Profesoredc - The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 387)

©2023, Bob Demarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
https://theknifejunkie.com

[0:00] Welcome to the Knife Junkie Podcast, your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting.

[0:11] Here's your host, Bob the Knife Junkie DeMarco. Welcome to the Knife Junkie Podcast.
I'm Bob DeMarco.
On this edition of the show, I'm speaking with fellow YouTuber and knife philosopher, ProfesorEDC.

[0:26] ProfesorEDC has a very unique knife channel on YouTube, which acts as two. For each knife review or philosophy talk, the professor posts two videos, one in English and one in Spanish.
He and I are kindred spirits in that our tastes in knives vary greatly across a broad spectrum of types, but also in that we spend a lot of time thinking about the why of our hobby.
Professor EDC has been a longtime contributor to Thursday Night Knives and is never shy about delving deeply into the topic of knives and why we're drawn to them.
I look forward to reaching across the border for some profound knife talk with ProfesorEDC. But before we do, be sure to like, comment, subscribe and hit the notification bell and then download the show to your favorite podcast app. And as always, if you'd like to help support the show, you can do so by going to Patreon. Quickest way to get there is go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon. Again, that's thenifejunkie.com slash patreon.
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Hey, ProfesorEDC. Good to have you on the show, sir.
Bob, how are you doing? Jim, how are you doing, guys? We're doing great, man. It's very good to have you, very good to have you with us for a full hour to talk. As I mentioned up front, you and I have had many a truncated chat.
But with lives, you know, you have a lot of other people talking. So I'm very excited to, well, to talk to talk just with you.
And also, I just want to mention that I'm really impressed by how you have a knife channel that is basically you're doubling your audience through your bilingual approach.
How did you get started in with your knife channel? And what were your goals and mission?

[2:49] Well, first of all for me, it's an honor being here and meeting you this way and Jim. I've been following you guys for quite some time and I appreciate what you guys do, the
quality of information that you put out, that you give us and that's something I truly appreciate.
Information is hard to come by and so I just wanted to say that and I'm humbled and I'm honored for being here Bob.
Honors to mine sir, thank you.
Well it's a funny thing how this all began, yeah it's bilingual, I've kind of been criticized By that, you know saying a lot of people told me that's not gonna work.

[3:47] But you know I'm kind of stubborn And...

[3:54] I was welcomed to the community by nice people like you and Nick Shabazz, Metal Complex, Slicy Dicing, Dirt Warning, many, many guys that I appreciate. And so, but how this all began is funny because before COVID, I worked in different schools.

[4:27] And went to different schools, worked with children in their orchards. So we built their orchards and did many things outdoors. And so I gave them classes, whether you talk about math,
history, language, ethics, it was all mixed in the orchard. This is from something I learned from a science I learned and it's called permaculture and,
so the children loved learning to work with my knives and this is something that in the orchards outdoors it's very normal. Here in Mexico in the urban
setting it's not very common and so but there's a whole.

[5:26] The Vagagy and psychology to this and.

[5:32] When you teach children how to use how to appropriately use a tool, you're teaching them a whole bunch of things, starting with responsibility.

[5:47] And so, you know, they start learning how to broom. So they start with a broom, but they're also going to use a shovel and a pick and scissors and as they advance.

[6:07] They get to use a hatchet they get to use a hand axe and the final tool that they get to use is a folder or a mora knife the basic so that they they teach them we used to teach them how
to carve spoons or spatulas with the knives we had.
And so the children used to watch how I would bring in my own tools, my own axes, because that's not something that any private school here has.
So I brought in my tools and the children just loved looking at the folders and the knives and the axes.
And they proposed me, the channel was formed because they suggested, Professor, why don't you open a YouTube channel?
You can teach us, you can show us your collection through the channel.
That's how it was.

[7:08] That's awesome. I love that. It's a, you know, sometimes people, well, for instance, Jim pushed me in a way to do this in a big way. And sometimes that's all you need is just a little push in the right direction or sometimes a big push.
And it can start something that you had no idea was going to turn out to be something that you love so much.
Absolutely. But your actual, your love of knives now, I mean, you know, the reason, the reason that this has taken off for you is because there's a real passion for the knives. Where did that grow out of?

