I keep an Opinel No. 8 pocket knife in most of my jackets. This one has been with me for years.

I buy Opinel No. 8 pocket knives for a lot of reasons. They are elegant in their simplicity. The carbon steel blade is excellent, stays sharp and develops a lovely patina. The handle is a simple piece of wood that fits well in your hand. The locking neck ring is pretty ingenious, and down right fool-proof if you use it.

Best of all, they are cheap and I don't mind losing them when I've forgotten to remove one on its way to the airport. The "No.8" 3.35in blade, perfect for most of my camping needs, is not allowed to board a plane on my person. Frequently, like last weekend, the heroic defenders of democracy that are the TSA just let me pass thru, but on occasion they will confiscate it.

I've had this blade since 2012. The patina started out by stabbing a lemon, but over the years has taken on a life of its own. While the ink on the side of the handle has slightly worn off, this knife just keeps getting better.

I hope I don't lose this one, it has ranged from Baja to Canada.

You can decorate, carve or otherwise modify the handle to your liking.

Opinel Carbon Steel Folding Everyday Carry Locking Pocket Knife via Amazon Read the rest

Kiwami Japan is the MacGyver of knife making. He's made knives out of the darndest things -- cardboard, gelatin... fish. But he's really outdone himself this time. He's crafted one out of men's boxers. Yes, a knife made from underwear. It's sharp too, it can cut raw chicken, office paper and cucumbers. What will he think of next? Read the rest

Lignum vitae is an extraordinarily dense and hard wood, so kiwami japan wanted to see if a knife made of the wood could maintain a sharp blade. An interesting and relaxing experiment. Read the rest

Katsuobushi (aka bonito) is dried, fermented and smoked tuna and it's incredibly hard. It's so hard that it's possible to fashion a shiv out of it.

To do so, you'll need a mandoline, an adjustable wrench, a metal file, a vise to hold it in, an oven, a whetstone and some patience. YouTuber kiwami japan shows the way.

You'll not only get a dangerous weapon out of the deal but also a big bag of bonito flakes (which are great for making your food look like it's moving).

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Christopher Berry won the Overall prize at the 2017 Middle Tennessee Bladesports Competition with this impressive sequence of knife slices. Read the rest

After doing some digging, why not relax with some charcuterie and vodka? A knife acts as a cap for a handle flask on this clever Russian shovel.

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Billy McNeely of Canada's Northwest Territories was scratching his back when he noticed a pointy protrusion. Turned out to be the tip of a 7.5cm knife blade that was stuck in his back. For three years. Back in 2010, McNeely was stabbed in a brawl following an arm wrestling match. Since then, his back set off prison metal detectors and he's had pain, but he claims that physicians told him it was nerve damage caused by the injury. From BBC News:

But this week, McNeely, 32, was scratching his back as usual when his fingernail caught on something. His girlfriend took a look.

"I told Billy: 'There's a knife sticking out of your back.' I was scared. I was ready to pull it out with tweezers," Stephanie Sayine told CBC News.

McNeely is considering whether to file a lawsuit against the local health department.

"Knife taken from Billy McNeely's back after three years" Read the rest

This gorgeous knife is elaborately engraved with scenes replicating Dore's illustrations to Dante's Inferno; I'm not clear on whether this is a knife or a razor (which is technically a knife, I know) -- the forum is called "Straight Razor Forum," the poster calls it a "knife," and the piece does not resemble straight razors or pocket knives of my experience. I'm sure that when I check this post tomorrow morning (it's queued up to go live after I go to bed in London) the comments will have settled the question in excruciating detail.

The theme was Dante's Inferno and the images are based on Dore's illustrations for the book. The toughest part was that I had to alter the images to make them fit the format of the windows. I had to make the altered images still recognizable as the classic Dore illustrations.

The "frames" are sculpted and the images are bulino engraved. The scenes on the hidden panels were also bulino engraved. The knife was made by Joe Kious of Kerrville, TX.

Default Dante's Inferno theme engraving

(via Making Light) Read the rest

The CardSharp 2 from Iain Sinclair is a folding utility knife that turns into a credit-card object when it's not in use, suitable for storing in your wallet. It's a clever little design, unlike a lot of credit-card tools that leave you with a rectangle of plastic in one hand and a tool in the other, the "card" folds around to become the handle.

(via Red Ferret) Read the rest

The Deglon Meeting Knife, designed by Mia Schmallenbach, is a set of sculptural, nested knives (priced, alas, as sculptures, at $600 for the set). The proportions of the four nested knives -- paring knife, carving knife, chef’s knife and filleting knife -- are "determined by the Fibonacci sequence with as its base the average width of a hand."

Admire The Deglon Meeting Knife Set

Deglon Meeting Knife (Amazon) Read the rest

Gerber is one of my favorite multitool companies; I like the fact that they're always experimenting with clever (but rarely gimmicky) ways to extend the functionality of pocket tools. Case in point: this forthcoming "Steady" tool, which incorporates a tripod with a standard camera screw-mount. I really miss carrying multitools wherever I go, but the combination of insane, overreaching anti-knife laws in the UK and frequent, expensive airport checkpoint confiscations (I forget stuff sometimes!) has put my multitool in dry-dock beside my desk. The Steady is due in 2012 -- maybe by then we'll live in a world that acknowledges that banning edges from public places isn't necessary or sufficient for safety.

Gerber Steady Read the rest