Podcast
The Knife Junkie Podcast
Hosted by Bob "The Knife Junkie" DeMarco · EN
The Knife Junkie podcast is the place for knife newbies and experience knife collectors to learn more about knives and knife collecting and become true "knife junkies." Twice per week, Bob DeMarco talks knives and brings you special sections such as Knife Life News, pocket checks and more. In addition, your calls and comments will be featured on the podcast -- dial The Knife Junkie Listener Line at 724-466-4487. And be sure to visit The Knife Junkie online at www.theknifejunkie.com
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Episodes
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My (Current) Spyderco Collection: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 675)
3d agoTap to summarizeWhat does a serious Spyderco collection look like? In Episode 675 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco walks through his complete lineup of Spyderco folders, from the iconic Military and Military 2 in CruCarta to the Native Chief Salt series in MagnaCut to the full Yojimbo family designed by Michael Janich. Bob shares the personal stories behind each knife, including a purple Delica 4 named Sleepy Bear by his daughter and a Police Model OG he first saw in a Philadelphia bike shop decades ago. He also gives a short but solid history of Spyderco, from Sal and Joanne Glesser sharpening knives at swap meets to the company leading the industry in steel experimentation, grind quality, and constant design updates.Before the Spyderco rundown, Bob covers the First Tool segment on the Pattada, a traditional Sardinian folding knife carried by shepherds and craftsmen for generations. He also reviews two new pieces in the State of the Collection: the Jack Wolf Knives Gateway Bison, the first fixed blade in the Gateway line, and a Cold Steel Kobun sent to Matthew Culbertson for his custom single-scoop serration treatment. The Kobun came back with the sharpest edge Bob has ever had on that knife.The episode also includes Knife Life News with three stories worth knowing about: the Civivi Iron Tide collaboration with Pete McKinnon of Pete Pirate Life, the Zero Tolerance ZT 0020 20th anniversary knife using Vegas Forge Lytic Damascus at 700 dollars, and three new Kershaw releases heading into Blade Show. The pocket check features the Emerson CQC-13, the Rosecraft Blades French Broad Jack, the Hogtooth Knives NoVA-2, and a Jed Hornbeak Necromance that Bob called one of the finest knives he owns.Whether you have one Spyderco or 20, this episode will make you look at the lineup in a new way. Bob is clear that this is not the end of his Spyderco coverage—his fixed blades are still coming. If you are a fan of the brand or just want to hear what 20-plus years of knife collecting sounds like, this is the episode.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/675. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Let's Talk Daggers: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 674)
1w agoTap to summarizeEpisode 674 of The Knife Junkie Podcast is a deep look at daggers—one of the most discussed and most misunderstood blade categories in the knife community. Bob DeMarco brings out twelve daggers for a collection update that covers everything from a World War II-era KA-BAR/EK Commando Knife to a Microtech SBD trade pickup he had been hunting for years. The lineup includes the Randall Knives Model 2-7 Combat Stiletto, Cold Steel Peace Keeper II, Spartan Harsey Dagger, Spartan George Raider Dagger, and the Cold Steel Tai Pan in San Mai, among others. Bob talks grip technique, blade geometry, what Cold Steel gets right about the slash, and why some daggers are better suited to thrusting while others handle both jobs well.Before the dagger segment, Bob runs a pocket check from a real working day—assembling a shed in the backyard—featuring the Spyderco Manix 2 Lightweight in S110V, the Fisher Blades Harvey PK, the Edgy American Blades Junkie in CruWear, and a Cold Steel Laredo Bowie that was standing by just in case. The episode also features the First Tool segment on the Scottish Highland basket-hilt broadsword, covering its role in the Jacobite risings and its significance to Highland culture since the Battle of Culloden in 1746.The State of the Collection segment features a custom seax from Matt Chase of Hogtooth Knives—pattern-welded from 1085, 15N20, and nickel, with elk antler and Micarta scales and a hand-engraved leather sheath—that Bob called his unofficial Blade Show purchase for 2026. Bob also shows off a six-knife Cordura carrying case and hand-thrown stoneware mug from Terzuola Design, sent by merch czar Ben Odi. Knife Life News covers Spyderco Reveal 21 highlights, including a Mickey Yurco Gunting collaboration, the CRKT Squid II with M390 and wood handles, the Boker Overnighter by FP Knives, and the upcoming Civivi Almaris slipjoint.Whether you are a longtime dagger collector or just starting to pay attention to double-edged blades, Episode 674 gives you a thorough and entertaining look at why this category deserves a place in any serious collection. Bob wraps up with plans to keep growing the dagger side of his collection, so this is not the last time the topic comes up.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/674. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Al Salvitti, Regiment Blades: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 673)
