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. Email Bob at theknifejunkie@gmail.com; visit https://theknifejunkie.com.
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Bob DeMarco [00:00:00]:
Coming up, the Okapi knife. The October drop date of the agent 001 by TKL knives and we see a very small selection of Topps knives in my collection. My name is Bob DeMarco. This is the Knife Junkie Podcast.

Announcer [00:00:17]:
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.

Bob DeMarco [00:00:30]:
Welcome back to the My favorite comments from this past week was on the Rolando episode Strings says. Love hearing from Rolando. He is a wealth of Marshall blade concepts. Thanks brother for the awesome content. You're my favorite knife tube channel by a long shot and you know that makes me feel great. Thanks for the kind words, Strings. I appreciate you and you're one of my favorite trading partners. Next was from Tactical Tavern, Tomas Allah simply says awesome episode.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:00]:
I was trying to get the two of them on during that episode but but he was traveling. Tomas was traveling and couldn't make it. So we'll have the both of them on some episode coming up, you know, this winter or this fall. Those two guys are great, really nice guys, of course, but also both a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all different kinds of martial knife applications. So we'll have them on here and we'll just lab about knife fighting. All right, that said, let's get to.

Announcer [00:01:33]:
A pocket check what's in his pocket. Let's find out. Here's the Knife Junkie with his pocket.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:39]:
Check of knives in my front right pocket. One I haven't carried for a while. This is the Off Grid Knives Mamba V3. An absolute beauty. This is one of the places, one of the many places where Off Grid knives shines. It's in this sort of modified wharncliffe, modified sheepsfoot sort of realm. They've got a bunch of different models that have a similar blade to this and I just love it because you have a great point placement, which is actually if you hold the spine straight, it's just below center, but you also have a gradual belly and so makes this excellent for all sorts of utility cuts and that kind of thing. But let's face it, I like to carry knives for their potential Marshall application and this would be great both for slashing and for thrusting.

Bob DeMarco [00:02:32]:
This one is beautiful in that it is a titanium frame lock, nice and slender. This one has a Magnacut blade. I've got a few Magnacut play blades in my collection at this point, but it's always nice to me to have see something in Magnacut Because I hear it's a fantastic steel. Do I know the difference between this and 8cr13 mov? Pretty much only when I'm sharpening it. That's to be totally honest with you. I love the golf ball texturing, the gold anno and, and the gray coating on the steel. Really nice knife. Big.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:13]:
That's a four inch blade. Very capable, but carries very nice and light. Next up on my pocket, in my pocket next to this off grid knife, I had the Ohio River Jack by C. Reisner cutlery in the duties daggers sheath. That beautiful green sheath. I think it goes so well. Talk about autumnal. That's like a beautiful autumn color combo, that green and the natural canvas micarta.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:42]:
I love this knife. Haven't carried it in a little while. You know, I have so many jack wolf knives and they're always tempting me away from other things. But this is one thing never to forget. It's such a great knife. M390 blade steel. Got titanium handles and and liners here. Great canvas micarta.

Bob DeMarco [00:04:03]:
Beautiful build, really nice walk and talk and action. So just a great wharncliffe blade. Now that is a wharncliffe. I called this right here a modified wharncliffe. This is a true wharncliffe. It's got that sort of continuous arc from, from the spine of the blade down to the tip which is about knuckle level with a straight edge. So I mean that's what a wharncliffe really looks like. That's why we're always flummoxed when we see this.

Bob DeMarco [00:04:33]:
And we don't want to call it a reverse tanto. So we call it a modified wharncliffe or a modified sheepsfoot because reverse tanto is unacceptable. All right, next up in my waistband today is the brock blades Magni XL. This was a, a proud purchase from Blade Show 2025. Bought it right from Ken Brock. Great guy. Makes amazing fixed blade knives. This one is a very thin 3V blade with a swedge that's just begging to be sharpened.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:06]:
It's not sharp in this case. This is a Joe Watson design. So I knock out two birds with one stone with this knife because as I mentioned, frequently one of my collecting goals is to have a knife from every person I've interviewed that is probably never going to happen. But I can dream. And this one takes care of Joe Watson and Ken Brock. I'd love to get more knives from both of them, but this one will do until, until I do that beautiful recurve. This one I've used. I didn't this time but I've used this one as a steak knife or dinner knife when at fancy restaurants.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:45]:
And I gotta say I love that. Especially when, when the waiter makes a comment like when I was visiting my parents in Ohio for their 60th anniversary. I remember what the knife was. Oh, I had my, my mangana steel Aurelia. I used that as my steak knife. We went to a fancy restaurant for this beautiful occasion and the, the waiter was, oh, I see you brought your own steak knife. And I was like, that's right, get that thing away. Lastly, for emotional support, it's been hard to pry myself away from this.

