State of the Collection, November 2020

Top to Bottom:
1. Carothers Performance Knives Defensive Everyday Knife 1 in Delta 3V and tri-color rag micarta.
2. CPK DEK1 in AEB-L and black and green linen micarta.
3. CPK Utility Fighter in D3V and black G10.
4. CPK UF in D3V and antique edge-cut micarta over black micarta.
5. CPK UF in D3V and tri-color rag micarta.
6. CPK Boot Dagger in D3V and double black linen micarta.


Left to Right:
1. Alan Folts Harpoon Minimalist in black Gunkote CPM154 and black G10.
2. Joe Louie Knives Spitfire in CPM3V and blue burlap Shadetree micarta.
3. Vehement Knives Tunnel Bat in blackened CPM3V, blackened brass full guard, and brown stacked leather.
4. Vehement Knives Tunnel Rat in satin Tigerlypse CPM3V, brass guard, and Moran-style green linen micarta handle.
5. Dan Tope Knives kukri in CPM3V and desert ironwood with brass hardware.


Top to Bottom:
1. Spyderco Darn Dao in CPM154 and black G10.
2. Spyderco Swayback in CTS XHP and titanium.
3. Spyderco Kapara in S30V and carbon fiber.
4. Spyderco Paramilitary 2 with Emerson Wave in S30V and black G10.


And here's a very interesting piece I've had more than ten years now. It's an interesting sword, but something of a jinxed blade. This is a fencing saber made by Tinker Pearce back in 2008. He is probably best known as a sword maker and historian and for his collaboration with Hanwei on a series of medieval sword reproductions. I ordered it probably a year and a half before that, but Tinker was having health problems and this was one of the last swords he made during that period, although he has been making swords again for several years now. He actually broke the first blade and had to reforge another. It was intended to cut my wedding cake in September 2008, and it arrived in my hands just a week before the wedding date. However, the bad luck continued, and I got divorced in 2017, and the sword is what I have left to show for all of that.

OAL: 38.5"
Blade: Satin-finish 5160, 33" long, 15/16" tall at the hilt, 1/4" wide at the hilt, 20" sharpened edge, 11" sharpened back edge.
Guard: Mild steel.
Handle: Black leather.

 

I mostly got it as a collector piece because it was a flash batch Lum design. I think it's beautiful, and the fit and finish is stellar. I can't say I'd ever really use one, though. If I need to chop something I'll use a knife in something other than CPM154. Although - it is extremely stout; it has both tang and distal taper and balances nicely. I think it was a labor of love for Sal more than it was something that was expected to fly off the shelves. When they came out they were I believe $387, which was a tall ask at the time for a Spyderco fixed blade. Taller ask now with two years of MSRP increases, but I have two and I'm glad they're in the collection for sure.

 

Hard to say, I've really pared down my collection. I'd be hard pressed to say whether the Utility Fighter from CPK or the Tunnel Rat/Bat variants from Vehement are my favorite.

The folders are EDC knives, and the AEB-L DEK1 is an EDC knife. I don't really have a practical use for the others, they just spoke to me as a collector. In terms of users I feel about knives like I feel about guns, I have three or four that do all the work and the rest are just things I thought were interesting.