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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, a new micro-knife from a new company called Pepperwalt. I get the Fisher Blades Beckwith Covert FDE, that's flat dark earth, and 10 great machetes. 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 to the show. One of my favorite comments this past week was about some of the videos I put out on Beckwith Covert Trainer from Fisher Blades. And, well, let's get into it. Alex Alley Warlock, I'm sorry if I mispronounced that, says, Sheet! Nicely done, Bob versus Bob. Epic win, my man, and great to see the Beckwith Covert training in action. All right, let me put some context. Bob versus Bob. It was me using this trainer against my body opponent bag or Bob dummy, you know, the thing that looks like a man. So that's what I was doing. I do my drills these days with the awesome Agent 001 Trainer, which also doubles as a butter knife. I love that. Double-edged fighter as a butter knife. Anyway, he says, planning on getting the Beckwith Covert also. Alex, thank you so much.
[1:28]All right, so there's been a little bit of a lull in my non-podcast video output, but when I got this, I was very inspired to show off how this thing works and how trainers work. And of course, I wanted to see, does the old man still have it? I haven't been training much. I've got obligations and responsibilities. And yes, I'm much slower than I used to be, but it was very fun to have this and take it out on my Bob dummy. I'm going to be doing a lot more training with this, and I, too, have to get the Agent 001 trainer. I don't have it yet. I know I'm sure a lot of people groaned and moaned at watching this old guy dust off his knife skills, but it was fun for me, and it helped me get the ball back rolling. I got a bunch of new videos coming out, so keep your eyes peeled. Now, on the same video, now this is for my ego, Mr. Greg T says, Where's the old guy? I just see Bobby D.
[2:24]I was like, man, I love you, Mr. Greg T. I don't know you from a hill of beans, but you're my favorite person now. So thank you guys, one and all, for commenting, liking, subscribing, watching the videos. Slow as they've been trickling out, but you know how it gets. I did a video recently called Crushing the Ennui with the V44X Bowie. And yeah, that ennui, that sense of like, why bother? It's been creeping in. But now I feel refreshed and renewed Maybe more than 50%, probably about 75% of the country Feels refreshed and renewed And ready to go at it with vim and vigor And with some virality You don't have to be a man to be virile, Alright, coming up, all that said Let us now get to a pocket check.
[3:15]What's in his pocket? Let's find out Here's the knife junkie with his pocket check of knives so today in my front right pocket i had the uh this is the turbo from monterey bay knives this is designed by the legend peter carey he's a tactical folder legend he's one of the guys who first put a flipper on a custom tactical folder and uh he's been on the show he is uh an amazing designer and an amazing maker and this is the closest i will ever get to one of his custom knives, no doubt, unless I'm at Blade Show and I get a chance to handle one.
[3:54]But I love his design language, and when this came out from Monterey Bay Knives, I scooped it up post-haste. I did have it altered out there by Lindy Liu and Richie, and they did a beautiful job on it, making it that high-voltage green with the acid stonewashed blade. They did put this gold clip on it. I told them the clip is chef's choice. And years later, I'm kind of not loving the gold. It's a little too garish for me. I've never been a gold guy. And it shows up on, it just advertises you carrying this. So I think I might send the clip back to them. I've been saying that for ages. Just to have it acid stonewashed and darkened. But anyway, I love this thing. I'm still using a lot of flippers these days. Thumb studs are uncomfortable for my right-hand thumb right now. So the flippers are king.
[4:51]And not even front flippers, just regular forefinger. My forefinger is fine. So this is what I was carrying today. By the way, Lindy, Lou, and Richie put a razor-sharp edge on this. It was already sharp, but man alive. They really did the work on this. He did the work. And it came out beautifully. All right, next up in my vacillating back and forth from left to right front pocket in the Duty's Dagger slip. This is so beautiful. Love that green leather slip. But what's in there is the C. Reisner & Company Ohio River Jack with the Warncliffe blade. This is my favorite of the three versions of this. And by the way, I'm pretty sure they just re-released this knife. So if you want to get yourself an Ohio River Jack, I believe they have this out again.
[5:43]And if I'm not mistaken, I mean, this is a dusty old mind here, But I'm pretty sure they released it with a fourth blade shape, another blade shape. So go check it out. I'm not sure. Can't remember. What can you expect? But beautiful, beautiful canvas micarta, natural canvas micarta on this one. When you look across companies, the quality of micarta varies. And I feel like this is very fine micarta. All of the lines are super straight on the threads and the fibers. And it takes on your personal filth signature and it just feels great in hand.
[6:25]Awesome knife there. All right, next, this is one I haven't carried in quite a while, the Nova 1, the one that started it for me in terms of designing knives and having them made. This one by Hogtooth Knives. You know the Nova 2 is now in process. That's the Kirodashi version of this same knife with the same handle, slightly longer blade. This, of course, 154CM recurve Bowie blade with the polished maroon micarta. So there are 24 people out there with this. My daughter, when she graduated eighth grade, got one. And I don't know, a low bar. And my wife has one. And my other daughter has one waiting for now eighth grade. I got to give it to her.
