Zombies

Zombies weren’t always so threatening.

It took a lot of work and juju to turn a person into a Zombie.  They mostly stood around until the Zombie master gave them commands.  Even then, they were primarily insistent; nothing stopped them from carrying out their instructions.  And they weren’t infectious.

In Piers Anthony's 'Castle Roogna', they were pretty nice people, had a lot of friends, fell in love, and did other ordinary things. 

The first record of zombies in literature goes to the English poet Robert Southey in 1819.  Later, Richard Matheson published  'I Am Legend' in 1954.  Sparked by that idea, George Romero directed 'Night of the Living Dead' in 1968, and zombies became insatiable, highly infectious, deadly creatures driven by a killing desire for brains.

Most of the TV shows and movies copied this idea.  It seems there is limited originality in the entertainment media.

We saw a shift in 2005.  Inspired by an old folk legend, Tim Burton produced ‘The Corpse Bride,' suitable for children and adults.  Later in 2019, 'iZombie', a comedy crime drama TV show, ran for several seasons.

MicroTech's ZombiTech

I'm not a Zombie fan, but I fell hard for Microtech's ZombieTech out-the-front auto.

Something about the blood splatter.  I've always been interested in blood splatter, and the almost florescent green handle appeals to me.

The classic way to stop a zombie was to destroy the brain

MicroTech released the ZombieTech in 2012.  I have one from 2019 celebrating Microtech’s 25th anniversary, but I don’t know how much longer they were in production.

I contacted MicroTech, but they remain closed-lipped about everything and have yet to respond.

Real blood doesn't splatter this way, unless it's a high speed splatter

The internet claims that every ZombieTech has a random and different splatter pattern.  I admit that some patterns are a lot nicer than others. 

The 3-inch blade was available as a drop point, tanto, and a double-edge dagger.  I have found images of bright blades and ones with a black finish.  While some websites claim to have a few high-end ZombieTech sets in stock, most say 'Out of  Stock,' which is seller speak for can't get it anymore.

MicroTech uses M390 steel from Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG factory in Kapfenberg, Austria.  Originally designed in the late 1980s for molds used in the injection molding industry, it has found a home in the knife community.

I like OTFs, or Out the Front, but they have their limitations too.  Blade can slip off the internal carriage.

I really shouldn’t bang on the entertainment industry too hard.  Originality is hard to come by.  In 2021, MicroTech released a version of their knife called 'Outbreak.'  https://microtechknives.com/the-outbreak-unleashing/  It sports the same blood splatter on bulbous green and a Biohazard symbol.  It, too, is out of stock.

Secrets of the Sorting Hat

 

I've moved, which forced me to confront my knife collection with the certainty that all good things end.  My previous dwelling had plentiful storage, but the new digs, well, not so much.  I’ll add cabinets, shelves, and drawers for storage, but I need to deal with limited storage and the need to put things away.

The move has also prompted a confrontation with my mortality.  Do I want to continue to curate knives I have for no apparent reason?  As much as I wish it, I do not have a Harry Potter sorting hat to make determinations for me.

I realized that all my possessions could be categorized into two distinct classes and a third, more nebulous one.  The first two are obviously "Keep" and "Discard.”  The third is “Maybe.”

Don't let this fool you.  There are only two options.  Maybe is actually a Discard.  If a knife doesn't create enough passion to become a Keep instantly, it's a Discard you're trying to be polite to.  Ditch it.

The original Tigersharp

Here’s a couple of examples.  I picked up a Tigersharp at the SHOT Show.  The company later sold the design to Camillus.  The novelty is the replacement blade eliminating the need to resharpen the knife; just use a new blade.  It's going.

Boot dagger from S&W

Years ago, at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot, I bought a S&W H.R.T. dagger boot knife.  I am still trying to understand why.  The handle is too small, the blade is sharp on one side but not the other, and I don't typically wear the proper boots.  Bye-bye boot knife.

Boker's Pocket Knife by Mickey Yurco

I bought a knife from Boker, designed by Mickey Yurco, called the Pocket Knife.  Mickey told me he thinks of it as a self-defense tool, but Boker, fearful of public backlash (What!  You mean to tell me you could hurt someone with a knife?) calls it a camping or survival knife.  I wore this on my pack for years.  It's a keeper.

