Automated AI Podcast Transcript

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
https://theknifejunkie.com

Transcript

[0:00]Coming up, a pocket fixed carry blade as the Gentleman Junkie Knife giveaway knife this month. A great new way for me to carry a knife. It's very exciting. Even my daughters think it's cool. And then, we're going to talk about the new old guard. I'm Bob DeMarco. This is the Knife Junkie Podcast. Welcome to the Knife Junkie Podcast. Your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your host, Bob the Knife Junkie DeMarco.
[0:32]Welcome back to the show had a couple of favorite comments uh this this past week first one uh is from ek cano feet can driana 73 25 um i haven't figured out how to say that quite yet but uh x says uh the best in looks department out of three this is talking about the yojimbo yojimbo micro jimbo is the yo jumbo why didn't they just make a 100 yo jumbo shape into the fixed blade as the ronin or the other option is the ronin one design with longer overall dimensions in s35vn uh this sounds like your knife at this point uh the ronin one is a masterpiece of wharncliffe fixed blade love that i am sorry janice the ronin 2 is so ugly well first of all i like that you, have a strong opinion about it. I kind of agree, though, once you have it in hand and it's so thin and so purposeful, it is a really outstanding knife. But by comparison, to me, the best looking of the bunch is the Yojimbo right here.
[1:40]To me, that is by far, it's even better looking than the Yojimbo. Even though I carry the Yojimbo, I like the Yojimbo more. But I just have to applaud your your the emotional content in your comment because i get that way about certain knives like why'd you have to do it like that but i have to say i love this rune into nice and flat even this gigantic uh sheep the size of connecticut works great i keep intending to make a small one never have this works fine.
[2:12]But thank you for that comment. And then second comment, also apropos to this shape, is from the great and powerful Dirk Pinkerton, who says, the Nova 2 and its little cousin, the Contact folder. Love it. Okay, so he's talking about the Nova 2. This is coming out soon from myself and Hogtooth Knives. But he is referencing his design folder, the Contact, one of my all-time favorites. And you can see the obvious influence. So the Kiridashi shape here, here.
[2:48]So the Nova 2 is really, it's the contact meets the Hinderer Warncliffe in a bar, and they have a fantastic, wonderful, magical night and then never see each other again. What happens is the Nova 2. So the Nova 2 carries the tip configuration of the wharncliffe hinderer, probably my favorite wharncliffe out there. And then the Nova 2 has that upward raking angle of that straight edge that the contact has. Contact also one of my absolute favorite folders, wharncliffe, whatever knife out there. I'm happy that Dirk saw the influence And I have to say In addition to those two knives Um.
[3:44]A spiritual influence is the yojimbo we were talking about that before kind of kind of that same tip angle that i like so much uh so we'll throw that in there but in terms of family resemblance definitely these two dirk thank you so much for your designs i am you know obviously pale in comparison and definitely took influence from your knife um so thank you for all that you've done for us in terms of design but also leading to this um so very psyched about that thank you sir for commenting and it's always nice to know that um people are watching especially people that make the awesome awesome knives that we have all right coming up uh we're going to take a look at some well some knife life news some new things and also the gentleman junkie knife giveaway knife but first let us do a pocket check what's in his pocket let's find out.
[4:41]Here's the knife junkie with his pocket check of knives i just mentioned the hinderer xm24 wharncliffe well in my pocket today i had the xm24 bowie probably my favorite folding bowie shape out there this and the um cold steel recon one bowie are probably the two greatest out there but i love this because it evokes that mac v sod shape with the with the dual peaks there but it has a nice long clip which reminds me of like the hell's bells bowie another sort of fighting style bowie knives. So this one, I don't carry as much anymore, because it is way pre-tri-way pivot, and that's not why I don't carry it. It's that lately I've been trending a little bit smaller in my front pocket carry, and this is a beefy gent, but.
[5:39]A total pleasure to have on me today. I remember when I bought this. This was one that, this is from the first generation, I think, of XM24 Bowies. And I had been looking for a long time, found it on the secondary market, and it was a pretty penny, let me say that. So I needed some bolstering of spirit. So I looked to people who already had it on YouTube, and I remember one guy, I don't remember who this guy was. I don't think he made too many videos, but he was showing off his XM24 bow, and he said, it's a real man's knife. And I was like, man, you know, it sounds corny, but he's right. It is a real man's knife. So that was all I needed to push me over the edge and send the 500 bucks or whatever it was at the time way more than I could afford to get this.