2w agoTap to summarizeBob DeMarco welcomes Al Salvitti of Regiment Blades to Episode 673 of The Knife Junkie Podcast for one of the most grounded, experience-driven conversations the show has had in a long time. Salvitti brings 52 years of martial arts training, 15 years of real-world bouncing experience in Philadelphia and South Jersey, and a knife design built entirely around what actually works when fists are flying. This is not a conversation about what looks good in a video — it is a conversation about what kept a small guy standing in packed bars where fights broke out five times a night.Salvitti traces his path from taekwondo black belt to Philadelphia boxing gyms to Sayoc Kali under Tuhon Chris Sayoc, explaining how each layer of training changed his thinking about power, timing, and weapons. He developed a full-body power-striking system grounded in keeping both feet on the ground and using the skeletal frame instead of just the shoulder—a method that has been taught to Navy SEALs, Marine units at Camp Pendleton, and Border Patrol agents. He also shares what those experiences taught him about why complicated techniques fail under real stress and why simplicity wins every time. His LowViz punch blade at regimentblades.com came directly out of those lessons: a blade that deploys in the same motion as a punch, grips like a pistol, and rides flat on the belt in a sheath that Salvitti engineered himself, because every other option on the market failed to meet his standards.The big story of the episode is the connection between the Regiment Blade and bestselling thriller author Jack Carr. Salvitti sent Carr a custom LowViz and, months later, discovered that Carr had written the knife into his new novel, \"The Fourth Option,\" with full credit to Salvitti by name. The main character carries the Regiment Blade. A chapter of the book covers a knife fight in the dark using the weapon. Carr described it in print as \"designed to be an extension of your hand\"—words that Salvitti said captured exactly what he built it to be. Salvitti and maker John Gray produced 175 custom Fourth Option editions with acid-etched finishes and pinned wood handles for the book launch, and a production version of the Fourth Option LowViz is currently in progress.The episode also covers Salvitti\'s approach to situational awareness and what he posts on the Regiment Blades Instagram: real street-violence footage, shared not for shock value but to show people what unscripted violence actually looks like. No flying kicks. No fancy blade work. Just speed, aggression, and whoever prepared better. His philosophy is direct: the wheel is always spinning, and training before it stops on you is the only option worth taking seriously.For full show notes, past episodes, and more from The Knife Junkie, visit theknifejunkie.com. Find the Regiment Blades lineup, including the LowViz fixed blade, the folder, and news on the Fourth Option production run, at regimentblades.com. Training videos and real-world fight analysis are posted regularly on the Regiment Blades Instagram.Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Locking Jack Wolf Knives (with their slip joint brothers): The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 672)
3w agoTap to summarizeWhat happens when one knife brand builds its entire identity around traditional American slip-joint patterns and then starts making locking, flipping versions of every single one? You get a collection that is hard to look away from. In Episode 672 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco puts the full lineup of locking Jack Wolf Knives folders on camera, showing each one beside the slip-joint sibling that inspired it. Designer Ben Belkin has been at this for a while now, and seeing the whole collection together tells a story that no single knife can tell on its own.Before getting to the main segment, Bob runs a pocket check featuring the Spyderco Military (the original, not the Military 2 he is thinking about buying), the Great Eastern Cutlery #15 Boy\'s Knife, the Brock Blades Magni XL in 3V steel, and the CRKT HZ6 (ESK) from designer James Williams. Knife Life News