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The Knife Junkie Podcast is the place for knife newbies and knife junkies to learn about knives and knife collecting. Twice per week Bob DeMarco talks knives. Call the Listener Line at 724-466-4487; Visit https://theknifejunkie.com.
©2024, Bob DeMarco
The Knife Junkie Podcast
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[0:00]Coming up, the Bald Man Knife and Tool Thickatross, Savivi's got a really cool and stylish new button lock we're going to take a look at in Knife Life News, and then how to overpack like a knife junkie. These are the knives I brought with me on my summer vacation. I'm Bob DeMarco, this is the Knife Junkie Podcast.
[0:20]Welcome to the Knife Junkie Podcast, your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your Your host, Bob the Knife Junkie DeMarco. Welcome back to the show. My favorite comment from this past week was from Richter Knives. He said, and this was about my most recent interview with Ben Belkin of Jack Wolf Knives. He says, love this. A couple of things I took from this. Ben is super thoughtful. I loved hearing his thought process. And also, after hearing this, I'm excited to see what's coming next. And by the way, that was just announced. The fixed blade is a home run to me. You can tell every detail is intentional This is the best interview I've seen of Ben My two cents on the locking knives Is I'd love to see a Venom Jack As would I, sir, as would I That would be sick I couldn't agree more, Richter Knives And the other one I wanted to see In locking form is what is going to be coming out So I don't know If that's, I'm sure that's out there So you'll see, it is the Benny and it's super cool Thank you for your comments And thank you one and all for watching and commenting this past week, I do appreciate it. That said, let's now get to a pocket check. What's in his pocket? Let's find out.
[1:38]Here's the knife junkie with his pocket check of knives. Front right pocket today was a classic. I had the XM18 by Rick Hinderer Knives, and this is my Spanto Reground by Razor Edge Cutlery. Josh of Razor Edge Cutlery regrounded this. It's got to be going on five years now. It's been a while. Very, very skilled knife maker and blade grinder. And at this time, his main business was regrinding blades. I know he does some knives himself from scratch. But this he turned this knife which i've always loved i've always loved the spanto into what it truly was at the beginning uh kind of like a drop point tanto you know you got your flat up front here and then you've got a deep hollow grind going all the way back uh so just very nicely done to really uh brought out the true spirit of the spanto in this regrind and this is really i'm, I think that's the only regrind I've ever done. And I say I think. I know I've wanted to do a whole bunch, but that's the only one I have. This is pre-tryway pivot.
[2:53]And very, very, this would annoy a lot of you. It doesn't bother me because it is what it is. It's an older hinderer. But it's there for a little bit of wrist flick. And then it's there to guard your hand. end so i don't have any expectations about the action of this i have an xm24 uh that has uh that's pre-tryway pivot that has outstanding uh detent and action um this one just doesn't but i don't care i love it it's mine all right uh next up this is another one i'm just really psyched about but it's brand new to me uh this is the american bladeworks slip joint and that's what it's going by so far, I'm pretty sure. A slip joint. It is beautiful. Yes, Argo, I had to remember to pick up my dog today. You know, we all have ways of remembering things. Very deeply hollow ground sheep's foot blade.
[3:50]So useful. So incredibly sharp. I used this for packaging, I guess, about two weeks ago now. And you can get really precise with a blade that thin and sharp. Look at how sharp that is. It's like a razor. And it really does take hair off And I can shave little bits of my face with this Though I have to be wolfing A and B It's painful, I wouldn't want to have to do my whole face that way, For a first outing, for a first slip joint Excellent action I mean, really nice action Better than some Not as crisp as others But very, very, This is not a disappointment Let me put it to you this way It's way better than Greg Medford's first attempt When he made the Gentleman Jack And I was grateful to receive one from him But I felt like maybe a little more research Was due That was a long time ago I know Medford Knives is just incredible They're killing it With their OEM stuff.
[4:54]Which they have done for people From time to time But also their original models Anyway, this one is the American Blade Works And an amazing first outing, especially for a one-man show as well. So, beautiful knife. Love that thing. Next up, this was in my carry of this was inspired by two things. Coming off a vacation where I was kind of over-knived. And B, the comment today about Ben's interview. So, I carried this today. This was my fixed blade. Usually this has been a secondary fixed blade to me But today this was the one fixed blade I had And it was in my back left pocket And that's kind of where I've landed It's where I like it most Though I must admit.
[5:42]Sometimes when I sit down, depending on the pants, I'll think, jeez, is this putting stress on the tip? Like, you know, if the sheath is conforming to the curve of my buttock, is that putting pressure on the tip? But lo and behold, it is not. I can't help but think it, though. So sometimes I get squeamish and pull it out of my back pocket, put it in the front left. But then I have to find another place for my phone, and, you know, it's just drama. Uh so back right back left seems to be the best place uh and super excellent uh little fixed blade knife uh and i something i really love about it is that when it's open uh basically all day long it's shorter than its folding counterparts so smaller handle uh than blade but same three inch blade as on the original Midnight Jack. I got the really nice, very dark, very rich black micarta here. This is linen micarta, very fine weave. I got a little leather fob in there. It really does help it stay in hand nicely.