[7:13]But anyway, great knife. This is the prototype. Things changed. The green, I mean, the red liners turned to green. The jimping moved forward right up to the swedge, and there was a few other things, but really, really great knife. And Matt Chase of Hogtooth Knives is such an excellent knife maker and definitely one of my favorite people and knife makers out there. All right. Lastly, for emotional support, my ESK today was the Aries by Orion Knives. I love this thing. Thank you, Michael Cam. Michael Cam, he is Blade Banter. He's the guy in charge of that incredible pass-around group, A. B, he's got the Blade Banter channel, but really, it's this. It's his knife company. This design is probably my favorite of the ones I have. I have three of his knives. It's a button lock right there on the pivot. So that's what, press that, and it comes down. For me, the main opening method of this is that Fuller. It's a sharp-shouldered fuller, so you can get the fat of your finger in there and flip it open. Of course, you can also hold down the button, Let me do this. Hold down the button and whip it out like you can with most knives.
[8:32]And yeah, this one is a beauty 14C28 and under $100 and a limited release. So if this knife interests you, which it might interest a lot of you with its compound ground, half hollow or mostly hollow ground blade, flat and flat up here at the tip with the midline point. Beautiful tanto go over to orion knives seek out the aries and uh and spend less than 100 and get this amazing knife by the way this one has a sculpted titanium clip on it too uh with the backspacer very very nice knife and just fun to play with i gotta say i can even do it with my left hand all right this is what i had on me today the turbo from monterey bay knives the Ohio River Jack from Sea Reisner Cutlery, the Nova One from Yours Truly and Hog Tooth Knives, and the Ares from Orion Knives. Now, please, if you don't mind, let me know what you had on you. Drop it in the comments below. Always interesting to survey that and find out what you guys have been carrying. All right. Well, I got to say, this is something that just popped up. It's a sad day for me. I got to say it's a sad day because this arrived. I love this. I love when this arrives. So this is the Smoky Mountain Knifeworks paper catalog.
[9:52]All right. Now, let me back this up by saying, you know, I grew up in the, I'll say the 80s. I mean, I was alive all through the 70s, but really came online, if you will, in the 80s. And that was the golden era of paper catalogs. My dad, growing up, was a clothes horse. So we got all sorts of J.Crew and Land's End catalogs and this and that.
[10:14]And then I don't know if you remember the Sharper Image. This is all pre-internet. Every year, especially around Christmas, you get paper catalogs. And you sit on the john and leaf through them or just, you know, circle items and hand it to your parents and say, I want this for Christmas. Amazon still sends one out. We get that from our girls. But this is the very last Smoky Mountain Knifeworks paper catalog to come out. And I got to say, man, it's not even bittersweet. It's just bitter. I love this catalog. I think it comes quarterly or bimonthly. I haven't kept track, but it always goes immediately down to the side of the throne basket in my own personal opinion.
[11:05]Office right off of this room and uh this is what i do i'm trying to go old school when i go into that room i mean we all bring our phones i know that but i'm trying to do that less because oftentimes i'll be out there in the real world thinking like this phone has been in there keep a catalog in there keep a book in there let's go old school again when we use the necessary room and uh i would say start with the smoky mountain knife works very last catalog this is a sick a thick sucker i should say it's got so much in it and i think um i think they were you know aware of the fact that this would be the last one so they really did it up i mean they even have the kaiser in here the kaiser knives they have microtex and the essies and the tops they have everything in here whereas recently i was looking at one thinking wow why did they only put all the cheap crap in this in this uh catalog so uh and that was a past catalog this one is the bomb check it out i would i would order it or call up smoking up mountain knife works and get it because it's going to be a relic after this christmas season if you like paper catalogs if you're a man of a certain age like myself or a woman you might like these paper catalogs this is the last you'll ever get of this amazing.
[12:26]Smoky Mountain Knifeworks catalog. And it was a couple of years ago I had my daughter on this show, and we have a game where we would flip through. Which one would you pick on this page? Which one would you pick on this page? Can't do that anymore. So get this one and keep the tradition up. Very happy to have this and very sad to see you go. Smoky Mountain Knifeworks paper catalog.
[12:50]That said, I think it's time to get to some knife news. Adventure delivered your monthly subscription for hand-picked outdoor survival edc and other cool gear from our expert team of outdoor professionals the knife junkie.com slash battle box you're listening to the knife junkie podcast and now here's the knife junkie with the knife life news it's been very encouraging to see the kai usa companies that's kershaw and zt There are others like Shun But it's been very nice to see Kershaw and ZT Coming out with some new knives recently Because there's been nothing from ZT for a few years Except for a few little exclusive drops And Kershaw, you know, they've been up to their old tricks It's all, you know, fine and dandy But we've got a lot of Kai USA stuff here in Knife News tonight And I'm happy about that First one is from the Kershaw It's from Kershaw It's the Dawn Star Look at that thing. The Kershaw Dawnstar really appeals to the inner mall ninja in me. And this is sort of a mall ninja knife all around, not just because it has that dramatic hawk bill blade, which.