[7:48] Well, I've been, I've done a lot of things through, along my life. And one of those things, I was an immigrant in the States at some point, I lived there,
five years that's where I picked up the language and learned about the US culture and learned to appreciate that. I was also an immigrant in Spain for a while and there in Spain I
worked as a assistant of a, I forgot the word, the people who cut down woods.
Oh, yeah, yeah.

[8:36] A logger. Yes, a logger. And so it just slipped my mind.
Me too. And you brought it up like, oh, I'll tell them what it is. And like an idiot, it's lumberjack.
Jim just let me know. Thank you, Jim.
So I worked as an assistant as a lumberjack and he taught me how to prune what branches to cut and when it was necessary to chop down the tree with chainsaw and with axes.
And so my love for the blades started with axes. And my first collection was an axe collection, different axes.

[9:27] Can you still have those i have a few i have sold most of them because it evolved. Come back to mexico and i work hard.

[9:42] Project in the woods taking montessori education to rural communities. And there, well, I kind of traded, started trading the axes for machetes and knives.
So my taste evolved into, I kept the axes for quite some time because that's also another hobby I have, doing firewood.
I love doing that. It's just relaxing and I used to have more of a temperamental personality, you know,
was more like a firecracker.
And so making wood helped me relax and strengthen my meditation practice and all.
And so that stuck around for a while. But in order to open, to gather other pieces, knives, and machetes, I still have, I don't.

[10:55] Know, some 20 machetes from different times.
I check those. And from England to the ones used, I have one from the revolution here in Mexico, as as well as a sword that is from the revolution.
That's right here.

[11:17] It has been changed. The handle was broken, so this was inserted. I didn't buy it like this. Well, I mean, I bought it like this, but that's not the original handle. But you can see here,
this is an original sword from the Mexican Revolution.
Wow. Yeah, that is beautiful. And something like that has history to it. That's one of those things about knives, about collecting knives that I think on a broader basis appeals to a lot of people.
Not only can you collect things like that, something that is an artifact that has actual history to it, but all of these really high quality modern knives that we're into collecting.

[12:05] Part of the value of them is knowing that they will last, outlast us and are considered heirloom pieces. Yes, the cheapest Chinese, I should just say the cheapest plastic knife will outlast us,
but there's a good reason for something like this to be handed down. There's something to me about knives that has real potential, potential for self-reliance, potential for or historical value passing down.
When you collect knives, when you go out and acquire knives or acquire knives for your channel or think about the knives you want on your channel, what are the kind of things you're looking for?
What kind of connections?
Gimmick, I always separate these tools into two categories. these tools into two categories. There's the functional side of it, functionality, which is the essence of the knife. So any knife, at least in my view, shouldn't lose its essence.
The essence is to cut. So that's one of the things that is...

[13:20] Essential for me but the other thing is the aesthetic thing and the setting is very difficult to describe we can go into. Feel soft or want to be there we can go into talk about art.
Which gets me in trouble all the time because I do have an artistic background and you know I'm always debating myself against myself so it's a fun thing but
it gets me in trouble with myself but that's how I go about about the things that I enjoy and knives it's one of those things you know in the beginning with Axis,
it was for survival so I learned I learned an activity in order to survive to put food on my table and that evolved into machetes and knives which was something that
that I was doing and that I was learning up in the mountains.

[14:36] And for a while, it remained in knives, fixed blades. From the fixed blades, it evolved into folders until lastly it was the slip joints.
And these evolution, you know, there has to be a purpose in most of the things I do.
That's just the way I'm complicated. What can I say? But there has to be a purpose.
Perhaps it is because of the way my Cosmo vision, the way I see life that...

[15:26] Without a purpose, life is rather gloomy. And I found a purpose, and it's my task, my homework, to find a purpose in things I do.
And in knives, it's no exception. So I had to find purpose and fusion that purpose with blades.
And that's, you know, like the path I'm walking on with thinking about a magnificent tool that has been with us for thousands of years.
But not only that, because this tool has and this tool, right, has evolved into something.

[16:15] Like this. Oh, yeah. Or something like this. Okay, so you're talking about purpose and you also stepped on the landmine of art.
Now to me, I also have an art background and I have a, something I want to bounce off of you.
Let's see what Professor EDC thinks of this. When people say that a knife is a work of art, I usually bristle and I'll allow it because I know it's just a turn of phrase mostly, but what I'm really thinking is no, it's not.
It's a work of artful design because it has a purpose beyond mere appreciation of its existence. It has a purpose of cutting or stabbing or whatever it's going to do, but it has a purpose beyond appreciation.
So is it that? Is it that knives contain a beauty and a purpose to them that reach back real deep in our human you know, our human identity.

