Displaying items by tag: knife

Benchmade founder Les DeAsis has passed away on february 21st following a stroke suffered a week before.

There are a lot of things in life that I don't like and I could easily fill volumes of books with my complaining about things in general and with alarming specificity. I really could, as evidenced by the fact that this website has completely grown from my ability to complain about things and tell the world what I like and, more often what I don't like.

The December Donation Draw is in full swing, and to close out 2016 we have a customized Swiss Army KNife from our good friend Bob Lessard, aka SYPH007!  If you don't know who Bob is by now, then you really need to take a moment and find out!

The clock is ticking down on this one, but there is still time to get in on this month's Donation Draw prize- a 1948 Victorinox Soldier!

Ok, the title may make it sound a bit more exciting than it really is, since you know, it's just me, and I'm the same lazy middle aged bag of hot air that you all talk to every other day, but I'm determined to make myself feel special if it kills me!

Multitool users are always being told to use the right tool for the right job, and I agree for the most part. Whenever possible the right tool (usually a dedicated tool) is preferable to using a multitool, but what about the type of situation where a multitool is the right tool?

According to our friends over at Knifenews.com (full story HERE) the famous firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson has purchased Taylor Brands LLC for $85 million.  For those who don't know, Taylor has long produced knives and multitools with the Smith & Wesson name on them, and I have often commented on the quality (more accurately, the lack therof) of Taylor knives, whether they are marked S&W, Schrade, Uncle Henry or Imperial. 

For years I had labored under the impression that the folks at S&W were blissfully unaware of the crap that Taylor was producing with their name on it- I am a big fan of Smith & Wesson firearms, and that name has become (in my mind at least) synonomous with quality revolvers.  I had assumed that someone at Taylor had arranged for a dump truck full of cash to arrive on a bi-monthly schedule at the house of S&W's licensing manager, and that as a result, he or she just didn't ask any questions.  It seems that isn't the case, and that S&W is fully aware of the crap that Taylor is producing, and that is very disapointing to me.

The worst part is that S&W doesn't appear to even want to fix it- they seem content to merely take advantage of the distribution network that Taylor has, so that they can make their own in house accessories more available.  As if having their name on crappy knives wasn't damaging enough to the brand, now Smith & Wesson will be selling their actual merchandise on the shelves right next to crud, strengthening the connection.

This is one of those times when I really hope I am wrong.  As I said, I have lots of respect for S&W, and I hate to see them take a bad decision (like giving a license to Taylor in the first place) and make it worse.

Def

While not necessarily a multitool, the new RESCOM from Boker has more in line with tools than it does knives.

In a world dominated by multitools and tactical knives, the demand is becoming greater for knives that could very well be called “super knives” and are being favored over the once popular pocket knives our dads and grandfathers carried. It used to be about simplicity, nothing warmed your heart like warm jigged bone handle with nickel silver bolsters and that ever popular carbon steel blade. Now we want knives that can go a week of hard use without sharpening, using more and more super steels as well as space age handle materials like g10, carbon fiber and titanium. Many manufacturers have been able to stand up to what the public wants and have flooded the market with tactical knives that are not only combat worthy but work great for those individuals that need a low maintenance EDC.

Since the dawn of the knife man has had to sharpen his knife from time to time as the need arises, sharpening is a skilled labor, you have to learn how to use a stone to hone your edge or take the cheating route and use any one of the numerous gimmicks that they have for sharpening. Well Columbia River has a production knife that sharpens itself, I had to see it to believe but it’s true. And best of all, this puppy’s affordable.