Bob DeMarco [00:06:19]:
My hog tooth Fighting Bowie. This of course is a, an homage to Bill Bagwell style Bowies like the hell's bells etc. Except this one has a bit of a broader blade made by Matt Chase W2 Blade Steel. You can see that gorgeous hamon and the sharpened back edge. And then of course the devil horns guard which is probably the most Bagwellian thing about this knife though it's got different, different geometry and such. It is a. Those are very effective guards, I would imagine. I don't know, haven't been in a fight with it yet.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:00]:
Ring the gidgee wood handle from Australia and just a beautiful build. Of course I, I got the. I don't say of course like it's on every blade but I have that Luke 8:8 17 on there and you know, I like to have that. It's for nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. So it's a. It's all about truth and you cannot run from truth no matter how much you want it to be different. And so I don't know, it's a theme I really like. Plus 817 is my birthday and every time I look at the clock it seems like it's 817.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:38]:
So it just had to happen that way. All right. This was my carry today. As I look at it, quite a nice bit of knives here. The off grid Mamba V3. The V2 and the V1 are interesting but the V3 is the best. The Ohio River Jack from Sea Reisner cutlery with this beautiful green slip from Duties Daggers now I think they're called. Now he's got an official company and I can't remember what he calls it but go check out Kevin Duties sheets there pocket slips.

Bob DeMarco [00:08:09]:
I think you can get them at traditional pocket knives dot com. I had the magni XL from a design from Joe Watson made by Ken Bra. And then of course my, my beautiful, my spirit animal here, this fighting Bowie from Hogtooth Knives for my Edk, my Esk. All right, next up, I want to tell you about YouTube memberships. They are live right down here where it says join. You can click on that and you get the benefits of a gentleman junkie from Patreon. And we all know what those things entail, especially if you like to get a, a knife every third Thursday of the month. You're in the running for that.

Bob DeMarco [00:08:52]:
So definitely check that out. Plus all the other stuff. And speaking of Patreon, Jim's been hard at work coming up with the Friday funnies, coming up with coming up with Knife Notes and Maker Mondays. The the most recent maker Monday was cool and but this most recent knife notes is of the sandbar duel. And since we're talking about Jim Bowie, I should put a Bowie knife there. Uh, a really cool day in history. I don't know if I should say a cool day. That, that doesn't make it sense, but it was September 19th when the famed sandbar Sandbar duel where Jim Bowie, though, like nearly shot to death and run through by a sword cane, was able to disembowel one of his.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:41]:
I'm not laughing at that. Was able to disembowel someone the second in the duel that he was seconding. And so it's a very, very famous proving ground of the Bowie knife as a fighting knife. It did not look like this apparently looked more just like a straight up butcher knife, but there's been some controversy around that. So anyway, go to Patreon, check it out. A lot of cool stuff we have to offer there. You can go to the knife junkie.com Patreon or you can scan the QR code on your screen to do so. Uh, when you sign up for a full year, you save 12%.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:19]:
So you might consider that we've had a few people take advantage of that here recently and greatly appreciate it. The knife junkie.com patreon again the knife.

Speaker C [00:10:29]:
Junkie.Com patreon want to sell your custom knives online? With Launch Cart, you can easily create your own e commerce store, no coding required. Launch Cart is designed for knife makers like you with built in tools to showcase your craftsmanship, manage orders and grow your brand. It's fast, flexible and even includes low cost payment processing to help you keep more of your profits. Start your online knife store today@the knifejunkie.com launch and turn your Passion into a business.

Announcer [00:11:02]:
You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. And now here's the knife junkie with the knife life news.

