can carry comfortably. These also work. Actually, I prefer these better in the waistband with this attached to a belt loop. And then you just pull it out, these things. But they can be worn around the neck if you've got something to hide them from. I feel like they're big enough to be hidden. All right, this next one is a little, little, little knife, but it's definitely a self-defense knife. This is not one that would be of much other use. This is the Station 9 No. 4 SOE lapel dagger. This was something that was very common in the World War II era among, well, I don't know if it's very common, But this is a common knife design that we've seen from clandestine services during World War II. The SOE and then I think they became the OSS. No, the SOE and then the OSS is what became the CIA. SOE was Special Operations in... Damn, I forgot it. What's the third word there, people? Drop it in the comments. But this is the Station 9 version of that lapel dagger. And it has real sharp jimping. Thank you.

[32:56] That goes horizontally that acts as your grip now this knife would be very you can still wield it without that little fob but i like it with that little fob you can do different kinds of things with it you can kind of stash it around your ring finger kind of carry it like this pull it out stab now i've used this thing against a watermelon i tell the story because it was it's sort of an embarrassing story we had a watermelon sitting on our counter that someone brought over for a barbecue that never got eaten a couple of summers ago and i was kind of you know it was over the week and i just hadn't cut it up and we hadn't used it and i walked by it and i kind of knew it was starting to get funky and i and i attacked it with this and um man it this did not this just went right in it's a very slender very sharp double-edged dagger blade but also you know an inch and a inch and three quarters edge and a little bit more on the grip here so.

[33:59] You wouldn't think it would be easy in hand i'm sorry the the cutting edge is two inches and then overall three inches so you wouldn't think that it would do much damage it it put a lot of holes it would not be something you would want to get stabbed in the neck with or anywhere with certainly. So these kind of old, these kind of last ditch daggers that were sewn into lapels and into pockets and things by spies and resistance people, I think it's so cool. I think these kind of little stashing knives are so cool because I've read stories like of Colonel Fairbairn, for instance, who saved his own life with a tiny, tiny knife. He was like being marched to his own death in the desert and he killed his captor with a tiny knife across the throat and.

[34:48] It's pretty cool i shouldn't say the whole you know what i'm getting what i'm getting at is that these knives can be useful you can be resourceful with them whether it's a tool or whether you're saving your life so that aspect of this getting cut in the throat not so cool all right next up is from fudo fords and these guys make incredible looking chef's knives i've checked them out at blade show several times this was an impulse buy at their table two years ago at blade show well last year in Blade Show 2023. And it's just like a little scalpel, a little forged, wicked little scalpel.

[35:26] And I put the jute wrap on it, made the little sheath for it, and now I can just drop it in my pocket, pull it out and have a little knife ready to go. Yes, of course. Yes, I am thinking of it like this because I have it set up so I can just pull it out of the pocket and the sheath tugs on the pocket. And then I have this in my hand. These pops back down in my pocket. But you have no clip on the outside, no string coming out of your pocket, nothing that would let anyone know that you have it in your pocket, unless you're wearing super tight skinny jeans, which I don't. So very, very sharp. It came pretty sharp. I've gotten this thing like stupidly, ridiculously sharp. Here's their logo, Fudo Forge. I'm meant to tell them how much I love their little impulse buy from the year before when I saw them this year, but they were beset with customers and I never made it back to their table. But they seem to be great, really, really nice chef's knives. I'll tell you, they make a pretty damn good scrap knife too in this scalpel knife.

[36:34] So go check out their website they might have more of them all right next up this one, knives by nuge it's been getting so much use uh and carry by me this is the knives by nuge primitive wicket this is one of those knives i was saying before some of these really straddle, useful utility knife and useful weapony knife in a pinch i know you're looking at this and you're And that thing is so small. How could that be a good weapon? All right. Well, for a couple of reasons. First of all, that two-inch cutting edge is incredibly sharp. It's a Scandi edge. Comes to that zero edge there. And the handle is nicely broad. Yeah, it's a three-finger handle for sure. And I haven't put a fob or lanyard on there for a reason. I want this to remain discreet and small and something that I willingly, joyfully carry against my skin under any shirt. And that's what makes it a great weapon, the fact that it's on me a lot. And I know it's there. I do have reservations about whether neck knives make for good weapons because in a dynamic situation like being attacked or in a fight or whatever, this thing's going to be swinging around even under your shirt and then actually accessing it.

