The Knife Junkie Podcast is the place for knife newbies and knife junkies to learn about knives and knife collecting. Twice per week Bob DeMarco talks knives. Email Bob at theknifejunkie@gmail.com; visit https://theknifejunkie.com.
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Bob DeMarco [00:00:00]:
Coming up, a very special gentleman Junkie giveaway knife. Two interesting new civivi knives. And these folders should be in every collection. I'm Bob DeMarco. This is the Knife Junkie podcast.

Announcer [00:00:16]:
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast, your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your host, Bob the knife junkie DeMarco.

Bob DeMarco [00:00:29]:
Welcome back to the show. One of my favorite comics comments from this past week was from my buddy Strings, who says, great episode, brother. That bison, he's talking about the new concept. That bison is a banger. I, for one, can't wait till you hit 50k. I would love to win a Pinkerton. That's custom knife. How awesome of him to make one for you to give away.

Bob DeMarco [00:00:49]:
And awesome for you to include us. Include it for us. So he's talking about a knife. Either this knife or another model Dirk is going to be making when we hit 50,000 subscribers coming up soon. So thank you very much, Strings. Greatly appreciate your comment. Next up is from Bruce, who says best knife content ever. This MF is the goat.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:15]:
Thank you very much, Bruce. That puts wind in my sails. Thank you for your kind words. All right, that said, let's get to a pocket check.

Announcer [00:01:24]:
what's in his pocket? Let's find out. Here's the Knife junkie with his pocket check of knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:31]:
In my pocket today is the beautiful Bison from Concept Knives. This thing is designed by Ray Laconico, who ordinarily, we kind of know him for his super clean and much smaller than this. Drop points. Very classy knives. Just an incredible designer Conoco. He's not just a designer, he's a custom maker as well. But this one is kind of out of his wheelhouse and I really like it. You know, sometimes as a creative person, you have to do something different, do something unusual and really great things can happen.

Bob DeMarco [00:02:09]:
Bison is definitely evidence of that. That's a four and a quarter inch S35VN clip point blade. And then of course, we know this is a titanium frame lock. Just such a great knife. This was. I carried this to a. An a. What would you call it, a crab fest this weekend for a friend's birthday.

Bob DeMarco [00:02:32]:
And it got a lot of oohs and ahs. A number of guys there, I got into knives or were already into knives, but maybe. Maybe my influence got them even more into them. Anyway, we were all showing each other our knives. It was a great love, great moment. I pulled this one out, of course. Ooh, it's nice and big. It's got that super smooth action and it is thumb stud only deployment and I've gotten used to it.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:00]:
But it's a little stiff on the, on the detent though. Having it for about two weeks at this point I, I've felt it break in so Great knife concept. Does amazing stuff. I love their work and of course Ray Laconico. I'm happy to finally have a Ray Laconico in my collection. Next up in my back, right back left pocket was the awesome and very, very highly carried. This summer I'm going to be doing a summer update towards the end of the summer of my most carried folders. This will definitely be in it most carried folders of the summer.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:39]:
This is the JW Collab Tango. Just a beautiful, beautiful knife. It's a collaboration with Cerberus Blades and I love that compound ground sort of sponto style blade drop point, deeply hollow ground, main cutting surface. And then at the tip it graduates to a more robust flat grind for piercing and tougher tasks. Really, really sickeningly smooth action. I love the action on this. I can even front flip it with my left hand. Watch this.

Bob DeMarco [00:04:14]:
I mean, you know, this old dog can hunt. It's got the beautiful sun pattern, sun ray pattern coming out of the pivot there. Beautiful titanium, blasted titanium handle. Okay, next up in my waistband today. I haven't carried this in a while but this is arguably the knife that really got me started. Carrying fixed blade EDPs on the regular and that is the hog Tooth knives EDC Tanto. 154 cm deep hollow grind of course with that robust tip again for penetrating tasks and and such. Usually this has a sort of textured sculpted handle but since this is that rubberized G10, he opted not to, what do you call it, you know, put grooves in there for gription.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:12]:
It already has that in the rubber that's exposed. It's not rubbery, but you can feel a little bit of grip to it. This is just such an awesome knife. This is the platform upon which Matt and I did the Nova 1 Bowie, the Nova 2 Kiridashi and we're working on the Nova 3. I'll let you know when that's good to go. This is a great knife. I've carried it so much. But also I have heard a, a story from Matt.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:44]:
He made one for a buddy's son who was deployed and let's just say it came in clutch in a, in a pinch and he was able to extricate himself from a deadly situation with that very knife. So, so I Like knowing. I like knowing that there's a pedigree to the tactical knife that carry. Last up for emotional support, I had the Voyager XL from Cold Steel. This tonto fully serrated and this one has a Snaggletooth MF on it. My Chris, my serrated and then two of my serrated vacuros have this on it. These, these pocket catches are the best. I love them.