Bob DeMarco [00:11:09]:
So we have knife life news articles from four of the biggie big big biggest out there. First from crkt, we have a limited edition iridescent series where there, there's one new product and then they're putting this iridescent titanium nitrite coating on a bunch of knives designed by heavy hitters. First one I want to talk about is the. Well this one right on screen actually we'll go to that one first. That's called the facet. That's a Ken Onion design and if I do say so myself, it looks more like a benchmade 940 than a Ken Onion design because I always know Ken Onion as recurves and swoops and grooves and choils and such. But this was a departure. You should not typecast yourself as a designer.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:00]:
And so always moving around. Ken Onion created this a few years back. The facet in their fancier line. You can get this in steel but mostly it's you want this for the titanium frame lock. So here this one is the dime damascus version with the tyne coated titanium frame lock handle. That's 3.38 inches in blade length. And, and I gotta say it's, it's a pretty cool knife. And I especially like it, like I said, because it doesn't necessarily look like a Kenyan Ken Onion.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:35]:
Next is one called the Hang Pry. The Hang Pry right there that we see on screen is a Richard Rogers design. Accompanying one that is a kiridashi version of this. But this is a titanium pry bar with that tie nye finish. You can pry, scrape score with this. It's got a bit of a tip, but it's not just sharp, it does not have an edge that's 3.6 inches overall. Next up is one called the snap lock. This is a tie knife version of the snap lock which is an Ed Van Hoy design that came out 21 years ago in 2004.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:17]:
Which is crazy quirky design with something called a cam lock. And we've probably all seen this knife, maybe we've even been tempted by it when we've been in our museum building phase. But this one has the has that kineye rainbow treatment to it as well. A pretty neat looking knife, especially with that weird looking pocket clip that descends and gives your palm something to rest upon. If you scroll down, you'll see that that anc cry was a an accompaniment of this. The hang tie. A Titanium bladed kiridashi. Pretty neat looking thing here.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:58]:
None of these are quite up my alley, but they're all available now, right for you. I do like what CRKT has been doing in the last five years. Kind of upping their game a with their collaborations but also most importantly with their builds. Having the Italians build something, some things, having Hogue and other American companies build stuff. So I like what CRKT is doing here. Next UP is the third 2025 product release by Kershaw Kershaw. The Pack Mule is the first one. And this is one that came up on Thursday night Knives this past week and I hadn't heard of it and someone said, are you gonna get the Pack Mule? Looks like your kind of knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:42]:
And it really does look like my kind of a knife. There's one part about it that is definitely not me and I'll tell you about that in a second second. But I love the profile of this clip point blade. I'm looking right at that choil there. That triangular sharpening notch between the handle and the ricasso of the blade is beautiful. Also will give you much, much Life on this 3.9-inch N690 blade. You'll be able to sharpen up because of how they did that plunge grind. You'll get a lot of life out of that blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:16]:
E10 handle scales made in the USA. Here's the part that isn't quite me. This is a $232 knife, MSRP. And to me that's pricey for a Kershaw period. It's also pricey for a fixed blade. Less engineering goes into a fixed blade and you know, I don't know. Plus, there's nothing about it that doesn't look. It kind of looks like a big box store Kershaw in its sort of muted tones and generics kind of G10.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:48]:
All of that said, I do like the look of this knife. I'd love to have it just at a lower price. All right, next up is the Bel Air xl. People love the Bel Air. I love it from a distance. It's not quite in my wheelhouse in terms of size, but it's a beautiful knife. This XL is a 3.4 inch, so nearly my size. Magnacut Wharncliffe.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:11]:
A modified Wharncliffe. We'll call it G10 handle skills. You've got that ambidextrous bar lock, also USA made, which is great. I love that they're bringing a good a bit of their production Back to the USA. This one's $175. So coming a little closer to my threshold, but I'm sorry if I'm spending that money on a Kai knife. I'm. I'm going for a zt.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:38]:
But hey, I'm an old man and I'm thinking old school. So Kershaw's back. They're back in the States. We need to support that. I hear the Bel Air is a magnificent knife. So if you like the XL 3.4 version with magnacut, you know, 175 is probably worth it. Next up is the Atreides A A an American Tanto. Americanized Tanto.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:04]:
Named after one of the great houses of Dune. I just, I just got the download for my wife. I've seen all the Dune movies and I've very much enjoyed them, but she's read all the books and really likes Dune. She's a. My wife is a beautiful nerd. That's what I like to say. She's very into the sci fi and the fantasy. So she explained the whole story about the House of Tradies.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:27]:
Let's just say they're the good guys. From what I gleaned from that conversation, what I do know is that this is an Americanized Tanto and does not look much like the Kriss that they fight with in. In Dune. The Kris is not a wavy blade. It's just a. An appropriated name used for the knives that are in the Dune series. 5.7 inches of 65mn, which is a 10xx series carbon steel. Steel I've never heard of, from a series I've never heard of.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:01]:
But I love carbon steel and I'm glad that this one has that blackout finish. Now this is a reasonable $60. So we're getting more into my ballpark in terms of Kershaw pricing. Next up, I'm just going to mention the Launch 22. There's also a Launch 23 that looks great too. But this Launch 23 floats my boat with that beautiful spear point bayonet ground blade of that is magnacut. The 23 is 154 cm, but this one has that green anodized aluminum finish. Really nice looking, especially with that canvas Micarta inlay.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:39]:
We know these Launch series knives pick like mules. So I don't know, this is. This is kind of a tempting one, I gotta say. Also, USA made $180. All of these Kershaws are available now. All right, next up, this one is from Boker Boker, a company really famous for their collaborations. I mean, constant collaborations. And I'm not complaining.

Bob DeMarco [00:19:06]:
They have allowed me to have a knife by Charles Marlow who you know occasionally makes custom or makes custom knives on a very non production friendly schedule and at prices I couldn't, you know, begin to afford. But Poker was able to make two knives by him bring them to market. But this is a Charles DeBuyere collaboration. He's opus Knives, a company I've been following on Instagram for a long time. Opus Knives they have that signature hole opening there. It's sort of swoosh shape. Anyway they've got this new one which is another trailing point as as as mentioned on knife news 2025 has been kind of the resurrection of the trailing point blade. We've been seeing a number of them.

Bob DeMarco [00:19:58]:
This one is just such a thing. 2.7 inches of that's D2 blade steel. Very nicely contoured and sort of tactical handle with the with the graceful arch, the forward finger choil and thumb area which kind of gives it a pinch point. Great for thrusting. Kydex sheath this one is $70 and is available now. If you've always wanted a Charles debyer or Opus Blades knife or Opus Knives blade, this is a good way to get in on the ground floor. Check out the Tavros from Boker. Okay, last up is a Buck of the month.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:39]:
We always talk about the buck of the month when that comes up. This one is from the the Pack Light series, not one that is that you would expect to see the buck of the month treatment of. They usually do their signature signature designs. This is from a more budget line as the 631. Pack Light is a heavily skeletonized knife both in the blade and in the handle. Has a very small handle scale on both sides. But this one got the buck of the month treatment. That's a 4 inch blade of hollow ground CPM Magna cut and you can see a small what do you carbon fiber handle scale on both sides just between the two voids there.

