Friday WishList: Ruger Redhawk .45 colt/.45 acp

In the last few years Ruger made a new 4inch version of their classic Redhawk large bore revolver in .44 magnum and .45 Colt. After seeing the new S&W Governor which is .410, 45colt, and cut for .45 acp moon clips, I am suddenly wondering why it wouldn't be good for Ruger to offer a version of the Redhawk .45 Colt thats cut for moonclips too. The Redhawk can take the powerful magnum level .45 colt +Ps and will both serve as a hunting revolver and a bear defense gun. For home defense, good loads for .45 colt are rare and expensive, but not so with .45 ACP! With piles of choices for plinking and defensive loads, .45acp is also generally available everywhere ammo is solid. The moon clips would make for faster reloads while administering 'social services'. You'd have me sold. I'm really considering a Governor for its excellent price point and extremely versatility of a gun in functional calibers. But a Redhawk can go full house magnum power, the S&W cannot. If you're reading this Ruger, please consider this!

Carbiner Carry for Fixed-Blades

Concealed carrying fixed blade knives isn't always easy. First off, the companies often skimp on sheath designs. They may be just cheap neck knife sheaths that have no clips or belt knife sheaths with just loops or the materials are weak or any of dozens of issues. Secondly, belt carry can be very difficult especially if you don't have a cover piece. Even IWB with a shirt covering has its own set of disadvantages. It might be hard to get to and also brings the very real danger of cutting yourself. One method of carry I've come to like is pocket carry. It's very concealable and reasonably easy to access but the big downside is that few sheaths are made for this form of carry. I had to good fortune to catch an interesting system for pocket carry while looking at reviews of the Cold Steel Kiridashi in a video by WellAllJuggleKnives.

In the video, the simple neck knife sheath had a single keyring put through one of the holes and then attached to a simple carbiner. The carbiner clips onto the edge of your pocket or in the belt loop. All or most of the knife disappears into your pocket. When drawn the sheath with rise up until reaching the end of its tether. This has an added safety advantage by protecting your thigh from the edge during the draw. Then your knife is out and ready for EDC or crisis use. I carry my Cold Steel mini-tac tanto offhand with the low pocket method while at work and use the belt loop when I have a cover or when out and about.

This is a very simple and useful system that adds a lot of utility to a simple cheap sheath for fixed blades especially neck knives. It can also be used in your car, at your desk, beds, on backpacks, or even hanging on your shower with a high corrosion resistant stainless steel blade. I think the addition of a pocket clip to the grip of the fixed blade could make this system even easier to use. The 2-zero from Nemesis Knives has a clip like this and I would love to try it in combination.

Cold Steel Mini-Tac Tanto & Kiridashi

I continue the quest to find small fixed knives for offhand carry. A solid choice for offhand carry is the Mini-Tac line from Cold Steel. Of these four knives, I own two. The Tanto and the Kiridashi. Both are lightweight and constructed from AUS8 steel and feature excellent textured G10 handles. The handles are honestly the best feature of this series. They are what is known as a subhilt. Subhilts do not fully lock the index finger like the ring on a LaGriff style, but still provide considerable extra security. It is difficult to get a hand disengaged from a subhilt. This is a bonus in safety that cannot be understated. Even the slipperiest conditions, you will not have to be concerned with your hand riding up to the blade or the knife slipping out of your hand to hit your foot.

The Kiridashi's blade style is very similar to a box cutter. It is after all a version of an ancient utility blade style from Japan. Its deadly easy to sharp its straight edge, but being AUS8 be very mindful of your tip. Its easy to bend. However, its sharp enough to easily slice open any sort of meat you might have to deal with.


The Tanto is about 1/2 an inch longer, and seems a lot more sturdy. I carry this a lot offhand in my pocket. I also like the straight spine and the fine jimping. The AUS8 sharpens well enough, too. Unfortunately, I have quickly realized that I am not a fan of the Americanize tanto style. The true tanto style is a pretty conventional curve instead of the less useful angular double point. Curves are much better slicers and slashers. Tantos are good stabbers, even with the American style and in stainless steel. I do have faith in its ability to penetrate.