[6:31]Also, along the way, and by the way, I do not recommend that, But I'm just putting my cards down on the table I've made irresponsible choices, I'm happily in a position where I don't do that anymore But you'll also notice far fewer knives coming through here It's not like I'm buying tons of knives all the time I think I've gotten a little more responsible And also, well, yeah, just a little bit more responsible.
[7:01]So here we have aftermarket scales This was by R.C. Bladeworks A guy who actually got sued by Rick Hinderer for making scales for his knives, which I've got to say is exceedingly uncool. But Rick Hinderer has done so much in terms of design and forwarding the form that I'll never hold too much against him. But I've got to say, you've got to sue these guys? I don't know. Not so cool. But an Ohio boy, a firefighter, and a maker of great knives. All right. All right, next up on me today, I had the Victorinox Tinker.
[7:38]Dork Edition. Yes, that's right, Sasquatch. I am totally into Sasquatch. I have been for years at this point, love listening to the stories. I used to be big into ghosts, and then it was UFOs, and then I've roundly landed on Sasquatch, because there are so many great stories by people who are out in the woods all the time, hunters mostly. Guys you definitely don't want to admit they've seen something weird in the woods so when i saw that this was on offer at smoky mountain knife works i went for it uh something i love about the tinker is the secondary pen blade you can always leave that sharp always ready, to go but that main blade you can go to town on here we have a the usual bottle opener etc i have been using this a lot recently and i'm not talking about the can opener i'm talking about the tip which works great for most phillips screws so i've been using this for the chicago screws on various knives i've been changing the clips around on and it's been it's been working awesome all right so let's see next up on me i had of course what i was talking about before, the hogtooth and Bob DeMarco Knife Junkie Nova 2, follow-up of the Nova 1, obviously.
[9:00]And this is that kiridashi shape with that upward raked straight edge that we saw on asymmetrical contact and that we see on kiridashis. And then you have that very acute point and a tight angle there at tip it's a little less than 30 degrees i guess it's 29.78 uh i'm just kidding about that uh but that's up front for the thrusting and that's pretty much like i said lifted from the other um hinderer xm24 worn cliff and then lastly on me.
[9:38]I had this. So this is the dick pic from Wingard Wearables. And I have to say, I have had this, and then I had the micro dick pic, which I have dropped off with Jim. Jim, it's on your desk at work. Very, very, very subtly disguised, but you'll see it in an inner office memo. But I find that the micro is probably easier to carry. I love this thing. I would love to have this on me at all times in a zombie apocalypse. You can dispatch zombies with this all day long in the various grips. This is my favorite right here. Hammer fist, and then you can use this front prying part to punch with, and then you have this to hammer fist with. Nice big spike.
[10:29]The way Zach describes it, a spike and this kind of tool, tool yes you can use it defensively obviously but it is meant to be an extension of your finger it's a scraper it's a poker it's a gouger it's a poker you know and here with this bottom part that rests so nicely against the palm it also works great for prying motions think the claw on a hammer or that kind of thing but this tip is quite sharp so that's the one thing that has required me to figure out how to carry it best. And I think the best way for me to carry this is appendix with this coming down over the belt.
[11:13]And that way I'm not finding myself dragging my arm across it in normal motions, risking tearing my skin or gouging it with that pry bar. So I would have to say the micro for me would be best just for in-the-pocket carry all the time. And then there's this one and then there's the magnum it's big and that would be something that i would imagine a soldier would want to carry especially someone who reaches car doors or, smashes things and pries things open and then might have to stab someone in the process uh that that magnum dick pic is pretty awesome uh but all around i gotta say this one right here is the good to go. But if you want to drop it in the pocket, check out the micro. Wingard wearables, they always have drops. They're kind of always making and remaking their products. And they're made in Pennsylvania. Here's a birth card basically describing the micro dick pic. Jim, this one's yours. I'll get this off to you. And so there you go. That's what I had on me. What did you have on you? Please drop it in the comments below I had the Hinderer XM24 Bowie I'm saying today Because I'm a yank I had the Bigfoot SMWK Tinkerer And I had Nova 2.
[12:38]And I had the dick pic, the major, the main size, not the middle size. That one you want to watch out for. All right, next up, I want to talk about another great knife that we're going to be giving away. And actually, the maker slash designer is going to be giving it away on Thursday Night Knives, May 16th. Thursday, May 16th. We always do a giveaway for the Gentleman Junkies. Those are the high-tier Patreon members on the third Thursday of the month. This month, May 2024, that lands on the 16th Chaz Fisher of Fisher Blade Company will be joining us To give this package away.
