Get Your Knife!

We are coming up on National Knife Day.  Yes, there is a national day commemorating the knife. 

 We sometime forget how important knives are to the story of civilization, perhaps to the evolution of humanity.  I often think early man’s first tool was a stick to extend his reach, followed by a rock to pound things.  Somewhere along the way he got the idea of cutting things and everything took off!

We have been celebrating National Knife Day since 2011.  For some of us, every day is a celebration of knives.  Knives fill our lives both in the physical sense and in our thought process.  Our cars have windshield wiper blades, I buttered my toast with a knife, the mill at work has a doctor blade, we need something to slit the envelope open to announce the winner.  And nobody tried to cut the cake without a knife.

 

We cut to the bottom line, a foolish person is described as “not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”  We like (sometimes) people with a razor wit, we cut the fat out of a job quote, and we want to sharpen the pencil to work a better deal.  

 

Rumor has it the day was selected from a letter written August 24, 1838, by Rezin Bowie, claiming he (and not his brother, Jim) was the actual creator of the Bowie Knife and deserved the fame and credit for it.  Of course, Jim was dead by then…

 

Celebrate August 24 by carrying your favorite knife.  Maybe show it a little respect by sharpening the edge and wiping it down.  A drop of oil isn’t too extravagant, is it?

Remember the proverb:  “A knife-less man (and woman) is a lifeless man.”

Spyderco Three Way

There are few knives better known in the knife community than Spyderco’s Endura and Delica.  Introduced in 1990, they have always been in the top ten sellers at Spyderco.  But there is a new contender, the Endela.

A full serrated Endela flanked by a Delica and Endura.

Spyderco’s Delica was the first tactical knife I ever owned.  I owned lock backs prior to a Delica, but never one with a clip or engineered for one-hand opening.  The ability to consistently open a knife with one hand which would lock open was amazing.  From camping to community theater, in fact any daily activity, these knives made an impact. 

Police, fire and military all tended to carry an Endura or Delica.  They were strong, lightweight (compared to the other popular “tactical carry“ knife of the time, the Buck 110), easy to open and economical.  The steel retained its edge reasonably well and could be quickly sharpened with the Spyderco Sharpmaker, which I still use.  Both knives still retain the properties of strength, ease of operation and performance.

Long before 9/11 Delicas quickly found a home with airline travelers.  You simply dropped them in the tray with your car keys and pen, and they were returned on the other side of the metal detector almost always without a comment.  Even the partial serrations were not of any real concern.  I typically carried two while my wife carried her Delica.  I use to sit in mid-flight and cut open my in-flight snack.  That makes me feel nostalgic.

As a purveyor of edged steel, I am more than qualified to state the obvious:  No matter how well designed, no knife or series of knives is perfect for all users.  One only has to look at all the available glove sizes to realize that.

The Delica and Endura are the Baby and Papa Bear that drunk blonde, Goldie, finds when she breaks in to a fairytale home in the woods.  So what fills that middle spot?  Consumers asked for a bigger knife that was smaller than the Endura.  Spyderco found an answer, the Endela.

Daily lab chores, opening packages.  The blade was very controllable.

Let’s do a three way head-to-head with the new addition to this family of edges, the Endela.

Feature	Delica	Endela	Endura
Open length (inches)	7.13	8.1	8.8
Blade length (inches)	2.88	3.4	3.8
Blade thickness (inches)	0.09	0.12	0.13
Steel	VG-10	VG-10	VG-10
Grind	Saber	Flat	Saber
Clip	4-position	4- position	4-position
Weight	2.5 oz.	3.1 oz.	3.6oz
Cost (MSRP)	$120.00	$123.00	$125.00

As you can see, the Endela looks a little like the middle child.  The blade is about a half inch larger compared to the Delica, but 0.4 inches smaller that the Endura.  Blade thickness is pumped up by 0.03 of an inch, but its 0.01 inch thinner than the Endura.  You’ll see that trend in the other knife parameters too.  The Endela is a noticeable step up from the Delica, but almost a twin to the Endura.

Frankly, the Endela seems to be an answer in search of a question.