covers four standout releases: the CRKT M16 nearly 30th anniversary edition at $48, the long-awaited TOPS Badger Creek at $300, the We Knife Notchline at $254, and the Civivi High Grass bird-and-trout fixed blade at $63. Bob also walks through the history of the Kephart knife in the show\'s \"First Tool\" segment, covering how Horace Kephart arrived at one of the most copied camp knife designs in history.The State of the Collection introduces four recent additions: the Spyderco Native Chief in CPM-CruWear and Crucarta, the Spyderco Yojimbo 2 Breast Cancer Awareness Sprint Run in hot pink and black (exclusive at Knives Ship Free), the Fisher Blades Harvey PK compact fixed blade, and a preview of the brand new Jack Wolf Knives Feelbetter Jack, the knife that inspired the entire main segment and the May 2026 release from the brand.The main segment walks through all seven locking Jack Wolf Knives models: the Gunslinger Jack (three runs), the Afterhours Jack, the Diamondback Jack (Bob\'s personal favorite in the whole lineup), the Primo Jack, the Bionic Jack, the Benny, and the Feelbetter Jack. Each locking folder appears alongside the slip-joint it came from, giving a rare look at how Belkin translated traditional patterns into modern locking folders without losing what made the originals worth building in the first place. Full-height hollow ground S90V blades, premium bolsters, and meticulous fit and finish across the board.Whether you own a Jack Wolf Knives knife, have one on the wish list, or have just been hearing the name and wondering what the fuss is about, this episode will show you everything you need to know. Bob has carried and used these knives, not just collected them, and that comes through in every comparison on screen.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life News stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/672. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Lynn Thompson: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 671)
May 10Tap to summarizeLynn Thompson founded Cold Steel Knives in the early 1980s and ran it for about 40 years, building it into one of the most recognized tactical knife brands in the world. After selling to GSM Outdoors and honoring his non-compete through June 2025, Lynn is back with something new: Lynn Thompson Tactical Knives, available at NeverUnarmed.com.On Episode 671 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco sits down with Lynn for a wide-open conversation about where it all started and where it is going.Lynn traces his love of knives back to wooden ones his father made for him when he was a four-year-old growing up in Brazil. That passion led him to build his first push daggers in 1980, years before the word \"tactical\" was applied to knives as a category. After breaking two Gerber Mark II blades during backyard training, he set out to design a knife with an unbreakable point—and that drive eventually produced the Tanto, with the final Trail Master design sketched on a placemat at the Pierpont Inn in Ventura. Bob and Lynn also discuss the sub-hilt fighter, the history of the push dagger from the katar to the riverboat South, and the debate between double-edged and single-edged blades.Lynn is a serious practitioner, not just a designer. He trains with blades four sessions a week in a gymnasium stocked with $80,000 worth of aluminum training weapons, working with students and training partners on knife fighting, Bowie work, and combative research across multiple martial systems. He talks about what he would fix on the Trail Master guard, how fighting with a Bowie taught him to use the crossguard, and why he believes the Bowie knife is one of the hardest fighting tools to beat when it is built and balanced correctly.Lynn Thompson Tactical Knives is launching with 35 knives, including two new Bowie designs, the Japanese Quaken, a cutlass, and plans for sword canes. His new factory has 12 five-axis CNC grinding machines, robotics, automatic sharpeners, and polishing equipment that he calls the best he has ever had access to. You can find Lynn and the full lineup at Blade Show 2026 in Atlanta at booth 2413 in the secondary room and online at NeverUnarmed.com.This is one of the most knowledge-packed conversations in the history of The Knife Junkie Podcast. Whether you collect Cold Steel, study knife history, or just want to hear one of the legends of the knife world talk about what he is building next, this episode is required listening.Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives.Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Great High-End Knife Carry Combos: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 670)