[13:16]Fisher Blades, figure it out That's one of their taglines So here's the knife And then it comes with a constitution, Comes with a band-aid, a sticker A sort of birth card that describes the knife Who designed it, who sharpened it, who inspected it what the HRC is, 60 to 62 of that AEDL, and then it's got a little manual on how to use it, i.e. How to carry the knife, and if you're wondering what the knife is, this is my version of it. I don't want to unwrap the one I'll be giving away, but this is the knife. It's a pocket-carried fixed blade intended for self-defense. Of course, you can use it for EDC, and it works great for that, But the real main business of this knife is to carry for self-defense. So in it also comes some jack links. What do you call it? Beef jerky to keep you strong and virile. And so that you can use the knife, you have a manual that shows you how to carry it and where to thrust it.
[14:22]A very nice package coming through here. I think this has a retail value of $300. So if you want to get in on this, become a Gentleman Junkie. That's theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon. Wow, look at how seamlessly we moved into this lineup. But yeah, it's true. If you want to get that knife for $10, join theknifejunkie.com slash Patreon, and you have a chance to do that. You can also scan the code there. Sometimes we have very special giveaways Like this one And people join up just for that month And I'm not necessarily recommending that But I'm not poo-pooing it either Who am I? I can't tell you what to do with your money But if you want to try and get this for cheap Go for it Also DCC carry pocket clip there And it's canted in such a way So that when this is in your jeans pocket And.
[15:16]Jeans pockets kind of go straight across cross as opposed to khakis which slant when this is in your jean pocket uh that clip is canted ever so slightly as is the blade handle so that if you're folded in half because some dude has wrestled you to the ground uh you can still extract this from your pocket so a purposeful slant there on the clip and on the handle so check that out all right still to come on the Knife Junkie podcast. We're going to check out four new knives out there in the world that some of you might be interested in. I don't know who I am. So stand by and check it out. Among this week's specials at Knives Ship Free, the Chris Reeves Small Sebenza 31 is in stock while supplies last.
[16:03]This iconic frame lock has a sandblasted titanium handle with their drop point magna-cut blade. This Krukarta Para 3 features the combination of crew-ware tool steel and matte-finished micarta scales on this popular EDC. And a backup blade needs to be easy to carry and deploy, and the RMJ Tactical Backup Blade perfectly fits that role. The textured G10 handle securely indexes itself in the hand and allows you to quickly draw the blade from the Kydex sheath. 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. That's thenifejunkie.com slash knives ship free. Support the show and get a great new knife at the same time.
[16:53]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. One month and one day until Blade Show If you're listening to this on the day it drops I'm so excited, have my tickets Have my hotel, I'm staying in the place I want to stay again this year Ice has gone up a little bit, but.
[17:15]What hasn't? What price hasn't gone up? What's going to happen at Blade Show? Lots of stuff. But one thing that's very exciting is this first story. The Cutlery Hall of Fame will be inducting three new members, one of whom has been on this show, whose work I love and I praise on the regular. And that would be Mr. William Harsey Jr.
[17:39]He will be inducted into the Cutlery Hall of Fame. He's a major contributor to both custom and production military tactical style knives. I mean, he started off with CRKT, and that was with the Pacific and the Green Beret knives. Those things were so cool. And I think there's even one more in that CRK lineup, but there's one that's a full tang model. Oh, man, I would love to have that. uh but anyway um most recently spartan blades has been his biggest uh all the knives he's done for them uh but along the way gerber all sorts of companies he did stuff for uh next up tm uh dowell uh he died in 2012 may he rest in peace but he was part of the major uh all of the major knife developments in the in the 20th century and then in 1970 just a year before uh this knife podcaster was born. He founded the Knife Makers Guild with Bob Loveless. Bob Loveless, the guy I'm always mentioning because of his awesome black bear. That's the sub-hilt fighting design. I just love that. But also, he did the New York undercover and the shoot knife and various other things.
[18:57]Bob Loveless, of course, will go down in history. And T.M. Dowell started the Knife Makers Guild with him. Don Fogg is the last one. Custom blade knife maker. Hugely known in that, but also for his swords and his Damascus making. And, um, teaching the craft to future forgers. That's something that we hear from everyone here who comes on the show, makers, designers. They always talk about the generosity of their peers and how they give away secrets or techniques or ways to think about going about design that you just do not see in other industries. So three luminaries, Bill Harsey, T.M. Dowell, and Don Fogg being inducted into the Cutlery Hall of Fame at Blade Show. So I hope to meet Bill Harsey in person. And then, of course, it would be great to meet the others as well. All right, next up, from the Bull Brothers, Gareth Bull, Bull Knives out of South Africa. This is a cool one. I mean, he's known for the Shamuari and the Miura. To me, the Miura is absolutely beautiful.
