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.
©2025, Bob DeMarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
https://theknifejunkie.com

Transcribe Your Podcasts and Videos: https://theknifejunkie.com/magic (affiliate link)

Bob DeMarco [00:00:00]:
Coming up, a big old bison, a Chinese made strider and my most carried self defense fixed blade knives of summer 2025. I'm Bob DiMarco, this is the Knife Junkie Podcast.

Announcer [00:00:16]:
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 [00:00:29]:
Welcome back to the show. One of my favorite from this past week was from frequent Thursday Night Knives contributor Ira Hayes. He says, I'm looking forward to that new TKEL agent 001. I told TKEL their Sunday morning things are too early and I wasn't going to continue their membership until the 001s come out. And then he puts a a winky face meaning no one can give up tel knives. But he's really looking Forward to the 001 and I I am too. The the new run of these is absolutely beautiful. Even better machining than the first run.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:05]:
So we're all looking forward to that. And when they start dropping, when they're almost ready, you will see a big push here as well as from tco. Second comment was from Lesl who says, you've really made me appreciate the Bowie knife and its connection to our history. Thanks Bob. And you know, put wind to my sails that warmed the cockles of my heart. I love the Bowie knife and I love spreading the good news of the Boeing knife. So I'm glad Lesl, I'm glad you're getting something out of it and I'm glad you're all getting something out of this. So thanks for watching.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:39]:
Thanks for commenting and leaving a like it's greatly appreciated. All right, that said, let's get to a pocket check.

Announcer [00:01:48]:
What's in his pocket? Let's find out. Here's the knife junkie with his pocket.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:53]:
Check of knives in my front right pocket today I had this super awesome as always microtech stitch. This one with the ram lock and with the aluminum handle. They come in aluminum or machined G10. They're the same size, different weight, but I really really love the aluminum. I mentioned the ram lock. The reason I say that is because these also come in an automatic version which I don't have. But this ram lock is an exceptional sort of ambidextrous bar lock style knife, at least in how it and how it works. But instead of a bar going across, it's a full block there and instead of an omega spring it's got a, in this case rather dusty coil spring that holds holds the lock forward.

Bob DeMarco [00:02:45]:
This beautiful M390 blade used to to my eye have too much of a choil and have a weird handle to blade ratio. But then when I got one in hand just to check out from a generous viewer, I decided I have to have one myself. I really like the way works, meaning I love the way it feels in hand and how it cuts and how that blade is angled to the handle. It's just a super useful knife and what I hear from the non knife people in my life, it's also incredibly menacing looking. But to me it looks very utilitarian. Very beautiful design by Sebastian Borka and then here or Berengi, I'm sorry, Borka blades is his label. And then of course this one has those beautiful serrations that I love from Microtech. It's got some schmutz on it.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:42]:
I use this one quite a quite a bit because it's so darn useful. Love the feel again of that aluminum handle. Just like the amphibian. You can also get the Amphibian in the machined G10 or the machined aluminum. So I like that they give you the option. Second in my pocket was the Jack Wolf Knives SteelSeries K9 Jack. A reworking of the eighth release from Jack Wolf knives from their premium line with titanium and at the time M390 blade steel. This is a beautiful, beautiful rendering of that.

Bob DeMarco [00:04:26]:
So the steel series is sort of is Jack Wolf knives midline line of knives. They now have the premium that we've known for years now with the titanium, the titanium slip joints and bolster flippers, bolster locks with the premium materials. Recently we saw the gateways in the gateway Barlow which is entry level at that 70 mark. And then the steel series comes with a 154cm blade and steel bolsters and liners but all of the same beautiful fit and finish and construction as the premium. So the materials are just slightly less than the, than the premium. You know me, I'm a big fan of 154cm. So this, this knife has been a very, very welcome addition to my collection. Super thin full height hollow grind on this and yep, your eyes do not deceive you.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:22]:
The first jigged bone in the Jack Wolf knives lineup. They released one other bone model in the White Bone Big Brew Barlo. And but this is the first time with the jigging they got the texture perfectly. It's, it's got great grip in here. But also I find the dye job, this yellow dye job on the bone to be beautiful. These shiny bolsters are nice but they are fingerprint magnets. So if you, if you, if you get your knickers in the twist over that, carry one of these with you and just keep it wiped down. Next, my fixed blade on me today was the agent 001 speak of the devil by TKL knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:06:10]:
This one with the woodland burl style G10 gets rarely carried. It's kind of a pristine blade. I usually have my purple handled one on me but today I felt like I've been switching up the sheets. I felt like having the horizontal scout on me so I just popped this in my, on my belt and had it under my polo shirt and yep, love this knife. It, it needs very little in terms of description. You've seen this one so many times before. But I gotta say, like I mentioned before, the new one's coming out, they look so good and the profile is so crisp. You get a little bit more of that clip on the top instead of a drop.

Bob DeMarco [00:06:56]:
And that was the, that was the original intention for it to look a bit more like a loveless style sub hilt fighter. So you get a little slight bit more of that in the blade. All in all the new ones coming out, I'm so excited for the upgraded machining. And then on the, in my bag for emotional support. Frequent, frequent guest is the Razorback by Dirk Pinkerton knives. This one influenced by both the Khanjar and other knives from the Middle east, but also the Hell's Bells Bowie by Bill Bagwell in its long slender blade. Definitely a fighter, definitely double edged and big fan of this knife with that, with that sort of coffin shaped handle. That was another aspect of Ellis Bells that goes into this.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:52]:
You can see how much I've carried this in, how nicely patina that Micarta is. If you're not a subscriber to the knife junkie channel, you're going to want to be because when we hit 50,000 subscribers, Dirk Pinkerton is going to make a handmade custom knife which I love his designs made by big companies but I am a huge fan and collector of his handmade knives. They're impeccable, beautiful and take a lot of cues from historical and ethnographic weapons. So we are going to be giving away a handmade custom Dirk Pinkerton. When we reach 50,000 subscribers, we'll be giving that away on Thursday night knives and that will be open to all comers. So be sure to subscribe to the channel. How do you like that little plug? Also, if you want to help support the show, you can do that on Patreon I'll tell you how to do that in a minute, but let's wrap this up. My pocket check today was my esk was the Pinkerton Razorback.