[37:53] I've never had to access a neck knife under a shirt in duress. So that could be a major issue. But the fact that it's on you and comfortable enough to wear it and it's a fixed blade and you tug it out, you don't need any micro manipulations like you do with opening a folder. You know, you're in a high stress situation. And then lastly, I have taken this and gripped it in my hand as such.

[38:19] Not in my left hand, but in my right hand, and done this thing on a cardboard target where you jam it in the leg area, so low, and then you just drop your weight. And it doesn't matter if you have a little bushcraft knife like this or a five-inch fighting tanto. It's a devastating sort of thing. This knife, if you needed to use it as a weapon, is so small you could hide it in your hand and then do something like that if attacked, if grabbed, and make your way to safety. So I say the knife on you is always the best, and this one will be on you a lot because it's so comfortable. Now, I rarely see the primitive wickets, primitive being the jute-wrapped version, but I see often the wicket. He drops Tom Nugent of Knives by Nuge, drops the wicket a lot. Just follow him on Instagram. And then the bigger one, the XL, I would love to get that just to have it because it's sweet. And they usually have micarta and gpen on them. But keep your eyes peeled for the primitive. I think they're awesome. I love it. I asked him if he's going to be doing an XL primitive.

[39:31] And he said, yeah, probably coming up here soon. So I will keep my eyes peeled. Love this thing. Absolutely love it. And it does straddle that line between utility and weapon. This next one, I would say, does also, though it's a Fred Perrin knife. And Fred Perrin is definitely a more of a combative type dude, combatives type dude. And his knives, almost all of his knives and knife design, you can see his handmade knives if you follow him on on instagram you can even buy some of his handmade knives if you go to arizona custom knives i was just looking at a few the other day not not for purchase but just to see what they had this is one of the ones made by max knives a company out of france fred parron is french he's a former french commando of some sort and a very interesting guy i've had a few conversations with him at blade show over the past few years the last time it was with Zach Wingard of Wingard Wearables and the conversation was very interesting between the three of us and Fred Perrin very charmingly did a martial arts move on me that was so cool, but you know I was in good hands that's how it is when a master, does something on you you don't fear so but it was cool it was definitely cool and yeah he could definitely kill me a thousand times till Tuesday and walk away.

[40:59] Unscathed no doubt uh so this is his le bowie back knife uh neck knife he does other le bowies i love that it's like you remember uh peppy lepew the cat would always say so nice long uh run of jumping here to go all the way up to the clip on this clip point you get really really nice um uh, pressure on the thumb for pressure cuts and great thrusting and a center point on that clip point. So very, very nice knife, super thin behind the edge. This one is very, very wafer thin, that full flat ground on a broad and thin blade stock really comes to a nice cutting edge. It's a wicked slicer, this thing. And then this one, of course, has the G10 handle scales. I'm not sure if this was put on after the fact or what, but what a great knife. Also, another excellent carry system.

[42:01] Knives by Nudes, his sheath is awesome. This sheath is awesome. So both very comfortable. This one, not as comfortable against the skin, though, with this G10 and the shape of that handle. All right, next up, this one is a full custom from Dirk Pinkerton. This was a gift from him and i'm forever grateful it's such an awesome little knife this definitely lands on that defense side of things of course you can use anything with an edge for utility up to a point uh the same you like that up to a point but you can do the same thing in reverse and this one is sort of built for that reverse many different ways to hold this double-edged dagger uh it it almost looks like the cinque dia with the the proportions of it Just a very small one. You can put it over your... This is one of my favorite ways to hold it. Like this, just with the blade emanating from the forefinger. It's so locked in there. And then you have this beautiful... These two beautiful GL Hansen & Sons G. Carta scales there. In that really small sort of coffin-shaped handle, it just locks into the hand so nicely.

[43:13] So you can carry it... You can wield it like this. You can wield it all sorts of ways. This push dagger sort of way is cool. Dirk himself likes it best in reverse grip. Dirk's got bigger paws than I do. To me, I feel like my dainty little pinky gets lost in that finger hole there. But I can still grip the handle to great effect and it's not going anywhere. That's his preferred, but definitely my preferred is on the forefinger. It just feels so locked in. And it feels like I could use this from a lot of different angles like that. So very much like this knife. This one is, or love this knife, I should say. This is, what is this, Magna Cut? I believe this is Magna Cut, though it's not labeled. There's Dirk's Maker's Mark there. D-E-P. Oh, ho.