[20:08]The Miura is incidentally a very ferocious breed of fighting bull out of Spain. I only know that because as a 12-year-old dork, I was into Lamborghinis. But the Bull Brothers have a new one that they're coming out with, and it's actually a production version of their custom Mini Zyro. And I was just talking to Jim before we started rolling. I think that is a beautiful knife, stem to stern, an absolutely gorgeous knife. And I'm just thrilled that it's only three inches long and it's not beckoning to me because it's a little too small for my personal taste, but I just think it's gorgeous.
[20:48]This is a production knife from the Bull Brothers, Gareth and Jason, by Riyadh. So you also know that if you're into this and this is something you're going to spend money on, it will be outstandingly built. Three inches, M390 blade steel front flipper, which is the Bull Knives' sort of preferred way to open. And it also there's that finger notch there on the side for slow roll or middle finger flip that's a tie liner lock frame and then you've got carbon fiber over it only 2.5 ounces, this is not available yet but when it will be it will all be through their website so if you want to order this thing uh get i'm sure they have a mailing list but uh kind of visit the bull knives website and keep your eyes peeled for the drop because that's the only place you're going to find it.
[21:44]All right, next up, Giant Mouse, the company with the two Danes, Jesper Voxnes and Mr. Anzo, Jens Anzo. They have a new one. It's an old one, but it's the third variant of a classic, and that's the GMF-2, and that's Giant Mouse 2 there. But this is their third iteration of this fixed blade knife, very nice outdoors knife that's inspired by traditional Danish-style knives. Knives uh the first one had way more of a scandinavian style grind it was a it was a low.
[22:21]It kind of mocked a scandy grind it was a low what do you call it saber grind uh they've raised that grind up quite a bit now over the last two iterations and so now we have a high saber grind which is going to be super chock full of utility that's n690 blade uh steel and that gorgeous deep red maroon g10 that is g10 not the usual micarta that we see from giant mouse and you know what's kind of interesting i think that unless you're willing to find very expensive micarta and then polish the hell out of it to get a rich color like this you might have to go to g10 because of all of the epoxy and the space between the fibers in a in a micarta On the Nova II, we had a deep, rich maroon micarta, but it was a very, very tight-weave linen, which is, when you're dealing with steel, it's not that difficult to deal with, but it's more difficult than canvas. It takes more belts and stuff like that. So G10 seems to be a great option when you want really saturated color. So this one, only 300 of them, they're available now, so jump on it if you're into it. All right, last up is from James Brand.
[23:37]James Brand has some cool new keychain and small, you know, fifth pocket tool knives, two of them coming out. They're called the Ellis and the Elko. The cool thing about this This is the Ellis here that we're seeing on screen And this is basically The same configuration as An SD Classic minus the Scale tools I.e. The tweezers and the T-Pick And this one adds a little Wire clip so this has the scissors A main blade and then a pry bar Little pry bar screwdriver Thing, Hopefully that has a nail file on it I'm not sure But the really interesting thing about this is the eco-acetate that they're using on that. James Brand is known to collaborate with companies adjacent to or completely outside of the knife and EDC realm. In this case, Otis Eyewear. And this is an acetate that they use on their sunglasses. And I got to say, I think it's beautiful. You know me. I don't have any around me. I love tortoiseshell.
[24:45]And this is sort of a, and I love coffee, this is sort of a coffee with cream tortoiseshell. That's just, it's sumptuous and beautiful, I got to say. So I like this collaboration quite a bit. It resonates with me. Wait, let's see, they're calling it white coffee tortoiseshell. So yeah, very interesting. The smaller one that we also saw attached to the tees has a blade and a pry bar. I think that's it, no scissors on that. So some cool stuff coming from the James brand. Always you know i can see some stylish dude or dudette living in the city carrying this on them um you know and they don't care about knives but they're like you know i need a little thing but i don't want to just get the thing i can get at rei what's what's the little thing that i can put in my pocket around my keychains that's like a step above when they find this um i think it's cool i love it and i have to say i was won over by the twofold coffee and tortoise shell covers.
