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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transcript for the Knife Junkie Podcast Episode 651: Most Loved Fixed Blades of 2025.

Bob DeMarco: Coming up, a great new slip joint from Jack Wolf Knives. I get a classic Maxace from my good buddy, Dave. And we're going to take a look at my most favorite, most beloved fixed blade knives of 2025. I'm Bob DeMarco, this is the Knife Junkie Podcast.

Announcer: 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: Welcome back to the show. One of my favorite comments from this past week was from OG Blade Reviews. Speak of the devil, he said, "I never met Paul," talking about Paul Munko, "but he seems like a great guy and we live in the same state. So maybe one day I'll bump into him."

I want to put a plug in for his collaboration with Orbital Knives as well, which I don't believe he showed here. I'm sure there will be plenty more forthcoming. And then we got a response from Paul Munko himself, who says, "Thank you, brother. I would love to meet in person. Always cool to see another Connecticut knife friend. Love the Orbital Knives Vornax. Honestly, one of my favorites of the year. I showed it briefly but would love to discuss it in even more detail. Ed is a great dude and I love what we're doing with Orbital."

So, love seeing dialogue in the comments. Often times we'll see some bounce back and forth and I love that, but when we get the guest himself getting in on the comments, that's always a treat. So, thanks for watching, thanks for listening, thanks for commenting and liking, and well, please keep it up.

Pocket Check
Bob DeMarco: All right, that said, let's get to a pocket check.

Announcer: What's in his pocket? Let's find out. Here's the Knife Junkie with his pocket check of knives.

Bob DeMarco: In my front right pocket today, well, another coincidence here. This was also from OG Blade Reviews. We did a trade for this a couple years ago. This is the awesome Microtech SOCOM Elite Auto. I've had a 2012 or 2013 model of the SOCOM Elite for a long time. You guys know I always talk about that. Love that knife. That was before they changed the grind of the Tanto. I love the old grind of the Tanto. New one's pretty cool too. That's what's represented here.

But I've been sort of jonesing for a modern or more contemporary SOCOM Elite and also an auto version, and Dave presented a trade in just that, and so I snapped it up. I have not carried this in a short while, but back in my pocket. One of my very favorite and only favorite tip-down knife models out there. This and the original Military from Cold Steel. Love that knife.

All right, next up in my pocket, another one I haven't carried in a while, but man do I dig this one. Maybe even favorite more than the original. That is the Mini Cyborg Jack from Jack Wolf Knives. I had to open it on camera in front of me because it's hard to manipulate from the side. It's got such a stout and sturdy little spring. This one in full blasted titanium. I thought I had kept this totally pristine. I pulled it out of my drawer this morning to pop in my pocket and I noticed the snail trails and I had an instant of remorse, and then moved on. That's the whole point of blasted titanium is to get those cool usage marks on there. We've got beautiful purple anodization on the hardware here and just that classic impeccable Jack Wolf Knives build. This design, this pattern, is a Ben Belkin original. It looks modern and angular for a slip joint, but man alive is that a comfortable knife in hand. It is indeed.

All right, next up in my waistband today, I had the McNasty from Fisher Blades. This is a great small stashable dagger. Full edged, fully double-edged dagger. Fits perfectly in hand, kind of in the same carry envelope, if you will, as the Pequet Covert. So, kind of the same sized handle, same sized blade, but of course you're getting this wicked double-edged dagger. They made a full-size version of that. I did not get that one, but maybe someday I will. Beautiful shape, look at that. I love the symmetry of this knife and it's real easy to carry. The sheath has loosened up. It's easier to use now. It used to be a bit of a pain in the butt to actually extract the knife, but I've come up with a little system where I kind of open it up with my thumb and it draws easily.

Last up for emotional support, a true classic with me but not on me today, I had the SOG Super Bowie on me. I'm just... I can't quit you SOG Super Bowie. I just love the shape of the MacV SOG knives in general. The double-peaked clip point blade with that super long swedge all coming all the way back here with the double peak on the spine. Everything about the MacV SOG shape I've always loved.

It would be cool... maybe I do this in my older age when I find that briefcase full of gold and I have a lot of money to spend, but I think it'd be cool to have a MacV SOG sub-collection where you have SOG-made knives, you have Vehement-made knives, you have Bark River-made MacV SOGs. It's a pattern that's been repeated many, many times by many great makers and I think it's worthy of sub-collection consideration for the future. So, maybe I'll do that.

Okay, this is what I had on me today. You tell me what you had on you, drop it in the comments below. I had the Microtech Automatic SOCOM Elite, I had the Mini Cyborg Jack from Jack Wolf Knives, I had the wicked and subtle Fisher Blades McNasty, and my ESK today was the gorgeous—and by the way, I love that black shine on the blade—MacV SOG Super Bowie from SOG Knives.

Bob DeMarco: All right, a lot of great knives on me, but what I didn't have on me today was something that we are going to offer and we are offering right now. What a smooth transition that was.