Bob DeMarco [00:06:28]:
Rob Penna of Snaggletooth Tactical really came up with an awesome little device when he created that. He's got it for a number of different blade options, whether it be cold steel or any knife that has removable thumb studs. Speaking of cold steel, large cold steels, I just finally broke down in order to Mayhem. So next time you see me, I will be the proud owner of a Mayhem. He does make a Snaggletooth MF that fits the Mayhem, so I will be getting that as well. This I carried because on the weekend, this past weekend, I had my drop point Voyager in pocket for two days of backyard stuff, backyard work. And it came in very handy for removing several cedar limbs on a cedar tree we have that is just beset by. By creeping vines.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:20]:
And I had to basically take a couple of limbs off to. To. Well, to. To handle the situation that got me back into my Voyager xl. So this one I had with me today. Love this thing. Look at that. What a great night.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:34]:
Everyone should have one in their collection. Though this one in particular is not in the list. That's coming up. This is what I had on me today. What do you have on you? I had the XL Voyager Tanto version. I had the Tanto EDC Tanto from Hog Teeth Knives at the JW collabs Tango and the concept Bison. Beautiful knife. Tell me what you had.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:57]:
It's always a blast to hear what you guys carry. All right, next up, this is a very special giveaway knife for this month. That's August 2025 gentleman junkie knife giveaway. This comes to me courtesy of Shane, the edgy American of Edgy American Blade works. If you come to Thursday Night Knives, you know Shane and you probably know him anyway. He's. He's been around for the last for quite a while in the knife commentariat, if you will. But he's been making knives for about a year, maybe a little more.

Bob DeMarco [00:08:32]:
But his skills have really surpassed his time behind the grinder. This is a clip point blade, not his favorite style blade, but he made it just for me knowing that I love clip points and all of you. So this will Be going out as a gentleman junkie. Knife giveaway knife. Before I pull it out, I just want to say 1931 leather works, who also comes on Thursday night knives quite a bit. Made the really nice leather sheath. Robust, tough leather sheet. I've said robust thrice already in this podcast.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:06]:
I gotta, I gotta trim that word out. Really, really beautiful. Let's pull out this blade. Here it is. Here's your clip point blade. I believe this is 3V or crew wear. Now I'm, I'm not remembering. I.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:22]:
I'm pretty sure this is 3V. It's nice and thin. 3V or crew wear will make it tough and give it great edge retention. Really nice G10 sort of jungle handle. And then these poured. What do you call these pins? Poured pins. So that's epoxy and colored coloring in there and so it's all epoxied together. And then he made his own pins.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:49]:
Basically fits nicely in the hand. You get a four finger grip. This one I could see making a Kydex sheath for. And carrying in the waistband concealed. It's a, it's a perfect size for that. And there is his little stripper girl logo or. Or is that a mud flap logo? I mean I feel like I've seen that on the back of semi trucks. In any case, a classic design done by a great guy, great knife maker.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:15]:
And this thing is wickedly sharp with a cool sheath. So yeah, become a gentleman junkie and that'll, that'll be. You'll be in the running to win this knife right here. The edgy American Bowie knife. Speaking of Patreon, you heard about knife notes. This is a regular new feature for patrons on our Patreon page. This is something Jim puts together on the regular. I can't even, I can't even keep up with it.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:46]:
So it's really cool. This latest one is on. It is a. On this day in knife history. And it just so happens that on that day in knife history, that was July 26th, he's talking about the birth of Sheffield Bowie craftsman Fred James. He was a legendary Bowie knife craftsman, born in the 20s, 1920 I believe, and worked with IXL in Sheffield and then later on became his own maker, has started his own company and really became famous for his classic chef field style bows. If you didn't know this. In the 1800s, Sheffield, England, a the.

Bob DeMarco [00:11:32]:
The knife making capital of England, became a huge maker of the American Bowie and a lot of Bowie knives. There was a huge, what do you call it, demand for Bowie knives here in the United States. And a lot of them came from Sheffield, England, because there just wasn't enough manufacturing capacity here at the time to make the amount of Bowie knives needed to keep people happy here. And I love that we need another Bowie Rush here in the States. I just think it's really cool that it was a totally ubiquitous knife at the time. So check it out. Check out knife notes. It is really, really cool.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:10]:
You'll get a slice of history or you'll get an inside look at a certain knife design. Like we covered the M3 trench knife last week and the Bowie and the Kukri. Lot of really cool stuff, even ancient cooking knives. So go to the knife junkie.com/patreon and check it out. And check out all the things we have to offer there, including interview extras. That's probably my favorite part. But besides knife notes, my favorite part of what we offer you, Patreon. Plus you can be entered into the knife giveaway if you're a gentleman junkie.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:43]:
That's the high tier of support. You can do that by going to by scanning the QR code right here on your screen or going to the Knife Junkie.com Patreon that's the Knife Junkie.com Patreon adventure delivered your monthly subscription for hand picked outdoor survival, EDC and other cool gear from our expert team of outdoor professionals. Thenif junkie.com battlebox.

Announcer [00:13:08]:
You're listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. And now here's the Knife Junkie with the Knife Life news..