The Endela comes only as the flat grind blade, which seems to be super-hot on with consumers right now.  Both the Delica and Endure can be found with similar flat grinds.  Both the Endura and Delica can be obtained with a plain edge, a partial serration and full serration.  The Endela sports either a plain edge or a full serration.  

The full serration has amazing cutting powers.  Packing straps, seat belts, heavy rope all come clean to its power.  The little defensive edge training I have taken strongly suggests I don’t want to be cut by a Spyderco serration.

The Endela market, according to Spyderco, is for those of us who want a larger knife than a Delica, but smaller than an Endura.  Hence the mash-up.  Not the most original, but…..

The difference is in the feel and use.  I like the Endela.  It feels good in my hand and if I was a first time buyer, I’d get an Endela. 

It will be interesting to see if it’s in the 2021 catalog.

More Blade Show

Sunday morning at the Blade Show is my catch-up day.  I use it to talk to the various knife dealers and personalities.  I had no idea it was going to start that morning at breakfast.

I had a chance to share a table with Phil Cookson and Sylvia Ehinger from Pohl Force.  Dietmar Pohl started this company a few years ago and they are trying to make inroads into American markets.   So far the two of them are the American staff.  But that shouldn’t matter, because these knives have the right stuff.

Dietmar Pohl, I’m told, is the designer behind Boker’s Kalashnikov design.  If you get a chance, take a serious look at that knife.  It’s a basic utility folder that delivers performance.  

Dietmar has designed over 60 knives and knows his way among the LEO and military knife communities.  He’s published a very nice book about some of the knives used by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the Balkans.  It’s changed some of my perceptions on combat knives, the least of which is non-rounded, asymmetric handles and folders in addition to fixed blades.  The book’s pretty cool and I recommend it.

Note the coin opener and jimping for the thumb

Later at the show I had a chance to stop at Pohl Force.  They have some very nice designs and they aren’t afraid of using different steels.  You’ll find knives made from D-2, the ubiquitous 440C, BD-1 and one that caught my eye, Niolox.  Niolox is a German steel that’s reported to be better than 440C in terms of edge retention and corrosion resistance.  Since I see my knives as tools, I don’t coddle them and sometimes they are mistreated.  Edge retention and corrosion resistance is important to me.


                            440C  VS  Niolox

• Element               440C Niolox
• Carbon 0.95-1.2% 0.8%
• Chromium         16-18%              12.7%
• Molybdenum 0.75% 1.1%
• Manganese    1% 0.0%
• Niobium             0. 0%                 0.7%            

On the surface you might think that Niolox should be less corrosion resistant than 440C.  Isn’t chromium the magic element for rust resistance?  Well it is, but it reacts with carbon to form very hard carbides.  The more carbon you have, the more chromium is unavailable to provide rust resistance. 

Frankly, my understanding of metallurgy is very simple and not up to the task of explaining austenite stabilizers, carbide grain anchoring or continuous cooling charts. All of which are needed to understand what happens in steel.

I will say I was very impressed with Pohl Force knives.
   
I’m just sorry my camera batteries decided to run out of juice at their table.  The fixed blades were elegant!



I just want to mention the cutting contest.  

Every Blade Show has a cutting contest that allows participants from the local level to compete on the national level.  Each contest is different from previous ones.  Oh, sure you cut through hanging ropes, water bottles and a couple 2X4s, but you may have to push cut the entire length of a plastic straw and then cut as many washers as you can from an upright cardboard cylinder.  This is all done on the clock so knife control and speed count for score.

The knives are highly regulated in terms of weight, length, size and general configuration.  You don’t have to make your own.  You can buy from an approved maker/vendor.  All participants must attend a training class taught by internally certified instructors.  Cutting contests aren’t anything you can just jump into.

From what I can tell, most of cutters at the national level are big, beefy males, but this year Jessica Elias, the Creative Director from L. T. Wright Handcrafted Knives competed.  She was anything but a beefy male.  

The original stated purpose of this contest was to help evaluate grinds, steels, blade configurations, hardness and tempering as well as sharpening procedures.  Maybe it does, but I think it’s like car racing.  If you think 500 miles of left turns on tricked out tires and suspensions that could never be used outside of the race track is important to tire development, who am I to say different? 

Myself, I prefer to just lean back and enjoy the spectacle.