Three Dog Knife has just given us the most major coupon code. Three Dog Knife is the in-house custom knife brand from Northern Knives up in Anchorage, Alaska. I'm going to place down three knives as examples, but they just reached out to us—Mike reached out to us from Three Dog Knife and said we'd love to give your listeners a coupon code because they always express interest when we do a giveaway of their knives. So, they gave us this coupon code. You get 25% off their awesome hardcore Alaskan-made outdoors knives. And all you gotta do is go to theknifejunkie.com/threedogknife. It takes you to the Three Dog Knife website, and there you can pick out your knife and get 25% off. 25% off, that's like the best deal we offer here.

But here are a couple of examples of the knives. This is the Riot, equally comfortable in a back alley as it is on the Alaskan frontier. This is a great hunting Tanto. You don't see that too often, outdoors Tanto. This is the Mac, the Multi-Animal Knife. I love this one. This is the first Three Dog Knife knife I got, and we gave one of these away, we gave a Riot away, and soon we'll be giving this away. This is their newest one. It's a Trevor Barrett design. Trevor Barrett is an Alaskan knife maker, he was a winner of Forged in Fire, you may know him. But this here is another beautiful outdoors Tanto. Again, something you don't see often but it is such a useful blade shape. I'm not surprised it's been adopted by hunters and such. Nice long handle on this gives you room to chop. You've got a sort of blade-heavy affair—I shouldn't say blade-heavy, but you have with that harpoon up front, you've got a little bit of weight up there for chopping. Nice swedge and just a great knife to hold onto. You've got all this jimping and all this handle. So just a great and beautiful knife.

They all come with these gorgeous Alaskan-made leather sheaths made by D. Johnston, who's an Anchorage sheath maker—and actually, I don't know if he's in Anchorage. I do know he's in Alaska. But anyway, this is the long way of saying we have such an amazing coupon code with Three Dog Knife and an amazing outdoors knife company. So, go check it out. I highly recommend them. I love these knives, and Mike and Dakota and the folks over at Three Dog Knife and Northern Knives are so great and they've given us so much on this channel to giveaway to you guys, including this awesome offer. So check it out.

Oh, since I have it in my hand, this will be the Gentleman Junkie giveaway knife for January of 2025. January 15th we'll be giving this beauty away—not this one, this one is mine. We'll be giving one away that's black Cerakoted with beautiful black Micarta handles and that same gorgeous brown leather sheath. I mean, you will be the talk of camp walking around with this on your belt. "Who's that guy with that amazing—or what is that amazing belt on Bob's knife? I'm embarrassed to ask." But of course I'm not there because you don't see me at no camp because I haven't gotten to that stage of my life yet. But maybe in my retirement years, I'll become a big bad hunter. I would love to, but seems like that ship may have sailed.

All right, finally before we get to Knife Life News, I just want to say if you want to help support the show—we were just talking about Patreon and becoming a member here on YouTube or at Patreon, becoming a Gentleman Junkie. Well, you can do so by going to theknifejunkie.com/join and there you will see us and you can go right to Patreon, click the join button. I'm sorry, theknifejunkie.com/patreon. And see all the things we have there to offer. We have three different tiers, but by far the top tier of support is the most popular because every third Thursday of the month we give away something spectacular. We do a lot of knife giveaways on Thursday Night Knives, but third Thursday of the month Patreon, that is extra special. Those are the most really, really nice custom knives and stuff that we give away. Had a bit of brain lock, so I think I've been saying 2025, but of course this knife giveaway will be happening in January of 2026 because there is no going back people, as much as we might like to.

All right, I've said enough on this topic. Let us now get to Knife Life News.

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Bob DeMarco: Up first as we enter this new year, we're going to start seeing so many different—all the different knife companies announcing the models that'll be coming out in 2026 and I'm very excited about that. Just got some of the first reports back from the field and We Knife Co. has as usual something beautiful and somewhat luxurious on the way. I say luxurious because every We Knife is just a cut above. They are beautifully done, I gotta say, even though they're not quite my style.

This one could be, though. I could be convinced with this for sure. This is the beautiful new Fluxor. It's a modern in-house Wharncliffe design. It's biggy. I like it. But before I even get to the dimensions, you can tell—I mean, if this were tiny or super big, it's got perfect handle to blade ratio to my eye anyway. And then the shape of the blade and then the corresponding shape of the pommel part of the handle lends to that great-looking handle to blade ratio. Looks like one-to-one to me, but obviously it can't be. But there it is, beautiful thing. That's a 3.98, so let's say 4-inch M390 blade. It's got a flipper, kind of a cool four-finger flipper, it's hollowed out there. Beautiful, beautiful true Wharncliffe blade, meaning it's a 100% straight edge terminating in a point that picks up with a constant arc to the thumb ramp. The handle is a very sleek titanium. In this one that you see here, it's flame anodized, but there's also plain jane versions of this. Nice chamfer. In this picture you can see beautifully, nice milled chamfer with those parallel lines going down to that tapered butt end. Really pretty and looks to be comfortable in hand and for a big knife, 4.39 ounces, not bad at all. This will be coming soon, MSRP 340 bucks. So, save up your shekels.

