A Watson Wharncliff

I know I said my next blog would be about more "affordable" production fighting knives. BUT I could not resist buying this Beautiful wharncliff fighter by my good friend Mr. Channing Watson. It appeared on the USN forum for sale and I resisted about 5 minutes before telling him I'd take it. This is the fourth purchase I have made with Channing, the last one being a very cool cleaver with an 8 inch blade. His latest knives have knock-out hamon and mirror polishes. This one is an awesome knife with 1/4 inch by 8 inch blade that balances right at the choil/ricasso region. Overall it is about a foot long. The black micarta scales are nicely sculpted and thinned down to make the grip nice and comfortable.
A thin minimalist kydex sheath is setup for IWB carry, edge facing to the rear. This knife is a sure cutter with a well honed edge and good flat bevels leading almost up to the spine. The size and proportions are perfect!  Any longer blade would have required a broader blade and I am not sure the proportions would have been as aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes you can scale a knife up, or down, and it works out. Other times the design quickly loses something in the process. For a great fighter by a relatively new maker contact Mr. Watson at his website. At a price that I promise you will get you more than your money's worth. Tell him the "Culdee" sent you.
http://www.havocworks.com

HowTragic

Everyones hearts and prayers should go out to the innocent victims, survivors, friends and relatives of the shooting in Aurora Colorado. A tragic dayfor the people of Colorado and the US.

Molon Labe

This must be how it felt in the weeks and days leading up to Concord and Lexington. Hillary and Obama are poised to sign the UN Small Arms Treaty which will negate our 2nd Ammendment rights and subvert the sovereignty of the US to the UN. Don't fool yourself, ultimately this will lead to gun registration and confiscation along the lines of Europe, Australia, and England. I have two words for them "Molon Labe,"(come take them). This Fall do what's right vote your conscience, not party or color. http://www.un.org/disarmament/convarms/Register/ 

God Bless America

I am going to pick on one of my friends who takes the time to post on my blog. He said that I am “in the privileged position of a collector.” I am indeed privileged to own some wonderful knives made by some of the best makers. But, that privilege has come at a fairly high price. If you consider money in the bank, or other assets, I am not a wealthy man. All of my wealth is in cold steel, kydex, leather, brass, etc. And for him I have included this photo of a nice Ron Gaston Tanto with elder burl handles.

Rather than a collector, I consider myself a Patron of the Arts. Part of my patronage extends to training and experimentation with many styles of fighting knives. Another aspect is writing this blog, and publishing my website on Fairbairn Sykes knives. It seems like my life is measured in lengths of steel. One of my first knives (age 12) was a Scottish sgian dubh. I still have that knife. When I went to Vietnam I carried a small German dagger. I sent three knives to my father during his deployments over there. One of them saved his life. I trained in Japanese kenjutsu and Iaido for 12 or more years. As many of you know I wrote one book on knife defense and have nearly finished a second one on knife fighting. For many years I taught karate, Iaido, and knife arts free of charge. Now I am 64 and my love of cold steel has not been quenched.

If you are celebrating Independence Day today (and well you should be) and you live in the freest nation in the world, please remember those men in uniform whom fought and died for your freedoms, and those still serving.

Confederate Style Bowie

The men who fought under the flag of the CSA were known to carry prodigious Bowie Knives. This knife is as close as I have to a Confederate Style Bowie. Hand forged by Brett Gatlin, this fighting knife is a monster with a hair-shaving-sharp, 13  x 1.5 inch flat ground blade. The back edge is fully ¼ inch thick. The gracefully sweeping blade leads to a nearly five inch, unsharpened, clip point. There is no distal taper so this Bowie is definitely tip heavy. This is a positive attribute for chopping but it does slow down back-cuts due to the inertia of such a long blade. The 6.5 inch handle is made from one piece of incredibly dense ebony. The well contoured handle is gracefully shaped with a large palm swell. The handle also has a stainless steel tube liner for a thong. My first impression was that the handle was too long aesthetically. Having worked with the knife some I have decided it is just fine. The extra handle length allows you to slide back on the handle for added reach if you so desire. Gatlin fitted a nice steel “S” curved guard backed up by a set of thin brass and a thicker steel bolster. Fit and Finish of all of the parts is perfect, typical of Gatlin’s workmanship.

 As with many of my knives, I bought this one used. It has obviously been well cared for. The massive Kenny Rowe leather sheath is well crafted and perfectly fitted. There is no easy way to carry a knife this large, but, if you were facing off with a criminal, (or a Damned Yankee soldier) you would be grateful for the ability to reach way-out and touch him. Overall balance of the knife is excellent. It is a powerful blade that could readily sever body parts or thrust completely through a body with blade to spare. It is hard to pick up a knife like this without humming the old Confederate tune “We are a band of brothers…..”