Bob DeMarco [00:13:15]:
Okay, first up in Knife Life news, knife that was released in 2024 by CRKT by Princeton Wong. You know him as Prince. Custom custom knives. This is a really cool design based on these Korean Mecha warriors. Remind me a lot of the Shogun warriors from when I was a kid in the 70s. These cool giant robotic robots. Robotic warrior robots that fight monsters and stuff.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:44]:
Anyway, it's called the Nucleus and we covered this on Knife Life News last year. Very cool futuristic design in 12C 28 and steel. Well now they've come out with a fully maxed out version and this is a a full materials upgrade the new one. And you can get either depending on how much you want to spend and what materials you want on your knife. But the new one is Magnacut and titanium. So that's a 2.23-inch magnacut blade modified worn clif modified sheepsfoot. You decide. With a cool compound grind and flipper front flipper and a nice big opening hole for that reverse finger flick.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:28]:
And then as you move aft, you got the carbon fiber bolster and then a titanium frame. See through titanium frame with sculpted titanium pocket clip. 2.3 ounces. So super light. That's almost an ounce less than the steel version which is 3.1 ounces. So your choice, go to their website. I was checking it out. Go to their website.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:51]:
You can kind of outfit it the way you want. Beautiful black colored version there too. That's available now. All right, next up, Opinel. Opinel has been around for over 100 years, I guess well over 100 years at this point. The French peasant knife or the French farmer's knife, or just the French everyday carry working man's knife that we all know and love. With the wooden handle, the carbon steel clip point blade with the Vibro lock, that rotating collar lock, it sits around the collar, right behind the tang. You twist it and then that blade is not shut.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:30]:
It will. After so much time they decided to give it an update and it's called the Neo 6. Now up and Opinel. Opinel has different sizes of the same design. Starting at three I think and going to 13. The number six and the number eight are the two most popular. So they decided to do an update of the number six called the NEO6. And what did they do? They after a hundred years of continuous tradition, they decided to change the lock to something called an OP Flex lock.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:06]:
Its garage got a spring loaded peg. When you open it that, that interrupts the, the blade from going back into the handle. And, and what else did they do? They blunted the tip. They made it a more people friendly knife. It's, it's sort of a, a woke French knife if you will. So a, a, a blunted rounded off tip that I gotta say that depresses me, that really bums me out man. You know, if you want to innovate, quote unquote on the, on the lock after a hundred years, okay, fine, do your thing. But the blunting of the blade is not an innovation.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:43]:
It's a step backward. But who am I, who am I to judge? You can still go to Opinel and get all of their other really, really awesome knives with sharp tips which comes in handy. That's a 2.75 inch blade up as opposed to the very famous number eight that I was just talking about. That's a three and a quarter inch. This rounded tipped Neo 6 with the new lock called the OP Flex is available now. Next up, some sad news. John Benner, a very famous KA Bar knife designer has Passed away. And he was the man who designed the very, very popular TDI knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:28]:
TDI stands for Tactical Defense Institute. It's a shooting and tactical institute for civilians that he created after his service for the country was over. He was a longtime soldier, law enforcement officer, SWAT guy for a long time and, and then he retired from that to start the most highly, one of the most highly respected training organizations in, in the nation. And in doing so, he created the TDI knife that, that's the KA Bar that takes the extreme curve. It's got a pistol grip and it's, it was originally invented for police officers for gun retention. So they're in a struggle and someone's going for their gun. This fits right on the duty belt and it's shaped a lot like a gun. So it's a very familiar tactile format.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:26]:
They could pull that and, and use it to keep their gun to themselves. So I've always liked those knives. It really became a very large and successful line for K Bar. So best, best wishes, rest in peace, John Benner and best wishes to his family in this tough time. There he is, John Benner on screen. All right, lastly for Knife Life News, I just want to make a quick announcement that Knife Rights is Knife Rights's Knife Rights is running its ultimate steel donation drive. It's their annual drive where they get a hundred and twenty five thousand dollars, more than $125,000 in prizes to give away to you. The, the, the people who help, who donate and help Knife Rights stick around.

Bob DeMarco [00:19:22]:
I mean they have changed the knife laws in just about 40 states now. I know they made automatic knives legal in my state of Virginia like 100% legal even to conceal. So really made a 180 in this state and they've done that in so many other states. If you get in there and donate, you double your chances to win with a tail end bonus drawing. So if you donate 100 bucks, you get a SOG knife. If you donate 200 bucks you get a Spyderco 400, you get this cool QSP 500, you get a cold steel a thousand you get a Hogue. And then at the tail end there's a drawing to win the, the many, many other prizes they have. I mean they have donations from the likes of Kirby Lambert and, and K Bar and gun manufacturers and all sorts of custom knife makers who recognize the value of knife rights and donate a piece every year.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:26]:
If you go to Blade show and you go to the knife rights booth, you'll see all of these amazing prizes. And there are even more waiting in the wings that you could win. So definitely, if you value your knife rights, go to kniferights.org and sign up and donate to the Ultimate Steel 2025. Or you can go to kniferights.org ultimatesteel/2025-ultimate-steel if you're listening. All right, we gotta have Doug Ritter back on and we gotta talk about that. It's got of an annual tradition at this point and it's a great way to keep the knives you want in your pocket. All right, coming up, we have the state of the Collection. I got some really cool stuff to show you, but before we get there, just want to remind you, Thursday night knives, every Thursday, 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time.

Bob DeMarco [00:21:19]:
That's when you stand to win a knife. Pretty much every week we give away a knife right now because this is, this was not built into the original concept of a show. But some very, very generous friends have donated knives to this channel and I've got a bunch of them just sitting on a shelf over there waiting to be won by you. And then of course, every third Thursday of the month we do a special knife drawing for gentlemen junkies. So go to the, go to the knife junkie.com join to actually come on the show and watch. But otherwise 10pm Eastern Standard Time on YouTube and Facebook and you could watch this awesome show Thursday Night Knives. It's a great chance to meet me and meet other like minded individuals and just have a great hang as the weekend begins. All right, coming up, the state of the collection.

Announcer [00:22:11]:
If you search Google for the best knife podcast, the answer is the Knife Junkie podcast.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:16]:
First up, in the state of the collection, a production knife from Auxiliary Manufacturing. So here it is. This is from the Deadhead series of knives coming out, produced by Miguron Knives and of course designed by Michael Jarvis and Auxiliary Manufacturing. So this is a custom version, I mean, I'm sorry, a production version of his custom pocket Bowie. Here's the pocket Bowie. I just shot the old sheath off of it. I'll just place it down here for contrast. But they did an amazing job.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:52]:
Megaron did an amazing job of taking this custom knife and making it a production item. Really added some, there's some value added here. I would say this is a 99 knife as opposed to the custom which is more and harder to get. They added a sharpening choil. It's 14C28 and blade steel. This is 80CRL2 up here. I'm sorry, this is AEBL up here. The custom so and then micarta handles here sculpted.