All right, next up, we're going to take just a quick look at the CRKT 2026 lineup as announced currently. And the only thing I want to jump into with any sort of depth is the very first thing. We know the M16 model lineup. It's their tried and true, it's been around forever and one could say probably pretty accurately that it is the line of knives that really projected CRKT into the stratosphere. But they have a Balisong version of it. How cool, I'm so excited about this. Wish it were a little bigger, but hey, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

So, this M16 Balisong comes in Magnacut. You got a 3.4-inch Magnacut blade, either spearpoint or Tanto, in keeping with the usual M16 offerings. You get a drop point or a Tanto, thing is beautiful in Magnacut. Also, those handle scales, those handle handles—whatever you call them, they're not scales, but the flipper handles there—are titanium, which is nice. So it's going to be nice and light. It's going to flip around really nicely. You got those double guards there, which you see on M16s but are also pretty traditional on Balisongs. 2.6 ounces on this sucker and will be available soon. I'm not sure what the MSRP is going to be on this.

And then as we scroll down, I'm just going to point out some of the different designers. Here we've got Ken Onion with this cool Counterpoint that's got the Clutch Lock crossbar lock. This one here, pause on this one. This gorgeous Richard Rogers is coming in two different... two different dress. The standard version will be in S35VN and GRN handles, which is kind of funny to me. That's just kind of funny. And a crossbar lock. And then the one we see here is premium. It's kind of like a different knife altogether with a hidden hardware sculpted Ti clip and a titanium frame lock with that cool plate over it and gorgeous Damasteel blade. More Richard Rogers in this collection this year. We got three Richard Rogers knives. I think this one coming up there's one, it's kind of a cool more budgety one. And then there's a third little tool down there.

But this one here, here's a Matthew Lerch, that's a pretty cool design called the Zephyr. The zephyr is some sort of magical wind, but I also know that a lot of trains were called Zephyrs in the Art Deco days and that kind of looks like an Art Deco train to me. And then moving on, we've got this beauty from Princeton Wong. My gosh, that's a gorgeous-looking knife. 14C28N liner lock model or a very upscale Damascus titanium and frame lock version, as seen on the screen. So they're doing some cool stuff here with the two different model types with some of these, because up until now Princeton Wong—to get a Princeton Wong in your pocket, it's going to cost you a very pretty penny. Here you have the option to spend a lot on this frame lock version or spend a little on this GRN and 14C model. So, really cool offerings here. Here's another Richard Rogers kind of like a dog tag knife. And then another little utility blade there. And then what's the last one? Oh, there we go. That's right, Michael Walker, the legendary Michael Walker back with CRKT. He's done two knives with them over the years, but just a beautiful, beautiful knife there. And then lastly, we have a Kayla Cummings knife down on the bottom. So lots of cool stuff. Everything that they're showing off, except for that M16 Balisong, is from a designer collaboration. You know, it's a custom maker or designer collaboration. Now, I know that's not all they're putting out, that's not how they roll over at CRKT, but those are definitely their flagships and I'm excited for all of them.

All right, last up in Knife Life News, one that I'll be showing off close up here in a minute: the Jack Wolf Knives released the Timber Jack. And this is a cool one for a lot of different reasons. First of all, it's a collaboration but it's not in the JW Collab lineup. It's in the Steel Series and Ultralight lineups here. This is the Tracy LaRock Timber Jack. Tracy LaRock is a knife maker known for his modern traditionals. So, a custom knife maker known for his modern traditionals, so a hook up with Jack Wolf Knives is par for the course—I mean, it just makes sense is what I mean. This is the biggest slip joint so far from Jack Wolf Knives with its 3.4-inch 154CM—they're calling it a spearpoint, I'm calling it a drop point. But I love the shape of that blade. Love to have a big fixed blade with that shape. Got a little bit of a tactical flare but it is extremely useful. Now it's going to come in those two Ultralight Series versions on the left where you see the black and the tan double-colored G10, and then it's going to come in four versions of the Steel Series, and here we see two of them there with Richlite and Micarta, and then I know that there are two other Kirinite versions of this knife. For me personally, I am excited mostly about the Ultralight versions of these because this is of all the Jack Wolf Knives I have—and they are all robust and they are all really, you know, ready to go, no doubt capable of tough hard use—this one to me seems like chief among them for the hard use kind of stuff. Plus at 165 for the Ultralights on the left or 185 for the Steel Series on the right, you're going to feel a little bit more comfortable hard using them than you would maybe a $400 Jack Wolf Knife or $350 Jack Wolf Knife. So, really, really cool, big in hand, very nice. I'll be showing it up close-up in a second here. January 16th, 2026, these drop. So go check 'em out. I think these will be ones that will go fast. I just kind of have the feeling people love their collaborations, but they also love big robust slip joint blades. So, that's what you'll get with that.

The First Tool
Bob DeMarco: All right, still to come, we're going to take a look at Marbles hunting knives in the First Tool and then we'll get to the State of the Collection right here on the Knife Junkie Podcast.

Announcer: You're listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast. Here's some cool knife history with the Knife Junkie's The First Tool.