[25:46]That's right Okay, so coming up we're going to take a look at the state of the collection But before we do Be sure to like, comment, subscribe You can also download the show to your favorite podcast app That way you can listen on the go Listen about knives? What? It's crazy, but it's true You can do that You can do that on all of these apps Right here So check that out And for anything else Just go to thenifejunkie.com And check out the website site jim works his butt off on it and does a great job everything knife junkie related is there so coming up the state of the collection the shockwave tactical torch is your ultimate self-defense companion featuring a powerful led bulb that lasts 100 000 hours a super sharp crenulated bezel and a built-in stun gun delivering 4.5 million volts don't settle for ordinary choose the shockwave tactical torch.
[26:41]TheKnifeJunkie.com slash shockwave. And now that we're caught up with Knife Life news, let's hear more of the Knife Junkie podcast. This week I got something I have always wanted. Well, ever since I first saw it. I don't know if you see anything different. My daughters do that all the time. Dad, see anything different? See anything different? Well, do you see anything different? Maybe you see this. Look at how cool that is. Okay, so this is the Bastin Bastinelli, uh, shoulder rig, and it's produced by a guy down in Florida, and I, unfortunately, I did not write down his name, but this is a Bastinelli knives thing. You can get this on the website, or, uh, I got this on Amazon, frankly, and it came from the Bastinelli store, but what is it? It's a shoulder rig, uh, that you can attach your favorite knives to. Uh, I do recommend a light knife. Here I have the Station 9 Sear, and it's... It goes great. What it is is it's this one-piece leather.
[27:47]It's one long piece of leather here, and then it's got the grommets that attach so you can size it. And then beneath that, under the arm, hangs a flat panel of leather with a whole bunch of holes sewn in it so that with Chicago screws, you can mount any sort of knife to that little leather plate that has grommet holes. And then you have a knife hanging under your jacket or whatever. And the cool thing about this, the way it's set up, is that it's tip up, obviously, edge behind you so that if you want it in a standard grip, you just go like this. It's kind of like the cavalry draw for pistols. When U.S. cavalrymen were riding their horses, they had their pistols over here, but they had the handle forward. And they would reach it like this it's easier to grab the gun like this and draw it than it is to pull it out if it's mounted how we ordinarily think of it you got to reach way up with it once you grab the handle and then bring it on your target if you go like this it's a quicker draw same concept here with this shoulder thing so if i want it in standard grip i'll just Just tug it out like that. Put the back of my hand against my ribs.
[29:09]Grasp around the knife. Draw it out, and I have it. If I want to go in a reverse grip, just pull it down, and there it is.
[29:21]All right, have I carried it yet? No, I almost took it to Trader Joe's with me yesterday. And I was like, all right, calm down. I didn't. I think it's great. I think that this Sear No. 8 from Station 9 is just a little too heavy. Maybe this is a great excuse to get a Bastinelli Red fixed blade knife or one of the Bastinelli knives that are, they're svelte, they're light, they're thin. I think, because that's the one thing This is not that heavy But it's just heavy enough that You know, after a while And there's no, there's nothing.
[30:00]Anchoring it to your belt on either side So it's not pulling It's not evening out in that way So, but I'm liking it so far And I think I gotta figure out the right knife For it But in the meantime, this certainly will do So that's That is the state of the collection This week, and so So what we're talking about here is a classic way to carry the knife, the shoulder rig, the shoulder holster. If you ever saw the movie The Highest Art with Peter Coyote and that French dude who's so cool about knife fighting and the underground knife fighting circuit, if you haven't seen that, you've got to check it out. But he carries a Randall-made knife and a sling kind of like this. And it's just cool. I mean, you know, it taps into the 12-year-old boy. So we're talking about classics in that way. But there are other classics, and there are major classics of the folding world. And I sometimes call them the triumvirate, you know, the royal triumvirate, and they are the Rick Hinderer XM-18.
[31:06]The Strider Knives SMF, in my case, or sometimes the SMG, smaller version. And then the Chris Reeve Knives Sebenza. In this case, the 21. And I would venture to say, in all cases, the 21. I've not had the 31, but in terms of classics, it's the 21. So this is kind of that royal triumvirate, I'll say it again. And if you're a younger viewer, this might seem like, really, is that those are just kind of like older knives. But at one time, these were these were the three most coveted out there.
[31:44]And so this list coming up, this is the old guard, the old, old guard. And now I'm going to show you what I think is the new old guard. So you always have to have an old guard, you know, the ones against which everything new is measured. Even if it's a new knife these all these old knives here or i should say the old old guard here i still measure stuff against these knives especially anything with washers for instance but these new knives the new old guard i'm about to show you are the knives against which all the new things that come out should be all right you get the idea first up is a classic a modern like like a new classic along the lines of the ones I just showed you. And that is the Harsey Folder by Spartan Blades. The Spartan Harsey Folder, of course designed by William Harsey Jr. I was just talking about, just inducted into the Cutlery Hall of Fame. This one has a classic feel to it because it's heavy. Not unduly heavy for the size, but it's solid slabs of titanium with no weight reduction.