Bob DeMarco [00:23:24]:
This comes in all black. A black coated blade with black G10. Or you can get it in this beautiful satin with the green, the hunter green micarta. Look at that thing. That is beautiful with that recurve. Super sharp. I love the sweep on that clip. Great sheath.

Bob DeMarco [00:23:44]:
Taco style sheath with the thumb push off and a mini Tek Lok style clip on the back. They also are producing this in a folding version, a titanium frame lock folding version. And that thing is spectacular too. I had a chance to check that out at Blade Show. Those will run you 299. This will run you 99. So get behind this design one way or the other. It is a great small EDC fixed blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:13]:
Carry this one. For the production model they added jimping too, which, who doesn't love jimping? I love jimping. Fits great in the hand forward or reverse grip. You've got that coffin shaped handle. Just works like a dream and is super comfortable. So check this out. This is from Miguran and Auxiliary manufacturing. There's the deadhead logo.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:37]:
That's the series for this production. Coffin handled knife. All right, next up, I got two new Civivis from Civivi in the mail and they are interesting. The first one I'll, I'll show you is the more interesting one. This one is called the Natter Jack. We talk about this. We, we announced that this would be coming out right here on the midweek supplemental here of the Knife Junkie podcast. And now I have it in hand and I'll be a hundred percent honest.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:11]:
It's a little goofy looking, but wow. Does it feel great in hand? Really feels it just melts into my hand. So fully scalloped all the way around. You've got scalloping on the spine of the blade which, which trans transforms into little Anzo style grooves coming onto the surface of the G10 handle slab. But 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 scallops on the spine. You've got four corresponding scallops on the bottom for your fingers and it really, it nestles in there nicely. I, I, I gotta say, I'm not crazy about how it looks, but I love how it feels. It's like that line from Pulp Fiction.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:55]:
Spine of the blade has a couple of scallops too. Looking a little bit like a SOG MACV SOG bow with one extra peak clip point blade. 14C 28 and button lock. Awesome action. They've really nailed the button lock. It's a bb. Comes in four different colorways. I Got this nice storm cloud blue.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:17]:
I like saying it like that. Or it's just gray. If you're looking it up and you want to buy it, just gray. The great pocket clip. I love this Civivi pocket clip. Very plain loop over pocket clip without any, any writing or billboarding on it. Standoffs there. No place to put a lanyard.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:37]:
So tough for you though this, this one here might be a, a place you could put a lanyard. It's between those two thick standoffs. But yeah, I'm. I'm digging it. I didn't think I would. And now that I have it, I like it. But again, not crazy about the looks, but crazy about the feels. I have not used this yet.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:58]:
This just came in as I record that. I'm recording this so haven't had a chance to use this yet. You'll see a close up video coming up soon. Okay, next up also from Civivi. This one has gotten carried. I carried this yesterday. This arrived yesterday for me as I record this. This is called.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:21]:
What is this thing called again? This is the Guile. The Guile. A really, really nice Little Wharncliffe that's 14C28 and designed by Sean Ashmore. Sorry, I had to, I had to refer to the spec sheet here. Shawn Ashmore. Ceramic bearings. Really nice wharncliffe shaped blade with an excellent cutout here for reverse finger flicking or thumb flicking or slow rolling however you want to open it. This really works well.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:53]:
And one thing I like about the opening hole here is that it's nice and sharp on the edge so it really catches your thumb and or forefinger for an easy flick out. Comes with G10 handles. I opted for this obnoxious green. I really like it for some reason. Same really great loop over pocket clip. Here's Mr. Ashmore's maker's mark there. And yeah, the blade is excellent.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:24]:
Very acute point. I. I dare say it would be great in reverse grip in a pinch if you needed to use this defensively. Did I mention 14C 28N? I think I did. Open flow through construction as most civivis with standoffs. So this one is cool. Also comes in a number of colorways. Highly recommend this so far.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:46]:
I mean with me civivi is fire and forget. If you will like. If you like the design, you're gonna like the knife because it's going to be a great. I haven't had one lemon yet. Knock on wood from Civivi yet. So really great knife front flips. Well, despite my poor performance on screen There we go. All right, so that's from Civivi and it's called the Guile.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:15]:
Civivi's got a knife in this next list coming up. We're going to get to that in a second. But before we talk about folders that should be in every collection, want to show you this new design from Jim. Ask me about my Rockwell Hardness. Yeah, great, Great tagline. I like the tagline. Let everyone know that you're still a, a virile dude and wear this hat or, or T shirt or what have you. So this is at the knife junkie.com shop.