Bob DeMarco: Imagine you're deep in the woods at first light. In your hand is a tool that's more than steel and wood. It's a Marbles hunting knife. Today's story isn't just about a knife. It's about how a family business helped shape what hunters think of as the perfect reliable companion.

In the early 20th century in the heartland of the United States, the Marbles family was already forging a reputation for fine cutlery. But it was the Marbles hunting knife that became something of a legend among outdoorsmen. These knives weren't born in a flashy showroom or a boardroom or a trendsetter's workshop, they were crafted in cold forge shops with a single purpose: real hard use.

A Marbles knife has a look that's instantly recognizable to enthusiasts. The blade is stout and functional, often made in a clip or drop point profile, shapes that make skinning game, slicing rope, or preparing camp feel almost intuitive. The steel was chosen for balance, tough enough to hold an edge through field dressing, yet not so brittle that a hard contact with bone spelled disaster. Handle materials ranged from good old hardwoods to stag, hell, stacked leather—my personal favorite. All warm in hand on a chilly morning and grippish when wet.

Hunters loved Marbles knives because they spoke the language of the field. It wasn't about flash or gimmicks, it was about purpose. Early catalogs touted these blades for deer, elk, and smaller game alike with testimonials from woodsmen whose lives depended on a durable edge.

Over time, Marbles became synonymous with a sort of honest utility. The kind of blade you could pass down to the next generation, not only due to its utility, but to its beauty and robust build. There's also a fun twist in this tale. Marbles offered a range of tang stamps and collectors patterns long before collectible knives were really a thing. Today, vintage Marbles hunting knives, especially those with unique handle materials or rare blade profiles, fetch admiration and often times very high prices among collectors.

But beyond value or rarity, it's the stories hunters attach to these blades that make them special. A first successful hunt, a rainy night gutting fish at the mountain stream, passing the knife to a child and seeing their eyes light up with pride. These are the moments a Marbles knife was built for. So next time you heft this classic hunting blade remember, it's not just steel. It's history. Edge first, into the wild.

Well, if you like this kind of talk, if you like conversation about knives and conversing about knives and meeting like-minded individuals, come to Thursday Night Knives on Thursdays at 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time right here on YouTube and join the conversation. It's awesome, it's so much fun. We've all become friends, I feel, and I always thought that that was corny—online friends—but it's true. I've come close with a lot of the people who come to Thursday Night Knives and we have a great time. So do come, check it out, join us, and let's have some fun every Thursday night. Also, that means during the weekends you don't have to bore your friends and family with knife talk. You will have gotten it all out during Thursday Night Knives.

State of the Collection
Bob DeMarco: All right, let's get to the State of the Collection.

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Bob DeMarco: Okay, so here it is. This is the Jack Wolf Knives Tracy LaRock collaboration. This is the Timber Jack. Now, here, I'm going to... [clatter]. Okay, that was of course exaggeration, but this—we know the Jack Wolf Knives, they're known for their stout springs, their hard pulls and all that. This is the Mac Daddy. This one is pretty tough to open, I gotta say, and even tougher to close. I'm going to do this right here. [snap].

And when I say tough, I don't mean in a bad way. It's not a... you're not going to break your fingernails opening this. It does have a long pull on the show side here, but pretty much you don't need it. Enough of the blade stands out from the handle to pinch it open. But I'm here to show you how beautiful that blade is. I love the shape of that blade. So it does have a little bit of a tactical flare, but it's all utility. It's got a swedge there, a very deeply hollow ground 154CM blade, and really stellar fit and finish. Look at that. In some light, it's hard to see where the spring meets the blade, it's so nicely, perfectly hafted there. And then of course on the half-stop, which I'll take you to right now. At the half-stop, perfectly flat, perfectly flush on that spring. And I'm going to open this back up.

And a really, really comfortable handle. It reminds me a bit of those two-bladed traditional hunter knives that have the skinning blade and—or sometimes saw and a big clip point blade. It just has that sort of hunter or trapper handle that's so comfortable. So I love this one. Ultralight, you can see that really cool neon green liner and then the black G10, contoured over G10, so very nicely rounded and comfortable in the handle. Ordinarily, I don't go for the neon; on this, it just looks so cool. So, it comes with this and a cream-colored G10 version and then the other Steel Series versions with the steel bolsters.

Next up, two from Knives by Nuge. Tom Nugent just sent these to me and I am so excited about them. That one is the Cub. This one is the Bruin. So, a bear theme here. So, this is a series of knives that Tom has been making for a little while, but he just added the swedge to these. Very thin blade stock with a gorgeous flat saber grind that comes to a wickedly sharp edge. I mean, this thing... both of these knives are incredibly sharp and acute. Plus you add that swedge to the point, they're great for, you know, penetrating, thrusting, whatever.