Bob DeMarco [00:21:26]:
Kydex sheath 3.1 ounces so pretty light for a 4 inch blade. Also USA made and 165 $5. So if this floats your boat if you're a buck collector which I'm not a buck collector but I have a small collection of bucks let's say and I really love them. Check out the Buck of the month. I need to start doing that when they come out with models I really love like the 112 and the 110 and the 119, 120, 119117 hunting fixed blade arena all right. Still to come on the knife junkie podcast, we're going to get to the first tool

Announcer [00:22:12]:
You're listening to the knife Junkie podcast. Here's some cool knife history with the knife junkies.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:17]:
The first tool so today we're talking about the okapi knife. This is not exactly an okapi. This is a kudu, a slip joint version from cold steel. I had an okapi from cold steel and I busted it. So I do intend to get another one. But it's a fascinating story. If you've ever handled an okapi knife, you know it's not flashy, it's not polished steel or bone handled elegance. It's simple stamped metal, wooden scales, and a distinctive ring pull lock.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:49]:
But despite its plain looks, the okapi earned a reputation that made it one of the most famous knives in southern African history. The story begins in 1902 in Solingen, Germany. German manufacturers were producing inexpensive folding knives meant for export. And one design destined for Africa, took root. It was named the okapi, sometimes called the forest giraffe, named after an animal, a shy striped animal discovered around the same time in the rainforests of the Congo. It's endemic to the Congo. Just as the animal was exotic and mysterious, the knife carried a sense of novelty when it first appeared. But it was in South Africa that the okapi found its true home.

Bob DeMarco [00:23:32]:
It was cheap, durable and easy to sharpen. It became the working man's knife, carried by laborers, farmers and miners. You could find one in the pocket of a fisherman or in the hand of a sugar cane cutter. It was in many ways the Swiss army knife of southern Africa. But stripped down to pure utility, of course, the okapi also picked up a darker reputation. Its affordability and locking mechanism made it popular with street gangs and criminals, earning it the nickname the flick knife of Africa. In some townships, just the sight of that ring pull handle was enough to command respect and feat. It became woven into the local folklore, even appearing in music and and stories as a symbol of toughness.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:19]:
Yet beyond the notoriety, the okapi endures as a cultural icon today. It's still made now in South Africa, still recognizable by its crescent shaped wooden handle and simple construction. Collectors often call it the knife of the people, A blade that wasn't born in a royal court or carried by generals, but one that found its place in the hands of everyday workers. So the next time you see an okapi Knife. Don't just see a cheap folder. See the history it carries. A German export that became African through and through. A knife that worked its way into culture, labor and legend.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:58]:
Because sometimes the simplest knife can tell the deepest story.

