2023: A Knife Odyssey

[d.2.the.p]

1/16
GEC 93 Ram’s Foot with cocobolo covers and a polished 1095 blade. The 93 is highly sought after for good reason. At 3 7/8” closed with a prominent sheepsfoot blade, it is as functional as it is stunning and is one of only a few swayback patterns (3 maybe?) in GEC’s expansive lineup.

 

[BK14]

It is truly great and is arguably the most functional Sebenza they have produced.

I agree, I love how light it is and seems plenty tough

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/17
It is a dreary day today here in the nation’s capital. Today we have a Bark River City Knife in S35VN with some gorgeous mammoth molar scales over white liners and no pins. The City Knife, Mike Stewart’s spin on Bob Loveless’ classic design, is likely my favorite BRK model. At 6” OAL, it is easily pocketable, and the simple straight lines make for a visually pleasing design that won’t necessarily raise too many eyebrows if seen in public. However, it is still stout enough to do larger knife tasks if needed.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/18
While I am not initiating the purchasing of knives in 2023 until I have completed this journey of mine and carried each knife in my collection, I still intend to pay for the custom orders I placed in 2022 that will not see completion until this year. I mean c’mon - I am neither a monster, nor am I a monk.

Having gotten the fine print out of the way, here we have a freshly minted Ben Krein Forager with a satin hollow ground blade, spalted maple scales over black liners, and brass hardware. If the name sounds familiar, Ben is Tom Krein’s son and has been working in Tom’s shop for some time now but recently started putting out his own designs. I believe the Forager to be his third or fourth model. I can authoritatively state that the apple has not fallen far from the tree here, and Ben’s work is truly exceptional with not a flaw to be found. I recommend giving him a ring sooner than later, though, because his work is catching on fast.

For you lanyard bead fans, the bead is by Kevin Buck of Fuzzyedge Beads. His work is spectacular and very reasonably priced.

 

[Hammer67]

Greetings, BF, and happy 2023. As part of my self-improvement for the year, I have decided to stop buying knives until I get to know my current collection a bit better.

Interesting. And I hate to admit, but I should probably do this as well. Following...

Since another aspect of my self-improvement included deactivating my Facebook and Instagram accounts...

 

[CRUWEARFATHER]

This is an outstanding collection, love to see it

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/19
Here we have a Hawbaker or “improved” muskrat from Canadian maker Rhidian Gatrill. For the uninitiated, the difference between this and a standard muskrat is the inclusion of a wharncliffe secondary in place of the traditionally replicated clip blade. Mr. Gatrill had never made one of these before, so he designed it to my specifications, so this one is a comfy 3 5/8” closed with CPM154 blades with a belt satin finish and jigged black paper micarta covers. To the traditional knife enthusiast, this setup is EDC nirvana, which is precisely what I was looking for in this build. Overall, a truly exceptional knife.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/20
Happy Fancy Friday, folks! Today we have a Spyderco Kiwi in black lip pearl. This particular model was an AG Russell dealer exclusive which differs from the standard MOP & abalone inlayed version in the Kiwi lineup. For all intents and purposes, the Kiwi is likely the closest Spyderco gets to what I would call a true “gentleman’s” knife. Manufactured in Japan by Moki, fit & finish is quite good, and the interesting design lends itself to a full 4-finger grip. Not only is it pretty, but it makes for one heck of a utility blade.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/21
Happy Stagurday, my damies! This is one of my all time favorites - a Tom Krein TK-1 Wharnie XL with a satin S35vn blade, stag scales over black liners, and copper hardware and mosaic pin. With its small ~5.75” OAL and ~2.5” modified wharncliffe blade, this is one of the more functionally perfect small fixed blade designs I have encountered. It absolutely melts into your hand. But more importantly…how about that stag!??

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/22
Over the past year or two, I tended to forego a folder for my daily carry for a small fixed blades, so my folder collection started to get lonely. To help with that, a while back I implemented Sebenza Sundays to ensure my CRKs saw some use. I recently swapped out a somewhat similarly configured Seb for this beauty, and I am extremely happy I did because this has become an instant favorite. This knife swap I did kinda bent my own rules here a little bit, but f it. Yolo, amirite?