I mean, these are camp knives and outdoor knives and I know that stabbing and point work isn't as big a deal in the woods, I guess, as it might be in the back alley—I know that was corny but it's true—but the swedge... often times you don't see swedges on knives like this because people like to baton on them or what have you, or they need a more robust tip. I am really digging this, though. I love the way the swedge looks and performs so far. I've only had these two days, as I'm recording this, so I haven't used it for much. I actually used this in the kitchen cutting chicken, and it did a great job, just glided right through it. I just wanted to see what the edge was like. Really cool copper tubes there holding the Micarta handles on. [sound of a lanyard rattling]. Stop that from shaking. I put this little lanyard on, and then here's the Cub. And this has a great—these both have Badger Claw sheaths, by the way, really excellent Badger Claw sheaths. This one for the past two days I've had in my front pocket. When I got home, I popped this in the front pocket and pulled it out to... I've only opened up Amazon boxes with this, to be honest, so far. But that will change. I love these things. Perfect outdoor companion knives and I like that you have the option for size. Drop one in your pocket, drop one in your belt. These are the Knives by Nuge. This is the Cub in the beautiful pocket sheath and then this is the Bruin in the very nice stepped Badger Claw sheath for the belt.

Last in the State of the Collection, this is a cool one. A gift from my friend Dave of OG Blade Reviews. I'm sure you watch him already, but if you don't, go check out OG Blade Reviews. A great guy with great analysis of an amazing collection. So go check him out. He's always getting new, new cool stuff. But this he just sent me. He sent my wife a beautiful gift, too. I'm not going to show it here but I'll show it off maybe next time. But this is the Maxace Lanius, and it is wicked. This is an old-school Maxace. You've got a handle that reminds me a little bit of the SOCOM Elite, I really like it. I like it tapering to the butt there. It's a steel frame lock with a really nice 14C28N blade. I love the shape of that blade. It's so incredibly acute. I like that it doesn't have a swedge, it would be too fine down there at the point. So nice and thin, nice and fine. A very subtle—it feels like a hollow grind, very subtle. And then you have this inlay of carbon fiber in the blade.

Which, we are at a stage in—well, we're in 2025—that carbon fiber inlay is a perfect sort of indicator that this was made probably—I'm guessing—2015. Like, you can tell that this is already a little bit older and I love that. It's very cool. I've never had a knife with a carbon fiber inlay and I love this knife. Thank you so much, Dave. I look forward to carrying this thing around a lot. It's... it's a looker and it's an attention-getter, but it's also super... it's pretty robust. I think it could be used for pretty definitely anything I'm going to throw at it. But it's also just cool to look at and fun to play with.

Most Loved Fixed Blades of 2025
Bob DeMarco: Okay, before we get to the most loved fixed blade knives of 2025 for my collection, I want to show this off. I have a knife for that. This is our latest and greatest pithy maximum that you can get on any bit of cool merch like you see here: a hat, a water bottle, a tote bag, T-shirt, but also a lot of other stuff. Aprons, anything you want. Go to theknifejunkie.com/shop, check out the many pages of merch that we have there. All these cool designs that Jim comes up with. Character and... well, it will show your character, and if you wear these out and about you might meet like-minded individuals, which is a scary thought. So go check 'em out at theknifejunkie.com/shop.

All right, I got a lot of knives this year. Maybe not as many as other years, but more, I don't know. But I do know that I've been on a big fixed blade kick. So this week I'm going to go over my favorite fixed blades of 2025, now that we're solidly in 2026. And then next week I'm going to do the folders, I think, because I got some cool folders this year too. And I think I've come down to a point where I'm a little bit more about quality than quantity, or what I really want more than like I want all knives. So I think I'm starting to refine naturally, it's just I haven't reduced as far as the collection goes.

First up, this one you've seen the past couple of shows because I'm just into it, and this is my Steadfast L, my large Steadfast from Work Tuff Gear. A positively beautiful enlarged version of the original Steadfast, which had a 5.5-inch blade. This has a 7-inch blade and the blade is still made of the same material, K329, a super tough Bohler steel and also stain resistant. There we go. And this version has jimping on it, which is really nice. Chamfered over on the side, rounded over on the sides and a really, really comfortable in the thumb. If I had one ding on the original Steadfast, it's that it didn't have this awesome jimping on it, but I can... I can live with it. It wasn't a... it wasn't an option at the time. This one, of course, with that beautiful white and black handle combination that I really love. A dual-finish blade. You've got a sort of a stonewash on the flats and on that gorgeous long swedge and that really, really wicked Work Tuff Gear edge. I've put this to a little bit of use, just doing some carving outside. There's some fatwood schmutz on there I gotta clean off, but other than that, just a great knife. And yeah, like I said, I used it for some minor outdoors chores, but to me this feels way more like a fighting knife. It kind of fits in the dimensions of a KA-BAR, but it moves differently. It's got a really nice feel to it. So, I'm loving this Steadfast L. Also, I like that they reduced the sheath a little bit. I mean, the sheath is still kind of a broad, big broad thin... I kind of wish that they made their sheaths a little smaller, but on the longer size blade it doesn't feel as wide, let me put it that way. So, a gorgeous, gorgeous knife.