Bob DeMarco [00:08:54]:
Beautiful knife. Could one like it could be yours in the near future. I had the TKL knives, Agent 001, my collaboration knife and design that started the whole agent series with TEL knives floating around my right pocket in in a leather slip I had the K9 jack from the steel series of Jack Wolf knives. Great walk and talk by the way. And then in my front right playing first fiddle, I had the microtech stitch. What did you have on you? Let me know. Drop it in the comments below. And I always love checking in with you guys, finding out what you're carrying.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:34]:
All right, become a gentleman junkie. And every third Thursday of the month we will we give away a special knife to one lucky gentleman junkie winner. Quickest way to do that is go to the knife junkie.com Patreon See what we have to offer there. You can also scan the QR code that Jim frequently pops up on screen. Well see, speak of the devil again. And maybe we shouldn't mention his name too many times here. And when you join up for a whole year at once you get 12% off, which is quite a deal. Gotta say.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:07]:
So just go to the knife junkie.com Patreon Again, that's the knife junkie.com Patreon.

Announcer [00:10:14]:
The Shockwave Tactical torch is your ultimate self defense companion.

Announcer [00:10:18]:
Featuring a powerful LED bulb that lasts.

Announcer [00:10:20]:
100,000 hours, a super sharp crenulated bezel, and a built in stun gun delivering 4.5 million volts. Don't settle for ordinary. Choose the Shockwave tactical torch. The knifejunkie.com shockwave. You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. And now here's the knife junkie with the Knife life news.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:41]:
First up on Knife Life news comes from the budget line of Bestech Besttech, one of the greatest Chinese manufacturers and OEMs. Well they have Best Tech man, which is their budget line. This one's from the great and powerful and one of my favorite designers from Poland, Ostap L. It's called the best man flick. It's a 3.48 D2. 3.48 inch D2 drop point. Very slender, beautiful blade. I gotta say I like this drop point.

Bob DeMarco [00:11:13]:
It's pretty graceful design. It's got that triangular flipper which we're kind of used to seeing sort of a signature design flourish from ostop. And this one is a liner lock with G10 scales. It comes in eight colors. I love this. I'm partial just as we're looking at to that teal though I probably wouldn't get the teal. I don't know if I could live with it. But I like looking at it as well as the purple.

Bob DeMarco [00:11:40]:
To me, my favorite is the black blade with the maroon handle. But in any case comes with a bunch of different scale options here and blade options both. What do you call it? Black coated and satin. There's a nice purple version. You can see it's got the proprietary pivot with the T the best man T on it. This is 2.87 ounces. So nice and light. Reversible loop over pocket clip.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:08]:
And this little beauty is available now. Next up. This is a cool one and it reminds me a little bit of a tops knife. This is from Fox Knives out of Maniago, Italy. This is called the Audax. The Audax is a 4.72-inch drop point with a partially serrated swedge. Again warming my heart. I love anything that has a sharpened backside.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:36]:
This one has that serrated portion. So good for utility. Also good for, you know, self defensey tactical fighting purposes I guess. This knife is in a blade steel called becut. Yes, that's right. B E C U T be cut. Kind of like bespoke, but it's be cut and it comes from a German steel supplier called Bestar. B E S T A R.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:04]:
Fox Knives says they keep this steel at a lower hardness HRC 56 to 58 to keep it resistant to chipping. So it will not hold its edge as well as or as long as say a powder metallurgy steel that we've come to know and love. But it will be much tougher and more robust for your outdoor chores with that Lower Non shipping 56 to 58 HRC OD Green Micarta scales with a sort of anzo pattern scooped out of it. The pommel has a driver like a screwdriver, a pry bar and a lanyard hole run through it. The whole thing is bronze PVD coated and so it will resist corrosion. And it comes with a Kydex sheet. This one is available soon and we were recording this in late July 2025. So I'm expecting this one out in August.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:04]:
It is cool looking, is it not? I really like that thumb ramp. A handsome looking knife. Next up. This one is super cool and I feel like I've seen this in its custom form by Dr. Vigen or grant Chambers, his real name. This is the WE Knife Co Orc boss. Orc boss. Just like the kind of folder an orc would carry as he ransacks Middle Earth.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:32]:
This one is another beautiful we knife. 3.8 inches of s curved hawk build, 20cv CPM, 20cv steel. But the real star of this show to me is the multi beveled grind. It's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. It's got like six bevels in it. Bevels and chamfers and surfaces. It's just a beautiful blade and that S curve. So it's not a regular Hawk bill with a.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:03]:
With a simple concave surface. This has that sort of S curve that we've seen on other knives like the civilian or the Black Talon, albeit not as extreme, but a really, really beautiful knife. Now, Hawkbill knives have been used a lot in maritime chores, but also are used a lot on land for. For various utility purposes a lot. Oftentimes for gardening, we see mushroom knives that have that sort of shape and, and other such, other such gardening purposes. This, to me, does not look like a gardener. This looks like a hardcore utility knife, slash, tactical knife. Very, very complex grind there.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:49]:
The shape of the liner lock handle sort of echoes the shape of the blade with its various scoops and swales. But overall, it's an arced handle. Got very large, like almost Barlow ish bolsters taking up about a third of the handle scales or a third of the handle size. Those scales are exotic carbon fibers. They come in three different varieties of carbon fiber and treatments of the bolsters. Very, very beautiful. This is a heavy girl at 8.24 ounces. And it's available soon in August 2025.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:29]:
Man, we knife. We knife just keeps coming out with these really, really cool designs. I always like to say that Civivi is where they really do a lot of experimentation, but I'm starting to see that that's not exactly true. They do a lot of exotic blade treatments, material treatments, and designs in their. In their top tier. We design knives. So really, really beautiful, beautiful stuff. Okay.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:57]:
Lastly, in our Knife Life news, we have the Kaiser Aura. That's a R A, if you're just listening. This is a collaboration between two great designers, Paul Munko, who we talk about a lot here, and Jonathan Stiles. So this is a kind of an EDC, an exotic EDC, if you will. 3.09 inches of S45VN mostly. And there's a little asterisk there I'll tell you about in a second. It's got a harpoon drop point with a nice swale on the back, a triangular cutout for opening. I'm thinking mostly middle finger flick to me personally or perhaps thumb flick, but it doesn't look like a good slow roller due to the the finger guard there.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:47]:
It also comes in the CPM Crew Wear model with a coated black coated blade, a titanium liner lock, handles very neutral and beautiful. But those liner, those inlays that you see there cover almost the whole surface. I love large inlays like that both sides of the blade. Especially easy to do considering it's a liner lock and they come with super fancy carbon fibers. You can see gold flake, Brittany blue, snowflake titanium and then on the CPM Crew Wear version, it's a tie maskus inlay. Beautiful deep purple Timascus inlay. These are available now. Very, very classy sort of EDC knife and I love it when two designers come together on a project with a great maker like Kaiser.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:37]:
So check out the Kaiser Ara. All right. Still to come on the Knife Junkie podcast, we're going to talk about the state of the collection, look at three new knives and then we're going to get to the most carried self defense fixed blade knives. But I want to remind you to join us every Thursday night at 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time right here on YouTube where we have Thursday Night Knives. It's so much fun. It's two hours of conversation and looking at knives. We have a really good crew who shows up every week and we have new people coming every week discovering the show. I hear so many great things about this show.