So, there you have it.  When you start thinking about that great collector's meeting in the sky and can't decide what knives need to find a new home, remember, Maybes are just polite Discards.  You really didn't care for them in the first place.

 

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.”

Christmas Knife Connections

 Is it too late to brag about Christmas presents?

My wife got me a Microtech Zombietech 85 OTF for Christmas and backed it up with a vintage Zombietech tee-shirt.  It is way too cool and I’ve wanted one for years!

I’ve always liked Microtech.  They make a high-end knife with tight precision.  That drives the price up, but makes for an amazing knife.  Knife designer Greg Lightfoot has remarked that these tolerances are what makes Microtech factory knives so close to custom-designed knives: "It has the same quality as a handmade custom."

You might not be familiar with Microtech Knives.  You should be ashamed of yourself.

Beginning in 1994, Susan and Anthony Marfione created Microtech with a simple idea: Create the best knives possible.  Like many entrepreneurs they started in their apartment and later moved to a storage bay in Vero Beach, Florida.

Now headquartered in Western North Carolina Microtech Knives operates with the same mission statement:  Make the best knives possible.  This concept has grown the company to over 150 employees.

Quality stands out and there is a market for it.  Microtech along with Benchmade is credited with the responsibility for the resurgence in the popularity of tactical automatic knives in the 1990s.  These knives are seen as precision-made tools utilizing powerful springs and high-grade components.  They aren’t toys, as many auto knives are perceived.  

I have a few other Microtech knives from the Blade Shows, but nothing this fancy.  I’m really happy to have it.

On Christmas Eve Karen and I cooked pheasant paprikas so I had to dissemble the pheasant.  I used my CRKT Taco Viper and it worked great.

Pheasant and CRKT's Taco Viper

Since it was a new knife, I pulled out the poultry shears, just in case.  My wife got the shears from her mother, so they have to be at least 60 years old.  I know my mom had one, but I believe it is with one of my sisters.  At least I hope so.  It’s been a while since I needed poultry shears so I took a few moments to check them out.

Guess what?  They are made by Boker in the USA.  Boker is an underappreciated knife line. 

Boker and Chromium

Böker traces its origin to the 17th century as a tool maker in Germany.  By the 1860s the company had fractured with a branch of the family emigrating to North America and setting up plants in Canada, New York, and Mexico. The German and North American factories produced similar knives and used the "Tree Brand" trademark. 

Boker Poultry Shears

WWII rolls up and we can’t have a German company operating in America.  The outcome, Boker America, no umlaut, is established.  During the war the Solingen factory was destroyed and "Boker USA" took control of the trademark until the German factory was rebuilt in the 1950s.  It’s difficult for me to understand, but even during war, business law rules.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the company changed hands several times, with the New York facility (Hermann Boker & Co) shutting down in 1983.  In 1986, Boker reacquired the rights to the American brand and Boker USA was started in Denver, Colorado for US production.  They also make knives in Germany, China and Argentina.

 

All three companies, Microtech, CRKT, and Boker make nice knives.  You owe it to yourself to check them out.

Blade Show 2022 Day One

 The Blade Show 2022 opened with its usual whimper.  Neither Cobb Galleria nor the people from Blade are unable to figure out how to handle the crowds.  The Customer Appreciation Passes were not available until 10 am this morning, and the Show opened to us at 11:00 ~ a LONG line to get in the building and then another line (they called out last name letters alphabetically!) to get the actual badge!  It would have been much simpler if the CAP passes were available Thursday afternoon/evening, then anyone could have picked them up at their convenience.  

This was the line in front of us, and we were 1.5 hours early!

The line standing in the Georgia sun would have been much more manageable.  Still, I was able to pick up my pass and make it to my 10:30 class on Cryo-Quenching.

The class was run by Larrin Thomas, a Ph.D. in metallurgy who works in the automotive industry.  Perhaps more importantly, he is the inventor of MagnaCut, the new hot steel everyone is going crazy over.  