[17:24] In that sense, I do think so. As a tool, absolutely. And if we talk about craftsmanship, which is different from art, yeah, absolutely. We stick strictly to the rules of art, then we cannot say that knives or folders are pieces of art in the most strict interpretation of it. Yeah, the requirements for something to become art.
On the other hand, the master ship in craftsmanship can evolve to a point where it becomes art.
And I think that many of the custom knives and custom folders that we are seeing nowadays and from other times, that can be, you know, they are right there, right there in that
line where there are bouts or or trespassing that line from craftsmanship or master craftsmanship.

[18:29] To art. Okay well I yes I agree I agree I'll allow it again you know it's just one of these debates I have back and forth with my dad I have to sharpen my teeth on them every once in a while.

[18:44] I've come a long way from since my art school days when kind of anything goes that's how I That's how I was back then. With the knives that you're now getting and the
knives that that are appealing to you because there's a you know there's a reason why we select the things we select. Sometimes the reason is I have a
couple of people who for instance Jack Wolf knives I'm just a lucky man and I get a knife from him with with every release and I'm so grateful and I get to
experience that and I love it. The knives that I spend my money on, you know, that is a very specific thing. That's like I work hard and I can't just throw money away and.

[19:32] So there I'm looking for that certain something. I don't need anything. I'm well taken care of in terms of knives, but I'm still buying. So there's something about that. And now there's There's just got to be that something special and it's hard to define.
I could put some parameters on it, but what are you looking for that you spend your money on that you want to keep on that row behind you?
That's a tough one. You know, we've got to talk about how we were raised and in that sense, I always talk about taste.

[20:17] Good taste is a hard thing to combine, but the great thing about that is that you can be taught, you can evolve. And we are not born with good taste.
I remember my parents listened to classical music, but just normal. And then one day back in the States, I walked back from school and then had to go through
some bins, garbage bins, and there lied a collection of classical music.
Do you remember this old L piece? a collection of classical music and I was amazed that people would throw that away.
So I picked them all up and I went back home and my mother was surprised for me to pick up.

[21:23] The trash. And from there I became a great fan of Edvard Grieg and Stravinsky and something that my mother would have never thought and opera and so but you know I don't know why it just caught my,
my ear and there was the seeds that perhaps that my parents planted and then destiny or life came across and there was a, you know, like the seeds, the soil, the darkness necessary,
the water and then boom, it explodes. And so I think of taste in such a manner. I think Thank you.

[22:23] We plant many seeds and sometimes we forget that they are there, but if we keep on watering and nurturing the soil, soon enough we'll see sprouts and bigger plants and trees.
Ah, man, you mentioned taste and good taste and, you know, I also, my parents listen to classical music. I was just telling a friend of mine the other day that I remember vaguely my mom kind of telling my dad,
You know, it's time to like start, you know, elevate yourself a little like, you know, you can still listen to rock and roll, but you know, check out Mozart. My dad got into it and it,
you know, it changed him for the better, you know, they started going to music and seeing live performances and stuff like that. It enriched their lives. I got the overflow of that as their
children or the residuals as their children, but you mentioned taste and good taste and that is something that not particularly, I don't hear talk about that, but it seems like the type of thing,
that in the United States in this climate right now, if you even mention the concept of taste,
like something can be done in poor taste or, you know, pop culture has no taste or anything like that you would be seen as elitist or some sort of ist and rejected as some sort of a snot. But.

[23:52] I love that you bring it up. Taste has a lot to do with a lot. That's the reason why we turn our nose up at gas station knives for instance. We have better taste than that.

[24:06] And I think it's a matter of accepting yourself as well. I mean, I'm old school in that sense, and I'm happy about it. I keep on learning, I keep on maturing, because it's a life process.
And, but I also find that good values, that good ethics lead to a happier life. And that's something that I see that we are forgetting that many of us are forgetting
and we can see this in social media, we can see this everywhere.
And where has it taken us?
Also to the degradation of our planet. Some people make fun of me when I mention ecology when we talk about knives. Well, I'm not against China at all.
I think that China has taken big steps and has learned very quickly.
That's something that has to be recognized. But at the same time, when an unknown, particularly Chinese company comes up without any name,
without anywhere to be found, just dropping cheap knives out there.