[44:10] All right. Beautiful, beautiful blade by one of my absolute favorite designers, makers, and he's a stand up dude as well.

[44:19] All right. Next up, this one is definitely on the utility end of things. I've had this one a long time. This one just got incorporated into a kit. So this one is now going to be riding, you know, I've been into these little survival kits lately, building a haversack and building a little overnight bags. And, you know, I'm just having fun trying to, not trying, I'm doing it now, but making fires without lighters and coming up and making my own little fire starters and stuff. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun. So I'm taking a look at some of my other knives that haven't gotten a lot of use because they're less defency and more outdoorsy. Not that I've been using the defense ones, but, you know, I like to carry them more. But this is a great little three finger. That's why I have the fob on there. three finger knife from tops this was from when they first started doing scandy grinds i think this may have been their very first and uh and then the brothers of bushcraft came out after that and i think a pucco and stuff like that but um tops is known for their scandy grind that has a relief edge and some people give them shit for it excuse the french uh but i say uh i say it's nice because it takes off just a little bit uh of the edge it does keep it it does make for a strong edge, I've got to say. But I've never had a problem with my zero ground Mora's, though my Mora Model 2 dulls somewhat quickly.

[45:46] So I'm wondering if a relief edge on it would help. But I can't do that on that night. It works great on this night, though. A beautiful, perfect little mini tops with all that that implies, meaning 1095 steel with the black traction coating, just smaller, and a red liners and that tan micarta that's so signature to tops. Look at how much this one has sort of patinaed. Very nice micarta on this one. Has not gotten a lot of carry, but it's gotten a lot of use just around this room, I feel like. And now it's going to go in a little fire study pit that I've created. It fits perfectly, and it's very nice for feather sticking, this little knife.

[46:36] Got a nice jump in here, too. I do suggest the fob. This one is set up for neck carry, but I'm probably more likely to do that thing where you drop it in the pocket and have the cord come up over your device.

[46:52] Okay, next up. This one is so cool. And still in print and pretty inexpensive. It's the CRKT Obaki. This one was designed by Lucas Burnley. And it is looks a lot the blade looks a lot like his quaken his folding quaken just a beautiful japanese inspired knife or maybe not even japanese inspired just a japanese knife that he designed and crkt made he used to be a this i know he designs knives for them but i think he used to be employed by them as a full-time designer at one point very nice japanese style cord wrap that just really feels great in hand i always talk about the peaks and the valleys the alternating peaks and valleys on tsukamaki wrap it really really uh traps the hand it grabs the fat and the meat on your fingers and traps it in the valleys and the peaks give you ridges to hold on to it's so sure in hand and you would look at this and probably think no i'm not gonna thrust with this unless it's in reverse and I have a thumb on top. But no, you could thrust with this. I guess I would hold it sideways to be most sure.

[48:07] But there is a lot of gription on this guard-free handle. What is it? I think it's 8CR13MOV or D2. I'm not sure. But very, very sharp. It's a hollow ground blade. Of course, that point you have there, this is a very easy to carry knife. So you could carry this for both utility and defense. It would make for a great utility knife. It does look a little intimidating. I have to say with that acid wash splatter, it looks like blood splatter kind of on the blade. That's the one thing I'm not a huge fan of on this. It's not a deal breaker, obviously. I'm not going to sand it off or anything, but this might be a little intimidating.

[48:53] Okay, great sheath taco style. And then this little bead comes on it, which I think is cool. Not much of a skull guy, but that's pretty damn cool. That is metal of some sort, and I put that little knot. This is a great one for in-the-waist carry with the cord going onto a belt loop. I think that is what Lucas Burnley had in mind when he designed it. If you go look it up, you'll see a video of him showing that off. Okay, next up, this one is another one from Fred Perrin. Surprise, surprise. He is one of the kings of small, discreet fixed blade knives. This one is ultra discreet. This is my work badge. I took the badge out, but this is around my neck and under my shirt, so I can buzz in to wherever I need to go at work. For some things at work, I have to have this on the outside. It's rare, but sometimes I do.