[6:55]It gives you a little more option. It makes you feel less crowded and less desperate to hang on to your knife. Of course, half of the star of the show of any fixed blade is the sheath. This is a gorgeous leather sheath. I like the way it's starting to conform to the blade in its shape. And yeah, that clip is super stout, as mentioned in the interview and as I've mentioned here a few times. All right, last up on me, a charming and cute little knife designed by Ferrum Forge and made by Savivi and given to me by my buddy Jaime. I really appreciate this. It was too small for him. And ordinarily, well, this is too small for my, you know, wheelhouse type knife. But it's just right there for that petite, this is like a 2.6 inch blade. And it's just a fidgety little addictive knife. And also, by the way, extremely sharp, very useful. And it looks nice here. I gotta say, It looks nice here, but it's even better in person It is a really beautiful knife The guys from Ferrum Forge are great dudes I've had them on the show a few times I've always been a little bit, you know, ambivalent about their designs They're nice, but haven't really done it for me But I think maybe when I have them in person, it's different Because I really like this Odium, by the way Civivi Odium in person If you're listening and you're like, yeah, which one are you talking about? So it's got the, I guess it's green...
[8:24]Yeah, that's dark green micarta with a black blade here. And it is a flat ground Civivi. They make both, and they're both super, you know, their hollow ground and their flat ground knives are so incredibly slicey and sharp. So this is what I had on me today. What did you have on you? Let me know. I had the Hinderer XM18 3.5-inch Sponto Reground. I had the American Blade Works Slip Joint, very aptly named. And the Midnight Fixed EDC from Jack Wolf Nives, beautiful in its little package.
[9:02]And then, of course, this little Civivi Odium that has captured my imagination since it was very generously gifted to me. Speaking of generous and gifts, I want to thank everyone who's been a patron or who has just become a patron for your generosity. I really appreciate it. We like to pass along my good fortune. I get sent a lot of knives, and so we like to give them away. And one way we like to give them away is give some of the special ones away to our gentlemen junkies at the top tier. I want to show you what we're giving away this month. It's very special. It is a custom knife from Brent Smith and Bald Man Knife and Tool. This is the box it comes in. Bald man knife and tool and this is the thicketross a thicker version of his popular albatross drop point blade and it is a thick honey it's a quarter inch thick here of magna cut i believe he said 63 to 64 does that sound right uh flat ground super sharp this thing is incredible it's got a uh.
[10:16]What is this handle called? It's called Blackout. Well, the handle is that G10 alternating with a sort of rubberized material. It's not super rubbery like cheesy hunting knives. It is, you just get the ever so slightest little bit of gription in addition to the G10. And then you get these nice jimps. And this is just an awesome EDC fixed blade. There it is. We're going to be giving this thicketross away, and Brent will join us to do so. Brent of Bald Man Knife and Tool, really great guy, and, man, he has been doing some really great work over the past couple of years. I remember the first time I met him in person after meeting him on Thursday Night Knives. He was walking around Blade Show, and he had a couple of his own knives on him, but I didn't know they were his. And I asked him, what is that? Fantastic. And it was in a leather pouch. She was just something he made thin, slicey, beautiful. So he does thin and slicey. And then he does these thick, thick boys right here. The thicketross. So anyway, that is the Gentleman Junkie knife giveaway knife for July of 2024, which we are now cozily in.
[11:35]July, that is, smack dab center in the middle of the summer. If you want to help support the show and get a chance to win the Thick of Tross, just go to the QR code right here on the screen or go to theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon and check it out. Check out everything we have to offer. Again, that's theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon. Among this week's specials at Knives Ship Free, the RMJ Tactical Unmay was inspired by the Japanese Quaken and it's back in stock with new Cerakote finishes. These are made in Tennessee with Nitro-V stainless steel, textured G10 scales, and bronze anodized titanium fasteners. Zero Tolerance 0308 has a sizable handle, solid build quality, and a CPM 20CV blade with a large cutting belly. Plus, his heavy-duty flipper is made in the USA. And the Spyderco Native Chief Lightweight Blackout Serrated is another USA-made folder that has a 4-inch blade but weighs just 3.1 ounces. This new variant just arrived with full serrations and a blackout finish. Get these deals and other great specials from our friends at Knives Ship Free. Just use our affiliate link, thenifejunkie.com slash knives ship free. Support the show and get a great new knife at the same time. Thenifejunkie.com slash knives ship free. You're listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast, And now, here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life News.
[13:02]Knives ship free is definitely the break you don't want to skip if you're watching this show because, oh man, that lightweight Spyderco Chieftain with the durations and blackout, that looks cool. I might have to do that.
[13:19]It's not the chieftain what is it uh the big chief the big kahuna all right first up this was one that i saw at um at blade show and i gotta say man i get blinders on a blade show there is so much to take in that usually i don't do much of the taking in from the savivi tables or or the big companies i i'm so much more about the customs and the smaller makers and people i've already met And I don't get to Civivi and stuff like that until the end of the show. And this year, I kind of didn't. But I kept seeing this. I'd be walking by, and there'd be throngs of people. And I kept spotting this Civivi. And I'm very excited about this. You know, I have a little Civivi collection. And this is definitely going in it. And this one right here with that beautiful Damascusine blade and the ivory G10. This is called the Incendi. And this is an in-house design. They have some pretty damn talented in-house designers over there. Because they've been coming out with some impressive stuff recently This one Is a 3.48 inch 14C28N Drop point with a fuller Very aggressive drop point Ben Schwartz of Knife News, Thinks that it's evocative of An Italian stiletto I beg to differ but that's neither here nor there Um.