[25:29] Well, it's a matter of, of course, doing some research, but at the same time, just a little bit of thinking into how are these knives made?
Why are they so cheap? It's costing people's lives. So labor exploitation.
And at the same time, since the company is not being regulated, they're pouring out contaminants because they're not regulated.
And at the same time, these cheap, cheap knives, yeah, you can buy them and then throw them away the next day because they cost so cheap.
And all of this is just producing pollution, right?

[26:16] But it's one of those things that...

[26:20] I'm gonna sound all but in the old days. You know i was taught differently by my parents and my grandparents and i value their teachings i know that.
Not always are they are the best or correct but it's my job. to improve upon that. Nonetheless, I still respect the knowledge from the past, and it's my job to upgrade that knowledge to the present and for my future.
Well, there's a reason why tradition exists. There's a reason why that stuff gets passed on. You can't just wave your hand at it and say, oh, I know better than the last, you know, several thousand generations that came before me. You were talking about kind of the cheap anonymous knife that we can just kind of pick up the way we kind of like pick up a McDonald's burger when we're hungry.
This cheap knife and we kind of use it whatever, just want to check it out and then we can just discard it.

[27:27] And the kind of ethics behind that, do you think that? I think you and I are probably vaguely around the same age. I think you have a little less gray in your beard, but I think we're about the same generation.
I think one year. Oh, all right. All right. All right. All right. Do you think compared to kind of the exciting onset of this modern era of knives,
do you think that the market is flooded in any way?
Or do you think that it's more like the more the merrier and that's bringing more uh more people like us into the fold?
Oh, man You're gonna get me hang for this.

[28:13] That's what we're here for Uh I think it's a little uh a mixture of both.

[28:22] Um one of the things let me take a step back one of the things I have learned as a YouTuber or as a.

[28:37] Reviewer or critique is,
that i don't want to be a critique i want to understand and that's a big difference in critiquing something you know we might critique something,
with a positive intention with a constructive intention but it is very different if we try to understand before,
and so I think understanding, trying to understand the situation that we are in is, um, gives us a, a wider, a bigger, uh, point of view.
And that can lead us to a smarter, uh, take of, uh, smarter decision taking.
Okay. But do you think the market is flooded? Do you think? Yes.
I'm not I'm not trying to put where I'm definitely not trying to put words in your mouth But but I want I want to know what you think about this for this,
Because you've been around like I have and you've kind of seen this happen and I feel like it's kind of happened all the sudden Over 12 years, you know, like all this and I look around. Oh my god,
There are so many knives like I can't even I can't even keep up. Yeah.

[29:57] Friend of mine told me that you gotta call it that term because once I said that we are living in the age of the I knives, you know, like iPhones, iPads, I watch, I knife. And so, yeah, absolutely.
It is a time of great opportunity for.

[30:25] Uh oh, I think we lost the professor. Let's see if we can get him back. The I-knife.

[30:33] I'm back. All right, so let me just ask you. You mentioned the term I-knife, and I love that.
But I want you to, I kind of intuitively know what it is, but I want you to define it in clear terms.
What is the I-knife?
All right. We're not in that time that there's opportunities for many people. Let me make clear.

[31:02] Opportunities are not the same in the first world and in the third world. So you know when i when i we gonna talk about this cuz that's another exciting topic the us a made in the china me.
There's something to be said but about the island.
Something I respect a lot whether I like it or I may like like a nightmaker or not Is their trajectory and the time that they have spent?
Doing research and the time they have Cut themselves and burned themselves and sacrificed sweat and sacrificed.

[31:43] Perhaps the meal of their family in order to to achieve success So I respect that very much.
And so, and I'm not going to talk bad about anyone here, but when you see just new knives popping everywhere, you know, like the new model, the new version of the iPhone, just two weeks away, and that was yesterday.
So that really gets me thinking. I'm not saying that they are bad. I'm saying that the technology that we have now accelerates the processes.
But let's not forget about those knife makers, those people that have sacrificed a lot. We have a Tursola, we have a uh, a hinderer, Chris Reeve, we have a Tomeo, you know, they have taken their time learning the.