[14:03]It's beautiful. It is beautiful. But also because it's in 8CR13MOV with an assisted open, like the old school. 3.5 inches of 8CR13MOV, as a matter of fact. Black wash there. That's an FRN handle. So this is like a big box configuration, but look at the knife. It's really, really cool, and this would be a great one to see them migrate to their launch series. I would love to see this thing in an automatic version. So that triangular hole at the Ricasso is not an opening hole.
[14:41]And then look south of that hole and check out that sharpening swedge. It's like three quarters of a complete circle of that sharpening choil. I'm sorry, I said swedge. One way to open this is with that flipper tab. And yeah, I just like the old-school throwback Mall Ninja aspect of this And I also think it's beautiful And oftentimes they'll do.
[15:06]They'll look at different design aspects In their cheaper models And then migrate them upwards So hopefully they do that with the launch series Because I think it's cool Plus, it's three and a half inches And that's my entry-level length So, loving that Alright, next up This is a beauty This is from Topps Knives, one of my favorite companies out there. This one's called the Tundra Wolf. And the Tundra Wolf is a collaboration with Trevor Barrett, who's an Alaskan knife maker and outdoorsman. And so this is a knife made for the outdoors, but it's got a different look to it. I look at this and I see a fighting knife. But we all have our own lens through which we look. Uh 5.75 inches of 1095 um ben schwartz the the great and powerful ben schwartz of knife news who is a great writer uh calls this a drop point and he's wrong this is a clip point clearly but i love you ben uh this is a sweeping clip point blade it's got that giant swale on the spine, And then a full continuous belly of an edge. So it looks like a great skinner. But look at the point. The point to me with that very center line point with the swedge and the triangular shape looks like something for fighting. And then also so does the handle.
[16:36]Anyway, this sweeping clip point is unusual for an outdoor knife, I would say. It comes with a kydex sheath on a dangler. And it's 17.3 ounces with the sheath So that's over a pound It's a chunk But that's a quarter inch of 10.95 With thick micarta scales and kydex So yeah, it'll be a little bit heavy But not too much for the studs and studettes who listen to this to carry So Topps Tundra Wolf from Trevor Berger and Topps Knives I really like this one, Maybe it'll appear here Maybe.
[17:14]Next up, from K-Bar. K-Bar is now fully adopting MagnaCut, as are many companies. And for K-Bar, it started with a testbed release of the BK-16, the Becker Knives 16, a very popular model. That thing sold like gangbusters. People loved that. And so that was proof of concept enough for K-Bar to adopt MagnaCut into their regular production line. The first knife they will be releasing in that line is the BK2, probably the most selling Becker model from K-Bar, Ethan Becker. I got a chance to meet him at Blade Show two years ago. What a cool dude. By the way, he also helped Julia Child write The Joy of Cooking, the most famous cookbook of all time, basically. So Ethan Becker is a man among men. But this thing looks great. It will have the first, it will have the, I'm sorry, what am I trying to say? The standard ergonomics of the Becker BK2. Everything else will be the same. The sheath is the same, except it's got that new logo. You can see BK and K-Bar on the show side of the sheath, which is funny.
[18:37]But there you go. This one is available now. So if you like the BK2, which many, many, many of you do, even non-knife guys who are outdoorsmen love this knife, well, now it's in MagnaCut, the best of all steels ever. So go get yours now.
[18:53]All right, lastly, from Zero Tolerance, I mentioned Kershaw up front. Zero Tolerance, which is kind of like an agricultural field lying fallow the past few years, kind of in spurts, like putting out one or two things. I think they're back. They just dropped two knives, one a fixie, very, very appealing to me, and also a very appealing automatic. So, yeah, they're coming out of hibernation with the zero-tolerance ZT-0004. That's the one you're looking at right now on your screen. Ben Schwartz of Knife News calls that a drop point. This is where he and I differ, like, every week. He calls those drop points, I call that a clip point. But this little beauty is a 4.2-inch, so 4.25-inch clip point, Cerakoted crew wear. I don't remember ZT ever doing any knife in crew wear But look at that beauty And then you can see through those hexagonal Chicago bolts there Right through the handle So presumably you could create a lanyard situation there.
[20:08]I'm almost upset they put this out Because I really kind of want to have this But I definitely don't want to buy it right now But it looks very cool I like it I don't have any ZT fixed blades, but that appeals greatly to me. That will come with a leather sheet. Love leather. Just like frank zappa all right here we go uh the last one here if you scroll down is the zt, 0556 automatic uh this is the first automatic under the zt shingle though kai usa is used to doing the automatics with the launch series but this is the first one that's a zero tolerance man alive that is beautiful all but one detail and i'll tell you in a sec what i think, but the only auto in the zt current catalog 3.35 inches i wish it were longer but I can live with that.