Bob DeMarco [00:19:14]:
I think that that's it's one of our greatest attributes here people are one of our greatest offerings here. People really love the show. So join us also, not for nothing, we do give away a knife pretty much every week and then every third Thursday a very special knife with our Patreon Patreon Gentleman Junkie Knife giveaway. How do we give away so many knives? I'm not trying to buy your love, but if that happens, I'm not going to, I'm not going to turn it down. But we have generous viewers like OG Blade reviews Dave who sends me boxes of knives to give away to you. And so it's and also Northern Knives up in Anchorage has donated a number of items that we've given away here. So great crew, great conversation, a chance to win knives. Thursday Night Knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:03]:
Our live stream here at 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time is just a blast. What can I say? And it's the official start of the weekend so join us every Thursday night at 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Okay, coming up, the state of the Collection.

Advertisement Announcer [00:20:16]:
Want to sell your custom knives online with launch cart? You can easily create your own e commerce store, no coding required. Launch card 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 [00:20:47]:
And now that we're caught up with knife life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:53]:
Okay, so before I get into showing you these awesome three new really great knives in the state of the collection, I I want to tell you and remind you about knife notes. I was talking about Patreon before and I forgot to mention, but this is so cool that I have to show it off. This is something Jim started recently and it's a, it's a regular release. He's been going hog wild actually releasing things. But I want to show you this, one of my favorite, most recent ones. He's, he's done something most recently on the France, the capital of French knives. He's done something on peach galette, including a recipe, the Higo no Kami. But this one right here, the M3 trench knife, one of my favorite historical knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:21:35]:
This is what you stand, this is one of the things you stand to gain from Patreon knife notes. Check this out. Just a whole article on the M3 trench knife, its history in the world During World War II, the different makers that produced it, the anatomy of it, how to take care of, even goes into collector values and, and gives you an idea of what you've got. I have something similar, but I don't have an M3 trench knife. I plan to remedy that sometime in the near future. But check this out. It's a really exciting thing. This is it.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:10]:
It's sort of a companion piece to what we used to do here at the very beginning of the podcast when we did the, the first tool and we would dig into a little history. Well, Jim has picked up the mantle and has this as a regular installment on Patreon. So do check it out and look at that beautiful knife. Isn't that cool? I love that thing. All right, thank you, thank you. Check that one out. All right, so first one I want to show you is this big beauty. I talked about it when it first came out, dragged my feet a bit and then Thought better of it and just, just purchased this.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:47]:
This is the concept bison. A big beautiful four and a quarter inch bowie blade here in this gorgeous somewhat neutral handled titanium frame lock. This one is designed by Ray Laconico and it's an unusual design for Mr. Laconico, who's known for his super clean sort of drop points and smaller sort of EDC style knives. This one is different, but the same. Different in that it doesn't look like most of his knives, but the same in that it's absolutely beautiful, graceful and, and just perfectly done. Kaiser, of course, I'm sorry, Concept of course, did an incredible job manufacturing this thing. I love the textured handle scales on this.