[32:44] How to make the know-how of all this. And technology is not equivalent to wisdom.
Interesting. But okay, wait, wait, are you referring specifically to guys like you and I who who can come up with a design and then come up with funds to create it and then have a,
knife created like loosely? Is that kind of what you're getting at? Because I sometimes think of that and let me just say one thing. Well, no, let me just ask you, is that what you're kind of referring to?
This conceptually not anyone in particular but the ease that anyone can kind of have a knife manufacturer. I think the ease is fabulous. The motivation behind is another thing. So I know
people here here in Mexico you know that that just make make copy a well-known model of a well-known maker and just you know go buy it or try to try to copy or.

[34:05] Or imitate, you know, models that have more design that have more research into them.
So, you know, again, that's why I talk about purpose. That's why I talk about motivation.
And because not everyone's motivation is the same.
And I know you, for example, you're you're working on a collaboration with a knife maker.
And I'm excited about that because you are a person that has knowledge and that has good taste.
And so when I look at the qualities that you have and that the knife maker may have and you put those together, I always support collaborations. Two brains think better than one.
In that sense, that's fantastic.
And I support that. And I told you that I want one of your knives. we're done rolling I'll show it to you. But then again you know when the motivation is just easy money and I can understand that situation I can.

[35:12] Absolutely understand trying to get some money to live but when it's just that well then you know the value the knife maker may set the price but then again
the costumer sets the value or gives the value. I think when I said ease of production, I've spoken to enough people to know that it's not easy and I'm not
suggesting that it's easy. What I was really referring to was the manufacturing aspect, the fact that once you've learned your CAD or once
you find someone to do that for you, there are machines and processes that are out of your hands gratefully so that can build those things and they're doing beautiful jobs building them.

[36:02] That's what I meant by ease. You know, 20 years ago, it wasn't as easy for an American to design a knife and have it made like that. But you were talking about the Ernie Emerson's and the Rick Hinderers and the Bob Terzulas who have all of that experience, not only building knives,
but innovating and kind of creating the genre to a great extent. And then you have a generation or two that comes up behind them, they benefit from that knowledge. It's like a young chess
master reading all the games from the chess masters that came before him and absorbing all of their toil and all of their innovation and creativity and putting it to their own purpose. The question is, do they offer the same thing to generations beyond them?

[36:51] That's a good question to think about. I mean, wisdom is something that also is transmitted generation to generation.
And there are things that technology cannot do.

[37:11] And so that sixth sense that good taste, you know, a machine cannot sense good taste. A machine cannot decipher how the geometries are going to play with light and shadow and
how that is going to impact the eye of the beholder.
That's something I love about blades, geometries, light and shadow.
That's a yin-yang, that's balance.

[37:51] And that's one of the things that I look for in a blade as well. You know, what's kind of interesting is there's sort of a yin-yang with a maker like Brian Nadeau.
I mean, we're talking about, and this is not totally random. We're talking about machine assisted made knives or machine made knives.
And he himself is a master at using those CNC machines to make his own knives in his own facility, which is his house, last I checked.
But he also to mass produce his knives relies on a company that does the same thing.
So he is like, you know, he is a maestro with the machines that he's also having his things reproduced on, which I think is an interesting scenario as opposed to someone who's been hand making them and then has the machines do it.
Doing the same, you know, he's doing the same on both sides.

[38:53] I think that's smart. He's already acquired the knowledge. He's already mastered something. A master at it.
At the same time, he decides to go both ways. So, you know, I understand the aspect as a businessman. But at the same time, I understand when he makes a custom, and you have seen his
customs. They're just out of this world. I'm not a dagger guy, but his arch nemesis is,
something incredible, something to behold.
Yes, yes I do. I have long called that the perfect folder. I mean, to me that, and I got a chance to heft one. Oh yeah, that's a beautiful knife.
One of my favorites. This is in the collection, my personal collection. This is not for rotation.
And this is perfect. I mean, this is as I called, I named this darkness.

[39:56] Because it just represents darkness so well in so many aspects. Look at the light, how it hits that flat and that... Yeah the Yokote and that and then the long hollow ground
flat that are straight that is beautiful. So you just mentioned that that's part,
of your collection not part of the rotation. Tell me a little bit about your channel and the nuts and bolts of it. How you how you manage it and and I assume you have knives that you have just for review that you send through and then and others that you cherish and hold onto.
Tell me about your channel a little bit.