Next up, this was... I got this at Blade Show this year from Gunfighter Customs. This is the Gunfighter Customs Gunfighter. And we just gave one of these away on Thursday Night Knives to a lucky Gentleman Junkie, but this one is mine. And I love the way this carries appendix. I had a brief dalliance with appendix carry maybe a year and a half ago. Remember, I talked all about it? "I'm going appendix!" Well, I've kind of gone back to over on the side, it's more comfortable to me. But this one still fits up front really nicely. It's probably due to that small sort of teardrop shape handle. It's rounded off nicely so it doesn't interrupt my growing belly, or doesn't harsh it in any way. And it's small enough that it's not... that it's easy to sit down with. But it's bulbous enough that when you grab it with the right hand—I like to grab it, it's set up so that I will pull it, draw it like this—it just fits in the hand just perfectly. So, I love this knife. It's designed by Michael Elliott, that's his maker's mark right there. Michael Elliott and made by Gunfighter Customs, Jared Franklin, chief maker there, and there's their cool sort of Misfits skull with a... with a riding helmet on. And then... and then oh yeah. So this one's dated 2025 and you can see Jared Franklin's signature on it. Double-edged, it's sort of a double-edged answer to the Clinch Pick. And you... the Clinch Pick comes in a double-edge, but I say you have no place to put your thumb on the Clinch Pick. And I do love the Clinch Pick, but this one gives you a little more in terms of options. And to my eye, it's just a more beautiful knife and what matters is how it looks, right? That's how it looks. Okay, so that's the Gunfighter Customs Gunfighter.

Next up, Armis Knife and Tool, the VSK-1. I love this thing. And this really got me into—back into fixed blade pocket carry or pocket carry fixed blades. Thank you for that change there. This is the VSK, which stands for Very Sharp Knife 1. And it... it just melts into your hand. Often times you may have heard me complaining about double finger partitions where two fingers fit here, two fingers fit here and I don't like that. Well, on this one, it feels really comfortable. It just works on this blade. Maybe because it commits heartily to that sort of center-center partition. But this one also has that great thumb placement on the puño here, so you have a nice big bird's beak and you can put your thumb on there for downward striking and serious strength in that downward strike. You've got that incredible triangular shape blade with a centerline point and an upswept straight edge—or nearly straight edge. This thing is amazing for reverse grip thrusting and striking, just due to how it's all set up on the handle. Another great thing about Armis Knife and Tool is this: their sheaths are just so cool. They do great sheaths. Now I have three of them. I have the sheath for this VSK-1, I have their sheath for the generic paring knife. So it's a sheath much like this, but it's built to take a generic paring knife. So you're traveling, you show up to the grocery store, you get a cheap paring knife, you put it in the sheath, and then when you're done you ditch it, give it to a homeless guy, throw it down a sewer grate, whatever you do with your knives when you have to ditch them, and then you travel back home and you have your sheath. And then I bought a third one for the Mini VSK-1. It fits my AMTAC Northman perfectly. So Armis Knife and Tool making really great knives, but also really great sheaths. And I like to see a knife maker commit to being great at both of those because you really need both to have a successful fixed blade knife setup. Mmm, love this knife.

All right, next up, a similar setup, totally different purpose of knife. This is the Knives by Nuge Primitive Wicket XL. You saw me talk about this one a lot this year. This is the large version of the Wicket neck knife. I have the primitive version of that as well. And for Knives by Nuge and Tom Nugent, primitive means handle is wrapped in jute cord and the edge is a Scandi grind. So this thing carves like a maniac. It's got a nice 80CrV2, it's got a nice 90-degree spine throws sparks amazingly too. You know, it's so funny because the people I know who are actual outdoorsmen and former military and everything, they laugh at me because I like to use a ferro rod. They're like, "Dude, carry a Bic, man. Carry a Bic." And I do carry a lighter but I do like to throw sparks and this one throws... throws some sparks. And there's the Knives by Nuge logo. You know I'm a huge sucker for the jute... jute wrap, and he does such an awesome job. I actually have his jute wrap also on the DP1, the small knife by DK Knives. So Tom Nugent, the Bruin and the Cub I showed you before, and then this style of knife, he just makes awesome outdoors knives. He's a real outdoorsman and hunter himself, and so his knives really reflect that. Also his sheaths are great and this pocket style sheath—I know it took a lot of time R&D figuring out how to make these work for his knives and he did a great job. This is another great one to carry in the pocket.