Larrin and carbide grain sizes with SEM

I have a lot of notes, but perhaps the most interesting is the rate of converting austenite into martensite occurs at the speed of sound.  It isn’t a chemical diffusion process, so it also happens at liquid nitrogen temperatures.  After an hour of graphs, images, and explanations, I’m still a little confused.  It reinforced how complex carbide size and location, metal crystal phase, and time is to temper a steel blade.  I’ve said it before, the heart of a knife may be the blade, but the soul is the heat treatment.

Many foreign companies were in attendance this year, Covid restrictions have lessened and countries are allowing overseas travel.  One of my favorite overseas visitors is Grace Horne.  She’s been making scissors for the last couple of years, and she sells out almost instantly.  Fortunately, some of the buyers let her display some of her scissors so you could see them.

Perhaps the most exciting news for me was the release of Rick Hinderer’s new automatic knife, the XM-18.  I’ve waited since April of 2021 for this hot puppy and it is finally here.  Rick is celebrating his 35 years as well. 

Here are a bunch of photos for your consideration.

Hinderer's new auto Just released at Blade Show

Santa Fe Stone Works

CRKT's new SPEC   I really liked the handle!

CRKT's Curfew   The white portion of the handle has an Ivory feel, but it is not

Engraving

Not every knife is what you call practical

This Chili Pepper is coming home with us - by Kizer

Winkler Knives

Italian knives from MKM designed by Jesper Voxnaes

The last two from Grace Horne  Who says scissors are boring?

Zen Whittling

There are few simpler activities that are as rewarding as whittling.

I don’t mean carving.  Carving is an artistic endeavor to create something appreciated by both the carver and observer.  It is purposeful.  I’ve seen carved birds that I swear would take flight as I approached them.  People carve spoons both as a functional tool and as an object of art.

It's just cutting to enjoy the wood and the edge

As a whittler, the best comment you will receive is, “That’s a nice pile of shavings.” 

But we whittle for ourselves.  The feel of a sharp knife shaving long graceful cuts in wood is superb.  As the wood is removed, grain and color reveals themselves, often to the complete surprise of the whittler.  It’s a sweet sensation to discover the simple joy of exposing wood that is so fleeting it vanishes with the next cut.  I once cut into a pocket of amber colored wood that cut perfectly from any angle or direction and just as suddenly it was gone, now shavings at my feet.

Little goals present themselves to the whittler and we can challenge ourselves to achieve them.  How long of a single shaving can you cut?  How smooth of a surface can you achieve?  Can you erase that little nub where there was once a second branch?  Can you cut four square sides simply because you would like to?

It is a very Zen experience.  There is no Yoda commanding ‘do or do not.’  There is just perfect harmony of being.

Whittling basics: Wood, Knife....

The tools are very simple.  A shady spot is selected.  You need a knife, preferably sharp, but any knife will do.  Then you need a piece of wood.  A stick will do.  Size matters only to ease of handling the stick and how long you want to whittle.  There’s no rule requiring you to finish this activity with a single stick or that you can’t save the stick for another. 

Approach the task with a stick in one hand and blade in the other.  Decide where the edge will first bite into the wood.  Perhaps the blade and wood fight each other.  Simply select a new beginning.  Perhaps the one or the other feels wrong to you.  Make a change and a new beginning.  Tomorrow they may seem right to you.

As you stop to admire your pile of shavings you will discover all thoughts of bills, the boss, your sick aunt Fanny, which pre-school gives the twins the best shot at Harvard, and any of the other problems that plague you were momentarily forgotten.  Do not be surprised if you discover you have a new perspective on all of these as well as the noise society throws at us.

It is the best way to kill a half an hour or more and it doesn’t require a battery.

Blade Show Day Three 2019

Sunday is always Spyderco day.  Not exclusively, but I look forward to seeing their new products and talking with Joyce.  It’s been a busy year for them and for her.

Do you like catalogs?  I love ‘em.  The problem with catalogs is, even small ones like Spyderco’s, they must be printed in September for release by January.  Some products are ready but others are not.  Some will experience changes.   Some knives will be added, some dropped.  All of which makes people angry as they can’t get it now.  Maybe it had two screws in the catalog but three screws in production and every collector wants the two screw version that was never made.  I think you can see the problems.