[40:38] Well, it's evolving. I'm trying to keep it alive. And at the same time, it has become a source of income for me as to, if I wanted to keep on reviewing,
I had to keep on bringing in knives.
And so I buy them and I make first impression videos on most 98-99% of the knives and perhaps I keep one and that's going to go into my permanent collection.
Perhaps I find something that I can play with it a little bit more and that stays in the rotation collection which is more for the channel.
And so, and for that I have to keep on bringing knives. And you know that led me to also to Jack Wolfe, which I don't know if you know, but I became,
the,
your visual.

[41:44] What's it called? Dealer? Distributor. Distributor for Latin America.
You know what? I had some idea of that because your videos, you know, I'm like, man, he's got them all. He's got each one.
Is he? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very nice.
Nicely done. And so, but you know, and people ask, oh no, Ben is just giving you, no, I have bought every single one of those knives and if Ben has decided to go to work that way, that's perfect.
I believe Ben is a very ethical person and that's why I also decided to work with him because Because ethics are a big part of my life.
And we have had a few situations here in Mexico, particularly. And Ben has come out clean through.
And another one of those things, talking about ethics, loyalty is very important to me.
And so, you know, that's, it's a pleasure to be able to do business, to work with a person that has those values as well.
The Jack Wolf collection is...

[43:12] It's fantastic and yeah, I totally understand you. It has costed me every single penny and I enjoy it very much.

[43:27] The joy of the slip joint, is that something new to you? Or I mean, did you grow up with the pocket knives and then, you know, graduate to the locking?
That was the last folder, the last knife that I got in love with.
Like I mentioned, you know, the evolution was axes, machetes, knife, fixed blades, folders, and lastly, the stick joints.
So you mentioned before, are you sort of indicated that maybe there were some difficulties from time to time? What's it like in Mexico?
What's the knife culture like in Mexico? And what's it like collecting the knives you like?
Well, it's if it's difficult for you guys over there to, you know, catch a drop, it's just so much more difficult here.

[44:24] Through the payments, the insecurity for the knife to actually arrive to your house, taxes of 35 to 50% extra. And on top of that, if you go to the secondary market, you know the story.
I've been kind of discriminated in that sense when I was trying to put together the Trinity. And people, there's just different people with different ideas and that they think that,
like they told me what's a Mexican gonna do with a knife like this in their hand.

[45:11] That's just ignorance speaking. Of course it's not nice, but you gotta understand that ignorance exists. Yeah, sure, sure. I thought the problem would be shipping it to Mexico, because I was about to ship a knife to Canada and the guy was just like...
It was a giveaway knife and the gentleman very graciously said, hold on to it. Don't pop. Don't go to, you know, I was going to go through it. You got to tape it
shut and tape the blade and do and tighten the pivot and then, you know, describe it and all this. And it's not that big a deal, but it's, you know, I wonder, I was thinking when you were
seeking that Trinity that it was more an issue of shipping, but, but it was, that is the most ignorant thing. Yeah. What's a, what's a Mexican going to do with that? Well, what's an American going to do with a hinderer? What's anyone going to do with a hinderer?

[46:02] I mean, it's, you know, like I said, it's just difficult, but you've got to understand, we are all ignorant at some level. I'm not an encyclopedia. Well, I'm going to sound old,
because I always repeat, I'm not an encyclopedia. And I should be saying, I'm not Google, you know?
Well, and so... You're talking, you're talking, yeah, no need for that.
But the knife culture, like in Mexico, I don't know much about it or if there is one. I know there's a Mexican style bowie that I'd love to get a version of at some point.
But is there a community there that, of like-minded folks like yourself or do you feel like an island or...?

[46:54] You know what, sometimes I do feel like an island with the community that I've been able to form that's making that spurs, that thought disperse.
Mexico is some 15 years, 20 years behind from my point of view. There are good things, of course, but there's also a lot of envy and jealousy and things
that we gotta overcome.
And you know, that's part of as well, that's part of my job trying to trying to communicate, trying to share and trying to, you know, point out some directions without, you know, trying to be a know-it-all because I'm not.

[47:55] There are a few good people humble people that have asked me. And they are willing to try different things.
So in that sense, I've also learned the respect of a lot of people here.
And in that sense, well, it's a slow road. It's a But there's at the same time. There's no hurry and we got to take into consideration that.