Bob DeMarco [00:29:49]:
You get the design on anything you want, basically. You can get mugs, you can get aprons, hats, T shirts, hoodies, long sleeve T shirts, all sorts of stuff. I am currently. I just, I just recently went looking for the Knife Junkie logo. That's on page 20 all the way back at the beginning. So many pages of cool designs that Jim has come up with. Check it out. Ask me about my Rockwell Hardness classic.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:18]:
I. I shouldn't say any more about that. All right. Speaking of classics, these are knives. These are folders that should be in every collection. That said, I'm not saying you need to have all of these in your collection, but these are the ones that, to me, these are folders that are just hit on all, all cylinders and are standards for their type. First up, predictably, is the buck 110. And for a lot of these, I'm going to present alternatives.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:50]:
So here is the buck 110. Not sure why that's not showing up exactly. Clearly. And as an alternative, you can get the smaller buck 112. Now the 112 and the 110 are pretty much the same knife. Just the 112 is shrunk, shrunk down. That's called the Ranger oftentimes. And this is called the Folding Hunter 110 Folding Hunter 112 Ranger.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:17]:
Really great knives. I put one of those aftermarket thumb studs on the 112. They've been around a long time. 420HC steel. They come with beautiful leather sheaths. To quote Rob Bixby of the Apostle P. This is old school redneck tactical folders. And they're great.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:40]:
They are heavy. They are not easy to just drop in pocket. They are pretty solid and dense though. These days Bucks makes a lot of different versions of these in lighter materials. But this is the classic and they're extremely sharp, deeply hollow ground. You get a great cutting edge on these knives. So I highly recommend them. They're back locks, you just gotta have one.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:06]:
And a friend of mine is liquidating some knives that his father had, may he rest in peace. And he's got a couple of one 12s and I, I think he's offering me one to buy and I'm definitely going to buy it. This one is a little bit older from the 80s when things weren't rounded off as much on the handle and they were more squared off. So I'm excited to get one of those in my collection if he can part with it and if he can't, I can't blame him. That would be an incredibly sentimental thing for me. Next up, kind of going in the opposite direction. That 112 has been around for over 50 years and now we're coming to one that's pretty new and it's from Civivi. And I know a lot of people consider this the best Civivi out there.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:57]:
This is the Vision fg designed by Snacks, Malaysian knife designer. This thing is really great. It's got a neutral style handle. It's got a blade that will pretty much do anything from penetrating tasks with that tip to all sorts of cutting tasks with that very, very gradually bellied blade. It's 14C 28 and blade steel, great blade steel. There's snacks design here. And it's got this super lock which is a very strong lock mounted on the spine. Does not interfere at all with your grip.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:38]:
You don't feel it. It's kind of like the shark lock in terms of placement. It will not though. It looks like it should kind of get in the way. It does not get in the way because of how the rest of the handle is designed. You've got a clip up towards the top which always was vexed me a little bit. It doesn't, it doesn't interfere too much, but I can feel the clip ever so slightly. I always wonder why they didn't just center it, but they didn't.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:05]:
Really, really fidgety blade, I gotta say. With this lock style, you can open it with the lock, close it obviously with the lock, or you can use that thumb stud. But how it works is there's that notch on the tang on the back of the blade here. And as it opens up, this lock has a little tab on it that falls into that slot and then is held down with a spring. And then of course, holding the knife itself reinforces the lock. So a great locking mechanism. Very stylish and cool looking. So you'll get, you get some of that in.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:43]:
Ooh. And ah, cred when you pull it out. Oh, that's a cool knife, but not too threatening, I would say. And then a universally useful blade. The blade is just awesome. And then Civivi, of course, grinds everything nice and thin, nice and slicey. And for the most part, from what I've seen from other people who, who really put them to the test, they heat treat their steels magnificently. So the Vision FG from Civivi is a knife that should be in every collection.

Bob DeMarco [00:35:14]:
And one other thing I will add there also, it's designed by a really great and innovative designer who, if you want to get one of his custom knives, save up and wait forever is what I got to say, because he only makes like 10 of them at a time or something like that. So the SNEX design Vision FG from Civivi. Next up is no surprise. It's the Chris Reeve knives, Sebenza, in this case the 21. Of course, you can get the 31 or the one that preceded this. A 21 stands for how many years it was in production when it was redesigned and. And then the 31, same thing. The difference, one of the differences between the 21 and the 31 is in the interface here, the detent ball instead of being down here on the lock, the.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:09]:
I'm sorry, on the locking leaf bar here, it's on the corner and it's a ceramic ball. So much like the Umnum Zan and other Chris Reeve knives, it's now what the ceramic ball is what interfaces with the steel tang instead of the titanium. That said, there has never been an issue with mine and I haven't really heard of anyone else having an issue with any sort of lock stick on their Chris Reeve knives. Sebenza with the titanium lock bar engaging with the blade tang. Little schmutz in there. I need to clean this out. This gets a fair amount of use. I come in and out of use with this.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:58]:
I'm seasonal with this. I just can't define the season. Oftentimes it'll start with some sort of dressy occasion where I think the most classy, most understated, awesome knife that I have for the occasion would be the Sebenza. I carry it to whatever that occasion is and then it stays in the pocket for a while because it's just such an awesome knife. And it's one of those knives against which all other modern folding, locking, tactical, esque knives are measured. It really is a do everything knife. This one is the black Micarta version which they came the scales came gray, these little inlays came gray and immediately blackened up from my hand and funk. So I love the Chris Reeve knives.

Bob DeMarco [00:37:48]:
I, I have two and I feel like that's pretty much all I need though. Every once in a while I'll start, I'll get a wild hair up my bottom and I'll, I'll start looking at Chris Reeve knives. But then I back off. I'm like, you don't carry them that much that you need to go buy another Chris Reeves. Two should suffice. Okay, next up is the Kershaw Leek. This is my wife's Kershaw Leak. Used to be mine, but she really loved how thin this aluminum handle is and.