Spyderco will release three ‘Reveals’ during the course of the year, featuring products which are ready to ship.  I’m sure Spyderco gains some unspecified advantage from this, but it’s an interesting approach.

Top orange- Endura, Bottom orange - Delica but the middle black is the new Endela available in plain edge too

Right now lightweight folders are the rage.  Consumers are suddenly worried about an extra ounce or three.  The FRCP (fiberglass reinforced copolymer) has a little too much flex so Spyderco has incorporated a thin metal liner to eliminate the problem.  You’ll see more and more variations of old and new favorites like the Police lightweight. It’s slightly bigger than the original, but easy to carry and use.  

Spyderco Dragonfly with Emerson Wave opener.  The wave works very nicely with this
knife.  Reversible wire clip on back

Another example is their lightweight Para-military 3 which just won the 2019 Blade award for the most innovative American knife.  No small potatoes.

Don't ask the price, I can't afford it, but professional chefs will love it.  The Itamae series

Speaking of food, Frank Daily has been hired to head their new cutlery division.  It’s a new departure for Spyderco and they are offering a range of knives.   At the top end are Murray Carter’s Itamae series.  These are super thin laminated blades of Aogami Super Blue steel between two layers of SUS410 stainless steel.  Murray is a proponent of super sharp thin blades. They will come in different blade configurations and are aimed at professional chefs and culinary schools.

Spyderco's new sharpening system, the Gauntlet.  Uses oval shaped stones.

Closer to my pocket are the Z-Cut.  With their offset handles they are often referred to as ‘sandwich shop’ knives.  You can get them both with plain and serrated blades.  The plastic handles are fused to the CTS BD1N stainless steel making them dishwasher safe.  Carpenter’s BD1N is high carbon martensitic stainless steel, containing chromium and nitrogen that can be air or oil hardened.  It has good edge retention and better corrosion resistance.

As Z-Cut knives come with pointed ends, a rounded blunt tip is available for our friends in England and other parts.  Might not be a bad starting knife for youngsters learning kitchen arts.  In the middle of the range will be the classic Spyderco utility kitchen knives and their amazing and terrifying bread knife!

There is only one roadblock to their domination of the world cutlery market with low cost, effective Z-knives.  Yes, they got the stock, but someone forgot they needed packaging.  They will get it straightened out soon.

Spyderco production is running 24 hours 5 days a week and they are still swamped.  Their engineering staff has continued to promote tighter and tighter tolerances.  I wouldn’t say you could toss a handful of the correct parts in a bag, shake it and find an assembled knife, but…..

Prototyping is enhanced through the use of 3D printers.  Modern and advanced technology is actively pursued as is their intellectual property.  All of which allows for newer and more interesting knives.  This might be considered the Golden Age of factory knives.

What else do you need to know?  They will continue to make sprint runs limited to 1200 pieces, because that is what they like.  These sell out fast.  Just a word to the wise.

Proof Cobb Galleria is haunted by the ghosts of past shoppers.  You would think the high food prices
would chase them away!

The knife industry, including Spyderco, is becoming more protective of their intellectual property and technology.  This is beginning to create walls.

In Europe and many American cities laws limit blade length.  Don’t make assumptions that your home rules apply everywhere.

Pro-Tech Custom TR-3 with purple alligator 

Sunday isn’t solely Spyderco day.  I stopped by Pro-Tech and bought a TR-3 auto custom made specifically for the Blade Show. It has a nice purplish anodized alligator on the front and back where it is partially covered by the clip.  The opening stud is mother of pearl and the 3.5 inch blade is CPM S35vn coated with black DLC.

I’m told they send out several knives to an artist with the instructions to ‘be creative.’  And they never know what they’ll get back.

You can find this on Pro-Tech’s website, but they are making autos for Boker based on Lucas Burnely’s designed Kwaiken.  This is one very nice knife with simple modern lines.  Look into it.

Sunday Morning at Blade. Time for bargains if what you want is still there. 

