Living in the Age of Fear:

Read this while you still can.

This is a follow-up to my earlier blog about an impending storm. I hoped things would change and I would have no cause to post this. Do you remember my intimation of something amiss? When a storm is approaching I get a tightness in my gut that tells me to beware. Well the clouds over our nation keep getting darker.

"There's something happening here What it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid. You step out of line, the man come and take you away"

These Lyrics, from the song "For What Its Worth" by Buffalo Springfield echoed public concerns of a heightening police state in the 1960s. The rising state of paranoia, on both sides of the "street," was in response to civil unrest over the ongoing, and very unpopular, Vietnam War. The military draft and government corruption fanned the fires of discontent. Hard lines were being drawn and radical groups like the SDS (Students for Democratic Society), Weathermen, FSM (Free Speech Movement) and Black Panthers rose in violent opposition to increasing government intrusion into, and control over, our lives. Are there any parallels here? Does any of this sound familiar? There is a subtle difference. Instead of trying to tear the government down from the outside, many of these same people are working inside the government today. They have never given up their crusade and they still want to destroy our government and our way of life.

On a positive note, today our fear has a color chart. What terror threat level are we at today: Yellow, Orange, or Red? As you know, in 2001 a handful of terrorists provided our leaders with the opportunity to create/enlarge the shadow government accountable only to the inner circle of the White House. Wait what’s that sound? This is America! What are we afraid of? We have ICE, DHS, DEA, DEC, FBI, CIA, NSA, NSC, INS, TSA and the list goes on, all dedicated to protecting us. Protecting us from whom or what? Try Googling "government agencies" and see what you find. My short list does not include your local Police, State Police, Air Marshals, Federal Marshals, Sheriffs, Texas Rangers, Park Police, and dozens of other agencies I have overlooked. Yet we are afraid, and we worry that if "You step out of line, the man come and take you away."

The lines of freedom are becoming narrower day by day. When legislators pass bills into law and never wrote or read them, stepping out of line might happen innocently. No one can possibly know all of the laws, regulations, and ordinances that now rule over the very minutiae of our lives. When we go through airports, cross borders, enter government buildings, drive through police road check points, we have no idea what laws we may be breaking or who is watching us, and innocent or not, fear begins to rise up in us like bile. How can this be happening in the Home of the Free and the Land of the Brave? Didn’t we win the cold war against dictators and repression? Or did tearing down the Berlin Wall simply allow the contagion of fear and repression to spread around the world?

Are our phones tapped? Is this blog being monitored for anti-American sentiment? Am I on someone’s hit list as an extremist radical? Why should I have cause to ask these questions? Maybe because now there is a public hot line so you can email the White House to report malcontents and misfits like me. It is shameful that promises of free speech, transparency, accountability in government, and bi-partisanship in congress have, within a brief six months, been ground under the heels of Chicago style thugs. But here we are, living in the shadow of fear. Bills like the Bush's Patriot Act were designed to protect us from a handful of Islamic extremists. Now we find ourselves monitored, ruled, and regulated by the Orc-like Czars, advisors, and the minions of the president and the goons of The Department of Homeland Security, who abuse this power to intimidate us.

Storm Clouds are building and there is an electric charge in the air. People are listening, standing in the streets. "What’s that sound?" I pray it is the sound of the American soul awakening. I think we are only beginning to have some small idea of how the Jewish people felt living under the brooding skies of Nazi Germany. "I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down………". My gut tells me there is definitely a storm coming down.

One Giant Step, Hisshou:

The CRKT Hisshou:

Just when I had decided not to buy any knives for awhile a package showed up at the door. It was a pre-ordered Hisshou from CRKT. I had truly forgotten it was coming, although my wife didn’t believe that. Now that its here I am wondering, "Why did I order this?"
It is a very nicely made knife and a capable combat weapon. The only problem is its really big! Sure the dimensions were given in the advertisement and I should have paid more attention. Would I send it back? No of course not. It is a superb fighting knife. I am just warning you to pay attention to what it says in the Ad. The sweeping twelve inch blade is wonderfully ground and polished. The blade has a deep ¼" tori sori. The only thing missing is a traditional hibaki (blade collar). The tsuka is fitted with a finely detailed wave decorated fuchi, covered in black ray skin, and then cord wrapped. Despite the foot long blade the Hisshou’s overall balance is quite nice.