[49:48] Hiding behind the card which you know is there with my face and all that stuff on the back is a this was a gift from jock of jocks and i thank you jock again for this thing it is so cool uh it is a true daily carry at least five days a week and um it's the mini pick the perrin mini pick now i have it taped so it's it's it's on there with the cord you can see that but then i uh.

[50:16] Gaffer taped it here and then i gaff taped it here too once once this fell out in my shirt it was that dangerously uh it was just dangerous i could have it could have cut my belly or my chest or it could have it was in a tucked in shirt it could have slipped all the way it could have gone, all the way south the two lands unknown that i do not want a sharp object and okay so what this does is just keeps it in there. So that doesn't happen again. But what we have here is this discreet little, little cutter. It's a nasty, nasty little finger ring cutter. And you can put it like this and do all sorts of swiping and nastiness with it. Or you can just have this on your desk and use it to open letters, use it to open up, you know, all those letters you get, I mean, bills, and open up boxes or open up all sorts of stuff with this tiny little blade. Let's see how long that edge is, how long that nasty little hooked edge is. But Fred Perrin designs a lot of these cool little OSS-style knives. I mean, they remind me of modern interpretations of this kind of knife. So very cool Fred Perrin knives. Check out Max knives out of France that makes them. But I want to measure how long this edge is.

[51:38] It's an inch and an eighth. That's an inch and an eighth long. And you can still do quite a bit of get-off-me kind of damage with this thing on your finger like this. I've never tried it on this finger, oddly enough. Oh, yeah. I mean, if you put it on your middle finger, it might take some doing. That's the one thing because it's got to go over the fat knuckle. And I have skinny fingers. but I can get over the middle finger and that would be pretty nice too, and it's got this little rudder down on the bottom to anchor it in your hand so it doesn't turn too much but I think that's best used pinched in the fingers like this and you, put it all the way up past this knuckle you're kind of over committing, but who knows what the situation is you might need to over commit I don't know that's Fred Perrin's maker mark and that's the Max Knives maker's mark But best of all, it's very discreet and, you know, fits right there. And it's a very nice and usable tool. I don't have to use it much. Certainly not for self-defense, but every once in a while it'll come in handy for something or other. But usually I've got three other choices on me. But that is a true EDC, at least five times a week. All right. Next up is 100% on the utility side, though. Is it? Is it? according to Ed Calderon, it might not be. This is the Mora Knives Eldris.

[53:07] Yeah, Ed Calderon said Mora Knives make for great fighting and self-defense knives. I don't think he was talking about this one. He could have been, but I don't think he was. I added the neck loop here, but it's tied off here and here so you can alternate the size of the necklace. This Mora Knife is shipped with this nice little Mora ferro rod, so I just put a little, ranger band on the sheath just to keep it from rattling around, but I want to keep it attached to this neck loop here so that it doesn't get separated. I, as you can see, I will pull out the knife.

[53:49] I used it a lot. Let's see. Oh, I somewhat cleaned the blade in the grass and then stabbed it in the ground a little. But I was using it to desperately start a fire. This was last night. It was my wife's birthday this weekend. And one of the last things we did was have a little fire, hang outside, have some drinks and just chill. And I wanted to impress her by lighting the fire with this. And ultimately, I went to a bigger ferro rod that was easier to hold in my hand. This one was small and starting to, I'm not going to admit it, but it was small and uncomfortable. I wasn't throwing enough sparks and the blade was getting all black and gunked up from the Farinesium and I was like, oh no, this isn't going according to plan. So I ran in, got a better ferro rod, started up the fire and went to town. But I really, really like this one. This one is a great little carving knife. I just started carving a little spatula out of this nice piece of wood. And using this, it's just fun to get used to. You can get a full four-finger grip on it, but look at how small it is. It's a teeny tiny blade at two inches long, two and one-sixteenths of an inch long, basically. You've got the compound ground blade, which is kind of unnecessary, at least. I'm not sure why they have it, but I guess it's kind of cool. But this is mostly what you get on Amora. Amora like this angle here. Amora like this angle.