Bob DeMarco [00:23:40]:
That knurling in that faux inlay is just beautiful. This one comes in six different color or no, I'm sorry, I take that back. Eight different color combinations. The dual color anodized handles. They have some that have dual anodized handles where the inlay is a different color. I really wanted to get one of those. I was kind of vacillating back and forth. But this knurling texture which only appears on the singular colored handle.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:14]:
So I had to get it because I wanted the texture more than I wanted the extra color. But this comes in purple, it comes in sort of white, white and gray. It comes in kind of an all silver and comes in a number of different flavors. Definitely. Check it out. You even have the knurling on that pocket clip, which not only looks cool, but makes it easy to pull out of the handle. Thumb stud only. So you get great bearing action with the thumb stud, which I love.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:46]:
I'm a sucker for thumb stud only. I do like flippers, especially since I jacked up my thumb over a year ago. Now you've been hearing me complain about it, but. So the flipper might be easier for me now. But I love thumb stud action. The guard, I really like the guard on this. You've got a thumb and a four finger guard because this thing is big and it might be self defensey. And if you are using it in that use case, you have a way to stop your hand from sliding up onto that blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:21]:
So just a beautiful, beautiful blade and incredibly keen, incredibly sharp. Love that long swedge. This almost looks like a Spanish clip point to me. All right, that is the concept bison. Next up, this one I couldn't believe. I don't know how I missed this because I was even at their table at Blade show and somehow did not see this. But I mentioned up front I said a Chinese made strider well, here it is. And no, it's not a strider.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:56]:
It's a North Mountain knives knife. And this one is designed by Dwayne Dwyer, who was one half of strider knives. And you can definitely see the family resemblance here. Beautiful onto blade in a, in a blade steel they call SLD Magic. You can see that hamon. That's not fake. If you look at the spine, you can see it's a San Mai or Stan Mei I think is how it's actually pronounced in Japanese style blade. So you see a very hard tool steel in the middle, jacketed by a more mild stainless.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:32]:
This is a semi stainless steel. This SLD Magic, honestly, I haven't really used this yet. It just came in and it comes in this cool box and it comes with some, some nice swag to include extra hardware. It comes with an extra pivot, bunch of extra screws. I guess they don't want to deal with you if you mess it up, so they just send it to you right away, which I do appreciate. Really, really nice bearing action similar to a strider. I love that you can. I'm sorry I said bearing, I mean washer.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:08]:
You can see those thick bronze watch washers right in there. I love that glassy feel. This is, you know, I'm, I am taken in like everyone else with the super ultra smoothness and the drop shutty action of bearings. But I'll, I will take washers every time. I'm, I'm a real. I love this knife. I'm, I'm enamored with it. This knife and the bison were the first two folders since Blade Show.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:39]:
That kind of got me off my duff and into, into folders again since I've been so strong into fixed blade knives over the past year. So this one I just had to get. So I did. I've been saving my shekels and I'm glad I have. You see Dwyer, Dwayne Dwyer there and SLD magic. This thing is a beauty. I'm a huge fan. All right.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:07]:
Lastly, in the state of the collection is not my knife. This is actually my younger daughter's knife. This was sent to us by, to her. I'm sorry, sent to her by BPS Knives in Ukraine. Now I, I have three. Well, no, I'm sorry. I have two BPS knives and one of them lives in my haversack for, for hiking. And then the other one I use a lot for fire starting in the fire pit.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:37]:
They are a great outdoors knife. Fixed blade company from Ukraine. It's a family business. They reached out to me and asked if I wanted to check one of these out. I said, well, I just so happen to have a daughter, a younger daughter that this would be perfect for. And so we got it and I have to do a close up video of this, but we did an unboxing with my daughter. Let me show you the sheath first. They do incredible leather sheaths.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:04]:
This one has a belt loop and then a drop loop. So however you like to carry it, I think I would be more apt to carry it like this. But if you're getting in and out of your car or your tractor or whatever, it might be easier to have it on a drop loop so it sits on the seat next to you. This comes in with a green handle or a yellow handle. And the stitching on the sheath corresponds with the, with the handle color. So here it is. This is the beautiful knife. This is just for kids, called the Junior Outdoor.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:36]:
And you can tell from that blunted tip the purpose of this. But it's a very sharp Scandi ground blade with just a slight secondary edge there to stop it from, from rolling or chipping. Really nice wood handle. Very comfortable in hand. My adult size, medium adult sized hands fit nicely on this. For my daughter, it fits her hand great. She's 10 years old. They even put her name on there, which I really appreciate.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:09]:
This is made of 1066 blade steel and I've used my other BPS knives quite a bit. And 1066, you can see she put her grubby little finger there and it's starting to tarnish a little bit. So I'm gonna have to hit that with some, with a little bit of polish to get rid of that. But 1066 is a high carbon steel. It's pretty tough though. I have had a little bit of chipping on one of my two knives. The MP5 has got a little chip in it. I was batoning it through some of that, some of that grocery store kiln, dried wood, but, but still, it's a pretty tough steel.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:51]:
Keeps an edge for a good amount of time and it's relatively easy to get that edge back on. So if you have little kitties running around and you want to get them into knives, but you're not so excited about them having a point that they could, you know, drop it on their foot or accidentally stab their leg or whatever, check out BPS knives and this new Junior Outdoor. It is charming, it is beautiful, it is useful and your child will probably love it, as does mine. She, by the way, keeps this stuffed next to the bat, her bed frame. She's got a number of knives there, as if she's going to use it if someone breaks in the house. Makes me proud. I love it. She's thinking of defense all the time.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:39]:
So this is the BPS Junior Outdoor. Check it out if you've got kids or if you don't like points on the blade. All right, coming up, we're going to talk about my most carried self defense fixed blades of summer 2025. But before we do, check out this latest offering from Jim. This one I was telling him reminds me of the cool T shirts he used to get at the boardwalk T shirt shops. I don't know, maybe you still do, but I really love the look of this. This is the Edge Life. And the Edge Life and many other designs can be found@the knifejunkie.com shop in our swag shack.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:16]:
I'm taking that from someone else, so I shouldn't say that in our swag shop. Go check it out. The Edge Life. You can get this on a tote. You can get it on a hat, you can get it. Get it on an apron. A lot of people have been getting them on aprons because we have. We're in the summer season right now.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:30]:
People are doing a lot of grilling and they want to show everyone where they stand on knives without having to always talk about it. You know what I mean? So go check it out, the knife junkie.com shop and check out this new design, the Edge Life. And then the pages of other designs. They're compelling, they're fun, and they let others know that you're of the same month. All right, most carried self defense fixed blade knives of summer 2025. I'm gonna have to start with the low hanging fruit. And that is the 001, the agent 001. I won't talk too long about this, but this is the one I carry more than the one I was showing you that I was carrying today.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:11]:
This is with that beautiful purple burl. I think they might call this midnight burl. And if they don't, they should because that looks like a sky at night. Trees. So beautiful, so poetic. What do I love about this knife besides the fact that I mostly designed it? And you know, it was a true collaboration with Tim who perfected my handle design and then managed to make the blade, which was not easy. He's a great, great knife maker, great machinist and great designer. But this, I love the fact that you've got the glass breaker that was a TKL edition there.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:51]:
And then you've got the thumb ramp for reverse grip which is this what this is really optimized for. Whether it's in my waistband in this three o' clock position like this or hanging scout style up front, I always have it ready for reverse grip draw. And then if you need it for regular, regular utility tasks, you turn it around and use it. But I like it to be drawn like that and that's why I put, designed that hook in there so you could just easily tug on it. I do love rings as well. And this was the, the, the sole, the, the size envelope or what do you call it? Well, the size and the, the dimensions of this were based on a ringed knife that I love and that's the teal knives Night Stalker. So the handle is just as long and the blade is just as long. So this one gets a pretty constant carry.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:50]:
But I have a lot of different knives so I have to share the love like with this next one. This beautiful Savage Creature Defense Masoko Hachi. This beauty designed and built by Roger Pearson of Savage Creature Defense Tools. Man, I am, I am so in love with this knife and all of his designs. His, his, all of his designs are beautiful and they all have a. Give a tip of the hat to Chinese. I mean, I'm sorry to Japanese knife design and culture with that impeccable perfect Tsukamaki wrap. And then the manuki underneath that dragon manuki which gives it a little bit of girth.