Bob DeMarco [00:38:19]:
Or this, this is steel. How thin this steel handle is. You know how ladies have really, really shallow pockets on their jeans. Well, my wife has taken to carrying her knives in the waistband and this nice thin and smooth knife was probably the one she discovered that form of carry with really nice wharncliffe blade. It's got a bit of a belly, so you might, you know, it's just a very slight belly. So you might not call this a wharncliffe if you're gonna really nerd out about it, but we can, we can, we can let that slide. 14C 28N on this blade. And I think they've made a number of different versions of the Leak.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:01]:
I mean many, many different versions of the Leak to include different steels. But it's got that speed safe assisted opening, a hollow ground blade and thumb stud opening too. Which is probably my favorite way to open this because it just snaps up so, so readily. If this, if you're, if this is a little too small or you're not into the speedsafe assisted opening. The other Kershaw that I would say should be in every collection is in is a newish one within the last two years. And I absolutely love this knife. This is the USA made Iridium. Iridium is an awesome non assisted so bearings and ambidextrous bar lock here.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:51]:
Just a great knife. This has got the best, smoothest bar lock I have. Period bar none to include Benchmade and Hogue and Civivi. This one is the, the butteriest. And I gotta say every time I, I pull it out and I check it, I check the, the blade for wobble, it's so free falling, but it's not wobble. It's just awesome engineering and really great build. So I would say the Iridium, if you don't like the Kershaw Leak get the Iridium. But you should have an a USA made Kershaw in your collection and these fit the bill.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:35]:
It doesn't have to, it doesn't have to be USA made. They make a lot of cool knives in China too. But Kershaw and, and some of these classics. I'd say the Iridium is the new classic and definitely the Leaf designed by Ken Onion is a classic classic. So you gotta have one of those two. Next up is the Ontario Rat series. I have a RAT one that's in my Bugout bag in my car. My get home bag in my car.

Bob DeMarco [00:41:01]:
But this is the two, the RAT two with the three inch blade still you have those nylon handles. Now this one is an older one so it's Aus 8. You can still get it in Aus 8 but now you can get it in D2 as well. And D2 I just think is a superior steel. Really great ergonomics on this knife. Just a classic full flat ground blade. This is. It's got to be 20 years this has been kicking it now you've got just the right size here and that upward angled.

Bob DeMarco [00:41:36]:
It's not upward angled but it's upset a little high and I kind of like that. Gives you a great place for the thumb. Gives you a very useful drop point blade and you can get it in all different color ways. This pink and black was a gift from my older daughter via my wife when she was a baby and wanted to give me a pink knife. I suggested this one. I nicknamed this one Pinky Tuscadero ages ago. And so that's what it is. We used to name my knives around here.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:11]:
You may remember Sleepy Bear, which will come up here soon. Soon. Both named by by by my daughter. Really nice knife. Everyone should have a rat 2 or a rat 1. It's. It's that bang around knife that you don't feel guilty banging around and that once it has some scars from usage you're proud to to show off. Next up, the Benchmade Bugout.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:38]:
This is the only Benchmade on this list and it for me it beats out pretty much all of them. I'm not a huge Benchmade fan as you probably know, but I'm a huge fan of the Bugout and I also like the Bailout quite a bit. I don't own one of those. This one has been kind of tweaked to my liking. Of course you see the snaggletooth MF on there because I carry this often in the back pocket or in the inside pocket of my Winter jackets and I like just having that automatic open feature. It, it acts much like a wave to open it, snag it on your pocket. I also got Allen Putnam scales here. So these are aftermarket canvas Micarta scales designed by and made by Alan Putnam.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:24]:
I got them on Blade hq, I think. And then of course you've got that short clip. I love the short benchmade clip s 30v is what this one is made of. It comes in other steels, a very smooth axis lock. Of course they were the guys who invented the ambidextrous bar lock. And here it is on my favorite Benchmade Benchmade knife. If you want something super light, super thin, very, very capable and fun to. Fun to use and fidget with.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:56]:
The Benchmade bugout should be in every collection. Next up, I spoke of Sleepy Bear before. That's this. It's my Spyderco Delica. In this case the Delica Endela which I don't have, or the Endura should be in every everyone's collection here. Got a. A beautiful two versions of it with the blue and the purple. This is a universally awesome knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:26]:
Full flat ground. You've got a 3.75 inch blade on the Endura. It's got a 3 inch blade on the Delica. And then in the middle at three, three and a quarter you've got the Endela. All great knives. You've got the FRN handles with the multi directional texturing. So it grabs your thumb going this way, grabs your hand going that way and nice and light. Comes in a variety of colors.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:52]:
Cheerful, totally unassuming. This one is my painting knife. So anytime I have painting to do around the house, which isn't frequent, but you know, every couple of years we decide to repaint a room or a hallway or something. And this is the knife that goes in my pocket. I don't know how that tradition started, but it did and I love it. Very, very useful. Thin, light, strong back lock knife. And here is the Endura again.