May 6Tap to summarizeEpisode 670 of The Knife Junkie Podcast is all about great high-end knife carry combinations, and host Bob DeMarco brings seven of them to the table. Each pairing follows two simple rules: never carry two knives from the same company, and never carry two knives with the same blade shape. The result is a thoughtful and practical look at how to build a multi-knife carry that actually makes sense. Whether it is a heavy-duty folder paired with a slim fixed blade, a large clip point paired with a straight-edge Wharncliffe, or a utility folder paired with a defensive fixed blade, Bob breaks down the logic behind every combo.Before getting to the carry combos, Bob runs a full pocket check featuring the Off-Grid Knives Polaris XL in Vanax SuperClean steel, the Jack Wolf Knives Feelgood Jack in S90V, the Dirk Pinkerton Matador with its JL Hansen and Son handle scales, and the Edgy American Blade Works Junkie, a Seax-style fixed blade by Shane Gable in Cru-Wear at 64 HRC. He also covers four notable new releases in Knife Life News: the Bestech Kobber designed by Jake Diaz of Happy as Larry, the RoseCraft Blades Birchfield Camp Jack, the Civivi Dracolis Balisong trainer, and the TOPS Snake River Rescue dive knife by John Garcia.The \"First Tool\" segment of this episode covers the Seax, the single-edged blade of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and Vikings that served as the original everyday carry knife throughout early medieval Europe. Bob traces the Seax from its role as a farmer\'s tool and a warrior\'s weapon to its appearance as a decorated object of identity, including the famous Seax of Beagnoth found in the River Thames. He also draws a direct line from the broken-back Seax profile to the modern clip point, connecting a thousand years of blade design in a few short minutes.The State of the Collection segment adds more to an already full episode, with Bob showing the Spyderco Lum Tanto and Cold Steel El Vaquero acquired from Dirk Pinkerton, plus the brand-new Fisher Blades Harvey PK, the first EDC knife from Chaz and John Fisher of Fisher Blades. A set of custom leather XL Espada sheaths from patron Cesario Aton rounds out the segment. Bob also spotlights the 3 Dog Knife affiliate offer (25% off with code \"knifejunkie\" at theknifejunkie.com/3dogknife) and the Patreon-exclusive \"American Edge 250\" series, which covers historical American blade designs in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.Whether you are building your own two-knife carry or just love seeing high-quality blades presented by someone who genuinely cares about them, Episode 670 delivers from the first minute to the last. Bob wraps it up with a question for the community: What carry combos are you running? Drop your answer in the comments and bring it to Thursday Night Knives, every Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern on YouTube and Twitch.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/670. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Joe Steel, The Steel Mindset: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 669)
May 3Tap to summarizeWhat does it take to turn a 40-plus-year obsession with blades into a YouTube channel worth watching? Joe Steel of The Steel Mindset can answer that question. In Episode 669 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco sits down with Joe for a conversation that covers the origins of a lifelong passion, the craft and culture behind the katana, top production sword brands, and what it is like to build a knife and sword channel from the ground up while living in one of the least collector-friendly states in the country.Joe Steel traces his love of blades to May 14, 1982, the opening day of Conan the Barbarian. The forge scene at the start of that film hooked him at age nine, and the obsession never let go. He grew up collecting flea-market swords, bringing blades back from travels abroad, and absorbing everything he could find about bladecraft long before the internet made that easy. When the 2020 shutdown ended his career in live event production overnight, he discovered the YouTube sword-review community and made a decision: he had the production skills, equipment, and knowledge. He was going to make his own videos. The Steel Mindset channel was born from that decision.Much of this episode focuses on the katana, and for good reason. Joe talks about studying Japanese culture and sword forging since his teen years, reading about tamahagane steel, the quenching process that creates the blade\'s natural curve, and the remarkable fact that the katana was designed to be disassembled. A single bamboo peg called the mekugi holds the entire sword together. The tang of the blade, the nakago, reveals the level of care a maker put into the work. Joe explains all of it with the kind of detail that only comes from decades of genuine study and collecting.Joe