Bob DeMarco [00:35:35]:
Perfect for the palm. And by the way, this is all epoxied down so that's not going to move around. Beautiful ray skin. This is an 80 CRV2 blade, fully double edged and curved, you know. Is it a pacal knife? Yes. Is it a Persian knife? Yes. It's got, it's got all the great qualities. Super refined and fine tip.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:00]:
So that's the one thing that makes me nervous. You know, every once in a while I think when I pull this out, what if I drop this? I'd be so angry. I would rage if I dropped this. Because that tip is pretty fine. I love what he does to the blade steel. I asked him to tell me what it, what it was that he does to get that really cool sort of texture. It's not a texture, it's a look I guess. And it's proprietary so he didn't let me know.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:31]:
But this one is nice and thin, nice and light and makes for great summer carry. To me it's got to be like I said, light and Thin because usually more often than not I carry in the waistband in the summertime, unless I have a big, you know, shirt over that, I. That will easily cover up what I'm carrying on the belt. I like it in the waistband and that way it. It does have to be pretty thin, pretty light. And this one fits the bill. Super, incredibly sharp. I highly recommend you check out Savage Creature Defense Tools.

Bob DeMarco [00:37:08]:
All of his designs are equally compelling. It was very hard choosing one, but since this is his og, this was his first knife that really put him on the map. I had to get this one first, but there will be more to come in my collection. Also, great sheath and I love those little red flourishes to match the red ray skin in the handle. Next up, a purchase from Blade Show. This one has been getting a lot of carry too. This is the Dirk Pinkerton Matador. This one had no name when I got it.

Bob DeMarco [00:37:46]:
I asked him if I could call it the Matador. It reminds me of a Spanish clip point. Reminds me a little bit of his night horse design and yeah, it just reminds me of. It also reminds me of the dagger in my Espada Hidaga set, which is a Filipino sword and knife set, but inspired by Spanish knives. So anyway, this one is very comfortable to carry. It's a 4.75-inch S30V blade, double edged, as you can see there, with room for the thumb. No jimping required. Jimping is always welcome in my book, but you don't need it here because this handle is so ergonomic.

Bob DeMarco [00:38:26]:
It's somewhat neutral, but just fits the hand perfectly. Really nice smooth synthetic material here. Kind of like G? Carta, but less, but has a more polished feel, like polished G10. I'm not sure what it is and Dirk is not sure what it is either. I asked him and he wasn't sure. It looks like canvas, actually when you look at it from the top. It's a canvas micarta, but some sort of G? Carta style material. But I really like this one.