[32:59]Very, very solid hydraulic action on bronze washers, so it's kind of old school in that way. But new school in that it's a new-ish design compared to the others, and it has quickly become a classic. This is a knife that is on most lists for you know best all time especially when it comes to, what are you saying hard use folders here so and what i mean by that look at those thick slabs of titanium and then look at those gigantic squat standoffs there you could run this thing over with a tank, and I'm betting it would survive due to its size and stoutness. So that's the Spartan Harzi folder. In this case, S35VN. I know now they're made in S45, and who knows? At this point, it's probably magnified.
[33:55]Okay, next up is the AD-15 from Cold Steel. I say from Cold Steel and out from Demco knives because, uh, the 8015 from Demco knives is way out of reach, very difficult to get and not being made in the 8015, like most Demco designs, uh, that are being sold under Demco knives was a, well, actually, I'm sorry. I take that back. Like many, um, cold steel Demco designs, this started life as a, um.
[34:30]Third revision. This started life as a custom knife. Very, very coveted, but hard to get. Didn't make that many of them, relatively speaking, until Cold Steel licensed the design. So now if you want the design, you got to get it from Cold Steel. All right, that was hard to say. There you go. Or you have to find an older one on the secondary market. Good luck to you. And then good luck to you affordably also. but this features the scorpion lock another one of um andrew demko's innovations in terms of lock he of course designed the famed triad lock but a couple of others as well in this case the scorpion lock is one of his most fidgety uh you'll see his other lock the shark lock in this list as well But this one is great to fidget with because of that whole bar. This whole, in this case, aluminum on the Customs, it's titanium.
[35:29]But this lifts up to unlock the lock. So your hand and your squeeze pressure keeps it closed, but also the tremendous pressure of the downward force of this bar with that little notch on the stop pin there. So all you got to do is lift that up. and you can flip it in this came out at the same time as the 8010 a very very very sensible awesome working knife and at the time i said 8010 to wed 8015 to bed because it's so exciting it is an exciting design i gotta say and it feels so good in here all right now i'm gonna put it away.
[36:12]All right, next up, this is an absolute modern classic, a collaboration between Borca Blades and Microtech, and that is the Stitch. The Microtech Stitch, in this case with the Ramlock, really rams the whole point home because the Ramlock is stupendous. It is a really good lock.
[36:33]I've heard people, oh, are there problems with it? I think maybe someone got one to close once by spine whacking it. Obsessively but if that is the case and i haven't found that yet microtech made up for the problem and they are known for their robust builds and this is definitely one of them fluted aluminum handles this comes in aluminum or g10 no price difference i chose the aluminum on this one, because i had already had jocks from jocks knives in hand and loved it so much that i went for this and plus microtech aluminum you know they kind of go together uh but that ram lock is like a like an axis lock like a bar lock at least in terms of its interface you pull these two tabs back or one it's so solid you can just do one without any misalignment at all and it releases but the great thing is you never have to worry about uh omega spring honking out on you because you have a bar here.
[37:41]Let me blow the dust out. You've got a bar there with a coil spring on it, and that is what captures and springs out that giant block of metal. It's not a bar lock. It's like a giant block of metal lock is what I'm going to call it. This knife, of course, has the M390 and the great serrations. This one I was using a lot yesterday.
[38:05]You can see some track marks on it. No, track marks, that's something else, I guess. But you can see where it was going through cardboard yesterday.
[38:13]This is a great knife. I love it. And it seems to be, in terms of microtech, a classic for them, the microtech Stitch.
[38:26]Love that knife. All right, what's next? Let's get to Ritter Hogue. Okay, so the Ritter Griptilians made by Benchmade eventually went away when Benchmade stopped doing OEM work, and then Doug Ritter landed at Hogue. Couldn't have asked for a better place to land, and they have been making his RSK Mark I. That's Ritter Survival Knife Mark I. The whole sort of ethos behind the Ritter survival knife, whether it was the Ritter grip being made by Benchmade or now this one being made by Hogue, is super steel, like amazing blade in a manageably, what do you call it, budget-minded handle.