Bob DeMarco [00:45:24]:
This was. I want to get daddy a purple knife. And so I recommended this knife and she promptly named it Sleepy Bear. That was back in her Care Bear days. Spyderco Endura and Spyderco Delica or Indella I guess, even though that's a late comer, relatively speaking, should be in every collection. Next up, in lieu of the Spyderco, I mean of the Benchmade Griptilian, is The Hogue Ritter RSK Mark 1. This is what used to be called the Ritter grip when it was made by Benchmade but this is Doug Ritter of Knife Rights. This is his knife idea.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:09]:
So he, he designed this drop point blade and wanted to have it manufactured by the best manufacturers out there. Back in the day it was Benchmade. He, he said just use the griptilian handle. It's already there. It's inexpensive, it's lightweight. But we're going to make this different shaped blade with a super steel. And at the time, you know, I think it was S30B was the first incarnation of it. It went through a number of different steels with Benchmade and then Benchmade stopped making OEM knives and he landed at Hogue, which was awesome because in my opinion, Hogue makes a better crossbar lock.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:49]:
They call it the Able Lock Ambidextrous bar lock enhanced. That's what Able stands for. This is the small and then here's a larger version of it. This one is an automatic, but you can get it, you can get it in the regular manual version. This one has a magnacut blade. Such a great knife. The ergonomics are awesome. Hogue extended the handle ever so slightly as compared to the Benchmade version of this.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:21]:
They added this contoured radial pattern pattern here milled into the handle. It just melts into the hand. Feels great. Such a useful blade shape and a very robust knife. This is a do everything style folder from tactical to practical and everywhere in between. A great backpacking knife, a great camping knife. So I would highly recommend that you get one of these Hog Ritter RSK mark ones in your collection if you don't already have one. Lot of people have them, by the way.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:58]:
This automatic version does come with a lock here, so you don't want it going off in your pants pants pocket, which it's not going to unless you're doing something crazy. That's a good way to stop it. All right, next up is the off grid Knives Stinger. This is a big knife that's a full 4 inch blade. And this is the second incarnation of this knife with that full flat ground drop point blade. The first version had more of a bayonet grind, but this thing and all off grid knives as far as I'm concerned are the best. They're just such great slicers. They're my favorite knives to cut cardboard with.

Bob DeMarco [00:48:46]:
And so I feel you should have an off grid knife in your collection. The Stinger. This model here is the most universally, it's, it's kind of the most regular. So you've got Extreme Wharncliffe's, you got extreme Bowies and other stuff, but this one in this drop point is the most useful, I gotta say. Really great. Comes in a large and a small. You decide which one fits you best. 14 or 154 cm on this blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:21]:
I love 154 cm and it sharpens up easily, takes a great edge. The pocket clip is loop over deep carry inset in the G10 and very widely chamfered blades. Makes it feel concord, but leaves you with enough flat surface on the G10 to not have it twist in your hand in hard use. And I've used these, I don't want to say hard, but like, I haven't used them like cutting tires and stuff like that, but I've used them to carve wood and feather sticks and I've used them for just tons and tons and tons and tons of cardboard. We get a lot of big double wall corrugated boxes here. And this is what, this is what I use to break them down. So I love these knives, plus just luscious action. OEM either in Taiwan at one of one of the great manufacturers in Taiwan, or Best Tech.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:26]:
He uses key meaning carry orifice. The guy who designs and owns the company has a Taiwan manufacturer make them and Best Tech make them. Next up is the Microtech SOCOM Elite. A lot of great microtechs out there. You might, you might choose a different knife, but this is the one of all my microtechs that would stay if I had to give them all away. This is my first microtech. I've had this one for over 10 years at this point. And this was a first in a lot of ways.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:00]:
My first S35VN knife. This was my first knife with bearings in the pivot. First knife with carbon fiber. It's just a great knife. You can get this in a Tanto. The Tanto now looks a little different, has a different profile on the newer versions. And it doesn't have the carbon fiber, it has more of a grip tape here. But the point is.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:22]:
Oh, this is also my first knife with the glass breaker. That's why this is my, my official road trip knife. I have to have this in my pocket on road trips. Kind of become a superstition at this point, but just a great all around robust knife. I've never had any issues with this knife and I've carried it probably more than any of my fancy expensive knives. And I consider this fancy and expensive. These come in around 300 bucks I believe at this point. Very, very good ergonomics.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:56]:
It's the one knife, one of two Knives I'll give a pass or tip down only. But if you get the SOCOM Bravo made by Reich Knives you can have it with the clip. Great knife, aluminum, nice and light, extremely robust. There are a number of destruction test videos of this knife online. Made by by by D. Ring who works with a gentleman who works with Microtech and he's just put them through the ringer and they come out swinging every time. Next up is a protect and I love protect knives and and you might decide that a different protac is what you want. But to me the one that should be in your collection, in every collection is the Protect TR3.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:48]:
It's the perfect size and design and ergonomics and blade design as far as I'm concerned from them. This one is an automatic and most of them throughout history are automatics. But now they have a really great button lock version of this TR3. This is the SWAT version. So it's all black. They come with iridium. Some of them come with iridium dials or buttons. You can get them in fish scale milling which is really cool.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:19]:
But I like this sort of plain Jane version of this where you have these great grooves milled into the handle and when you reach around like this holding it in the right hand, it's just great grip. The fingers sink into those little fullers there and it just is comfortable and grippy and will just be comfortable for lots of use. Reverse grip is nice.3 and 3.4 inch blade. So just about right in terms of size you've got the standard sort of Emerson style clip here. Emerson benchmade protect style clip and then a great firing action. I have heard that the button lock versions are great too. I just haven't experienced them. You should have a pro tech and if you get a protect you should have a TR3.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:16]:
All right. Next up is slightly more generic and that is slip joints. You should have a slip joint whether it's high end or more val high value. And I'll show you what I mean by that. Here we have my two favorite slip joint companies. Gec, Great Eastern Cutlery. This is my absolute favorite slip joint. Besides the ones given to me my by my grandfather in my collection.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:42]:
This is the the Great eastern cutlery number 15. It's just got such incredible scales. I think the scales are so beautiful. A beautiful 1095 blade steel. This one is set up like a trapper. So it's got a clip point blade and a spade blade. That was known as the farmer's boys knife when that came out or you can get the less expensive farm and field gecs. So this is a sod buster.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:11]:
I was talking about the Opinel before. This is the American version of that kind of a knife, sort of an everyman's working knife, farmer's knife. So you can get the sod buster or something like this. They just came out with a new knife in their farm and field line. And the other version is of this high end or high value is Jack Wolf knives. Here is a premium Jack Wolf knives, Big bro Barlow Jack here in that beautiful clip point blade. Or then that sells for. This has bone, a bone handle.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:48]:
This sells for about 300, 350, something like that. Or you can go to the Gateway series from Jack Wolf knives which is $70. So you decide pretty much a very similar in terms of design, this one just has lesser materials and less packaging and still it has that classic perfect fit and finish that Jack Wolf knives has come to be known for. So every, every collection should have a slip joint knife. And I, I personally posit that you should have a high end and, and low end. Not low end, high value or high end, either way, you need something like this. You just do. I thought about putting Victorinox.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:40]:
Great walk and talk. Very satisfying. I thought about putting Victorinox in this lineup here as a slip joint, but it is and it is a slip joint, but that's more of a multi tool. So I'm assuming you have a Victorinox, but if you don't get a Victorinox too. Okay, next up, zero tolerance. This, this covers the zero tolerance base and it covers the Ernest Emerson base. Because I love zero tolerance and especially some of their older knives and this, I feel like they really peaked with this one. I know they're, they've come back and put out some pretty cool knives since this, but to me this is probably my favorite zero tolerance.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:24]:
It's the Ernest Emerson designed 0640. Buttery, smooth, super robust. I did swap out the split pea soup carbon fiber scales for Micarta scales and I put a deep cherry pocket clip on it. But just a great, great do all knife. It's kind of the sort of knife similar to a Sebenza. You can dress it up, you can carry this, you know, with a, with a, to a nice occasion or it's equally comfortable out in the field. Great clip point blade. This is 20cv blade steel.