Bob DeMarco [00:38:59]:
This one rides next to the skin very nicely. This feels good against the skin because it's so smooth and rounded, you know, contoured here. Whereas, say, the Savage creature. I like a T shirt between that handle and my skin just because of the peaks and valleys and the texture of the lace. But this one is one of the few that just goes very nicely right against the skin. So I've been carrying this one quite a bit this summer. Also nice and light and svelte in design. You know, it's pretty slender design.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:33]:
Great in the reverse grip which is how I have it oriented for tugging out of the waistband. Beautiful, beautiful knife. Again, let me remind you 50,000 subscribers, Dirk Pinkerton is going to make a fixed blade custom knife. We haven't decided what knife could be this. It could be the Razorback I showed you or it could be any number of other knives. Really nice sheath as usual from Berg. Next up, one of the few actually. Is this the only one? No, it's one of two production knives in this list.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:07]:
But let me say something, if you're buying expensive folders you can get custom fixed blade knives. It's, they're, they're not like buying custom folders which tend to be much more expensive than custom fixed blades. Just in general, you know. But this one here is the Perfrico and this is probably the largest in the in this list here. Now this is my perfected Perfrico. What do I mean by that? Kyle Kunley. I had Kyle Kunley double edge this knife. This one comes in a single edged, beautiful single edged dagger.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:48]:
This is 14C28 nicely crowned spine all the way around the handle here or I should say crowned tang all the way around the handle here. You've got jimping on the back by the pinky and jimping up here by where the thumb goes. And this is to orient you to the edge, show you that the edge is on the opposite side of the thumb. But I couldn't stand having such a beautiful and I have to say perfect designed dagger, perfectly designed dagger in a single edge. It just stuck in my cross so I had to send this off and have this done. Kyle Kunley did a beautiful job on this. You can find him on Instagram, you can find his sharpening service on Instagram and who knows, maybe you can have that done to yours. One thing I want to mention, another great guy in the knife world, Peterbilt knife guy tested this one in all manners, just abused the hell out of it.

Bob DeMarco [00:41:48]:
His was a single edge and it did really, really well. So it is not only a beautiful knife, it is not only a great self defense design but it's super, incredibly robust. The heat treat on this is really well done and the geometry is, is such that it powered through all manner of material that a dagger has no business going through. So a, this is a knife you could have a lot of confidence in. This one I must say has not gotten much carry in in the way of being out and about. This has been a great around the house in gym shorts or around the house in PJs. Sort of knife. I'm never unarmed.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:33]:
I mean, whether I'm in my house and it's the only time I take a knife off is when I get into. And then it's right there on the bed stand next to several other options. But this is really a great knife. This has spent a lot of time in, in my gym shorts while I'm just hanging out around the house. So it's nice and light, nice and thin, double edged. Even if you don't get yours double edged. It's a great, great knife. Great for piercing obviously, but also has a wonderful edge for slashing and cutting.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:06]:
So this is my Civivi Perfrico in the perfected version. Double edged, great sheath. Also, some people I know don't like the scallops on the side of the sheath. I think it's really cool. I like the way it looks. It's a looks thing. And then I have a, a cheapo sort of DCC style clip and then this ranger band because the, the holes didn't line up to put two screws through. So that ranger band keeps the clip in place.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:36]:
Also keeps it in place within my waistband. Next up, one of two pocket carry fixed blades in this list has been getting a lot of carry this summer and that is, yes, the Fisher blades Beckwith Covert. This is not an EDC knife. This is not designed as an EDC blade. This is designed as an EDD blade. Everyday defensive blade. Of course, it's got an incredible blade design, blade edge geometry and two great points, the main point and the secondary point. So this is an outstanding EDC knife, but it's definitely not designed as such and not marketed as such.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:19]:
But in any case, it does work great for all manner of cutting chores. This one is designed so that that thumb ramp inspired by the Delica and the arc in the, in the spine of the handle. Push the blade down and put the point in a center line so it's aligned with the screws in the handle straight down the center and then it gives a downward raking angle to that straight edge right here. So you get a lot of material bunching up in this area, much like a recurve and it just splits it through that secondary tip. So this is great for deep pressure cutting. I mean slashing, yes, but this is, this is really great for really pushing through material, whether it's in a cutting motion or a thrusting motion. This knife has gotten so much testing under its belt from Chaz Fisher and his brother John, who are the, are the makers here. Tested on pig carcasses and such.