I walked past Colonial Knife and found many of their fine blades had strongly resembled another manufacturer.  It’s not uncommon and often turns out to be one of the worst kept secrets in the knife industry.  But I will not spill the beans.

Speaking of Shadow Tech, John and Dave report they are happy with the Show and are making both hatchets and fixed blades for other companies.

Last words:  Only because I find it amusing about the dead making money and someone asked me, yes, Loveless Knives is still making knives stamped Loveless.

Blade Show Day Two 2019

Outside the weather raged torrents of rain, but inside the Blade Show it was sunny and knifey.  It’s still hard to imagine all the vendors and shoppers packed under one roof, but it isn’t all knives.

Grace Horn's Scissors

Grace Horn showed off her custom scissors.  And they flew off the table like umbrellas during a deluge.  I especially liked the tall elegant pair that had a benign demonic look to them.  Grace is an unusual knife maker.  You can follow her on Facebook.  She did measure my right thumb to get an idea of an average size opening for men’s scissors.

Another table had nothing but knife sheaths.  If you heeded a Randall or a Loveless or just about any other sheath, you’d find it there.

You need it?  You could find it.

I stopped at Darrel Ralph and looked at his ZEK hatchets.  Darrel tells me he had been thinking about hatchets since 1998.  I think he finally came up with a winner.  The kydex sheath locks the hatchet head in place and has a belt clip so you can wear it.  A secondary strap locks the sheath closed so you will not accidentally lose your tool moving in or out of a vehicle or in the brush.  He had several styles including a nice carbon fiber handle, but I went with the micarta grip that had a rounded profile.  I found it fit my hand better.

Never know when you might need to chop something or somebody

Speaking of Shadow Tech, they have introduced several lines of folders.  I especially liked their Sidekick, a gentleman’s knife.  Well, it could be a gentlewoman’s knife as well.  It sports a stud and a hole, but it actually opens with a flipper.  The blade opens and is locked in place with a liner lock.  It doesn’t have a clip, because it is not a tactical knife.  It’s well made and I think I’m going to enjoy it.

They call it rose, but it looks purple to me 

Sharpening blades can be terrifying to some, but there are easy options 

At one table a vendor had a pile of paper shavings, several knives and more simple sharpeners than you could imagine.  In this day and age when sharpening systems require a mechanical engineering degree to set up and use, his simple pull-throughs turn a dull knife into a sharp edge.  It may not be the zenith of sharpness, but if your edge can cut curly paper shavings, it’s sharp enough for most of my needs.

Doug and friend drawing door prize tickets

Doug Marcaida, best known for Forged in Fire and his expression, ‘It will keel!’ was at Russian Blades and has designed a fighting knife based on his Filipino system.  You could mug with him and get your picture taken, but I took a pass on that.  He’s a tremendous martial artist, but also a shrewd business man.  He showed us several karambit-style knives he designed as rescue tools for Europe, where such knives are illegal.  In the absence of an edge, a ‘blade’ consisting of a seatbelt cutter, screw driver, oxygen bottle wrench is allowed.  Of course, you could still use it to control and apply to pressure points, but Doug never said that.

I got my hands on a DART (Direct Action Response Knife).  Doug developed this knife with the Italian knife company, Fox.  It’s a karambit style, with an Emerson wave opener, but a non-curved blade.  I looked for these for several years but couldn’t find them.  All Fox would say was a “…family disagreement prevented continued manufacturing.”  Well, it seems they are back and I have one!

It looks like a Karambit, but.....

Instead of a curved blade, it's more of a drop point tanto

Could I summarize the Blade Show in blog or two?

Look, you could spend the day just visiting the big commercial knife companies, like Spyderco, Cold Steel and Buck, and you wouldn’t be disappointed.  You could also spend the day talking to custom designers, the makers and technical support people.  There are demos on the floor as well as classes, lectures and helpful people everywhere.

The Blade Show has become too large to be summarized by any one blogger.  Each of us is a blind man inspecting an elephant.  If you are a knife fancier, come and attend.  It’s the greatest knife show on earth, possibly the solar system.

Here are few more photos.

Think of them as pocket jewelry 

It takes two to truly understand the image