[14:37]But if that gives you an idea of the blade, semi-symmetrical, it's got a beautiful cone, conical, if you will, fuller, running down the center that I really love. To me, it's very dramatic, and you know it's going to flip open great with the middle finger, I hope. I hope that that's not too deeply buried in the handle. There it is, black on black G10, 3.8 ounces ambidextrous deep carry pocket clip. That Ivory G10 in Damascus Will be their dressed up version Which they do, you know, all the time And I've been very impressive I have been very impressed But anyway, available soon I've been very impressed with their button lock recently That's what I was trying to get out Available soon, we don't know the date Okay, next up, here's another modern one This one also a flipper This time from Rosecraft, From Rosecraft's.
[15:30]Savannah Swaggerty Now I wonder her now suddenly i'm like is that swagged um but i don't know congratulations to her and uh her husband they just had a baby she just had a baby they now have a baby uh congratulations to them she seems like a lovely person um but this one though the uh walleye i'm not i'm not sure if that's her so i'm just gonna say uh this one designed by savannah swaggerdy at rosecraft um one of three recent releases in their modern lineup a really cool looking flipper it's kind of a snub nose uh or someone might even say that that's a clip point because really it is uh it's just a it's sort of a snub uh clip point but it's uh imagine a nice drop point with a with a nice big opening hole and a nice big flipper beautifully contoured g10 handle i love the way it reveals the the different layers of uh the colors of g10 and uh this one a walleye and uh walleye is a big fish in lake erie i know i've grown up in cleveland a lot of people fish for for walleye on lake erie um i don't know if i've ever eaten it but uh, You don't spell it, son. You eat it. Snub Nose Flipper, 3.1 inches of RPM 9. And this will be out now. This is out now. 3.5 ounces out now. Check it out.
[16:58]Lastly, of the new knives here, and then we have another story, is a very cool collaboration with We Knife Company and Dalibor Burgum, Who was I remember, I gotta say It's gotta be now, maybe 10 years ago I remember him Just being huge among some of the, YouTubers I was watching Who collected custom knives Which I certainly did not then I don't really have a collection of Custom folders at all But Dalibor, Burgum, I shouldn't just Call him by his first name, but I always called him that Dalibor, because I thought that's What his knives went by I always thought his knives had a very unique look, and they were almost all, that I remember, integral. He was making integral knives. He's out of Croatia, and so this is perfect for We Knife, who does a beautiful job with their integrals and their, what do you want to call it, whimsical designs. And this is sort of one-part whimsy, nine-part tactical coolness.
[18:07]It's called the ATOR, A-T-T-O-R, or ATOR, Trailing Point Tonto, 3.5 inches, 3.5 inches, of 20CV, the perennial favorite of We Knife Company.
[18:20]Integral titanium construction, sculpted tie clip, which we don't see here in the story, but apparently is vine-like. Which is kind of a turn off Unless I see it, I don't like when people get too creative With the pocket clip Especially this is quite a sleek design I think That I just have to see it I'm sure it's not what I'm imagining, heaven help us if it is just kidding uh 4.75 ounces and no release date on this beauty but i'm i am really liking the blade and i like the echo of the handle uh the handle echoes the shape, a beautiful thing another beautiful thing kniferights.org or knife rights you know who knife rights is and uh mr doug ritter who i'm so sad i missed a blade show this year i'd like to I meet him every year, say hi, because I talk to him a couple of times a year, and he is just burning the midnight oil every day, every night, fighting for our knife rights. And his latest, or their latest, which means our latest victory, is in Idaho, of all places. And I say of all places, because my daughter recently asked one of the places, you know, where would you like to live if you didn't worry about being close to family or anything? You could just go live there. I was I was like, Idaho or Utah.
[19:40]And so it was funny to see that Idaho needed this, but they got it. And it's the Idaho Knife Rights Preemption Bill takes effect. Knife Rights Bill that enacts our signature knife law preemption, HO 620, takes effect today, July 1st. Preemption eliminates local ordinances more restrictive than state law, which only serve to confuse or entrap law-abiding citizens traveling within or through the state.
[20:08]Preemption insurer citizens can expect consistent enforcement of state knife laws everywhere within the state. Okay, so that's the Idaho Knife Rights Preemption Bill. Just reading on, it says, Knife Rights passed the nation's first knife law preemption bill in Arizona in 2010 and has since passed preemption bills in Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Knife Rights is America's grassroots knife owners organization leading the fight to rewrite knife law in America and forging a sharper future for all Americans. Knife Rights efforts, listen to this, have now resulted in 49 bills repealing knife bans in 31 states and over 200 cities and towns since 2010 since 2010 so that's 14 years all of that has been done by doug ritter and his very small crew of people helping him uh of lawyers and such uh preemption is awesome.
[21:15]That that means you know as you saw right there you could be uh you could you could be legally walking around with a bowie in your state but not in your county and could get busted for that But not with a preemption bill So Idaho, there you go That's just another reason I want to move.
[21:32]All right, that's it for Knife Life News. Coming up, we're going to skip the state of the collection because, A, I got nothing new, and I got a lot of knives to show you in my overpacking like a knife junkie, the knives I took on summer vacation. But before we go there, be sure to go to thenifejunkie.com, and you can go to thenifejunkie.com slash shop, and you can check out the different T-shirts that Jim designs and that we have there, pages of really cool stuff. But there's also mugs, t-shirts, hats, etc., etc. So go over there to TheKnifeJunkie.com slash shop and represent your favorite knife podcast. All right, coming up, we're going to take a look at overpacking like a knife junkie. Adventure delivered. Your monthly subscription for hand-picked outdoor, survival, EDC, and other cool gear from our expert team of outdoor professionals. TheKnifeJunkie.com slash BattleBox. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life News, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie Podcast.