[21:02]Again, Schwartz says that's a drop point. I say that's a clip point. Magna Cut. Nice Magna Cut blade, titanium handle with a long carbon fiber inlay. Therein lies the rub. They're using the basket weave carbon fiber from 2008 right there. And I'm just not a fan. But since it's not the whole handle, I could live with it. Especially when i watch their product release video where um they're making a an old fashion with it and they're cutting the cutting the fruit and pouring the whiskey and i'm like oh that looks good like how cool would you look at your next party uh cutting the cutting the the fruit for the drinks with the uh the orange i guess it is uh with the zt very cool uh but the my only The only thing that sticks in this here craw is that basket weave carbon fiber. I've never been a fan. I like all the other kind of carbon fibers. Not that. This one comes with a reverse deep carry pocket clip, but it's only a right-handed knife. You can see the actuator button is set up for right-handed carry. 2.4 ounces, which is very light for a 3.35-inch blade. They sit an ounce an inch in terms of blade length. So this comes way under that and it's available now as is the zero zero zero four.
[22:24]Yeah, it's out now. Zero, zero, zero, four. All right, everybody. We're going to move on to the state of the collection. I have two cool things here to show you. But before we do, I'd like to urge you to go over to Patreon and check out the kind of things we have to offer over there. Interview extras. You like some of the people we talk to. You like probably most of them.
[22:45]You can go over there, sign up to be a Gentleman Junkie, and you can get all of the interview extras. Actually, you get to interview extras no matter what tier of support. Gentlemen Junkie, you get entered into the monthly knife giveaway, and we've been giving away some very fine blades lately. So definitely go check that out. Go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon or scan the QR code right here on your screen. Again, that's theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon. 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 the knife junkie.com slash shockwave and now that we're caught up with knife life news let's hear more of the knife junkie podcast look at that inchy a little honey all right so this is a sweet new knife sent to me by Baron McKay.
[23:52]Of his new company Pepperwool. This is the Merino MM. Thank you very much Baron for sending this along. Now, Baron McKay was a designer at SOG. You might see some of his design language right here in this new knife. I saw it immediately. He reached out to me and said I have a new company called Pepperwool. I will have him explain the very cool name but I like his reasoning for naming it that. And he let me know that he used to work at SOG. He was one of the head designers, and this is his new knife from his new company. Now, in about four and a half years ago, SOG did a whole rebranding. I had Jonathan Wegner on the show. He was the gentleman who was in charge of the business angle, strategy angle of doing all that rebranding over there at SOG. And then two years ago, they sold to GSM like Cold Steel and lots of people left SOG. And Barron was one of them and he has started his own company called Pepperwool. And this little Merino MM is an awesome knife. I just got it. And sorry, that was a left-handed actuation. It does actually work beautifully.
[25:13]So it's a very small S35VN semi-tanto. And I say semi-tanto because it's got the secondary point there, But the whole thing is flat ground. I just received this yesterday and have not cut a thing with it. But I am very much looking forward to tucking into this. It's got that deep carry pocket clip that mounts on the top. So you can swap it to either side. A very, very nice bar lock. I'm going to use my right hand. Very nice bar lock. Comes all the way into the handle without that kind of secondary stop you get on a lot of bar locks that don't know.
[25:55]First time i've ever had a knife this colorful i.e. With the blue blade i absolutely love it cerakoted s35vn very sharp wicked little little edc blade super small very um unthreatening if you will great fifth pocket carry or drop in the pocket or clip on the pocket that great clip But I'm very excited about this knife. As I record this, this came in last night, so I've only had this in my hot little hands for about six waking hours, and I dig it. I really do. The one thing I would want on this, personally, is a lanyard hole. I know I am definitely in the minority there. I like lanyard holes on small knives because I tend to drop these in the pocket rather than clip them. And the fob or the lanyard I put on there helps keep the knife oriented north to south in my pocket and also makes it easier to grab. Not to mention the fact that when you have it fully in hand, it gives you a little bit extra for the pinky to grab onto. Definitely not a deal breaker with this knife. If I really wanted to, I could just put a lanyard through the clip. I've seen people do that. It's definitely not a big deal for me. Merino mm cpm s35 vn cryo heat treaty beautiful i love that pepper wool logo uh not easy to uh.
[27:24]Copy there with all those lines and dots, but very cool. Baron, thank you so much for sending this. I'm going to do a close-up video of this one of these days soon, and I'd love to have Baron on the show to talk about working at SOG and then lighten up for the territories and start in his own company. So a really cool knife. Thank you very much, sir. Next up, a knife you've seen before but in a different configuration, different colorway, not configuration but colorway, is the Beckwith Covert. Yes, I was talking about this before, the trainer.
[27:56]This one here is in flat dark earth. Flat dark earth. Look at that beauty. I love this setup. Now, I will tell you one thing, though. I have three versions of this knife now. A black on black, the original with the red liners. This one and a unicorn edition. That's got this very special coloration and the unicorn. That one will stay pristine. But between the FDE and the all-black version, I'm going to be doing some scale swapping because I think it'll look cool to have a black handle on this and the tan handle on the black blade. That's just my personal taste. This one comes with that really nice, super dark teal or forest green there. But everything else is the same. It's got that super aggressive, I don't want to say super aggressive. That sounds like it's going to hurt, but that very effective jimping there on the thumb ramp, incredibly sharp. These dudes, Chaz and John, get these knives wickedly sharp. And then the great handle with the quillian, which helps you draw the knife and helps it stay in hand. I'm a huge fan of this knife and very happy to see it come out in flat, dark earth. Like what they're doing over there in Montana, big sky state.