Announcer [00:25:03]:
Do you carry multiple knives? Then overthink which one to use. When an actual cutting chore pops up, you're a knife junkie of the first order.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:12]:
First up in, first up and only up in the agent in the state of the Collection is the agent 001. This is released on October 1, 2025. Coming out real soon. As if you're watching this as it drops and I've been showing this off quite a bit, I just had Tim Kell on the show to talk about some of the updates. This now machined by Nick Chuprin of NCC Knives, an absolute perfectionist. And he has gone all the way with these beautiful knives. He also has been machining other Tekal knives and they're just coming out beautifully. Look at that step milling on the bevel.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:57]:
Look at those chamfers on the jimping. And then of course, you've got 30 different handle materials to choose from. Not different handle materials, but different varieties of G10 and Micarta. Now you can get it in this. A glass reinforced nylon battle lock handle. Oh my gosh. It grit has such incredible grip to it. These things are awesome.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:23]:
I was telling Tim in person I had my doubts about glass reinforced nylon on my TKL knives because I love the different handle materials they've been offering so far. But once I got this in hand and also saw it with the naked eye, the beautiful color saturation in both this and the. And the olive drab version he sent me and then knowing there are thousands, literally thousands of color options that can be had with these knives and these handles, it really, really got me going on these battle locks. This is made, it's a proprietary, not proprietary to Tim Kell, but it's something he was able to license from some of the manufacturers who make Sig and or no, I'm sorry, I think Glocks and FN USA handles also you can get it in the Kydex sheath. In this case, carrying the awesome. My. My new favorite clip, especially for horizontal carry. This is an Ulti clip and it's got this incredible, easily spaced between holes, a wire clip.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:38]:
So definitely check this out. Or you can get it in the leather sheath by Badger Claw. Let. Let me get it right. Badger Claw Outfitters. And these are super stout, incredible sheaths. I've been carrying it just like this, dropping it in the pocket. I love it.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:58]:
I love it just like that. Some, sometime I might attach it with a clip, but I just like the low profile of dropping this in. You can still remove the blade and re sheathe it quite easily without it being clipped in there. But these I would highly recommend. So I highly recommend this whole package. Check out the agent double O1 series. This is the second production run. This is my design collaboration with Tim Kell which launched the whole Agent series, which they're up to seven, missing six.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:32]:
But they're going to double back and make it an agent double oh six. So do go check those out@tcalknives.com all right. Before we get to Topps Knives. And I called it a small selection because Tops Knives makes a million different knives. I mean they make so many different models and they have many of them in constant production. It's, it's not like they just cancel them, mothball them and move on. They keep a lot of the knives still going. So I'm going to show you some of those.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:08]:
But first check out this merch that Jim's been working on. Stay spooky, stay sharp or get spooked. And of course we're moving right into Halloween season and we are going Halloween themed. So go to the knife junkie.com shop and check out this design on T shirts, aprons, cups, mugs, all sorts of things. Also coming up here, I'm gonna have a very limited, like five Zippos with the Knife Junkie logo on them. So, uh, we're going to be selling those. Just want to see if anyone's interested. I got it for myself because I've been smoking a lot of cigars recently and I like to use my Zippo with a, with a torch insert to light it.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:52]:
And I figured why not? That'd be kind of cool. See if anyone else wants one. So if not, if no one else wants one, I've got five Zippos with my own logo on it. Not the worst thing. All right. Topps Knives, a great American company built out west in Idaho and started by four law enforcement officers and ex military guys. And, and now it is owned and, and run by one of those four original members, Leo Espinoza, a by all accounts a great guy. I tried to have him on the show, but I think he's kind of, he's not into doing that kind of thing.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:29]:
Though he did send his, his chief of staff Craig and chief of designs Craig, who came on a great dude. But I want to show you these knives. They're, they're, they've always captured my imagination since long before I could afford them. They first came out with the Iron Eagle, a big Tanto and, and they were just big full tang combat style knives. And since they first came out, they've, they've widened out their scope into everyday carry, into self defense, into bushcraft and outdoors. But they started as a combat blade knife company and that lineage has always stuck with me. First in this list probably. Well, I'm not going to say my favorite.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:20]:
I have at least four favorites on this table, but this is the Praetor War Bowie in a sheath of my own construction, which, if I do say so myself, one of the better Kydex sheets I've created. But this is a beautiful blend of three different kind of bowie knives in my, in my estimation, the Mexican style bowie knife with the super long clip, the American bowie knife with that sort of coffin style handle. And then it resembles also especially in this area right here where the handle meets the Ricasso, a French fighting knife. Not so much a bowie knife, more of what a butcher knife looks like, but it makes the wit of the blade, the handle guard. This one was out of production for a while and people lost their mind because like me, everyone was saving up for one or everyone wanted one and so they brought it back into production a little while ago. And I love this one. This is one that could stand a secondary edge sharpening. This is one that could stand a small version.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:26]:
This is. This one is one of my favorite bowie knives, let alone one of my favorite Ops knives. 1095 blade steel. That's a common theme. As a matter of fact, out of all of these, and I believe I have 11 in my list, there is only one that is not 1095 blade steel. But I will mention it each time. They've got that black traction coating on here. Beautiful Jimping.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:51]:
There's an interesting video of Jeff Prather, the guy who designed this, showing all the different ways that he carries this and draws it. I've heard there's some controversy, controversy around Jeff Prather, but I've always been a guy who's able to separate the art from the artist if, especially if they have kooky ideas or have done bad things. Many artists throughout history, like Caravaggio for instance, was a bit of a murderer, I think. Well, I. Let's just say he killed someone in a bar brawl, but he painted his way back into the church's good graces and none of that matters today. What Matters is are his beautiful paintings. I, I find it the same way with, with knives. I know that Mick Strider has had some from what I've heard unwarranted criticisms.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:45]:
But I don't care. I love his knives. Same thing with Jack Prather. I don't know what he apparently did, but one thing he did well and right was design this really awesome knife. So this is the Prather War Bowie by Tops knives and they're all by Tops knives so I'll stop saying that. But this thing is incredible. Seven and a half inch blade, so about the size of a KA bar but a lot beefier. Next up is one that I got from my good buddy Dave of OG Blade reviews.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:16]:
This is a Colin Despens design. He's a self defense specialist who trained a lot in Russian martial arts to include Systema. And this is a knife, crazy looking knife specialized for their style of blade fighting. To me it looks like a very exotic, high maintenance and exotic picol style knife. It is to be held like this. So you've got the, you've got this nasty reverse edge blade here for thrusting and pulling and then up front you have this sharpened scooped area here for punching and forward slashing. So a very specialized tool. This is not one you're going to make feather sticks with at the campsite.

Bob DeMarco [00:35:06]:
This is probably not one you're going to EDC unless you, you know, are carrying it strictly for self defense. Not that you couldn't open up a box with this, but it is just strange enough and beefy enough that it's, it's a specialized area. This is also 1095 blade steel and when you look at it on this side you can see a, that black fracture coating. You can see how that scoop though very oblique in edge geometry is sharpened on both sides. You would do some nasty damage with both of these edges, steep as they are. And then you can see there it says designed by Ste Desbins. It's the X1251. And I love the Topps logo by the way.