[55:18] And then this is a little bead I got from someone who was giving them away at Blade Show who does 3D printing of handle scales for popular folding knives. I don't remember who they were, but thank you guys. I finally found the perfect place for that bead. So this is definitely larger than some of these others in terms of its bulbous, its girth and such. But it's a small one and without all the extras on it you just drop it in your pocket um you know this thing doesn't have to be on here this extra guard um you don't need the ferro rod on here you don't need this you just drop this in your pocket and be super light and discreet and great for use all right second to last is the copus elvia and i'm gonna widen this one out to the fruit knife in general. You can go get a $12 Victorinox fruit knife that does pretty much everything that this knife is going to do. I just love this knife. So that's why I'm showing this one off. This is the 154CM and injection molded grivery Copas Designs Alvia. This is a collaboration with Ed Calderon based on his fruit knife, Picall knife concept. And it comes very thin and discreet with this awesome sheath that has the hook on it.

[56:43] And you can just drop it in your pocket, pull it out. That hook grabs on the inside of your pocket at the seam and stays in your pocket while you draw the knife and do what you got to do with it. I put an ulti clip on this one. I prefer to wear it in the waistband.

[56:58] I had this wrap, this Japanese wrap done by Josh Mason of Bright for War Knives. It's such a beautiful job. Using that purple ray skin so that really makes it fit the hand so well oh my gosh this fits so well in hand but i do have to say it adds a lot of girth so this is not as discreet as it once was and that's kind of the point of this knife is the how thin and discreet it is drop in the pocket doesn't print but that's not what i'm doing and that's not what i need and i just like it like this so i would say the uh copus designs alvia and then um on a greater angle of things if you if you don't want to wait around for the drop they only really drop on knives ship free and they do, the occasional drop with um copus designs so you got to wait around for these they just recently did a drop of this so if you can't wait don't wait don't want to pay the money you can you can go online and get a cheap Victorinox like this, heat up the handle and bend it like I did, put a little nook there and maybe something like, and then you got this, made this little sheet, drop it in the pocket, this all does the same thing, this lives in my car and gets a lot of use and then also gets stationed quite a bit.

[58:17] All right, last one. You probably know what this is going to be, and don't mean to make this so self-serving, but the last one is the Agent 001 by T-Cal Knives and Mead. And this one here that I'm holding up, I showed you before, the double-edged version.

[58:35] Great for self-defense, obviously. Great fighting knife, great stashed, last-ditch weapon kind of knife. But you can also get it with the single-edged blade. and it becomes a totally different kind of knife it's a utility knife it's a yes it's still a fighting knife because it's got that shape and that swedge it's still gonna it's still gonna stab and puncture incredibly but you can do a lot more with a single edge i think i think yeah this now can be a hunting knife this because i think that grip is pretty nice and i know there are other agents in the agent series that will be uh good for hunting as well but this is just a great all around her. Thin, with a thin sheet that's about the width of the average belt. So it rides, I love T-Cal knives riding horizontally because they're so discreet.

[59:26] And the thin handle is designed to give you a full four-finger grip. Whether you have medium-sized hands like me, or you have giant hands, it will fill in here beautifully. And then, of course, you've got room for your thumb on top and all the jimping you need highly recommend this knife, no i know how it sounds but it is an awesome knife but all t-cal knives are awesome if this design isn't what you need isn't what you want doesn't doesn't stroke your fancy go there check out t-cal knives and man they've got a whole bunch of really great and discreet fixed carry blades. That's their whole thing. Discreet fixed blade carry.

[1:00:13] All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for checking out these 12 great discrete fixed blade knives for utility and or defense. And I must put the and or the end because of course they could all be used for either. None of these are so specialized that they wouldn't work. Some better than others, but let me know what you think. And do you have any of these kind of knives that you prefer? Small fixed blade knives that do the trick in a pinch alright thanks for joining me be sure to join us tomorrow night if you're watching this as it drops for Thursday Night Knives check us out any other Thursday 10pm Eastern Standard Time right here also.

[1:00:54] Join us on Sunday for a great great interview they're always eye opening and, knife makers are the coolest people. All right, for Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer. Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. 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, thenifejunkie.com. You can also watch our latest videos on YouTube at thenifejunkie.com slash YouTube. Check out some great knife photos on theknifejunkie.com slash Instagram and join our Facebook group at theknifejunkie.com slash Facebook. And if you have a question or comment, email them to Bob at theknifejunkie.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.

[1:01:50] Music.