[22:59]And then I looked at the knives I brought with me and this was enough weight to hold a body underwater for several weeks, uh, And there were some that I didn't even intend to bring. So I'm going to show you those first because they ended up playing quite a role in this week that really required very few knives. As a matter of fact, I cooked with that's mostly what I did with these knives. But first, let me show you two of the tagalongs. I got the pool bag. You know, we have a family pool bag with all the towels that we take to our pool. And I guess I had stowed this in there and didn't know I had brought it. And man alive did this end up being a super handy knife. The X1, the Civivi X1. This was recently sent to me by Civivi, and we showed it off here, and I did a close-up video of it.
[23:51]This is designed by Brian Brown, and this is basically his Jaeger model. It's sort of a budget version. not sort of definitely a uh easy to afford version of his very popular jaeger jaeger model and it has a deeply hollow ground 14 c 28 28 n blade or i'm sorry nitro nitro v blade uh easy to confuse right uh super thin super hollow ground and this ended up being uh coming in clutch when I had my, oh, I don't even have it here with, the Grizzly from Off Grid Knives was there, as always, doing kitchen duty, and it did get dull, not because of how I was using it, and this is what I ended up using for red peppers and tomatoes, just getting through the skin, because the offerings where we were were super limited. Anyway, so this ended up, like I said, coming in super handy. I was very psyched to have it. This was the other stowaway, my...
[25:00]Spooky pockets polymer knuckle dusters and uh of course i didn't need to use them thank heavens but they are so light you can drop them in the pocket of a swimsuit and forget about them all day and uncased uh you know unless you get in a pool fight or a shark sharks and minnows gets aggressive or whatever it is my daughters and i play some pretty aggressive games in the pool, though never ever have we considered knuckle dusters as part of them. But, you know, it's like, try and get me underwater, Dad, or try and, you know, whatever it is, it's always aggressive, and we come up with cool games.
[25:42]But this was in my back pocket of my swimsuit basically the whole time. So in case it came to fisticuffs over the last tuna fish sandwich or a pool game, I was in the definite advantage. Advantage so Savivi and Spooky Pockets thanks for stowing away you were not asked to come you were not invited but you were welcome so thanks well as the destination was over two hours away at by car and really my stipulation is one hour away by car I have to carry this knife because I'm a creature of habit and I'm also a little superstitious and my grandmother said you can't be catholic and superstitious uh well that was one grandmother the other one said that but in practice maybe uh maybe you can be a little superstitious because i sure as hell am um and to me this is the knife that is my road trip knife period you know i talk about it all the time, because uh it's a special knife in very many different ways first microtech first s35vn This was made in 2012, by the way. First knife with a glass breaker. First knife with bearings, and I didn't even know it. I just thought it was just the smoothest knife of all time for no apparent reason.
[27:02]And I'm sure there are, oh, first knife with carbon fiber. A lot of firsts on this one. But the reason it's the road trip knife is the glass breaker. For some reason in my mind, you know, if the car flips over, I'm going to need that glass breaker. Here's a little interesting tidbit On the way home We were tandem My wife was in front of me I was behind her, Driving down Route 81 in Virginia And someone tried to run me off the road Literally We exchanged paint But I did not, I wasn't going over the bridge or the overpass, and I had someone behind me. I couldn't jam on the brakes. I was like, not today, dude. And I actually, you know, we exchanged paint at 70 miles an hour. It was not fun. But if we had to break out of our car, I had this in my pocket. So I've got that going for me. Microtech so commonly, this is just my go-to travel knife, obviously. And something I love about this knife, and I don't talk about this too often, but because this is tipped down, and it's one of two knives that I accept that from, the clip itself and clip placement is important. It's got to be obviously a spring clip. I think tipped down sculpted clips are just weird.
[28:24]But also, it's got to have something like this notch here, which is really there to accommodate the pivot. It but i find it's great to accommodate hacky pants and pants that have front pockets with seams on a slant it keeps the it keeps the knife from going too horizontal in your pocket that little notch there so uh this is just a great knife and all of the hardware on this is proprietary and uh knock on wood i have never had to do anything to it so i've never had to worry about trying to find a bit that fits those annoying little three-hole screws, you know.
[29:04]Okay, next up, an important one, though, an unsung hero, the Victorinox Compact. I had this one with me pretty much all the time. It's super light, and I've got this dangler clip now, and it makes, I have four of them, so I have it on four different Victorinox. It makes them so much more carryable to me. They don't rattle around at the bottom of the pocket. They don't go perpendicular to your femur. They you know they just hang in place uh this one is great the compact because it it's it's not compact in length but it packs a lot into a two-layer victorinox design you've got the main blade here you've got instead of the usual opening layer here you've got a combination tool so it's a cap lifter and a bottle opener as you can see or a cap lifter and a can opener, You'd be using this point It's also a screwdriver A regular flathead screwdriver And you can use that point Which I have for Philips You've got the wire stripper So a bunch of tools on that, You've got the nice big scissors.
[30:16]This came in handy This was taking off tags My daughter's birthday She got so many new clothes And we took tags And cut the tags out of clothes A lot with this one, You've got a pen right there, which is super cool. And then you've got a toothpick and the usual pliers. And then on the bottom, you've got the hook and you've got this and you've got that. This came in really handy, the little eyeglass screwdriver that goes in the corkscrew. This thing is awesome. Did I use the cork? No, we had a regular corkscrew. So I didn't use the corkscrew there, but the compact is one of my favorites. And actually here I didn't show you there But right in here It actually has a straight pin I know a lot of people.