also discusses the top production katana companies available right now, including Citadel, Motohara Evolution Blades, and Hanwei, as well as American smiths Walter Sorrells and Howard Clark. He touches on the strict laws governing katana ownership in Japan, where blades must be registered like firearms and can only be legally owned if they were made on Japanese soil. Bob and Joe also talk through the challenges of collecting knives in New York State, where the laws are strict, and Amazon will not ship knives to a residential address.Beyond The Steel Mindset channel, Joe co-hosts the Blade Talk with Joe and Scab podcast with Scott Baldwin, known as Scab of Choirboyz Cutlery Outdoors. The show has brought in a number of well-known names from the knife world, and the chemistry between a New York voice and a Southern one makes for great listening. Joe is also heading to the Blade Show in Atlanta and working toward surpassing the 10,000-subscriber mark on his channel. Find Joe and The Steel Mindset on YouTube at www.youtube.com/@JoeSteel1 and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/the_steel_mindset.Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Folding Knives with Straight Cutting Edges: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 668)
Apr 29Tap to summarizeIn Episode 668 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco tackles a subject that sits right at the intersection of utility and self-defense: folding knives with straight cutting edges. Bob walks through 12 folders that all share a flat or nearly flat edge profile, and he explains the geometry behind why these blades transfer more force to the tip on a slash or thrust than a curved edge does. Whether you carry a knife for everyday work or are interested in personal protection, this episode offers plenty to think about and plenty of steel to admire.Before getting to the main topic, Bob covers a strong pocket check featuring the Emerson Knives P-SARK, the Spyderco Delica 4 (known in the household as Sleepy Bear), the Microtech SBD Dagger, and the Hogtooth Fighting Bowie. The Knife Life News segment covers three notable releases: the 100th Buck of the Month featuring the Drop Point 112 Ranger in S35VN, the new TOPS Sidekick Diver from designer Anna Espinosa, and a sharp-looking Buck Range Elite Stealth Run with gold-thread carbon fiber and a tritium thumb stud.The First Tool segment covers the 1918 Trench Dagger, officially known as the US Mark I Trench Knife. Bob covers the history behind its design, including why soldiers needed something compact and fast for trench warfare, what made the bronze knuckle guard so distinctive, and why collectors still prize original examples today. This particular knife was a gift from Bob\'s brother, and the personal story behind it adds to an already fascinating segment.The State of the Collection segment gives two older knives some well-deserved attention: the Real Steel H6 Blue Sheep, one of the first Real Steel knives to reach the American market, and the Sencut Waxahachie, a clip-point fixed blade with a great profile and a low price. Then the show moves into the main event, where Bob walks through twelve folding knives with straight cutting edges, including the Hinderer XM-24 Wharncliffe, the Kansept Main Street, the Pinkerton Knives Standoff, the ABW Model 2, the Northmountain Blade BBMN, the Shieldon Knives REV, the Off-Grid Knives Black Stallion, the Sencut Awassi, the Artisan Cutlery Proponent, the Jack Wolf Knives Diamondback Jack, the QSP Penguin, and the Spyderco Yojumbo.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/668. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →Austin and Mathew Culbertson: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 667)
Apr 26Tap to summarizeOn Episode 667 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco sits down with two of the most well-known brothers in the online knife community: Austin Culbertson, known on YouTube as Hissatsu5, and his brother Mathew Culbertson. The Culbertson brothers have been making knife videos for close to 20 years, starting with water bottle cut tests filmed on a bad camera, and building their channels into trusted resources for knife owners who want to know what their blades can actually do.One area of discussion in this episode is serrations and why they matter more than most people think. The brothers reveal that denim has a level 1 cut-resistance rating, meaning a razor-sharp, plain edge can bounce off denim without cutting through. Their testing shows that serrated edges close that gap and guarantee a bite that a plain edge sometimes cannot. Mathew walks through the pros and cons of Veff serrations, Cold Steel serrations, and Spyderco serrations, and describes the custom large flat top serration pattern he has developed for his own carry knives. He also covers a single oversized serration near the tip of a tanto blade that boosts performance on snap cuts — what he calls the \"snap master.