Bob DeMarco [00:58:03]:
So it's good to go and just awesome, awesome action. A great thing about this is that it's, it's a frame lock, but it's covered with scales so it's not. I wouldn't call this a liner lock, more of a frame lock. But what I love about that is you can slow rope, slow roll it easily without worrying about pushing the lock bar and the detent ball into the blade. That's the Ernest Emerson designed ZT Zero Tolerance 0640. Next up, every collection should have a cold steel and I would say a cold steel recon one. This comes in a micro, a mini, this regular full size and then you can get the xl. Now they have the XL back on the market in XHP steel.

Bob DeMarco [00:58:55]:
This is just a super robust large 4 inch bladed, pretty thin and light to carry. Linerless G10 knife. It comes in clip point, drop point and Tanto. I only have the clip point used to have the tanto. Sadly I gave that away. This one is an older 1 so AUS 8 blade steel. It had that super cheesy coating that I, I just took it off and discovered a beautiful stone wash finish underneath. I've had this one for over 10 years I guess I'd say triad lock.

Bob DeMarco [00:59:35]:
So it's going to be the strongest lock here, arguably the strongest lock here and, and very comfortable in hand with those double finger choils and that long finger well in the back. Really, really robust, really really beautiful and very comfortable in all types of tasks. Of course if you go up to the Recon 1 XL with that 5 1/2 inch blade you will have a fully flat ground blade at this point. Not the, not the hollow grind. All right, last up, last classic knife here that deserves to be in every collection is a Demko knife similar to the Recon one which is a Demko knife made by cold steel. This is the 8020. Yes. This is an expensive knife.

Bob DeMarco [01:00:30]:
This is a machine ground 8020 meaning the blade was, was not beveled by hand. If you get one beveled by hand that's even more expensive. But this is straight out of their Wampum PA Shop Demko knives. And on the back Wampum ea. This features the shark lock. The incredible strong shark lock actuated by this shark's fin tab up here on top. Similar to the FG in terms of, in terms of how it presents but a different lock and in the guts. Now if this is too rich for your blood, I, I bought this for 400 bucks and at the time I was so craving one that I did it without blinking an eye.

Bob DeMarco [01:01:22]:
And this was back when I had less money so I really kind of went out on a limb to get this. And then later the. The 80.8, 0.5 came out with thinner handle, shorter blade, and lighter materials. So way more in reach. So you can get this in this version, which is harder to find and more expensive, or you can get it in the now made in Taiwan 80, 20.5 iteration. They're both great. I have them both and I highly recommend them. You should have a Shark lock.

Bob DeMarco [01:02:00]:
You should have a Demto knives knife in your collection. All right, thank you so much. I hope you don't think that I'm being judgy or being elitist by saying, you should have this. Of course, it's all a matter of taste. I'm sure people are saying, what about the PM2? What about the Griptilian? What about the Roosevelt? What about. You know, there's so many knives that should be in every collection, but these to me, are the ones that before you start going off in your own direction and deciding, you know, that you have a, a thing for any, any given knife, all of these kind of hit, strike on. On hit all bases. What am I trying to say? Fire on all cylinders.

Bob DeMarco [01:02:43]:
So do check them out. Let me know what you think should be in every collection. I'd be interested to know what you think I missed here. And I'll, I'll talk about. We'll talk about that on Thursday night. Knives. All right, Coming up On Sunday, episode 614, Jacob, a suite of very good knife company. What a great guy making this amazing or very good knives, let's put it that way.

Bob DeMarco [01:03:08]:
Great interview. I really enjoyed that. So be sure to check in with the interview podcast. All right. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.

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