[31:09]Put little holes in there and then put in there this just accommodates you uh right out of the box the compact this one is really cool and uh it doesn't get a lot of press i feel uh but it's very useful okay uh next up this one uh i i kind of uh did a little damage to uh this is the eutectic.
[31:31]Efd that's everyday field duty uh designed by liang ma this is the liang ma sort of affordable line and i really like it uh we just gave away uh the trinity which is the clip point flipper that just went out um i i kind of botched it because so there's a thing i do when i'm done with paper towels i'll take the paper towel roll put it on the corner of a countertop and then slice it you know we probably all do that or something like that and this time i think the knife just isn't that sharp and i gotta be honest uh though i love this knife 14c28 and it just wasn't that sharp um and i haven't used it that much at all uh but it's super thin behind the edge very nicely ground so uh has worked well for cutting up until this moment and as i was doing it it actually like hit the cardboard and maybe my angle was a little too steep you know you got to cut it like at a 45 um and maybe i was more like at a 60 and and it didn't bite in it skipped on the on the surface of the cardboard and it hit the marble countertop and i actually saw a spark it was a little dramatic and cool i was like god you know and i i swore a couple of times and then i looked at it and yeah you can see it it i have to do a little work on it you can see right there.
[33:00]It's right in the center of the belly, basically towards the front here. It's just wobbly. It's, you can feel it. You can feel a ripple in the edge. I jacked it up, but you know what?
[33:17]You know, we, we have to do stupid things like this. Uh, once I restore the edge, I won't care about the ripple. It'll just be there. Oh, remember that time you did that stupid thing? yeah uh but this one i have been loving since shorts weather has come it's nice and light it's thin it's my only orange knife and for some reason it seems summery to me uh, because it might get put down and it'll it's easy to see and it's super light and yeah it's very very useful a great knife for every task except chopping a paper towel roll in half so So I really like this U-Tactic. I got to fix the edge. That's pretty much a priority coming up here.
[34:05]All right, next up, I had the Caracara, the Bird Caracara. This is another one that got a lot of carry as a secondary knife or as once as a primary knife. The one reason I don't use this, I am very hesitant to use this as a primary knife, is because I consider my front right pocket the primary knife. This I have set up for wavableness out of the front pocket, pocket uh which means that if it's in my front right pocket there's nothing stopping it other than you know probability from it from opening and then having me slice myself so i just i don't like having knives and pockets when the spine of the blade isn't engaging with the seam in the corner of the pocket where it cannot come open so uh but this did get carried a couple of times one time was when we were zip lining and uh you know in my mind i'm like what if i have to cut rope i'll want the serration but it's nice and thin and light and it's not as expensive as the other serrated blades i brought and if i lose it and it falls out of my you know so all that kind of.
[35:16]Stupid overthinking uh which i do a lot with my knives came into into play here but i really like this Cara Cara. I love the spidey edge there and the way it steps down from this very thin edge right there. That's an 8CR13MOV blade. You've got that black FRN.
[35:40]It feels cheaper than a Spyderco. You can tell it's not a Spyderco, but it's also solid and And super useful, like a Spyderco. So, you know, it just feels like a cheap Endura, basically. I like, incidentally, I like the blade shape of the Caracara better than the Endura. Though, I don't like the, I don't know, sperm-shaped opening hole there. I prefer, I guess that's more of a teardrop. I prefer the round opening hole to that. My finger, I don't like the way it feels. It's like my thumb can kind of get pressured into that corner up there. And it makes me nervous But overall, I love this knife The Caracara I incidentally also got the idea for this knife From Scott Babb of Libret Knife Fighting Who does a lot of videos using this knife So he definitely inspired that purchase.
[36:36]Next up, I'm not sure why I chose to bring this other than I hadn't carried it in a while. Frankly, kind of missed it. The Kaiser Mystic. Great design by Paul Monco. His company is called Colorful Filth Designs, but Paul Monco is the designer.
[36:53]And, man, I love this knife. I love everything about this knife. The look, the feel, the action is incredible. And then the back story. story paul monco is from connecticut and this is mystic named after connecticut a ship building and very maritime uh town in connecticut and also by the way lots of uh ship builders from the amalfi coast moved there so some of the best pizza in america is in mystic connecticut and in the ship building towns of connecticut um this has a harpoon shaped blade which harpoons are oftentimes times a deal breaker to my eye but i love the way this one looks on that clip point and then a very uh ergonomic and and whale like i need to find out the word for that whale like uh handle and then this is all based on you know harpoons it's getting it looks like a piece of whaling kit basically which i think is very very cool also that rex 45 blade is amazing because it patinas And I forced a patina on it But then removed it And now a patina is slowly starting to form I need to carry it more I need to cut meat with it But in the meantime, It's nice and light It's got that bolster lock setup.
[38:18]But it carries really nicely I found it.