\"The conversation includes why both brothers carry knives as tools of defense. Austin started carrying in high school after the Virginia Tech shooting. Mathew is a prison chaplain who cannot carry a firearm on the job and trains with knives every Sunday alongside his brother. Both brothers make a strong case for the knife as a practical carry tool, covering Texas self-defense law, the limits of firearms in restricted locations, and the ways a knife can save a life that a gun cannot.Bob asks both brothers about the deeper pull that knives have on the people who collect and carry them. Austin points to the knife as the first tool humans made with real intention. Mathew describes it as a symbol of justice, truth, and the responsibility to protect others. The episode also features a long look at Bowie knife history, including trainer knives made by Bobby Raines, a tour of the Bowie knife exhibit at the Little Rock, Arkansas, Museum, and a discussion about how historical Bowies took very different forms across different regions and eras.Find Austin Culbertson on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@Hissatsu5 and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/DG4dLfrMvjz. Find Mathew Culbertson on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@mathewrculbertson and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/matrculbertson.For the full episode and all show notes, visit www.theknifejunkie.com/667.Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
Transcribe →10 Waveable Folders: The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 666)
Apr 22Tap to summarizeEpisode 666 of The Knife Junkie Podcast opens with a comment that cuts straight to the point. A viewer described surviving a serious rollover accident, trapped upside down and unable to free himself from a seatbelt, as smoke filled the car. That experience turned him into a lifelong knife carrier. Host Bob DeMarco uses the story to set up the entire episode: a pocketknife is not just a hobby. When things go wrong fast, what you carry and how fast you can open it can matter more than you expect.Before getting to the main topic, Bob runs through a four-knife pocket check that includes a custom Spyderco SpydieChef modified by Mike Emler, a Jack Wolf Knives Gateway Barlow in Miami camo carbon, the TKell Knives Agent 001 from the first production run, and a Randall Made Model 2-7 combat stiletto. He also runs through the full Agent series lineup and the latest history installment from the Patreon, The American Edge 250: The Reclaimed Edge. Knife Life News covers four new releases worth knowing about: the We Knife Co. Dracarys with dragon-scale milled titanium handles, the GiantMouse Reddington, built in partnership with the U.S. SERE school, the Sencut Braxx slip joint, and a handsome new swayback from Bear & Son Cutlery.The First Tool segment takes a close look at the yatagan, the Ottoman short blade carried by the Janissaries for roughly four centuries. Bob covers the blade shape, the history of its use, and the surviving museum examples that show just how beautiful these working weapons could be. He shows two modern blades inspired by the Yatagan, including a personal TKell Knives collaboration he hopes to put into production. Then he talks about the Cold Steel SRK-C, a compact version of one of the most trusted fixed blades in the catalog, which he picked up on Amazon for $27 and spent a full weekend putting to work.The main topic for Episode 666 is 10 waveable folders. The Emerson wave is a raised feature on the blade spine that catches the pocket on the draw, opening the knife automatically. Bob covers ten folders that use this concept, from the original Emerson Seax to the Cold Steel Espada XL, including the Byrd Cara Cara 2, Cold Steel TiLite, Fox 599 Karambit, DC Blades Sting, Pinkerton Knives Ringed Inversion, Zero Tolerance 0620, CRKT M16-14ZSF, and the Arcane Design Antimatter. Each knife gets a close look at how and why the wave or wave-equivalent feature works, what makes it useful in a real carry context, and what sets each one apart.Whether you carry for utility, self-defense, or the love of a well-made folding knife, this episode gives you a practical framework for understanding one of the most useful features a folder can have. Bob brings real carry experience to every knife on the list, and the depth of the conversation reflects it.Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/666. Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions. To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.
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