Bob DeMarco [00:35:52]:
One of the few companies along with Emerson and Microtech whose labels are like their, their makers marks are kind of militaristic enough that I like the way it looks on the blade so I don't mind the billboarding. It's also set up to hold in this sort of forward grip a strange knife and definitely one for the museum. Also comes in a great sheath which is another theme with the, with Topps knives. And this was something they did for a long time. They still do on some of their models but it's a 360 degree rotatable spring clip. Interesting and cool. Definitely came out before all of the modular belt clips that are popular now and so always was kind of an interesting thing. The one thing I don't care about it too much is is the distance from the belt that this will, this will put the the the knife but still an excellent carry system.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:52]:
Okay, next up. This is the one, the one that does not have one 1095 blade steel. This one is called the Rapid Strike. This is a Leo Espinosa designed fighter. I love this little knife. Asymmetrical fighters are my thing as you know. And this is a great everyday carry asymmetrical fighter. This one is a little bit modified by myself.

Bob DeMarco [00:37:22]:
It had a longer and pointy sort of glass breaker style pommel here which through the made it more difficult to carry because it made this knife longer and it kind of stabbed into my side and then also did not make it easy to to cap the pommel with the thumb for downward thrusting or reverse grip thrusting. So I just ground it off and I also put grooves in the handle to make it grippier and easier to draw. It's got this cool jimping going all the way around the handle which if you grip it tightly it doesn't stand proud of the scales but if you grip it tightly you can engage that that jimping with the fat of your thumb and hand that that just kind of melt into there. Nice and slender. Also a good length. That's about four inches or four and a quarter inches. So a good, good long self defense knife but also nice and slender. They've got a number of knives like this that are long, slender, thin, close to the body style.

Bob DeMarco [00:38:31]:
Self defense knives. They 1 it's an area they excel in. One kind of interesting thing I've never seen on any other knife that I can remember is that it's got this bolt going in on one side and that's for positive engagement in this Kydex sheath. That bolt kind of notches right into that dome and keeps it nice and secure in there. And a knife like this, a self defense knife, you want it to be secure in the sheath. All right. That is the rapid strike. My 154cm selection.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:05]:
You would, you would think, one might think that that would be more common, a more common blade choice for the tops knives like say this next one that ride close to the body. But this is definitely 1095 as well. This is the Lacy Zabo design Felony stop this was one of the knives that really made me fall in love with tops after, after they started adopting different designs other than the giant combat blades. This one just really did it for me. It's a dagger. We'll call it a dagger just for our purposes here. Even though it's bayonet ground and isn't symmetrical all the way, it's a pistol grip dagger that easily stashes on your body. This was one of the first knives that carried EDC on a, on a, on a pretty full, full time basis.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:59]:
You've got this great thumb swale here that also doubles as a trapping swale. So if you're, if you're use holding this knife using this in reverse grip. This scoop here with the jimping is great for trapping your opponent's arm or wrist if you come in contact with them in, in this sort of manner. And that is not a way to, that is not a way to apprehend someone. That is a way to. It's a halfbeat in, in a sequence of moves in a knife fight at that sort of trapping thing would be a momentary way to trap someone's arm before you move on to something else. It's not, not. It's not a way to permanently trap them or, or to hold them in place.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:49]:
It's just a sort of halfbeat measure but a really great consideration on a knife like this. Double edged and intended for self defense and fighting. Very, very sharp 1095 and gray traction coating. If you buy this today, it'll be black traction coated which to be honest I like a little bit better. This one you can see which side was touching my skin more often and it was this one. As you can see from that gray G10, that's. I mean that gray micarta which is started to patina. Really, really nice knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:41:24]:
I've carried it a long time. I haven't carried it in a while but, but I was carrying it in the waistband in this manner. So this would come over my belt would come through here and it would just ride up above my waistband. That's the felony stop. And all of the billboarding of this knife is on the handle, which is kind of a cool way to do it. Next up, also very self defense. This one's designed by DC Blades and they're really pushing this one as a very useful edc and I could, I could see that. But of course I really look at this through the lens of self defense.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:01]:
This is the Afyra and a wicked, wicked design from the very prolific design team that is DC blades. This one fully gripped in hand just melts in the hand and gets pretty much buried in there. And then the only thing sticking out is this wicked sharp finger. It's like an extra finger or a tusk. Looks like a rhino to me and is awesome in reverse grip. They've considered the pommel in a way that I love. You can either kind of rest your thumb there or the way I prefer is to hook over and grab onto that jimping and it gives you really, really excellent purchase. Also with that curve of the spine of the blade, another good trapping sort of style knife again, just for a half beat, you're going to yank the guy's arm here before you come over here.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:55]:
So a great shape. Also this jimping here is excellent for both the thumb and then also for grabbing 1095 blade steel with that black traction, high traction coating. I love the maroon liners here. They're not going for that bright red this time, they're going for a deep maroon which is very subtle and quite beautiful. On this really unique and beautiful knife. You say how could this be a practical edc actually when it was described to me it could be used to chop vegetables. It could be used for campsite stuff, feather sticks and that kind of thing I guess. But to me this is EDC self defense all day long.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:44]:
Great fold over taco sheath. And they have this clip on it which I also got from a different knife and put on my rapid strike. But I, I really like this top split. Really keeps the thing on the belt easy and, and stoutly. Okay, next up. This one was featured recently in a pocket carry fixed blade episode we did here. This is the FDX 66. There are a couple of knives in this FDX model.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:13]:
This is the most bearded paired down version with no handle scales. Though I've thought about putting handle scales in. It would actually affect how it rides in this awesome stout pocket leather sheet. I say pocket leather, but you could also carry it on the belt either horizontally or vertically. There was a period of time where I was carrying this quite a bit and I ended up wrapping that with electrical tape just to give it a little bit more grip. Not only in terms of width, which I gave it a little width there, but also just in terms of surface grip. More than half circle there acts as the finger groove and swedge. The, the depth of that really aids in the grip of this.