[38:24]Perfectly amenable Is that the right word? No, perfectly fine In light shorts the kaiser mystic next up this one also got a lot of carry because it's light it's just cool i just love this knife and it's colorful uh you know with this purple anodization it it it does have a bit of the um, cognitive dissonance going for it like what a what a cheerful beautiful color purple i know and on your screen it might look bluer but it's just a lovely color really nice anodization job and it's a it's kind of a happy looking knife even with these somewhat gnarly serrations something i love about microtech serrations is when they're partially serrated like this the serrations dip below the main edge so it's not the sort of thing where they cut out the blade and then the serrations from it they cut out the serrations first and then sharpen the rest of the blade and i like that because it makes the teeth stand proud and not only is that good for their self-esteem but it's also good for cutting and also cutting over time those will dull and but over time they They will remain the sharpest part of the blade. So if they're standing proud by comparison, you'll get a lot of cutting life out of it.
[39:51]Me, I could cut for centuries probably with this knife, M390 blade steel. And with my current lifestyle, I could cut for centuries and probably not have to sharpen it.
[40:03]That tells you how much I actually do with my knives besides chopping paper towel rolls in half. But it's always there it's always ready and um i really i i dig the ludt and the story behind the purple is uh i would have gotten something way more tactical uh but by the time i got off my duff to actually buy an ludt gen 2 which is what i love uh the gen 3 had come out and these became hard to find and this was frankly the last one i could find and uh but i'm glad i like it i like purple as long as you know i can live with this purple not not on too many knives but i really like it on this one so all right next up this is the tim kennedy folder from emerson knife and this got carried once while i was there one day while i was out and i had planned to go for for a walk in the woods and i never did and this is this is a bummer to me because that's the that's the one solo activity i look forward to um on this trip and on this annual trip and i just didn't do it this year and it kind of hacks me now now that i'm back in civilization and uh i didn't i didn't go to the primeval forest to reset uh so i guess i'll have to join the dog on the lawn barefoot at At 5 a.m. and he's on the tree, which...
[41:33]Is a is a distant second but anyway uh this knife is a beautiful long slender uh kind of fighting bowie uh tim kennedy when he talked to uh ernest emerson about collaborating on a knife he said i want something long and stabby and so it's a nearly four inch 154 cm v ground chisel edged blade here.
[41:59]It's got a great handle, super ergonomic as we expect from the start from Ernest Emerson handle design. A great guard. I love the guard on this. You ask for something stabby, you want to make sure your hand doesn't slide up onto that blade if you stab into something more resistant than you expect or run into something under the surface of whatever you're stabbing into so the the handle itself gives a great contouring to follow the handle a great spot to put your um i'm sorry to follow the hand great spot to put your thumb i love the triple wide jimping you know you get the blade and then both sides of the handle you get on emerson's like that it's just a very comfortable spot for your thumb but i love the giant uh four finger guard up uh no wave one of the few uh you know most emersons have waves this one does not i'm not sure i miss it it's kind of nice as a novelty but i as a as a sort of rule i prefer the wave if it's an emerson because i i really believe in that mechanism uh as a way of possibly deploying a folder in a tactical sense. Like, when I really think about it and when I really...
[43:19]I would just much rather use a fixed blade. But if I had to use a folder, I would expect the Wave to be the handiest of the bunch. Next up, another light automatic, one of my favorites, the Protech TR3. Just a classic, classic design at this point. I got this TR3, hoping for the one with the fish scales on it, but have since uh actually i'm i'm since happy i did not get those i love the fullers on this the grooves they are great for gripping you know your finger wraps fingers wrap around and really nestle into those grooves uh so it feels great this is an aluminum milled aluminum handle uh the fish scales are cool if you're a seal i'm not a seal and i feel like yeah maybe that should There are certain things that should be reserved for certain people. And to me, those fish scales are for Navy guys.
[44:21]What was I going to say about this? Oh, this one right here also comes in a Warrior edition where they have the little luminescent button there. But overall, probably my favorite ProTech. I'm sorry. I have three ProTechs, and they're all great. But this one is the most universal to me. This is like the greatest of the three that I have, the TR-2, this, and the RockEye, full-size RockEye. This one probably hits all the marks for me. It's small enough, it's light enough. This is a 3.4-inch blade.
[44:59]I'm starting to feel like my wheelhouse is shrinking just a little bit. I don't need 4 inches or 3.75 inches. Like 3.4 or 3.5 is great, especially, again, in the summer. This aluminum handle is so nice and light but super sturdy. And, of course, that Pro-Tech action is just awesome and very different in a way from the Micro-Tech action. I always say Micro-Tech is crunchy and Pro-Tech is crispy. I hope that means something to you. It means something to me. Both are desirable.
[45:35]Crispy is desirable. Crunchy is desirable. But the sensations are different. And the sensations of the actions of those two knives are different in the same way. That's what I'm going with. All right. Next up, the very cool Resco Instruments Mekong Delta Combat Folder. The heaviest of the pocket knives I brought with me. It's not that heavy. It's got the weight relief, but it's full titanium, and that's a full 4-inch 20CV blade that is saber ground, so a lot of meat on the blade, unlike the version that I first saw of this that was hollow ground. I wish this one was or were, but this one went in my pocket. It's the only one that I didn't carry of the regular size folders here. And it went in my pocket a couple of times. It was once usurped by the Caracara and then also by the Mystic, just for lightness sake. If I had worn jeans at all, which I didn't because it was nice and hot, this would have gone in my jeans. Because I haven't carried this one in a little while, and this was my, I was very loyal to this for a while, really loved this knife, but just kind of hadn't carried it in a while.