All right, next up, a decidedly different style of knife. This is from Gross Motor Gear, a name that implies the usage of these knives. They're knives that he—knives made in the Mr. Oldman—knives made for self-defense. In those moments when you're filled with adrenaline and you only really have your gross motor skills, you're not doing all your refined martial arts, you're going caveman. Anyway, this is a [sound of a click] there it is, the Mamushi Mini. Now, he sent me a Mamushi Mini and a large Mamushi or a regular size. They're both very easy to carry, but I just bonded more with the Mini, I gotta say. This little mini pikal is just so wicked and fits that my hand so perfectly and is very easy to carry. This one has that incredible tsukamaki wrap. He does a great job, Shawn—Shawn Old is the gentleman who made this. I call him Oldman before, but yeah, he does this gorgeous menuki and tsukamaki wrap, does a great job. And this is on 1095 blade steel and I love that sort of finish he puts on on these. He does some with a more refined finish, I'm a fan of this sort of rougher, rougher look. Fits the hand great in this reverse pikal style grip, but also just really excellently if you just use it like a regular knife. And I've carried this a lot this year and never have I once used it as a fighting knife, but I have used it to open up boxes and do other stuff. And just using the knife like this, like a regular knife, feels great in hand. So he not only nailed the use case for this, like this would make a great self-defense knife, but he really nailed universal ergonomics for like any grip with this knife. So, that's the Mamushi by Shawn Old and Gross Motor Gear. He is a Krav Maga practitioner and has done quite a bit of training in Libre, I think, and so he's, you know, very familiar with knife fight—and also like or with knife fight training. And like almost everyone that I've ever met who's a great martial artist or or involved, cool dude. Cool dude. Once you get humbled on the mat, once you get humbled by someone who you know once you get blocked or humbled during sparring, you become a nicer person usually.

Okay, next up, the Very Good Knife Company First Strike. Jacob Esweet, he was on the show this year. On actually, a lot of these guys were on the show this year, but Jacob Esweet is a very interesting guy and also a super nice guy. He's made thousands of knives in his day. He used to be a kind of a knife-making machine for another outfit, all handmade, no jigs, none of that. And he started his Very Good Knife Company to to make knives at scale in that way. He makes—for the fact that he does these all soup to nuts by hand, he makes a lot of knives and they're all very uniform. I bought this from him at Blade Show 2025 in June of 2025 and of course, out of all of his work at the table, he only had two First Strikes left when I got to him. But he had numerous multiples of other models and they're like all the same. He is like a machine and just makes these incredible knives. I'm a huge fan of this one. It's got a nice hollow grind, it's 80CrV2. He also makes it in a taller flat grind, think of a blade that looks kind of like kind of like a Recon Scout or something like that. So like real tall grind with a shorter swedge. Of course, I'm a sucker for the big swedge and the hollow grind. I have seen him do custom versions of this with a sharpened swedge and a shorter handle, which would be cool too. And yeah, that's this is the Very Good Knife Company First Strike. And that handle is truly as comfortable as it looks.

All right, next up, a gorgeous knife, pulled out of mothballs. This from a friend and legend, this is from Dirk Pinkerton. This is the Matador model. Now this was a nameless model that he brought with him—that Dirk brought with him to Blade Show 2025, and it had been sitting around his shop, I think, and he didn't quite know what to... didn't know what to do with it, but it was just sitting around. I gravitated towards it immediately. I love that Spanish clip look. This reminds me a bit of his Night Horse or his Navaja. Here as an example, reminds me a bit of this knife, that style of blade. So he didn't have a name for it. I bought it, I was enamored with it, kept showing it off on the show. I asked him if I could call it the Matador and he said yes. And then he started getting orders for it, so I had to send this back to him so he could take the measurements and dimensions and check out the knife again so he could start making them. Look at that, gorgeous handle. This is GL Hansen and Sons' G-Carta, and this one is double-edged, of course. Love this knife, I love it and it's very easy to carry in this awesome sheath. Here is another maker in Dirk Pinkerton who does outstanding sheaths. This one is in S30V, I believe. Yes, S30V, but he works in all sorts of steels. I have a knife from from Dirk in S60V, which I haven't used enough to figure out why I like it, but I just like it because it's S60V.

All right, next up, from another awesome guest, a lot of these guys were guests this year, but this knife... okay, this is the Small Northern Hunter from L.T. Wright Knives. Now, I had on loan—I think it was Katmuph Nessmuk—sent me a large one of these to check out and I loved it. And then kind of forgot about it after I sent it back to Nessmup. And then a few years later L.T. Wright comes on our show and my interest in this style—kind of looks like a Canadian belt knife, kind of looks like a parang, it's got like a lot of different looking influences in it—I became... what's the word? Enamored with the design and got the Mini. They didn't have the big one in stock and I had to have it right away, so I got the Mini and I love it. 90-degree spine, this throws sparks amazingly too. Very nice flat ground blade, super sharp, ultra robust. This is AEB-L and really nice handle, Micarta handle here, fits the hand so well. Now it was pretty... it had pretty stout hold in this gorgeous sheath, but it's loosened up a little. That's why I put this Civivi lanyard on it. I do intend to take the Civivi lanyard off and put a leather one on. I don't need to mix my brands here, but I just haven't gotten around to taking it off. It really did help in drawing this from the sheath. And there's the pouch there—or the pouch house.