Bob DeMarco [00:45:01]:
Because this is a two and a half finger knife. I've vacillated back and forth about keeping a fob on There I'll probably next time I start carrying this, next time I go through an FDX 66 phase I'll probably put a fob on there to, to try it out for extra grip length here. But I love the shape of this Americanized tanto. It's got instead of a secondary point it's got like a belly, like a very subtle belly there. And I think that this one would make a great fixed blade, a longer fixed blade knife, a more combative fixed blade because I love that downward angle of the straight edge here. I think that that really aids in cutting and would make it an excellent slashing knife if it were a little bit larger. I mean as it is it's a little self defensey kind of EDC knife. So it could, it could make a good slasher as well.

Bob DeMarco [00:45:57]:
But with only two and a half fingers on there. You know, you'd have to be careful using this in any sort of dynamic scenario. The FDX 66 also 1095 and seracoted with that tan, tan color. Okay. The second one from Lacy Zabo in this list is the Zabo Express. This was a must have when it came out. I, I, I ran, I didn't walk to my nearest top stealer which was I believe knifecenter and snap this up. Now I was thinking this one before I just looked it up was 154.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:37]:
It's unmarked but it indeed is also 1095 blade steel. This one has a black coating but it's not that traction coating. It's a smoother, smoother coating. I opted for mine to be double edged as you can see here. No choils, no sharpening choils which aid in a smooth retraction from any sort of, sort of material you might be stabbing this thing into. And you're not going to get hung up on the choils there. An asymmetrical fighter design. You can especially see it when you turn it upside down that it is asymmetrical.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:13]:
And then of course you've got this arched grip. Very comfortable guard here is really protective. Nicely jimped on that thumb ramp there. Really stops you from moving forward. Move that thumb moving forward onto that nasty top edge. Also a nice bottom edge. I'm going to put this out with the other Zabo design just so you can see if you don't know Lacy Szabo, he's a former marine and law enforcement officer martial artist who has designed some of the most unique and crazy looking tactical knives in his day. This Express is probably one of the Most Tang designs I've seen from him, really, really cool.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:56]:
If you just do an image search of Lacy Zabo designs, you're going to be wowed by his very combative style knives. Here you see the, the black micarta, this time with that bright red liner. Looks so nice. I love this Zabo Express. This one I have carried in the waistband at the 3 o', clock, but as soon as I have to sit down for any length of time, I would remove it. So this is not so much an edc. I tried to push it with this one, but it's great under the belt, just, you know, walking around and not in the waistband, but just under the belt. That's the Zabo Express.