[46:55]Mekong Delta Combat Folder. Next up, this one is so sharp. God, I've been loving this. This has been my... I've been carrying this so much since I got it at Blade Show about a month ago. This is the Eck Integral by Les George and Alan Alishowitz. Two extremely accomplished and well-respected knife makers and designers. Also former Marines of different ilk. Les George did ordnance disposal, EOD, I guess, explosive ordnance disposal. So, you know, take some cojones to do that. And then Alan Alishowitz was force recon, which is their special forces. So also lots of cojones went into the design of this. Also, two guys who love daggers and have been working on special dagger projects together and with other knife makers and solo for years now. And I've been following them both. So this version of the John Eck dagger as a folder and then integral, forget about it. This is my first integral, my first flame anode knife. That handle hits all of the right notes in terms of echoing the Eck design. And then you've got the dagger here.
[48:16]Of course it's a single edge uh but the they release it in this dagger grind and then also in a high height uh flat grind i think they call that one the bayonet i love this thing and this one is a nice and light even though that's integral and that's like a chunk of titanium there it carries pretty light um even in shorts it carried nicely and then so this this one um Um, but this one got carried a bit and we went to a farmer's market and I used this to slice all sorts of stuff and was just surprised at how easily this cuts everything. Um, and then I ended up using, Oh, I forgot to mention it was this one. This one ended up preparing an entire meal for eight people.
[49:06]Because I had left my chef's knife back in my cabin, and it was too far to actually fetch when I started to cook, so I used this, and it did great. My wife also used it. This one at the farmer's market, the Eck, did a lot of food prep too, and a lot of cutting of weird plastics and different materials, and it is just awesome. I highly recommend you buy this. You save up for it. I think they're going to come out with another release of it.
[49:38]It's not inexpensive. This was a $400 knife, and that is expensive to me for any kind of knife, but especially a production folder. And that's what that is. It's a small OEM production folder from somewhere. I'm not sure where. All right, the last folder in the bunch didn't get any use. It was next to the bed. but i was like i can't go on vacation especially uh up to the woods and the mountains without a full uh i say the woods i didn't even make it into the woods we did other recreational things but without a an xl cold steel i'd have to be absolutely nuts and then once i went i was like why did i bring the tall wire that's all like about urban combatives and i was like and then i had to tell myself to just get a hold of myself and be real uh but what i was trying to tell myself was if i got lost in the woods is the talwar the excel folder i would want well turns out that wasn't an issue but uh the also the answer is no i would have wanted uh one of my voyagers or something else with a uh you know different blade i guess.
[50:53]Didn't come up. Love this thing. And by the way, this knife or all of the Cold Steel XL knives are great backpack knives.
[51:05]Maybe it's light backpacking. Maybe it's just urban whatever getting around. It's a lot of cutting power that folds up into a relatively small space. You can stash it and forget about it until you need it. And that's what i do with my um sr1 uh folder uh that lives in my backpack and there it lives and there it lives and then every once in a while i'll use it every once in a while like once i forgot a knife i did a whole video oh my god i forgot a knife i got to use my backup and i carry that knife all day it was great to have and in an emergency it would be uh the bomb diggity all All right, next. This is the first of the fixed blades I brought, and I carried this thing all the time. I love this knife. This is the Knives by Nuge Primitive Wicket. So the wicket is his small neck knife, and the primitive speaks to the fact that it doesn't have G10 or Micarta handle scales. I don't know if he does Micarta, but that it's wrapped in this jute twine, which I love, and then burned and then epoxied and everything. So this is like super robust. It's not in any way coming unraveled or anything. If you're ever concerned about that, that's not the case with these kind of twine-wrapped knives.
[52:33]Makers tend to impregnate them with epoxy, and this is no exception. Rides super flat to the chest. I mean, like this, I had this under t-shirts right next to my skin, and I'm surprised. I thought that the jute twine would annoy my skin, but it's so thin and so light, it just sort of stays off the skin, or just kind of doesn't bother me when it made contact with the skin. Here this thing is so so ridiculously sharp uh it's it's got a scandy grind here with a tiny little relief edge i'm not even sure if that's a relief edge or if it's just been dropped by the maker tom nugent but man this little thing is so freaking sharp i highly recommend it i highly recommend it um and and personally i love the look of it with the twine he makes larger versions of this knife and then other knives like it uh he's an outdoorsman from new jersey which i also appreciate people think of new jersey oftentimes they just think of trenton or newark but there are a lot of beautiful and wild places in new jersey as i learned when i was in college and had a chance to go there with friends uh and he is he is a he is a new jersey pioneer a new jersey frontiersman now he's just a guy who likes to camp uh and make knives and There's his logo.
[54:00]Love it. Tom Nugent, great guy. Got a chance to meet him and his lovely girlfriend at Blade Show, where I bought this from him in person. 80 CRV2. I really dig this knife. And then here's another cool little part about it, is that it's got this little wazoo clip.
[54:16]So, you don't have to choke yourself if you're walking through the woods and this gets caught on a branch. This little clip will undo and you'll be free. All right, next up, just in case, I brought this. The Randall Made No. 16 Special No. 1. Yeah, the SP No. 1 No. 16. So that basically what it's, it's a number 16 Randall made handle set up here with the number one blade on it. So this is a special knife. I got this a few years back from Knife Center. Knife Center always has a nice, very small selection of Randall made knives. And this one and the dagger, the Model 2 I have, the Combat Stiletto, just happen to be knives I've always wanted.