Both come with metal chains and cheap plastic neck sheaths that cover the subhilt. A poor design. The subhilt adds too much in drawing to be so covered. Also, they do not come with belt clips. To carry them, I use something I've taken to calling 'carbiner carry' which is a cheap way to get some better use out of simple neck knife sheaths.

For less than $40 each, these are a solid buy. A good choice for offhand carry or just plain EDC that won't break the bank. Check out the others in the mini-tac line. A fat beavertail blade and a skinner. I wish Cold Steel would do a spear point version or at least give the tanto a traditional curve.

Friday WishList: Listen Up CRKT!

I do not own many CRKT knives, but one I have very much enjoyed is Kit Carson's M16. Its a very classy and very popular series of liner lock folders that are known for their extra blade lock. While, mine had issues with the pocketclip that prevented its carry after I lost screws a second time, I am still in awe of the wonderful feeling grip, the flipper role as guard, and the solid spear point blade design. CRKT, I beg you to make a fixed blade version of this knife! I want the same ergos, but I want a full tang on this bad boy! Blade size is fine for me, but if you used a better steel(s30v etc), a version in 4-5inch would be pretty damn awesome for a mid-sized fixed EDC! As it stands the 3.5 is a great size and shape for a boot/belt/CCW knife. Toss in a decent sheath with some options for open and concealed carry and this thing will sell.

Review: Gerber Octane

The most useful tool a human can usually carry with them is generally a sharp edge. However, other tools like screw drivers and pliers are really nearly as useful making multitools an extremely popular choice for EDC. Often EDC'ers are faced with a dilemma. Which to carry? Most multitools are pretty much large belt sheath affairs. Also, they often need to be opened up to take advantage of their knife blade after being removed from their belt pouch. In comparison the ubiquitous 'tactical folder', is positioned on the right or left hand pocket-top and opens with one hand. The most obvious solution is to carry both. But if one is already carrying CCW kit, cellphone, and possibly a flashlight... Yeah, we all know this gets heavy really quick.

Another solution is to make the multitool more user friendly. The first I know to have done this directly from the factory was the Leatherman Skeletool. Featuring a pocketclip and a locking blade that was accessible from the outside for one-handed opening. I had one for a few days, but returned it as defective after the removable screwdriver bits consistently dropped out and the blade didn't work smoothly even after oiling. I ended up getting a Leatherman Fuse and carried it inside my back pocket for a long while.

The Gerber Octane is another in the continuing evolution of these EDC multitools. Mine was bought for about $38 from KnifeCenter. The Octane features a slide out set of pliers/wirecutters which also serves as a lock to keep the tool from opening, flat and Philips head drivers, a small flat head driver for tiny screws, a bottle opener, a clamshell cutter, pocketclip, and a half serrated sheepsfoot locking blade on the outside. All the tools lock into place. Also, the frame is aluminum to keep the weight down.


Most of the negative things I've heard about Gerber's multitools is in the durability area. I would not recommend this for heavy duty use. Save those jobs for full steel multitools. However, the Gerber's role is not of a primary working tool, its a tool for those everyday small jobs. As such, the light weight and compact size is a blessing. This is coupled with an excellent pocket clip. Gerber got this clip right. The tool sits nicely and securely, perfectly in fact, in your pocket. It is a joy to carry unlike the uncomfortable times either sitting on your multitool or having it hit you in the love handles with its pouch.


The tools themselves are largely very functional except for the bottle opener. While it worked, I don't think it worked very well. It could be left off and not be missed. The screwdrivers have a decent length and fit nicely to most screws. They lock up tight, though the plastic on the lock is a possible point of failure. The plastic clamshell cutter works well. It is a very useful tool that should become popular with these more urban oriented designs. Lastly, the pliers/wirecutters are comfortably angled. The frame design fills the hand nicely for use with these. They lock in the 'use' position, but do not lock in the close position. Personally, I think I'd like them to lock closed. Also the color of the frame should be noted. It has a lot of red, and that is not a bad thing. Bright colors can certainly help when you drop this at night. Also, I think that bright colors serve to protect against the fears of hoplophobes. Reds, yellows, and oranges are often safety/danger colors. They warn that this is a sharp tool and can hurt you if you're not careful. As long as they think of them as tools rather than weapons, their fears can be kept in reserve to better bother the guy open carrying his Glock down the street.


