Do you have a knife hero?

[GIRLYmann]

Danny Trejo.

definately the man responsible for being a source of tremendous inspiration, when it comes to over the top edcing

 

[Andy the Aussie]

Crocodile Dundee my childhood movie knife hero

....we shot and killed him of course....

 

[GIRLYmann]

 

[DocJD]

I'm also a huge fan of Burroughs'

I grew up on sci-fi , sword and sorcery , and detective / spy action paperbacks .

Burroughs and many others .

Warped my fragile young mind , for sure .

 

[RyanSean97]

For someone so prolific and accomplished in the industry I don't think Ken Onion gets enough love. If anything just for being a downright good guy. He was what sparked my entire deep dive into the full world of knives/knifemaking and made me take it seriously.

Others would be:
Bob Loveless
Bo Randall
Bill Moran

 

[luethge]

This book, and Lynn C Thompson with his Carbon V “seconds” got me started in the late 80’s - early 90’s. There was nothing that better that the “true flight thrower” and a Ontario machete. Yes, I was like 12.

Scagel
Busse
Terzuola
Bagwell
Loveless
Gossman
Hayes
Wenger
CPK
SET
HELM
all of the above held in high regard.

 

[Legendary_Jarl]

J.R.R. Tolkien's - Angrist, the knife that Beren used to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown (by the dwarven smith who forged Narsil; Telchar of Nogrod)

also the Barrow Blades, found by the hobbits (later used against the Witch-King of Angmar)

Ah! A man of culture I see. I salute you!

Well in my teenage years I'd have to say James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies with that Gerber Mk 1:

And Anthony Hopkins in Mask of Zorro:

But actually looking at the scenes now they are actually villains for using the knives that way (i.e. using as screw driver, dulling by stabbing dirt & scratching the tip with a rock) lol. Bad examples!

Maybe Edmond Dantes from the Count of Monte Cristo:

 

[bigsurbob]

Thomas O'Dell, Knife Show hands down.

I can hear his voice on the TV at my bar right now...

"... four-forty stainless steel, full tang! And if you buy these 6 knives rot now I'll throw in this Samurai sword!! (Sheila... can you bring out the Big Kahuna swords?)"

 

[Legendary_Jarl]

From a more recent time maybe Bucky Barnes(Winter Soldier):

And from the Halo ODST game Edward Buck lol:

 

[gadgetgeek]

In the spirit of the question, for industry people, I'd say Ethan Becker, he doesn't seem to be too concerned about what people think they want, and he's as comfortable designing a kitchen knife as he is a wilderness one.
For people I know, there are a lot of folks I grew up around who made good use of simple knives. My mom carried and used a Vic in what passed for her diaper-bag/nurse on the road bag. My Dad carried some version of the leatherman PST as a replacement to an old scharade 3-blade, from the time I was very small.
Fictional, can't think of many though I'm positive someone in a Terry Pratchet novel saves the day with a very sensible small pocketknife.

 

[P.C.E.]

J.R.R. Tolkien's - Angrist, the knife that Beren used to cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown (by the dwarven smith who forged Narsil; Telchar of Nogrod)

also the Barrow Blades, found by the hobbits (later used against the Witch-King of Angmar)

Yes! I'm re-reading the Fall of Gondolin right now. I'm a huge fan of Tolkiens work. Beren and Luthien is also a great story.

 

[TAH]

Ron Ely as Tarzan, 1960s.

 

[jackknife]

If we're talking fictional characters, then I have to go with Donald Hamilton's spy/ assassin, Matt Helm. In the series of novels, he uses everything from an old Solingen knife he brought back from the war, to a Buck 110, to a custom job to take out enemy's of the 'other side.'

The Matt Helm series is long out of print, but some can be found in used book shops. Well worth the reading.

 

[gooeytek]

Sal. Folders, fixed blades, locking mechanisms, grind geometry, knife steels, handle materials...the combinations are mind-boggling.

 

[r8shell]

So disappointed. I thought for sure I'd see MacGyver on page 1.

If we're talking fictional characters, then I'd go with MacGuyver, absolutely. It was great to see a good-guy character on network TV using a knife as a tool rather than a weapon.

 

[Hashishiin]

William Fairbairn, as his dagger got me into knives! And I love his "Gutter Fighting" videos, taught a regular untrained idiot like me some basic skills to not die in a fight, and some basic knife technique! I am into knives for utility these days, but when I am practicing waving/slashing my Espada XL or Matriarch 2, I still use W.E Fairbairn's method of holding the knife at the point of balance with thumb and forefinger dominantly, and LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT with the edge, rolling my wrist. That's my main "practice!"

I love Sal Glesser. And, can't help but love Lynn Thompson, he is just unashamed and does what he wants and I respect that.

 

[mwhich50]

Dirk Pinkerton is my favorite designer.

 

[Leading Edge Fab]

Tony Bose RIP

 

[slyraven]

Thomas O'Dell, Knife Show hands down.

I can hear his voice on the TV at my bar right now...

"... four-forty stainless steel, full tang! And if you buy these 6 knives rot now I'll throw in this Samurai sword!! (Sheila... can you bring out the Big Kahuna swords?)"View attachment 1718319

I always watch the knife show. It's entertaining seeing how they make the cheapest dumbest knives sound like the best knives ever made

 

[bigsurbob]

I always watch the knife show. It's entertaining seeing how they make the cheapest dumbest knives sound like the best knives ever made

I like the low budgetness of it... like it's filmed in their garage. The displays are super janky. I saw "Sheila" tip over the rack of like 10 swords. They just picked it up and kept going.

Good television.