[29:17]Beauty all right well i think it's time to get to machetes what do you say are you interested i know you are because i got this new one from schrade and it's new to me it's been out for a couple years i'm going to show this one in its sheath as i might all of them but i love this sheath especially um the way it looks well first of all it's a it's a sort of molded plastic sheath and the blade itself slides in and out. It does not lock into the sheet unless you use this tab. So I do that on a machete or a sword or anything large like that. I don't want it to lock in to the kydex like a regular smaller knife. You want to be able to draw it and use it. You want to be struggling with something that large. So I like the retention in this sheet, but I also like these wings here. Um they send a strap so you can clip to the strap it can be like a um a baldrick so it hangs around your neck and i i really like that aspect but i love the way these wings look uh they remind me of the uh the sheaths for the chris like this one right over my shoulder here um the old school filipino sheaths with the with the flare on the on the top that's what that reminds me of.
[30:40]But when you unsheathe it, this is what you get. A beautiful recurve blade here. This thing has a stunning profile. I saw this from Khalees Americano, and I had to get it. He's an incredible Kali guy and Bowie knife fighting guy. I just started following on YouTube, and I saw him working with this, and I had to get one.
[31:17]So this is designed by, oh yeah, Joshua Wagner. And he's been on the scene for a while. We've seen other knives from him. And there's definitely a Filipino or Southeast Asian influence here in the handle, with that sort of broadening horse hoof pommel there and then the curve to fit the palm. But what I really love about this knife is that beautiful recurve Bolo style blade. It is really sharp, really good looking. You need to look at R-C-H-M-B-S. So this is in their Delta class, and it's called the decimate. The decimate. So you're reducing your enemy's force by, what, 90% leaving 10% of them? Is that what decimate means? Or are you killing one of 10? I can't remember exactly what decimate means. But it doesn't mean to fully destroy. There was a period of time about five years ago where people were using the term decimate to mean like absolutely positively destroy it. That's not what it means. It means 10%. And I don't remember if it's 10% are living or 10% are dead. But whatever it is, if you do it with this, it'll be very effective.
[32:37]So what have I used this for so far? Like two or three things yesterday outside. I had a full-on epic lawn day yesterday, raking and cleaning and clearing vines. This did a little bit of vine clearing, but most of them were very close to a fence. I just couldn't swing this near that fence and risk damaging the fence of the knife, so I used a smaller knife for that. But this did take down a couple of saplings growing next to my big tulip poplar. Very cool logo here, by the way. Joshua wagner uh love this thing uh bought it on amazon i think it's pretty inexpensive i think uh most of you if you have similar tastes will not have any problem um buying this knife and putting out for it oh that didn't sound right but you know what i mean all right so that's.
[33:35]That's the decimate from schrade now if you could see my rather large desk with all of these rather large machetes. It's all very precarious, so I'm going to have to be putting them over there. Okay, next one is from Condor, knife and tool down in El Salvador. This one, first of all, comes with a beautiful and super stout welted leather sheath. The blade itself, this is the Golok from Condor.
[34:07]Has gotten quite a bit of use. This is a way more heavy-duty machete than most on this table. When I think of machetes, I think of thin, flexible blades that go through light to medium vegetation. This one is more of a quarter-inch slab that goes through heavy vegetation and other people. The Golok, of course, is a design from Southeast Asia. that flexes between combat and utility very, very regularly. And when you say Golok, that can mean a lot of different blade shapes. But this is an iconic version of that. That's what I mean. With that big bulbous pommel here and the walnut handle, which is almost too big for my hand. I mean, it's a really thick handle. But you'll find through lots of use that thick handle helps you out.
[35:09]There's less fatigue trying to grip onto a smaller handle if you're chopping for long periods of time. I've had this one for quite a while, and I just sort of rediscovered it. At one point, I couldn't get it sharp enough, and so I kind of set it aside. But I have, as you can tell from all the use on the blade, gotten it sharp, and this thing is wicked. Let me go to the main camera here. I should do that for each one of these, just so you can see. So it's about... Big fan of walnut, by the way. All the old World War II rifles have walnut furniture. It's very appealing to me.
[35:50]Next up, now this one, I never would have gotten, to be quite honest, on my own. But I received this as a freebie from Cold Steel. Where did I get this from? It wasn't from Cold Steel. This was from an order, I think, Chicago, Knifeworks, or Midway. One of my two favorite sort of discount Cold Steel dealers sent this for spending a certain amount of money. This is the Axis machete.