[48:30] We can all learn from this experience and also enjoy even more knives Well, where do you want your channel to go? Ultimately? What's the what's the end goal?

[48:43] Um I'm close to opening a webpage and And no, I want to write about knives.
The videos are still kind of hard for me, you know. It's been three years already or close to three years.
And it's just the thing that it's, you know, I don't feel like in the water and just, oh, everything is always, no, no, no, no.
But I do like writing. I've always enjoyed writing.

[49:23] That artistic part of me, you know, I used to write.

[49:31] When I was since I was very young and then also paint painted. So writing about knives and telling stories, that that's I just love storytelling.
So
I don't know, that's something I'd like to do in my webpage. Of course, I'm going to offer Jack Wolf knives, of course. And the knives that go out in rotation from the collection, they go out as well for sale.
I can't keep them all, as we all know, we can't keep them all. I try.
We certainly try but Yeah, we gotta let go if we want to try something new, you know, I had to let go of.

[50:22] Six nice seven nice just to get a Jason Guthrie Scout yeah gorgeous And then I had to let go of the graffiti to get something else. I like the idea of.

[50:36] I I like this idea of not only having a flow, I need to set up more of a flow through my collection.
You can let that flow with your Waki Sashi. You can let that flow of the Waki Sashi this way. Let it flow towards you. Okay. Yeah, I need to establish more flow in my collection. But yeah,
I like the idea of having things moving, keeping it fresh and not getting too attached. Theoretically, philosophically I believe I should not be attached. I kind of bristle at materialism and yet...
You know, I'm pretty materialistic, at least in this realm of things. So, you know, there's got to be a way to sort of, you know, justify and maintain.
So I like this idea of bringing together passions. Knives with this for me is a passion, this kind of production.
So bringing that together, the videos or, you know, so I know a lot of people become outdoorsmen through their love of knives. And I could see that happen to me someday.
Someday. I got to do something with all these knives. I'm going to go out in the woods now, you know, now that I'm retired or whatever. You know, it can be... Sorry. No, no, no, please.

[51:54] It can become a path of personal development. And because you start catching different things about yourself, about your personality. And so you're, you're, for example, you're, if you have a a personality an obsessive compulsive personality and you didn't know about it well, you're gonna know about it.

[52:15] If if you um Cringe if you cringe to things if you cringe to people You're gonna learn through this that you're gonna have to let go,
and at the same time you're gonna be glad to let go sometimes because you know, sometimes um,
have to put a uh In COVID, 70% of the teachers here in Mexico in private schools were left unemployed and were not able to go back to schools because also salaries went
down dramatically, 50%, about 50%. And so, you know, in that sense we were left with having to explore different options. So this is my option and,
And I've had to sell knives in order to pay the rent, in order to put a plate of food in my table.
And you know what? I remembered gratitude.

[53:18] And that's something that also that we have forgotten and that's magical. I mean it in all the sense of the word, because when you feel true gratitude, everything's okay.
You know, you had to let go of something that you appreciated in order to be alive and at At the same time, you're glad to be alive.

[53:46] And you are thankful for that which gave you that food. So it's a very interesting cycle. And if you were cringing to something and you learn to let go.

[54:00] That's a big step. And when you talk about spiritual practices, the spiritual practices of letting go in different religions, that's something that is very important.
Well, you talk about letting go and you talked about how you still feel uncomfortable after three years.
Or maybe not uncomfortable, but not as at home as you might have thought you would.

[54:28] But that right there is opening you up and teaching you, you know? And most likely, we're getting the real Professor EDC from that. So thank you for opening up to that.

[54:42] Corny to say this with this with this with this sort of interlude but I want to I want you to open up further I have a speed round as we wrap up the show and,
for those of you who are patrons I'm gonna I have a couple of other questions I want to ask Professor EDC during the exclusive interview section some things
that some obvious low-hanging fruit that I haven't gotten to but so do join us there but I want to I have some questions for you I do a speed round for
people who have channels who review knives for whom many knives come through and your taste of developed and been refined so I want to find out more about you through this. Sure, let's go. Alright that's about 16 questions fixed or folder.
Right now folder. Yeah, like that. Right now. That's the caveat for me too. Right now swords.
Okay. Well, it evolved, you know? So from Axis now to folders. Where is it going to go next? I don't know.
No, last... Yesterday I saw the first PushDagger that I liked. I have never liked PushDaggers. And I saw the first one.
I said, oh, that's a good one.
So now you have to get one for the Professor EDC Museum of Cutlery just to have an equal representation.
Okay, next up. Flipper or thumb stud?