Already, at $37 the octane to me has proven its worth. However, I must now speak of its weakest, greatest selling point. The knife. The knife is functional. It works, it does its job, but it does it in a lackluster fashion. To me, this is a 5 dollar knife strapped to a $40 multitool. The placement of the thumbhole is hard to access with my hands. It opens very smoothly other than that. Then the locking mechanism is a bit hard to operate one handed as well. The blade steel is 420js stainless. A tough steel, but too soft to keep an edge long. This is the failing point on most of these EDCMs. Cheap ass steel. After being spoiled with literally hundreds of reasonably priced 'tactical folders' in quality cutlery steel, its painful to be downgraded to this.
Overall, I feel that I got my money's worth out of my Octane. Its an extremely carry-able multitool that has a solid line up of tools you'll find yourself needed most often. I particularly recommend this to office guys and IT professionals. Its perfect for those environments where you might be opening up several clamshells a days and opening PC cases and replacing parts. If the knife doesn't matter so much for you, this an excellent buy. But if you use your knife as much as I do, you'll feel unsatisfied.

3 Rules for Selecting an EDC Knife

These are what I consider to be the three most important guidelines to think about when looking for a new EDC knife.

1. Carry only what you can afford to replace. Knives get lost, stolen, or confiscated. Expect one of these things to happen at some point. Do not carry a knife that is either difficult to replace due to price or impossible to replace due to sentiment.

2. Make certain your selection is legal in your state, town, and locations you expect to be going to. Laws on knives are almost as complex, backwards, and convoluted as gun laws. Research now. An assisted opening knife is considered a common pocketknife in some states and a deadly concealed weapon in others. All it takes it one accidental felony to ruin your life.

3. Carry only what you have the skill and/or the equipment to keep sharp and otherwise maintained. Some modern steels are very hard and difficult to sharpen. Also some blades are sharped oddly. Serrations are difficult to sharpen. All of these factors may require you to have more than a simple whetstone. If you are not used to sharpening knives, you may want to stick to more basic and easily sharpened steels such as AUS-8 and 440C until you have developed those skills. Also, look for simple blade shapes and avoid recurves and other more fantastic styles.

Get Tough!

Get Tough! How to win in hand-to-hand fighting by Major W. E. Fairbairn is fighting manual of close quarters hand-to-hand and melee techniques developed during the World Wars. Get Tough is not a book about martial arts, but rather techniques that can be easily learned and put into practical use. Inside are instructions and illustrations of holds, counters, strikes, knives, and sticks. Also, there is a chart of the locations of major arteries and time to incapacitation upon their severing.


Most martial arts are more about self control, physical exercise, and ritualized combat over practical fighting. This book contains nothing but simple methods to hurt people and keep them from hurting you. Useful knowledge from the gentlemen who were in the shit right with our grandfathers and great grandfathers. While this is 1940's era information, its still viable in our modern world. Knife fighting techniques might not always be useful, but knowing how to break out of holds is something that even young children should learn!


My wife and I, are going to work on learning several of the holds and counters this summer. Eventually, a paper copy will be ordered, but for now I found a PDF. I'm not sure if its abridged or not. Regardless, there is a lot of data there for anyone that wants to learn something good along with a willing vict- er partner.

A Preventable Needless Beef

I do not buy Spyderco knives. I look at their knives and I have a feeling of disdain. However, it is not a logical reason why I refuse to buy their knives or even handle them. Spyderco's are good looking, well-made, functional designs that are carried by pretty much everyone. However, one person made me hate them.