[36:15]And it's got this incredible saw on the back. And yeah that saw really works I've been entertaining saws a lot more recently since I've been watching bushcraft videos and getting way more interested in different ways of starting fires and if I'm lost in the woods or if the bottom falls out which I thought it might until last this past week I might be cooking dinner over open fires in the backyard with scavenged wood coming up here soon And if things continue as they are, luckily they won't. But this saw is amazing. And like I said, I've been entertaining different saw blades and how they're set up. And I think this one is pretty good with its staggered teeth. Now, it does not work as well as, say, a silky saw or one of the saws that are dedicated saws. But this one has the very sharp hollow ground edge on this side and the saw on this side. So it's sort of a jack of all trades, perhaps master of none. But I like the long rubber handle. You can get all the way back here with the lanyard and do some chopping. It's relatively thin and light, as most machetes should be. So you need a little bit of that length and leverage to be effective. I have not taken this apart. I can tell it's not full tang just from where they place the screws. But does that matter? Probably not.
[37:44]And then it's got this hole for hanging it up if you're just going to put it in the shed. A pretty cheesy sheath here, I got to say, but it'll do in a pinch and it's very inexpensive. Eight, I'm sorry, 3CR13 MOV steel. I know you're all barfing in your mouth right now, but I got to say, 3CR is great.
[38:04]Very, very tough steel. My Black Mule Bowie from Smoky Mountain Knifeworks, I'm sorry, from Rough Rider and Smoky Mountain Knifeworks, is incredible.
[38:16]I really put that 3CR to the test, and I like it. And Cold Steel has been putting out their cheap big box knives in 3CR. So I have some other people, other knife companies, and it's a very tough steel. Now, it's not a luxury steel. You're not going to want it on your fancy folding knives or even your fancy fixed blade knives. But for something you're going to take out and bang around and chop into wood and light vegetation that kind of thing the toughness and the edge retention of the 3 cr is uh i gotta say it's pretty shocking uh i think it's better than 8 cr but it's like five less right all right so that is the cold steel axis machete this is one i never would have gotten on my own it was a gift from my brother-in-law and it's awesome i've been using it for i don't know over 10 years now it's from gerber and it's a bear grills knife this is the bear grills parang machete this also is 3cr 13 mov and this thing this thing has gotten a lot of use this lives in my shed actually so this is hanging all all seasons probably getting uh.
[39:34]Menaced by squirrels and everything else that gets into my shed. But it's really a pretty damn good machete. And I actually credit the shape.
[39:45]It's a great shape, a great angle to handle, you know, edge to handle angle is awesome. The steel does punk out on you pretty quick on this knife, I got to say. That's kind of why it ended up as on permanent shed duty. But for just powering through twigs and stuff and we have a little section with saplings that always pop up and I'm always going at them. This has been good for that and I kind of don't, I care about it because my brother-in-law gave it to me and I love him and I never want to discourage knife gifts but I don't care about it as much as maybe some of my other things so I really kind of go with it, go at it with abandon with this knife. and um, Maybe I should do that with all of them. I'd probably see how far you can push them. Very comfortable handle. However, I did put a little cord wrap on it just to make it a little better for me. I got the fob, the lanyard there for around the thumb use, back of the hand.
[40:51]And, yeah, I dig this thing. Now, on the back of it, it comes with a, this is like a survival knife for them. So it comes with this little pocket that has different ways to signal rescue and stuff. And then in there, it just sort of cracks over time. There's a little survival guide that I never opened up, but I just put it in my little survival kit. So if I ever need it, I can pop it over, see how I'm supposed to survive. The Bear Grylls and Gerber Penang Machete. You guys have any of the Bear Grylls knives? I know Bear Grylls, I mean, I wouldn't mess with them. And I wouldn't try and out-survive him, but I know there was a lot of controversy around his show where he was actually staying in hotels and stuff like that when he was supposed to be out there, you know, eating rotten sheep on the tundra, doing whatever he does. All right, next up, this one from my brother. And this is definitely the heaviest, thickest by half on the table here. This is the Collins machete. This is a World War I-era machete. And this one, by the way, has a brass chape and throat here and a really exquisitely tooled leather portion of the sheath. Now, obviously, this was not issued with all that. Whoever had this did beautiful work on it. And this is one of the ones that my brother got from some gun show somewhere.
[42:19]Well, in Ohio, no doubt. But he finds all these really cool old artifacts. This thing is thicker than a quarter inch, at least at the center of the blade. It does have a beautiful distal taper on the tang here.
[42:36]And old walnut furniture. I mean, this sucker is old. You can see how it's separating from the tang there. It is heavy as hell, man. It's a heavy, I mean, just holding it here, I'm struggling. It's damn heavy. There's kind of an occlusion that goes all the way through the blade here, but it's such a thick slab, I can't imagine it being any problem. I have never used this. I love the way it looks. I love the very, very Filipino-influenced shape of this. You know, this came out after the...
[43:13]Filipino-American War, is that what it's called? When we were down there and the Marines were there and they developed the .45 to stop all the Filipino fighters, Bolo fighters, well, you know, there was never an American knife that looked like this before that era with that deep, deep belly. I mean, that angle, edge angle to handle is just crazy. What else is crazy is that back in the day when people were being issued this they also had heavy canvas uniforms heavy everything was heavy there was nothing none of this uh high-tech garbage we use today that's so light and beautiful and strong like titanium and uh all the wicking fabrics so they're laden down with all this heavy equipment And then they're like, here, you're going to need this giant machete also. Hang that on your belt. So just something to remember, we are not descended from weak men. That is for damn sure. And this knife, which is like three pounds without the sheath, definitely attests to that.