[56:08] Thumb stud. Washers or bearings? Washers. Tip up or tip down?
Uh, tip up. Tonto or bowie?

[56:24] Tonto. Hollow ground or flat ground? Hollow. Full size or small?
Full size. Gentleman's knife or tactical knife?

[56:37] Whoa, I don't like the term tactical. Well, you know what I mean though.
Yeah, hard to use tactical, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Hard to use tactical. Okay, gotcha. Automatic or bally song?
Eww. Auto.

[56:56] Okay. Benchmade or Spyderco? Spyderco.
Chris Reeve or Hinderer? Chris Reeve. Milled titanium or spring clip?

[57:10] Milled titanium. Alright. Carbon fiber or micarta?

[57:17] Tide. No. you must choose.

[57:27] You know what? I love Barker & Remmers Mycarta.

[57:34] All right. So yeah, so if you choose, say if you chose carbon fiber, you could have all carbon fibers. If you choose Mycarta, you can have all carbon fibers. I'm giving you that.
So Mycarta, yeah, I'm with you on that. So three more. Finger choil or no choil?

[57:51] Finger choil. Form or function?

[58:01] Oh my god. You can say it. Go ahead. It doesn't make you shallow if you say it.

[58:11] What? It's gonna be function because that's the essence. So yeah, and I start with the essence. The essence has to lead me to other things,
So function has to lead me to aesthetics and other things so,
Function, okay. And lastly, what's your grail knife? What's your desert island knife?
You get one and you can have it the rest of your life. What would that one be?
Luckily, no one's actually holding you do this but Um, a production custom? Let's just say, just say whatever, whatever.
For me it might be that arch nemesis you mentioned. Oh. Shhh.

[58:57] Ah. What's that current obsession, Professor? You gotta have something.
Well, I'm into the Fisher family. Definitely. I'm into the Fisher family. Thanks to Dark Word. Yep, yep. That's what I was thinking. Thank you, Dark, for watching this.

[59:17] No fault.

[59:17] You know. But, oh my God, that's so difficult. You got to choose in three seconds or you get nothing.
No knife. You get a plastic butter knife from McDonald's. Cold. That's just plain cold.
You know what? I'm gonna go with a Chris Reeve. You know, a Sebenza 21 full size, it's hard to beat.
It is hard to beat. Whether you talk about the San... Or the Unonsai, you're getting a lot of the things you mentioned. Thumb stud, washers, tip up, tanto, hollow ground.
Yeah, I'm with you.
31 or the most recent one?

[1:00:04] Beautiful. This is just a gorgeous blade shape. It is. And you know, functional, absolutely. And like you said, has all the things that you asked me. And of course, you know, we talk about custom, I really have to think about that because there's so many designers, Nick Swan, the Russian, the South African, just too many.
Well luckily you don't have to choose right now. But thank you Professor Edzi, I really appreciate your coming on and revealing your taste here in the speed round.
It's great to get to know you a little bit more and I look forward to talking to you a little bit more in a few minutes.
But thanks again for coming on the show, sir. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you guys. Thank you, Jim. I love the work you guys do every Thursday and with every interview.
And we'll continue to support you and watch you and keep on learning.
So thank you guys. And thanks to the community that I also appreciate very much exchanging ideas and.

[1:01:28] It's nice to be greeted in a nice way and not with the opposite. Yes.
Agreed. All righty, sir. Thanks. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Yim.

[1:01:42] A pleasure. Visit the Knife Junkie at thenifejunkie.com to catch all of our podcast episodes, videos, photos, and more.
There he goes, ladies and gentlemen. ProfesorEDC. I'm going to be talking to him again, like I said, in the patrons, patrons interview.
Great talk of purpose. That's kind of a through line through all of his videos. So do go check him out.
Again, that's ProfesorEDC. Good to have you here, sir. And be sure to join us for another great interview next Sunday, not to mention the Wednesday supplemental and Thursday night knives.
Also, I've been posting a lot of videos.
Check those out too. Alright, 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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[1:03:10] Music.