Bob DeMarco [00:45:30]:
Threw leather jackets in the whole nine yards. And it's just a great, great knife for everyday defensive purposes. It's also nice and light, drops easily in the pocket and doesn't present too much handle. So that you can easily use this quillion on the pommel to draw it with your pinky or your middle finger or if you have it set up for a reverse grip or how I like to draw it in a pickal using the web of my between my thumb and forefinger. It catches right on that quillion there and draws really easily. But the sheath is outstanding. And it also comes with a trainer. You can get this with a trainer and a different style sheath without the integral DCC clip.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:18]:
So you can run it samurai style in the waistband with the shock cord. So really, really great blade. They just can't. Oh, also, I'm sorry about the sheath. You can tighten this screw here for extra retention or to loosen the retention. So they thought of everything here. They just released the fs, which is a larger version of this. This is a three and a quarter inch S35VN blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:44]:
What they just released is four and a quarter. So basically brought it up by an inch. And it's a nice big knife. I've shown it here a couple of times. Not so big that you can't carry it edc. But this is just what I've been finding this summer is really suiting my purposes. Drop it right in the shorts pocket and it's nice and light, thin, good to go. But great, great utility and great, great self defense capabilities.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:11]:
Heaven forbid it's ever needed. All right, next up, another one of my design and made by Hogtooth Knives. This is half my design. This is Matt Chase's handle design, first appearing on the EDC Tanto and then appearing on a several other of his knives and the Nova one. My design collaborate. My first design collaboration with Hogtooth knives with the Bowie. But this is the Kiridashi version, the Nova 2. This has been getting a lot of carry this summer.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:46]:
I think it's the white handle. I really love the look of this ivory G10. This is also set up for reverse. Reverse grip draw on the, on the sheath. So it's. I like to carry it right up front on my belt, right near my belt buckle and draw it out in reverse grip. Again if I need it for the purposes I usually need it for, like cutting open a box or something, I just turn it around. But I like to train myself to retrieve my fixed blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:48:16]:
Knives that I carry for self defense in a reverse grip. This one is 154cm blade steel, a little bit longer in the. It's a nearly 4 inch blade, a little bit longer than the, than the Novo one. And this one, like I said, 154cm deeply hollow ground blade, super sharp, incredibly acute point. That Matt Chase, man, he can really, really grind a knife. So he does this style knife. He has a series of knives that are water jetted blanks that he, that he sharpens, puts the bevel in and sharpens. But he's also an incredible forger of knives and I'll have you know he's working on something for me right now that I cannot wait to show off.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:04]:
He just showed me a progress picture this past weekend and I'm very, very excited. This one is in a gray sheath and I use this just sort of in the waistband loop and it just carries perfectly. That's the hog tooth knives. Nova 1. Next up. This was a blade show acquisition. I have it. I normally carry this in, in the waistband at the three o' clock but.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:35]:
But I set this up to try and check to try and carry it like this. I carried it once like this in the pocket with a shirt covering the handle and it worked well. I might try it again but I'll probably end up putting it back to the, in the waistband. But this is the Brock blades. So this is made by Ken Brock, really talented knife maker. He's been around for a while and it was really great to meet him in person. He's been on the show and I've been following him for a long time and I just love his knives. But this one is a design collaboration with Joe Watson.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:11]:
This is Joe Watson's Magni XL design. And so when I was perusing the Brock blades table, knowing immediately I got to get something from Ken. This one really just, you know, I was going for a different recurve at first and then I spotted this one and it just knocked my socks off. I love Joe Watson's knives as well as Ken and it just, it was perfect to get a knife made by two different people that have been on this show. It's kind of a, a collection, I don't want to say requirement, a collection vector for me. I want as many knives as I can get from people I've interviewed and this and knocks two of those people out. And it is perfect for daily carry because it's nice and thin. This is 3V blade steel so it's super tough and it just so Easy to carry.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:11]:
A nicely sized 4 1/2 inch blade. Great grip, really excellent profile for the handle. You've got a bit of a bird's beak here and uh, you've got a palm swell down here and then this nice sort of rock pattern gives great place for purchase in the hands. Uh, I love that recurve. And the swedge is so thin. If I wanted to, I mean, I'm not, I wouldn't do this myself, but I could have someone sharpen right through that. I mean, I guess I would send it to Ken Brock to have him sharpen that. I don't think I'm gonna do that.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:46]:
Uh, I don't know why. Ordinarily that would be my instinct, but I just kind of like it the way it is. I'll probably leave it like this. This one has been getting a lot of carry this summer due to how thin and light it is. Beautiful, beautiful knife. Awesome sheath where you can get your entire hand. I know the DCC clip here, here is in the way, but normally it's pushed down to this grommet and you can grab the full blade while it's in the sheath. I'm sorry, the full handle while it's in the sheath.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:18]:
So it makes for a great deploying knife. Next up, this is an old one. I mean one I've had around for a long time. But this always gets a lot of play in the summer for the same reasons that that Ken Brock knife does. This is the Kramer customs voodoo. And this one, you can also grab a full handle before you even pull it out. But it's nice and thin. I believe this is S35VN.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:48]:
I don't know, it's been a long time and it's not marked, but just a gorgeous blade design. He calls it a. Mr. Kramer calls it a Persian. I call it a Bowie. I had him sharpen the swedge for me. Nice hollow ground blade, super thin in the handle and, and everywhere else. Just carries so nicely.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:13]:
Again, I have it set up for in the waistband, three o' clock in reverse grip draw. You can see how much this has been carried from that patina. This is the skin side. This also rides nicely right against the skin. Don't need a T shirt in the middle there because it's pretty smooth. I mean it's got some texture to it on that canvas micarta, but pretty smooth and so it doesn't doesn't hassle that, that tender spare tire skin. Beautiful knife. Kramer custom knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:48]:
He's been doing a lot of beautiful Mac V SOG style knives. So go check him out on on Instagram. Kramer Custom knife. Next up, this is another pocket carry knife. And like these Civivi Perfrico. This is big, bigger than most of what I've been carrying. But this rides just so well in the pockets and I find this better in khakis or jeans pockets. But this is the Armis knife and tool VSK.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:22]:
VSK stands for Very Sharp Knife VSK1. This is AD CRV2 and just a super sharp, pointy triangular blade. I really love this. It's got the double finger partitions, which I normally don't go for, but in this case it's very, very comfortable. I think it's because it's not two scoops, it's a scoop here and a straight and it just fits the hand really, really nicely. Again, you've got that extended sort of bird's beak or hook for easy draw, especially in reverse grip. Well, actually reverse grip or with the pinky. With the pinky on a regular draw and a.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:07]:
And a saber grip. This one was introduced to me by Dave of OG Blade Reviews. I'm so glad he pointed me in the direction of via of Armis Knife and Tool. Michael Grasso is a great dude and he's just killing it. He does a lot of great videos showing off his process and he makes this knife and a number of other knives. Plus he makes a sheath, a universal sheath for paring knives. So you can pack just the sheath, show up somewhere via air travel, go to the nearest grocery store, pick up a cheapo a paring knife, and it fits right in the sheath. So he does a lot of cool stuff, not only with knives, but with sheets.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:53]:
So this is the VSK1 from Armis Knife and Tool. And by the way, this ambidextrous sheath is just perfect. It's perfect. And I love the. The topographical G10. See either way. All right, next up is from Gross Motor Gear. Now I have two of these.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:16]:
This is the Mamushi. I also have the Mamushi mini, which arguably gets more carried than the Mamushi full size. But I wanted to show you this one just because it's bigger. This one is again, got a beautiful sukamaki wrap from a very, very talented maker here, Josh Old. And here we can see it's jute twine wrapped first. There's no race skin there. It's a twine or I'm sure that's a hemp twine, actually. And then over it we have that sukumaki wrap.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:52]:
We have a manuki in there that's in the shape of an asp or some sort of a snake. That's what a mamushi is. It's a poisonous snake. Very, very comfortable in hand. Not only in that reverse grip which you expect from a Kyle style knife, but also just in standard grip just like this. This is 10, 9. Oh no, I'm sorry. This is 80cr v2.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:18]:
Again, really nicely ground, super sharp. It's got that awesome coating on it or treatment on it to keep it from corrosion because this will be worn most frequently close to the skin. And we know what sweat can do to steel, even stainless. Super sharp and just really, really purpose driven for that Pacal style self defense way of using a knife. All right, great sheath too, which has loosened up. When I first got my mamushi and my mamushi mini, the sheaths were almost too stiff. And I was talking to Mr. Old about that and he said yeah, that's on purpose.