CRK Small Sebenza 31 with a gorgeous bog oak inlay, glass blasted Ti frame, gold hardware, and an awesome Chad Nichols ladder damascus blade. Speaking of which, the etch is a nice and deep on this one, providing some cool visual effects as the light plays on the ridges in the ladder pattern at different angles.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/23
Here we have a Bark River PSK in 154CM decked out in some beautiful rosewood burl. For the uninitiated, this PSK is not to be confused with the popular larger PSK EDC. This PSK, or Personal Survival Knife, is a small 3-finger affair intended to be a backup knife that remains stashed for if/when you are without your primary blade for whatever reason and still need a sharp thing. In practice, it is a compact 3-finger knife with ample cutting ability that makes for arguably the best EDC pocket fixie that Bark River makes. Unfortunately they are tough to find these days.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/24
I have to go into the office downtown the next few days, so I will be slipjointing it up. Today’s carry is an Enrique Peña Mini Zulu in double brown canvas micarta over white liners with a hand-rubbed satin CPM-154 blade. Mr. Peña’s Mini Zulu design, with its blend of modern and traditional aspects, is actually what originally drew me to custom slipjoints years ago. Unfortunately, slipjoints with pinned construction are an increasing rarity to come out of Mr. Peña’s shop, so grab them if and when you can.

 

[ktataragasi]

Beautiful collection

 

[cbach8tw]

1/18
While I am not initiating the purchasing of knives in 2023 until I have completed this journey of mine and carried each knife in my collection, I still intend to pay for the custom orders I placed in 2022 that will not see completion until this year. I mean c’mon - I am neither a monster, nor am I a monk.

Having gotten the fine print out of the way, here we have a freshly minted Ben Krein Forager with a satin hollow ground blade, spalted maple scales over black liners, and brass hardware. If the name sounds familiar, Ben is Tom Krein’s son and has been working in Tom’s shop for some time now but recently started putting out his own designs. I believe the Forager to be his third or fourth model. I can authoritatively state that the apple has not fallen far from the tree here, and Ben’s work is truly exceptional with not a flaw to be found. I recommend giving him a ring sooner than later, though, because his work is catching on fast.

For you lanyard bead fans, the bead is by Kevin Buck of Fuzzyedge Beads. His work is spectacular and very reasonably priced.

View attachment 2050471View attachment 2050472View attachment 2050476

really nice size and shape, looks like it would be very handy.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/25
Continuing on the slipjoint kick, we have a Mike Moran teardrop in bog oak with a hand-rubbed CPM-154 blade. Mr. Moran’s work is very classic and super clean. He is a bit of a knife historian and a genuinely kind and interesting person to chat with. If you like snappy walk & talk, Mike’s stuff is for you.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/26
To break from the non-locking theme, today’s carry is a CRK Mnandi in box elder and Chad Nichols raindrop damascus. While the small Sebenza is my favorite CRK, I think the Mnandi is their most refined and interesting design.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/27
I hope everyone’s Friday has been treating you well. Busy day at work today but managed to snag a couple quick pics. Today’s carry is a GEC 15 in Smooth Autumn Gold Bone. I never have been one to chase TCs, but the bone on this particular run spoke to me. The pull on these is a little lighter than I prefer, but overall it’s a great little knife.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/28
I hope everyone’s weekend is treating them well thus far. I attended a friend’s daughter’s first bday party today, so I wanted to carry something that had a very low probability of being perceived as intimidating on the off chance a sharp thing was required from me. However, after carrying only folders all week, I needed a pallet cleanser and wanted a fixed blade. I landed on a Tom Krein TK-1 with a satin Z-FiNit blade, orange jigged bone scales over black liners, and brass hardware and mosaic pin. These little guys are amazing knives that punch well above their weight class while taking up next to no pocket space and are positively adorable to boot.

 

[d.2.the.p]

1/29
I wanted to show some love to the overworked and under appreciated comfy pants/gym shorts knife. For those weekend mornings and other days where responsibilities do not require the donning of hard pants, I prefer a small lightweight folder. In practice, this often means said folder is linerless.

Today we have my all-time favorite soft pants knaf, the Spyderco Baby Jess Horn or Baby Horn, depending who you are talking to. This version is sporting a full flat ground AUS-8 blade riding inside linerless white linen micarta handles. Produced by Moki, these have excellent fit & finish and make for truly phenomenal EDC knives. These were a bit of an anomaly in the Spyderco catalog in that they don’t have an official part number. This is due to this particular model being an AG Russell exclusive that was not sold directly by Spyderco. Within Spyderco collector circles, this is likely a bit of a grail piece that should only be admired, but I prefer to enjoy the awesomeness of my cool knives through use.

 

[tomsch]

Absolutely stunning collection! Which one/ones do you find yourself using the most? Some of those are so beautiful I would not even let them out of the house