I seldom like commercial sheaths, and as you can imagine, I don’t like this sheath a lot. It exhibits excellent quality and it will work well strapped onto your rucksack. What I would like to see is an optional, kydex lined, leather sheath that could be slipped into your waistband. This sheath is approximately twice as wide as the blade! We have gotten accustomed to these monstrosities, which bear no resemblance to a graceful traditional tanto sheath. Like the Hissatsu sheath this one is intended to be worn with the blade edge up and the mouth of the sheath is designed so that the knife can be aligned and inserted one handed. The Hisshou also came with a high quality fitted wooden box.
This is the Japanese counterpart to Cold Steel’s Natchez Bowie. My final take is that I really like the knife. It could have been smaller, maybe a nine inch blade, somewhere between this size and the Hissatsu. Maybe James Williams will introduce one in that size later. As always, great design work from James and top workmanship from CRKT. So if you want a big intimidating cutter, this is it.

The Essential Ricasso

Some incredible Bowies are being turning out today. The guidance and support of the American Bladesmith’s Society and the Knifemakers Guild have enabled many aspiring knifemakers to rise to a level of unprecedented excellence. Not surprisingly, many of these makers’ Bowie knives reflect a shared lineage. The up-side of this is a generation of well forged knives with very good proportions and refined aesthetics. The downside is a certain lack of individuality.
I am not sure how many of these knife-makers are also knife-users. How many of them work with or train with the knives they make? I would love to take a poll. But this blog focuses on a single part of the whole knifemaking/shaping process, the ricasso. If you are not a knife user then the ricasso is probably of minimal interest to you. Many see it as simply a place for the maker to stamp his name. The arched recess ground or forged into the lower part of some ricasso is referred to as a choil. The choil works like a finger groove extended past the guard and onto the blade.
There are situations in knife-work where it is very desirable to slip your forefinger around the guard and on to the ricasso. For example, if you are up against a martial artist who likes to employ kicks and you need an extra firm grip. Another reason for using the choked-up grip is if your hands are wet, the handle is slippery, or you are just afraid of dropping the knife. Large Bowies also tend to have a weight-forward balance that quickly tires your hand and may cause you to lose your grip. The choked up grip acts and feels like using a sub-hilt knife.

A fair majority of modern Bowies and fighters have ricasso less than 3/4 inch long. The maker’s name may fit but it does not provide enough space to fit your finger. If you look at the Bowie knives in the photo you will quickly see which ones can accommodate the choked-up grip and which ones cannot. Even with a choil, extending the razor sharp edge all the way to the ricasso makes using a choked-up grip risky. Very little cutting is performed at the extreme back edge of the blade and therefore it would be more useful if the last inch had the edge dubbed off. The problem is, if your knife has a too-small choil you cannot just Dremel™ it out bigger. That’s right we’re talking about grinding on that $600 fighting knife you just bought. While it only takes a couple minutes with a stone or diamond hone to dub off the sharp edge, what are you going to do about the lack of a ricasso? There is a limited solution. Lacking a ricasso, you can invert the knife, primary edge facing upward and place your pointer finger on the back edge of the blade wrapped around the guard. This does change the way the knife feels and sits in your hand but it is an option. In fact, this was a method commonly used by seasoned Bowie knife fighters in the olden days.
Experienced knifemakers like Mike Sturman, Steven Tedford, and Gary Bradburn know the value of a useable ricasso and/or a choil. Mike and Gary are military veterans and know something about handling a fighting knife. Matt Lamey obliged me by adding space for my finger when he forged a fighter for me. Anyway, it is something to think about before ordering your next custom fighter.

By the way, find a good instructor and really learn how to use that knife, then you’ll appreciate the essential ricasso.