Bob DeMarco [00:48:40]:
My top's not as. All right, next up. This one is on loan from Dave of OG Blade Reviews. Not on loan, but this is a going to be a giveaway knife. I used to own this knife and foolishly sold it. This is the, this is the very cool Swanagan designed cut four. This is a really, really useful and useful, practical and wicked knife. Of course, you look at it, it almost looks like an SE or something.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:13]:
You've got a pretty tame drop point, albeit a very acute pointed drop point. Nice and thick. This is a 3,8 of an inch thick blade. 1095 blade steel, again with the high traction coating. But it's a, like an outdoors knife that doubles as a tactical knife. That ring there is perfectly placed and very, very stout. Perfectly placed, meaning you can make a natural wrist, natural fist with this in your hand. But also a really thick ring that can be used not only for adjusting attitudes but also breaking into things like coconuts.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:53]:
I've seen people do that with this ring or any, any manner of hard, hard, hard walled. What am I trying to say? Nuts. You could, you go and you could smash open nuts with this. Coconuts. You could pound in ten steaks with it. It's nice and thick. It's just, it just has a lot of purposes. It's not just a Karambati type knife in standard grip.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:20]:
I don't use the ring and it makes for an excellent pommel. So this is an all around great knife. It's got a fold over Pakko style sheath which as far as I'm concerned for self defense. These are the best kind of sheaths because they're slender and they mount, they mount easily without having too much real estate there. This is a tan micarta. You can see as you go from side to side, this side is darker. It's contacted the Skin more, I think. And I love how it turns kind of red as it gets more and more oil in it.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:56]:
This is the Swanigan design cut for combat utility. Combat utility, whatever the T stands for. Not sure, you could call it the cuck combat utility knife, but that would be untoward. By the way, when I was carrying mine, I definitely carried it most often in the waistband at the 3 o'. Clock. If I were to carry this nowadays, I would carry it using the soft loops on the, on the front in scout style. Next up, another ringed knife. This was designed by Craig Powell.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:35]:
I mentioned him earlier. He's there. I don't know, I don't know what his. He's like their chief of staff and their chief designer and maybe not their chief designer, but their head of Prada. He's the, the forward facing guy that you see from tops. Really nice dude. He was on the show years ago and this is his design and it's a really cool one. Another case where the ring is actually quite useful and you can use it, you can hold it in a natural style fist.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:05]:
If you're going to use it combatively like this, you've got that straight edge which we all know is great for slashing and such. But this is more of a utility knife and I could see this almost as a bird and trout knife. It is the poker. Now all you actual hunters and fishermen are like, yeah, but that's got a straight edge, Bob. So the, the, the part of it that really strikes me as a bird and trout is the ring. It's a utility with a ring, a utility knife with a ring. So you're using it, say however you're going to use it. Maybe you're cutting open boxes and then you need to do something else.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:40]:
So you let it hang on the ring, you do that something else, you bring it back, you do your cutting and then you let it hang on the ring. So rings are not always for caramb flipping and, and, and that kind of flashy tactical movement. Oftentimes they're used just for retention and for deployment. So it makes it easy to take out of the sheath and then makes it easy to hold onto when you have to do other stuff with it. This one has a beautiful two layer micro micarta handle. You've got black and then black micarta liners and then the tan handle, canvas handle. Really, really nice knife. Made in the USA as all of these are in Idaho.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:24]:
Just a beautiful, beautiful knife. All right, second to last is my, or penultimate is my most used tops Knives knife by far, maybe not the most carried because I've, I carried the felony stop and the rapid strike a lot just edc ing it. But this one has gotten the most use. This was my, my outdoor knife for a long time. This is the tex Creek a 1095 blade. This has been reprofiled because I've, I've chipped this blade before. Even though 1095 is super tough, sometimes it doesn't like it when you're swinging and you hit it hit metal pipes. And so I took a big chip out of this at one point.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:13]:
You can still see the ghost of it right there. But filed it out, sharpened it out and here it is good to go again. So 1095 with the acid stonewall or acid rain finish. So it's kind of a clear coat that protects that high carbon steel. And you can also see the hardening, you can see the, the hamone a little bit. If you look, you look closely you can see a darker steel down towards the bottom. USA made. Again, great handle.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:48]:
Very, very comfortable with the red. I got this initially to edc I thought this was going to be like a cool self defense kind of combat knife. But I found the handle to be too long. I made a great Kydex sheath for it, but I found the handle to be too long. And if I were to cut it down, I found that the lanyard hole was kind of in the wrong spot for making it shorter. So I just left it as is and discovered that this is actually the perfect sheath for this. Because this isn't a combat knife. This is not a, an EDC self defense knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:24]:
This is a do everything kind of outdoor chore knife or camp knife. And so this kind of a leather drop pouch sheath is perfect for walking around doing your cutting. Then just drop it back in and no fuss, no muss. You don't have to worry about sliding it into a tight sheath and then snapping a retention strap or any of that. It's just easy access and good to go. I have this set up for this style lanyard here so that I, I saw this once I described talk about this a lot at first on this show. I like a lanyard to go around the back of the hand so that if it drops it swings side to side. If you have it around your wrist and it drops it more tends to swing towards you.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:16]:
So a interesting way to have a lanyard that I learned somewhere. Now I can't remember where but makes it swing side to side. If you have to drop it, let it Go or it slips out of your hands. This is the tops Tex Creek now the last in my collection. But not the last forever certainly. This was a gift from my wife with a little bit of direction from her husband. And this is the Wild Pig Hunter. This is based on a Russian combat knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:50]:
It has a very stiff blade. You can see it's got, it's got this swedge, this hard cut swedge really meant to shore up the blade. You have full thickness of this blade, which is about a quarter inch, I think going all the way to the, the tip. Let's see, is this a quarter inch? Yeah, it's a quarter inch and you have full thickness nearly to the tip and a very, very, let's get this to focus. Very, very stout tip there. So perfect for rusting into a wild pig. This is also got that same 1095 blade steel with the acid rain finish, which is kind of a clear coat. Allows you to see the hardening line of the hamon there.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:38]:
You can see it's harder down below on the edge where you want it to be, but softer in other places so that it can flex when it's in a struggling mammal. Really nice handle in terms of a. The, the gorgeous red G10 liners and tan canvas micarta. But also that profile is really comfortable in hand. I mean, very comfortable in hand. And we look at this and we see the guards and we see the blade and then the name. And we know that this is primarily a thrusting knife. But if you do have to slash, swing or chop with this, the shape of the blade how or the shape of the handle, the way it swells out towards the pommel makes it perfect for retention in a, in a swing, chop or slash.

Bob DeMarco [00:58:33]:
Beautiful logo there again and again. Like I said, one of the few knife companies whose billboarding actually charms me rather than turns me off. This is the V 1914 model and this is the gorgeous leather sheet it comes with. Now if you decide to get the all black super tactical version of this knife, it will ship with a black Kydex sheet. All right, ladies and gentlemen, Tops Knives, one of my favorite companies out there. American made and coming from a place of combativeness, self defense, outdoor definitely fix blades primarily. They make a couple of folders which I've never actually experienced but I wouldn't mind checking out. You should check out some tops knives too.

Bob DeMarco [00:59:20]:
You can, you can find them everywhere you buy your favorite knives. All right. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, thank you and don't take dull for an answer.

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