Designed by Trip Felton, the Hook & Loop Tool is my favorite new product at Blade Show. Why? Because literally everyone who reads SSD uses hook & loop, whether it’s Velcro brand or an alternative, on their kit, and it gets dirty!
The folding Hook & Loop Tool features a wire brush for the hook, removable nylon brush for the loop which also can be used to clear the wire brush side as well as a boot pick to clean out your tread.
The TM1 or Tactical Machete 1 was developed for a SOF customer as a jungle knife. Limited to just 200 production units for commercial sale it is made from M7 Steel hardened to 52 RC with a black oxide coating. It also comes with a bikini style Kydex sheath with Bladetech attachment.
Coming soon from
www.MedfordKnife.com
As I walked the show floor something caught my eye. The Primal Revolution Tactical Quiver was developed to modernize an age old design. It is versatile and can be suspended from a belt, attached to a pack, worn over the shoulder or across the back. In fact, it’s flat back design sits very well, keeping it in place instead of rolling around. They’ve also integrated a 3-point harness to prevent sway while you’re moving.
Berry compliant and made from 1000D Cordura, It is lined with 16mm PVC to prevent arrows from slicing through the material.
Ryan Johnson, founder of RMJ Tactical has told me for years that he wasn’t going to make any knives until he came up with something that stands out.
RMJ Tactical already has two fixed blade designs available. The top knife is the SLIK, Silent Lethal Individual Knife and the bottom is the Longbeard Hunter.
Made from 5160 Steel, you can see that a motif has been press forged into the steel.
Above, you can see the Kydex sheath (sans hardware) that comes with the knives.
This is Rustick Knives first year as a vendor at Blade Show. Founder Jack Stottlemire (SGM, USA Ret) is a US Army Special Operations Veteran out of Fayetteville, NC. Initially, he worked on his knives at Wilmont Knives but now he has own shop fully up and running. The name Rustick has been around for some time as Jack used to build custom archery rigs. It comes from Jack’s nickname Rusty and the Stick bows he used to make.
The centerpiece of his booth is The Kraken which has been featured in Tactical knives magazine. Originally it was designed as a one-off custom knife for auction for the Special Operations K9 Memorial but Ryan Johnson of RMJ Tactical urged Jack to put it into production. Originally, it was sold through US Elite but now you can buy it direct from Rustick Knives. He uses 80BRC2 German Tool Steel for his knives and Hawks. Donnie “Harp” Harper (1SG, USA Ret) makes his sheaths in both Kydex and leather.
www.facebook.com/rustickknivesllc
In addition to a growing line of knives, Veteran-owned Artificum Solis showed me a rather interesting take on the morale patch.
The large round morale patch on Austin McGlaun’s badge is made from 15N20 tool steel. Those are used for industrial band saw blades and they’ve shot these armored morale patches with 9mm, .38, .40, .44, .45 and 12 ga 00. Eventually, they will able to penetrate it with a .460 magnum Hornady Critical Defense round but that beast went through an iron skillet and a cinder block.
Naturally, these aren’t really meant as actual armor but they do carry one heck of a story. In addition to this example, they’ve also created custom badges for other companies. Below, you can see the level of detail they can produce.
Adventure author Robert Young Pelton also creates a lone of knives under the DPx Gear brand. Every design goes to the field with him so that he knows it will work the way he wants.
The latest DPx HEAT/F is the latest model. It’s a small bladed folder (2.26″ blade) is made from D2 steel with an overall length of 6.33″. The scales are G10 in Black and OD.
Benchmade just launched the new 5400 Serum which features the AXIS Dual Action Mechanism. It offers redundant opening mechanism. The primary is an auto opener with a standard thumbstud opening and AXIS blade lock.
You pull down the AXIS button for manual opening and pull a little further to the rear for automatic opening. This means that even if your spring breaks for some reason, you can still reliably open and close your knife.
This 3.47″ blade is made of Elmax premium steel (58-60 HRC). The 550 Serum also features G10 scales with full stainless steel liners and a reversible pocket clip.