[55:08]And for me, I've always wanted the No. 1 blade and the No. 14 attack handle, but this is basically the same thing. But the combination is stunning i think with the handle grooves it feels so good fits my hand perfectly and uh then you've got the double-edged fighting blade and by double-edged i mean it's, the the swedge from here to here on the back side is sharp and by the way that's how all randall knives are uh which is very interesting to me even even the hunting models are sharp on the back. So I wonder if that's because they come from a fighting lineage or what. But I really like and appreciate that. And another thing I like and appreciate is this incredibly sumptuous leather sheath. Very stout and sturdy, and there's a little gouge on the back, and that's pissing me off right now as I speak, but I'm going to keep it in control here. Just a very, very nice sheath, and I know that over the years, Randall has used different sheath makers, and then there have been different people who have made sheaths, especially for Randall's. I'm not exactly sure about the whole sheath story, but I know that there isn't just one story.
[56:24]Next, I had to have a couple of fixed blade knives because you never know. Um, that one of course is for just hanging out, um, around the place. Uh, this is another one that I had in my backpack in case I was going to go for the walk. I was going to bring this. Uh, this is the wild pig hunter from tops knives. And, uh, I love this knife. I think of this as an outdoors knife, but really it's a combat knife. Uh, and in this case it's optimized for sticking But it's taken from a Russian combat knife design, and it has a super thick ridge down the center. It's about a quarter inch, and you've got that full thickness running down the center here. This top part is not it's a it's a swedge but it's a sharp edge swedge like it's not a gradual type thing it steps and then it has a relief cut here so it removes a lot of uh metal and lightens the weight but also has a very rigid cross section it's sort of like a an eye beam.
[57:35]And then super sharp edge black ground i love this thing you've got that great handle this was a gift from my wife a few years back uh at my strong direction of course she has great taste in knives but you know we all need direction from time to time on the particulars beautiful beautiful leather sheath please makers and companies especially cold steel start using Using leather again. Leather sheaths. Yes, leather sheaths. I know, I know. Animals have to die for that. But, uh...
[58:07]Let's just assume they're already dead. Alright, uh, next... Hogtooth... Not Hogtooth. Not yet. Uh, the Jed Hornbeak Necromancer. Now, this was the one that was just.
[58:21]Totally gratuitous. I know pretty much all of them were, but because this is more, at this point, a fall and winter weight EDC, I can carry this one in the three o'clock position. Position um so this was mostly just a bag knife just in case i needed you know a 4.75 inch a fighting knife double-edged uh this was there for me so basically it was there to gawk at and to hold i love the way this feels in my hand uh it almost feels better having it in hand than not you ever had a pair of slippers like that that's kind of what this is so this came along and uh and was basically doing guard duty.
[59:04]And then the last, I'll bring these out. Of course, the Nova II came along with me, and this one is great. I'm loving this in the 3 o'clock position in the waistband. This knife has pretty much brought that back for me because this was getting a lot of light. I carried two different fixed blades the whole time in shorts, And even in my bathing suit, I would unclip before I got in the water, but bathing suit in the definitely not in the appendix, but in the three o'clock position. And this rounded off handle just so nice against my love handles. And they're not my love handles are not big, but they're there. You know, I'm not a washboard. And so this, this is gentle. This curve is very gentle on the softer parts. And so this knife was very comfortable And I gotta be honest I love just pulling this out And using it because it's Sort of dazzling People see it in the white handle and the red liners So very very Great knife.
[1:00:12]Carried that a lot And then of course This thing has been getting Non-stop carry by me And that is the Agent 001 by Tecal Knives And myself I brought both of these, so they don't really belong to the sheaths, but this got carry more later in the day. This got carry more with the swimsuit in the three o'clock position, like I mentioned. I didn't have to bring both knives. I could have just brought both sheaths because they are 100% interchangeable. But I'm so enamored with this knife right now and just seeing one of my designs go through the works with one of my favorite knife designers, Tim Kell, and then have him put it through his process, which yields some of my very favorite fixed blades in my collection. So just an honor altogether to be a part of that process. And this one is my ultimate favorite with that purple burl handle. It's just.
[1:01:16]Beautiful. It's just beautiful. And man, he did a great job on these. This is AEBL. It's also an ADCRV2. Both of them are nickel boron coated and 100% good to go. These are also screamingly sharp like all T-Kill knives.
[1:01:36]So that's 17 knives. And then of course, there are a couple that are in the backpacks that live there permanently that I'm not even counting. So I had well over 20 many knives with me, including the stuff in the car that live permanently in the car. So I was looking at it this way. If the bottom fell out of society while we were gone, we would have enough knives to trade our way home, to trade our way into some gas, to trade our way into some food, and maybe still have a couple of cutting implements left over to use.
[1:02:09]All right. Well, that being said, be sure to join us on Thursday, tomorrow night for Thursday Night Knives and join us on Sunday for a great interview, the bread and butter of this here show for Jim working his magic behind the switcher I'm Bob DeMarco saying thank you so much for joining me and please, don't take dull for an answer. Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie Podcast. If you enjoyed the show please rate and review at ReviewThePodcast.com For show notes for today's episode, additional resources and to listen to past episodes visit our website, thenifejunkie.com. You can also watch our latest videos on YouTube at thenifejunkie.com slash YouTube. Check out some great knife photos on thenifejunkie.com slash Instagram and join our Facebook group at thenifejunkie.com slash Facebook. And if you have a question or comment, email them to Bob at thenifejunkie.com or call our 24-7 listener line at 724-466-4487 and you may hear your comment or question answered on an upcoming episode of the Knife Junkie Podcast. We'll see you next time.
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