All right, next up, from Roger Pearson and Savage Creature Defense Tools, this is the Masako-Hachi. This is his signature or maybe flagship design, although he's got a lot of different models that he makes, but this I think was the one that put him on the map. A maker that was recommended by several listeners and viewers of the show. I went, checked out his work and fell in love with it immediately. It's unabashed self-defense fighting knife styles and designs. This one I love so much because it is double-edged and curved, but curved in such a way that it can be used equally effectively in a hawkbill style like a Gununting or in standard style, say like a Persian. Also very well set up for reverse grip self-defense style usage. 1095 blade steel with some really cool proprietary—he wouldn't tell me how he did it—finish on the blade which I love. It just really adds to the overall beauty of this. And again, an incredible tsukamaki wrap here, and they're over that red rayskin. He's got menuki on both sides. Those widen out the handle in a Coke bottle fashion, really fills out the palm, fills out the hand really nicely. That's the Masako-Hachi from Savage Creature Defense Tools. And by the way, as I put this away I'll tell you, as we were out of the house for a little while due to some construction issues this holiday season, this was one of two fixed blades I grabbed and took with me. And so I carried this a lot and truly bonded with this knife. It's an excellent, excellent knife and it carries really well.

A lot like this next one, this I also got at Blade Show 2025 this year. This is the Brock Blades Magni XL. Ken Brock is an amazing knife maker. He's been around for quite a while, he's kind of a hidden gem or a best kept secret kind of guy. And he just cranks out these incredible fixed blades for daily carry. I don't know if he cranks them out, but he had a lot of them on his table and they all were in this very thin profile, broad and thin. This was actually the most slender in profile of the knives I saw there. Beautiful recurves, 3V blade steel on I think all of the knives I was looking at. And a great handle. And of course you have Joe Watson design, this is a pretty famous design by Joe Watson. And so I do not have a Watson until I do, this will hold me. It's cool to have a knife collaboration by two former guests, I have a couple of knives like that. But this one has gotten a lot of carry this year and this past year because it is so sharp, it is so thin and so easy to carry. Also, a great sheath takes a knife a long way. This is the Ken Brock or Brock Blades Magni by Joe Watson. Now that swedge could easily be sharpened, it's so nice and thin, but I'm not going to. I don't want to mess this thing up. I guess I could send it... send it to Ken and say "Hey, double edge me!" Not going to do it.

All right, second to last here is the TKell Knives Outrider. This friggin' thing is so gorgeous. I've always wanted one of these. This was the Sapper and I believe they still make a version of this in that Sapper format. But this is a design collaboration with IDF soldier Imri Morgenstern who did ordnance disposal. And the original intention of this knife was as an EOD knife. So it had a straight line going from the very tip of the blade down the blade and lining up with the three handle fasteners. And there's a very specific purpose for that line, and I'll show you. It was used for—that line is used for detecting exactly where your point is in the sand. So if you're digging around looking for landmines and you're using your knife and you have the blade in the sand and you can't see where the tip is, the line that goes all the way down the blade shows you where it's going to be. And I thought... I always thought that was a cool detail, certainly not something I need in my suburban father lifestyle, but I thought it was cool and I would have taken it. But they have rebranded a little bit on the second run of this. They did a couple of—they changed the jimping up, they changed the choil, they did a couple of actual improvements and then they changed the marking of it a little bit. Now it's a little more of an—as an outrider, it's not just for EOD. It's not just for ordnance disposal, it's for all sorts of outdoor uses. That recurve blade is incredibly efficient at chopping and slicing and cutting and that centerline point is perfect for stabbing and thrusting. And then you've got this handle that will just envelop your hand in numerous different ways. So a super efficient blade and a really excellent design overall. And then of course, TKell Knives known for their sheaths, this big bruiser of a sheath is ready to go if you're a high-speed low-drag and you're jumping out of planes and stuff, you can always loosen this, slide it up, crank it down and then that blade is not coming out. Really cool considerations from Tim of TKell Knives, former Marine himself and just all around... well, he knows what to put on a knife that's going to go into combat because he's been there.

All right, last up, arguably my favorite of everything here, is a custom I got made by my good friend Matt Chase of Hogtooth Knives. And here it is. This is the fighting Bowie that I commissioned from him inspired by the Bagwell style of fighting Bowie with the devil horn guard and the sharpened back edge and the coffin handle. But this is more in the design language of Matt Chase, so the blade—the blade is a Matt Chase Bowie all day long and he just did his beautiful finishings and such that way. I wanted monosteel on this one, so that's a W2... W1, W2, I believe. And it's got Luke 8:17 on there. I am not a Bible verse quoter but my birthday happens to be 8/17, August 17th, and I see that number on the clock like every day and I'm like, "What does that mean?" And I was like, "Oh, there must be a Bible verse." I looked up Luke 8:17 and I love what it says. It is: "Nothing is secret that shall not be revealed nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light." And I love that as a personal reminder that you... the truth will out, you will never really get away with hiding the truth. And so it's a good thing to remind yourself of, it's also a good thing to remember in your own life that if you're being deceived, that will come to light eventually and so have faith. I like having that on a Bowie knife because what is more true than a piece of steel with a beautiful wood handle? So, these are the knives that really, really, really got my my motor running this year. I got a lot of great knives this year, a lot this past year, but these are the 12—I guess 12—that really, really, really do it for me. So let me know what does it for you, let me know what fixed blade in my collection here you like the best, and let me know if you've gotten any this past year that reach favorite status. Stay tuned next week we'll do the folders, I already have them arrayed on my case over there and I'll be pouring over them over this next week, so be sure to join us then.

That just about does it for us. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.

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