Blade September 2022

Knife Ban Repeal Signed In Louisiana Louisiana Gov. John Edwards signed a bill in late June that repeals Louisiana’s ban on the concealed carry of automatic switchblades/automatic knives. Known as HB 463, the bill was set to become law statewide on Aug. 1, 2022, so the old ban remained in place until then. (The September BLADE® went to press on July 12.) According to Knife Rights, “Louisiana HB 124, providing for the concealed carry of any ‘instrumentality customarily used or intended for use as a dangerous weapon’ as long as the carrier has a concealed handgun permit, was enacted” in 2021. HB 124 permits concealed carry of all knives except automatics and continued to do so until Aug. 1. The intentional concealed carry of autos remains illegal in Louisiana, “even for concealed…

Pro-Tech tied the record for winning the most BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year Awards® in one year with the triad of the Malibu Operator, Terzuola ATCF Auto Ultimate and the Terzuola ATCF Auto. The respective awards the Pro-Tech knives won at BLADE Show 2022 June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta are Overall, Collector/Investor and Collaboration. Terzuola is Bob Terzuola, award-winning custom knifemaker who designed the latter two Pro-Tech award winners. Along with the balance of the Knife-Of-The-Year winners, the Pro-Tech knives were announced during the BLADE Magazine Awards Presentation the Saturday night of the BLADE Show (pages 12 and 24). The Princess Adele by ABS master smith Dionatam Franco de Souza of Brazil won the Hugh Bartrug Best in Show and Best Art Knife in BLADE Show ’22’s custom knife judging…

Got questions about knives, knifemakers, knife trends, the knife industry in general or even about yourself? The BLADE Show always has the answers—or at least answers of a sort. The show’s most recent rendition is a case in point. With a midriff sagging south of my equator and hair disappearing faster than presidential press conferences, I bid adieu to my thoroughbred days many furlongs ago. However, after listening to some old acquaintances at the show, I briefly thought I might have to rethink my self-assessment. Some said to me you look “great,” “like you’ve lost weight,” etc. Some asked variations on the theme of, “How long have you been editor of BLADE®? Really? That long? I don’t believe it!” Well-buoyed by such compliments, I looked into my hotel room mirror later…

It was a triple crown kind of night for Pro-Tech as it won three BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year awards during BLADE Show 2022 June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. Only once before has a single company brand captured three Knife-Of-The-Year awards in one year: CRKT in 2013 when it garnered Most Innovative Imported Design for the Ken Onion Swindle, Best Buy for the Endorser, and Accessory for the Onion Survival Parasaw. Pro-Tech matched that trifecta with the Overall Knife Of The Year for the Malibu Operator, Collaboration Of The Year with the Bob Terzuola ATCF Auto, and Investor/Collector Knife Of The Year for the Bob Terzuola ATCF Auto Ultimate. It was a trifecta of sorts for Terzuola as well, as his T-clip pocket clip graces the CIVIVI Orthrus, winner of the…

The multiple quench; sheephorn handles; 52100 ball-bearing steel; High Endurance Performance Knives (HEPK); the convex edge; Excalibur—the inexorable quest for these and much more have characterized BLADE®’s “Knife Talk” (page 64) columns of HEPK and BLADE three-and-a-half decades. Known for his gravelly voice, bushy beard, tasseled leather vest and Montana crease cowboy hat (Ed’s confidant and long-time assistant Chris Amos quipped at the BLADE Show that Ed should have won an award for best cowboy hat), Fowler has regaled BLADE readers with engaging stories of forging, heat treating, sheath making, knife and handle design, great knifemakers and knife users, and other sharp topics for what seems like forever. Forging knives in his shop at his Willow Bow Ranch in Riverton, Wyoming, for over 40 years, Ed draws inspiration from BLADE Magazine Cutlery…

Sometimes, a notable person is referred to as “a big fish in a big pond” or “a big fish in a little pond.” Such a person may be described as one but usually not the other as well. Ethan Becker is both, and there’s nothing fishy about it. Ethan served as writer and editor of periodic updates of his grandmother Irma Rombauer’s iconic cookbook, The Joy of Cooking, for many years. Ethan’s name is known worldwide, from leading international chefs to local fry cooks—even in your mom’s kitchen. He’s appeared on numerous network television shows and other venues for his knowledge of all things food related, seen by millions of folks around the globe. One thing all good chefs and cooks know is knives, and Ethan knows kitchen knives as well as any…