[39:16]So the real star of the show in a Ritter knife is the blade and the blade steel. Deal early on he adopted s30v that's the one thing about this knife that's safety lock i'll find myself pressing that anyway uh when he first started with benchmade it was he insisted on the s30v blade steel that was the cream of the crop at the time and then the rest of it was frn so the frn grip tilling handle reduced cost but that amazing um s30v blade in his blade shape It looks mostly like this. High, high saber grind drop point blade. Similar to, but different from the Griptilian.
[39:59]So I think, in my estimation, this, in all of its iterations, this is the auto version, as you've seen. But this has a manual version. That's the main version. It's got small versions. It's got a larger fixed blade version. So this has become a ubiquitous knife, and not just because people like the variation, but it's because it's an outstanding blade design and it's been made by two great companies in the past. You know, one great company in the past and now Hoag. And if you ask me, I think Hoag does it even better. So that is the RSK Mark I from Ritter, Doug Ritter and Hoag.
[40:47]Next up, this is a newish one. This is the Model II from American Blade Works. A lot of people might like the Model 1, if they're going to put it in this list. And I love the Model 1, don't get me wrong. But that went through a lot of growing pains and different iterations to get to. And by the time Michael Miller of American Blade Works got to designing and making the Model 2, he knew what was up. And he didn't have to go through all those iterations. This is an outstanding cutter. First of all, his blade grind, the bevel grind is super thin. It's really sharp. This was my first MagnaCut blade, and I associated the sharpness of this blade with the steel type. And I know that's not proper, but now I associate MagnaCut with especially sharp blades because of this. But really that's thanks to Michael Miller and his designing and making of knives that's why this is so sharp this could be in a 440c and it'd be super sharp I'm glad it's not but.
[42:02]That's more of a testament to the knife-making design and making than it is the steel in this case. But also a gorgeous handle. Michael Martin, what did I say? Michael Miller, I'm sorry. I meant Michael Martin of American Blade Works. Michael Miller is Tactile Knife Works. A lot of names rattling around in this old head. But when you look at this knife, it also strikes me as absolutely gorgeous closed. It is one of those knives where, you know, most knives I just don't pay attention to closed. and some sing out to me, and this does. It has a very Art Deco design to me. It reminds me of the Chrysler building in New York or the Empire State Building. It has some real classic American lines to it, and it's a great cutter. And made by one man, Michael Martin. Not Michael Martin, but Michael Martin at American Blade Works. Sorry, Michael, and both of you. And it's just awesome to carry and use. So this is definitely a new old gun.
[43:05]Okay, next up, I was talking about its cousins earlier, but to me, this is a new old guard knife, and that's the Yojumbo. A lot of you might say, yeah, but no, it's the Yojumbo 2 that should be in this list because it's way more common, has been around longer, is used more. But to me, the old guard all had blades close to 4 inches or at least over 3 1⁄2 inches, So that's kind of how I'm managing this list here. So yes, you could put the Yojimbo in there, I guess. But to me, it's the Yojumbo.
[43:44]This one, slightly altered in that mid-finger partition. I ground down. I don't care for that too much. Though I left it on my sax, my Emerson sax. Here, it works great without it. But I left this little hump just to bookend my fist. when it's gripped around this. This is such a great knife. Great blade design by Michael Janich. You've got that perfect tip angle there for thrusting, but also pull cuts and utility cuts. And then it's all that big four-inch blade, wide also, is all on a very fidgety compression lock. So this thing is not only a pleasure to use, but it's a pleasure to manipulate and a pleasure to you know to enjoy for the non cutting things S30V as they do on all of their, first runs of anything basically S30V and hollow ground I love the hollow grind on this knife and on the Yojimbo the micro Jimbo is so small they went with a Michael Janich went with a flat grind And that seems apropos In that case too Huge fan of this line Even the ugly Ronin No.
[45:06]I don't find it ugly, but I totally get it. And see, this is why I keep fidgeting. This is why I want a lighter knife. It keeps pulling down. But yeah, taste. You can't account. There's no accounting for taste, as they say. Okay, another modern classic. This one, all about China. This is the Riat K2. I absolutely love this knife. And to me, it really represents Riat. I know it's an older knife at this point, but it's the one that really after I had the.