[44:25]Again, with that thick, thick blade, this is definitely meant for heavier stuff. This is not a light vegetation machete. You can see where it goes on the wall. Okay, next up, from Schrade again. This is another cool one. Also Filipino influence. The first one with the Decimate had that influence. This one also definitely has this. This was sent to me by an awesome viewer, and I really, really am very grateful for it. Before I get into the knife itself, it does have this cool utility pocket with a ferro rod and a sharpener, which I need to rediscover now that I'm into starting fires with ferro rods. But this, you can take off. It removes right there.
[45:11]This is Schrade's Bolo machete. So very, very Barong-influenced, that long, beautiful leaf-shaped blade. And then the angled-off handle with the bird's beak. I mean, you can chop all day long with this thing. It's got a very comfortable, ergonomic, rubberized handle. The bird's beak works great. or if you need to come up here for quote-unquote finer work, as they like to say, you can do that too. I always thought this passage was an odd design choice, but I don't hate it. And it definitely is safe for stopping your fingers from coming up. It's a great safety mechanism because it's grippy and it's mechanically and chemically a great way to stop your finger from going up there. I do love the pommel, too. I love that shape and the security of having your hand rest in that back spot is great. And then having that leaf-shaped hollow ground blade at a downward angle to the handle accelerates all the chops. It's essentially like having a kukri in your hands because that downward belly just is cutting before your hand even gets there.
[46:32]This one is also 3CR13MOV, and as I live and breathe and age, I'm seeing that that blade steel is popping up a lot in these kind of inexpensive outdoor knives. And I think it's because it's just super tough, and it holds a great edge, at least in my experience. Excellent sheath, and something cool here that you'll see on some machetes, especially with these kind of shapes that widen towards the tip. You have to accommodate that width at the throat of the sheet so this one opens up here too, so it pulls out easily locks in more once you have that snap you can still pull it out, but if you're out there working all day with this on your hip or this one actually also has a ball drink i took it off for the purposes of having it on the table but if you have this around and you're just pulling it out chop and chop and putting it back in you're going to want to unsnap that snap so it goes in easier you don't want to be cutting through your sheath, due to the snug fit this is the schrade bolo machete.
[47:43]All right this next one is in the same vein it is a barong but this is from cold steel and this one pardon me while i quit my whistle this one is the first version that cold steel put out of the Barong machete. So what you get here, besides that pretty stout nylon sheath.
[48:06]Is a beautiful i mean this is a true barong shape this is uh you can tell you know lynn thompson designed this he is a filipino martial arts expert and knows everything about everything in terms of filipino knife fighting and other kinds but so he really nailed the shape of that blade so really continuous belly here from stem to stern so great for slashing and cutting down, light to medium material I mean you'd go to town on something heavy with this it would just take a while, but also he maintained the tip and the tip is something you see on Barongs for stabbing because Barongs started out as machetes but ended up as weapons, here we have a, traditional sort of El Salvadorian.
[49:00]Handle here with that lobed pommel So a sort of very familiar handle here on an unfamiliar blade when this came out. Now the Barong machete put out by Cold Steel has a traditional style hooking pommel, similar to some of the stuff you see on the wall behind me, like this one right here. When you see that hook come down, it really encapsulates your hand, kind of covers your pinky and your ring finger even. So I always wanted to get one of those just to have that handle. But I got to say, in terms of use, this one is outstanding because this rubberized handle and this very traditional machete shape makes for a great combination. I'm going to go wide on this one to the widescreen.
[49:48]Yeah. So I would highly recommend this. This one is made in China. I know they make most of their barongs or most of their machetes now in South Africa. But yeah, I highly recommend you check out, if you're looking for a machete, check out this barang shape. It is pretty damn sweet. Very effective for doing what you need to do with chopping down vegetation and stuff. But in terms of thrusting, if you ever consider flexing this into a weapon or home defense item, you're going to want a tip that you could push into something easily. Unlike most traditional machetes, which we are about to get to, three of them.
[50:31]Cold steel barang machete V1. All right. Next up, this is the one that my wife keeps on her office chair. This was a gift. Turn it around this way. From Costa Rica. But it's an El Salvadorian blade. So beautiful leather sheet, Costa Rica. And then check this out. And listen, I'm going to pull it out in front of the mic. I don't know if you heard that. But here it is. It's a cornetta. Brand number 127 machete and this one has seen a lot of use and it's been sharpened a number of times and i even dulled out the tip a little bit but this thing is awesome super light super thin it's got this uh molded handle around it seemingly a full tang because i can see metal through the lanyard hole and so it probably comes down to about here but it's got that traditional, lobed pommel there to stop it from coming out of your hand, but also give you a lot of reach and a lot of leverage.
[51:40]Yeah. So at one point, my wife is like, I want a sword or a machete in my office just to keep on my chair. She's got other stuff in there that's more effective, if you will. But if someone comes within chopping range of her, she's got this. And yeah, she wanted something that was good for her size. I showed her everything that I had, and she picked this. So this cool machete.