Bob DeMarco [00:58:04]:
Because this is one of those knives you don't want popping out accidentally. You might get in a scuffle. It might be on you, but it might not be a knife fight. It might not rise to the occasion of self defense with an edged weapon. And you don't want it falling out and becoming another aspect of the fight that was unexpected. All right, second to last, here is the awesome low viz from Regiment Blades and Al Salvidi. This one I love because of how you carry it. This is the only one this summer that has been getting appendix carry.

Bob DeMarco [00:58:40]:
And it's because of that extreme curve. That pistol grip just kind of curves up under my belly. What can I say? It comes up and curves, curves over to the right and it's very comfortable to carry in the waistband at that, at that appendix position. This one has a nice dagger style blade with a very thin swedge which could easily again be sharpened with a grinder. Al Salviti specialized in, well, he was a bouncer for a long time martial arts. He taught edged weapons. Teaches edged weapons to a lot of tier one guys. And one thing that he really likes about this design and that he design, one reason he designed it this way is take is to take advantage of his, his punching skills and anyone's punching skills.

Bob DeMarco [00:59:34]:
You need very little training to bring this thing to bear. You just kind of make a fist and punch with it. But it's also excellent in reverse grip. Actually two fingers in that hole work, work pretty nicely as do one finger and so you can get a nice swiping or Slashing with it as well as a punch. That's something I like about it is that if you're slashing with it, it's almost like having a kukri in your hand because of the angle of the blade. Instead of having a straight blade coming out the top of your hand, you have a straight blade coming out the side of your hand. So again, punching and then accelerated cutting when slashing. This is a, this is the other production knife I told you about.

Bob DeMarco [01:00:22]:
This is an 8cr14 movie steel. And you might sniff and look down your nose at 8cr blade steel. But let's face it, you're not using this to baton wood. You could, you could use this as a carving knife or whatever. We've become very spoiled with our super hard steels. HCR works just great and for the purpose, self defense purposes, it's more than adequate. A great plastic sheath, molded sheath and DCC style pocket clip. That's the regiment blades low viz.

Bob DeMarco [01:00:59]:
All right, last up. This has been getting a lot of carry this summer and sometimes it gets appendix. That's how it's set up right now. But that's because this handle is nice and curved. This is the Gunfighter from Gunfighter Customs designed by Michael Elliott who is one of the, one of the members of this outfit along with Jared Franklin, the owner and proprietor of this company. But this design is so gorgeous. It's sort of based on the clinch pick, but it's an improvement or a modification, we'll say. An enhancement in that it's got room for your thumb here and room for your thumb here as opposed to the clinch pick where the blade starts right here.

Bob DeMarco [01:01:46]:
This is a little less compact so there are trade ins when you do that. But for me this is a perfected version of that style of knife. That egg shaped handle nestles in the hand right really, really nicely and doesn't give you anything extra on the backside to get snagged on, no puno to get leveraged out of your hand. And this one has two edges. So a nice double edged blade here with that downward angle allows you to to slash with and, and deep cut, pressure cut with great effect. And then it also gives you a return cut on the back backside also works well in reverse grip. Can use this as a pacal style and you use it for trapping and that kind of thing. Really nice ADCR V2 chisel ground blade.

Bob DeMarco [01:02:40]:
I love chisel grinds, they are extra sharp. And this one is no exception. You got a micarta handle here and very, very much worth looking into gunfighter customs. Not only do they make their have their own designs like this one that they make, but if you have your own design that is something you would like to to see in person and to have made for you and for your usage, they will make your design. So go check out gunfighter customs. All right. Thanks for watching this most carried self Defense Fixed blade Knives edition of the Knife Junkie podcast. It's been a pleasure.

Bob DeMarco [01:03:18]:
I do appreciate it. Drop in the comments below. Do you carry a fixed blade knife for self defense or just for EDC? Let me know coming up this Sunday on episode 612 if you're listening to this when it drops Cash Haggard of Revenant Core who specializes in G10 knives and other sorts of non permissive environment defensive tools. So do check it out. It's an awesome conversation, a very interesting guy and a very cool product. All right, thanks for watching the Knife Junkie podcast. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DiMarcos saying until next time, don't take Dull for an answer.

Announcer [01:03:57]:
Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review@reviewthepodcast.com for show notes for today's episode, additional resources and to listen to past episodes, visit our website thenifejunkie. Com. You can also watch our Latest videos on YouTube at thenifejunkie.com.