[45:39]What was it the Horizon D and no the Horizon C and got rid of it and then I saw this and, to me this represents what a company like Riyadh or the company Riyadh can do and does on the regular it is just, perfect and this one is an in-house design it has one of my very very very favorite, uh tanto blades ever that nice long swedge and the flat that comes down the center deep hollow grind here a flat front an upswept tip the handle fits great oh it fits so well and when i got this i wanted the blue one that evoked the handle of a katana but i'm so glad they didn't have that and i was forced to get this bronze sort of dragon skin because i've I've really fallen in love with it. And I think the other one now, by comparison, is a little bit cheesy. Knife Joker, a website out there that has a lot of exclusive runs of great knives, has done a lot of exclusives of this model in particular, the Riat K2. When this came out, there was a K1 through K4. But it seems the K2 is the one that really endured as people still seek these out and companies like Knife Joker was doing all their exclusives. Look at that blade grind.
[47:03]Yeah, Riat knives. I have a couple of knives made by them, but this one, to me, just takes the cake. Next up is a zero tolerance. A company we don't hear too much from these days unless they're rehashing an old design, but I think they reached their apotheosis with this one. It's a fancy word. I'm not even sure if I'm using it right. Let's say they hit their pinnacle with this one. This is an Ernest Emerson design from his early days This is so smooth On bronze washers You've just got a classic long clip point And a handle that is very neutral But fits the hand great It flares out towards the retasso So as to stop your hand from going up onto the blade And the thrust has that nice curve down here to nestle into the palm. Just an outstanding all-around knife. This is one of the ones that has built a lot of bridges. A lot of non-Emerson guys love this knife. A lot of non-ZT guys love this knife. This is one of the ones I might carry if I decide not to carry a Sebenza. It's sort of neutral, but it's just incredibly awesome.
[48:25]I wish Zero Tolerance would do more of this again. I know they hear that all the time. They don't need me nagging them about it. 20CV blade steel. This is the 0640 ZT Emerson. Love this one. All right, second to last is made in Massachusetts, and it's the TRM Atom, the Three Rivers Manufacturing Atom. This one with the black blade, so, so sweet. 20CV blade steel. deal. This is actually a factory second that was sent to me by Marianne from Three Rivers Manufacturing. I had one with the satin blade and she sent me this one and I just didn't need two of them. So I got, I sold the other one and held on to the one she sent me. And it's so funny that this is a second. The only reason this is a factory second is that little, there's a little a little mark right there, right at the plunge grind.
[49:27]Not to be mistaken with that little dab of oil there. That little mark there caused this to be a second. This is an outstanding knife. Very thin, very slicey cutter. The knife overall is thin and light and svelte. And then, of course, one of the USPs about this knife is the fact that you can swap the scales out without taking the whole damn thing apart. All you got to do is remove these two screws. And it comes right off the pivot. it on this side you have to remove the two clip screws and then that forward screw so five screws and you have you know in less than you know like in three minutes you can have a full-on, scale swap without having to readjust anything on bearings i mean not bearings on washers just a classic modern classic knife i love this knife and i haven't carried this in a while but But as summer is creeping in, I'm going to start carrying this again. I've got a bunch of different scales, but I've really landed on this wing milled pattern on the burlap micarta.
[50:33]All right, last up in this list, I bet you know what it is. You might have your own thoughts on this, but it's the 8020 by Demco Knives. And then I will, by extension, say the 20.5 manufactured in Taiwan, the production version, smaller, svelter production version of this knife. But to me, this one is part of the new old guard. It's got the size. It's got the heft. It's overbuilt. But it's fidgety. Let me use my right hand for a second. It is just a joy to manipulate. Right. On bearings, slaps in and out with the shark lock, which is now we're seeing on one other knife so far. There it is, Demco Wampum PA. Love the pivot on this.
[51:27]Sturdy as the day is long, super sharp on thick stock, great jimping, incredible ergonomics, deep carry. Well, not deep carry, I'm sorry.
[51:38]What do you call it? Stamped pocket clip. everything about this knife is is high speed low drag and just good to go i love it to me it fits in perfectly if i can hold it it fits in perfectly with these knives and yet it's a generation later so that's what we're talking about this is my definition of the new old guard old guard folders being robust and stylish and maybe even overbuilt we'll say but we'll just to say robust and stylish uh these are the knives that i think are the new guard what do you think drop comments below down below let me know what you think the new guard knives are um and hopefully they're majority usa because that's another part of this i didn't mention uh if not there's only one one knife in this list that's the react k2 that isn't at least designed in the united states So check it out, Alright let me know in the comments below What you think should have been on that list Also on Sunday Check out episode 504 With Chaz Fisher Co-founder of Fisher Blade Company, The man who designed the knife We will be giving away In our May Gentleman Junkie Knife Giveaway On Thursday Night Knives May 16th, Alright for Jim working his magic Behind the switcher I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time.
[53:05]Don't take dull for an answer. Book. 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.
[53:49]Music.