[52:06]Now I'm trying to remember who gifted this to me. I know it was a family member, but I don't remember who. But the sheath, man, the sheath is beautiful. Probably worth vastly more than the machete itself. But there you have it. When my dad went down to El Salvador a couple of times on medical missions back before Bukele was president and threw everyone in jail, which I love. Not everyone, but all the scumbags and criminals. Everyone walking around El Salvador, my dad said, had a machete. I'm sure that hasn't changed because people still need to work. He also said every store had a guy with an AK-47 and it was an interesting place to be. I have a cousin through marriage from El Salvador, and I love hearing stories about that place. And someday I'd love to go there, actually. But this, this will do until I do. This is the Cornuto Cornetta number 127. Beautiful, beautiful sheet.
[53:14]All right. On the same theme, my brother just got me this not that long ago. I just showed this off. This is a Diston U.S. military issue machete. Diston was the company. Of course, a lot of different companies were recruited and licensed to make the same sort of design. This is that, again, that traditional machete shape However, this one is U.S. Military issue from 1943 Hoping you can see that on the screen Got a bakelite handle that's round and really, really nicely contoured And this incredible blade that's still wickedly sharp I'm sure this has been sharpened many times by the various people who have owned this over time But this is another acquisition, my brother made from a pew pew show, I only say that because I think they demonetize you if they hear you say the G word.
[54:17]It's got that traditional lobed pommel with a full tang, that's what you want you really want a full tang on a machete because you never know what you might hit you never know what might be behind that vegetation that you're chopping down you might chop into some jungle shrine made out of stone you didn't know was there and bang you don't have a machete anymore. You can see the pitting on the blade. It's so beautiful.
[54:45]All right. And then here is the original sheet. It's that canvas, that military green canvas, and then 1943. And then some numbers written on by various people. S2440. I'm not sure. What is that? Is that like a military serial number? Or is that the number that team rank and serial number? Is that like a serial number? I don't know. Let me know if any of you know. It's got a reinforced shape here with just extra canvas. There's no metal in this. It's pretty floppy. But the throat is also metallic. And here's something that's pretty cool. Check this out. Ready? Listen. Love that. I think it's just like the movies. So now most swords and most knives are not set up for metal rubbing metal. But in every movie, when someone pulls out a knife or pulls out a sword, you hear a shing and that's our, indication that someone has unsheathed the blade whether or not, but like 99 times out of 100 you're not pulling a sword or a machete or a blade and hearing a shing but on that one you do and I love that alright last up this is the one that's nearest and dearest to my heart it's the one I've had the longest I bought it from.
[56:09]Public Safety Supply in on mayfield road in uh in ohio in like 1984 or something like that uh and my brother made a sheath for it maybe 15 years ago beautiful stout leather sheath there's his little maker's mark when he cycles into leather he's a hobbyist of all sorts so he doesn't do leather all the time this was his very first thing in leather.
[56:35]And he thought the machete was his and then i came to visit i'm like that's where it is he's like oh i thought that was mine um there it is this is the ontario knife company uh u.s military issue machete uh from vaguely i'll say the 80s i don't know when it was uh but this is what they were selling in the 80s and i have to say this thing has probably seen more action um than any other, well, definitely than any other machete in my collection by, by a thousand, by an order of magnitude. Uh, because this used to be, uh, when I was growing up and I had to do lawn work, uh, at least I can bring my machete with me. And I, you know, we had tons of trees and woods and stuff. And not that I was clearing paths and stuff like that, but I loved having this on me and I would find any excuse to use it.
[57:29]In 2008, I was visiting my parents and they had a big red oak fall in their woods. This is before they had moved. And my dad and I went out to, because it fell right over a path, we went out to chop it to make a hole so you could still walk the path. And we brought out this and an ax. And I'll tell you what, that ax, It was pretty sharp, but the axe was nothing compared to this. I chopped that whole giant tree with this thing and loved it. And there's something to be said about thin, flexible, and wickedly sharp.
[58:07]And then this, I believe, is 1095.
[58:11]It's just born and bred for the outdoors. This is such an awesome knife. I highly recommend any sort of Ontario machete based on this because we all know Ontario Knife and Tool is a great company but it's, not but, and I just think they make the best machete, and that's just because I've used this to do so much over the years. Again, full-tang traditional lobe pommel, and I do recommend a little over-the-back-of-the-hand lanyard because you can slide back and let the lanyard do some of the work.
[58:50]All right, thank you guys so much for checking out my 10 great machetes. It's funny that I have 10 Oh yeah, put that back up, Jim It's funny that I have 10 machetes Because I was like, hmm, I wonder how many I have Is it a round number? Will it look good in the title? And lo and behold, there's 10 of them Of course, I have the stuff on the wall behind me Which in many cultural cases The weapons start as tools and migrate Life's a jungle, machete on I love that Alright, be sure to join us tomorrow night For Thursday Night Knives and Sunday for a great interview with a knife luminary. My name is Bob DeMarco, and I'm thanking Jim, who's working his magic behind the switcher. 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 the knife junkie.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 so.
[1:00:19]Music.