The year was 1999, and I had recently joined the ranks of the thousands carrying a tactical folder, that is a locking folding knife featuring one handed opening and a pocket clip. It was a huge heavy early S&W SWAT folder. It was one of the heaviest folding knives I ever owned, and I thought it was cool as heck and useful too. However, one of my aquantances at the dorm I lived saw my knife and decided to educate me on my mistake of owning it. This guy was a Spyderco fan. Supposedly a volunteer paramedic. He explained in a rather shit-eating fashion how his purely serrated knife would so easily cut through seat belts, how it opened better and how mine was too heavy, not sharp enough, and so on and so forth. Naturally, I very much resented his attitude. It was as if the meaning behind his words was that all the vaunted emergency services all over the country were laughing at me as they fingered their Spydercos.

Since then, I can't shake the bad feeling Spyderco's give me. I can at least admit that there's nothing wrong with them, but they're just not for me. All it takes is one 'lecture' about someone else's choices to ruin them for what you think is better. If you recommending knives, don't insult their blades. Rather, tell them the good things about your blade, and why they also need it in addition to their own. Never be rude or condescending. This mistake happens all too often. I find the semi-automatic verses revolver discussion is where this happens a lot too. I once had carrying a revolver compared to riding a skate board to work. Your argument is no longer valid if you have to make a comment like that. You've failed. Just walk away. We must remember. As long as a knife cuts and functions the way the user wants it to, its a successful knife.

Blade Reviews

I recently discovered Dan's Blade Reviews website. This is an excellent site with lots of great reviews on knives and interviews with custom knife makers. I especially recommend the Griptilian review. I've long wanted a full sized plain blade Griptilian in orange. Griptilians just might be the best production folding knives for under $100 available. Certainly good for even heavy EDC use. Check out Dan's site and find something you love. I did!

Boker 1915 German Trench Knife

My newest addition to my ever growing family of fixed blades is this lovely Boker trench dagger. It is new production but not a replica. Rosewood handles, c-75 carbon steel, grip pins, and the exact specs are exactly the same as when this knife was made by Boker during World War I for the Imperial German military.

The blade is a little over 5inches, and a nearly 11 inches in overall length. The weight is a mere 5.9 oz. It comes with a leather sheath that features no press buttons or velcro, instead the metal tab we've seen on so many old surplus magazine pouches from that era.

This Tree Boker set me back $125. The last knife to cost me as much was my disappointing m1911 folding knife. Unlike the m1911, this literally took my breath away when I finally pulled it free of the plastic blade cover. I've never gotten a fixed blade that has made me this excited! The balance is excellent, and center is right under the guard. The knife can make some very fast cuts. The rosewood grips are very spartan but with simple grooves allows a solid grip. The front contour fits nicely with the fingers, too. The guard itself is large enough to be useful, unlike on many modern fixed blades. It is also comfortable in standard and reverse grips.

It is also designed around being able to be used as a punch dagger! On each side of the finger guard, there is a curved indention for your fingers. The grip contour is also designed to fit in this mode. Punches can be made quickly in this hold.

The blade itself is made from C-75 carbon steel. Its in the same class as 1095 carbon steel. It must be oiled regularly and maintained to protect it from corrosion. It is much stronger than average stainless steels, and needs that strength as the blade style is a very classic single edged dagger.

I must mention that this knife is a true weapon. Unlike many other designs, it will not be as useful in camp chores or utility tasks. However, this fighting blade does have use in lighter cutting chores that the EDC knife user will find himself taking on. Also, its slim and light design would make it a good choice for a mid-sized carry fixed blade for concealed carry. The size makes it able to deliver lethal hits that small knives simply can't.

This is a very cool blade. Simple clean lines and useful features make it functionally elegant. One might almost think its a custom blade. As icing on the cake, this purchase can be considered historical. I am very interested in getting another one of these, to be customized with micarta or g10 grips and a good custom sheath.

There are three other versions of this knife. The first is identical except for wearing stag handles for about $25 more. This would make a nice BBQ knife in my opinion. The second is a modernized version with micarta grips, a more modern sheath, and a partially serrated edge. Disappointingly, the steel is replaced with the considerably weaker 440C stainless. The third is the stag handle, but in Damascus steel. It is more a presentation knife, as it sells for around $500.