The Knife Junkie Podcast

Episode 674 of The Knife Junkie Podcast is a deep look at daggers—one of the most discussed and most misunderstood blade categories in the knife community. Bob DeMarco brings out twelve daggers for a collection update that covers everything from a World War II-era KA-BAR/EK Commando Knife to a Microtech SBD trade pickup he had been hunting for years.

The lineup includes the Randall Knives Model 2-7 Combat Stiletto, Cold Steel Peace Keeper II, Spartan Harsey Dagger, Spartan George Raider Dagger, and the Cold Steel Tai Pan in San Mai, among others. Bob talks grip technique, blade geometry, what Cold Steel gets right about the slash, and why some daggers are better suited to thrusting while others handle both jobs well.

Before the dagger segment, Bob runs a pocket check from a real working day—assembling a shed in the backyard—featuring the Spyderco Manix 2 Lightweight in S110V, the Fisher Blades Harvey PK, the Edgy American Blades Junkie in CruWear, and a Cold Steel Laredo Bowie that was standing by just in case. The episode also features the First Tool segment on the Scottish Highland basket-hilt broadsword, covering its role in the Jacobite risings and its significance to Highland culture since the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

The State of the Collection segment features a custom seax from Matt Chase of Hogtooth Knives—pattern-welded from 1085, 15N20, and nickel, with elk antler and Micarta scales and a hand-engraved leather sheath—that Bob called his unofficial Blade Show purchase for 2026. Bob also shows off a six-knife Cordura carrying case and hand-thrown stoneware mug from Terzuola Design, sent by merch czar Ben Odi.

Knife Life News covers Spyderco Reveal 21 highlights, including a Mickey Yurco Gunting collaboration, the CRKT Squid II with M390 and wood handles, the Boker Overnighter by FP Knives, and the upcoming Civivi Almaris slipjoint.

Whether you are a longtime dagger collector or just starting to pay attention to double-edged blades, Episode 674 gives you a thorough and entertaining look at why this category deserves a place in any serious collection. Bob wraps up with plans to keep growing the dagger side of his collection, so this is not the last time the topic comes up.

Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/674.

Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.

Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.

To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

Bob DeMarco welcomes Al Salvitti of Regiment Blades to Episode 673 of The Knife Junkie Podcast for one of the most grounded, experience-driven conversations the show has had in a long time.

Salvitti brings 52 years of martial arts training, 15 years of real-world bouncing experience in Philadelphia and South Jersey, and a knife design built entirely around what actually works when fists are flying. This is not a conversation about what looks good in a video — it is a conversation about what kept a small guy standing in packed bars where fights broke out five times a night.

Salvitti traces his path from taekwondo black belt to Philadelphia boxing gyms to Sayoc Kali under Tuhon Chris Sayoc, explaining how each layer of training changed his thinking about power, timing, and weapons. He developed a full-body power-striking system grounded in keeping both feet on the ground and using the skeletal frame instead of just the shoulder—a method that has been taught to Navy SEALs, Marine units at Camp Pendleton, and Border Patrol agents.

He also shares what those experiences taught him about why complicated techniques fail under real stress and why simplicity wins every time. His LowViz punch blade at regimentblades.com came directly out of those lessons: a blade that deploys in the same motion as a punch, grips like a pistol, and rides flat on the belt in a sheath that Salvitti engineered himself, because every other option on the market failed to meet his standards.

The big story of the episode is the connection between the Regiment Blade and bestselling thriller author Jack Carr. Salvitti sent Carr a custom LowViz and, months later, discovered that Carr had written the knife into his new novel, \"The Fourth Option,\" with full credit to Salvitti by name. The main character carries the Regiment Blade. A chapter of the book covers a knife fight in the dark using the weapon. Carr described it in print as \"designed to be an extension of your hand\"—words that Salvitti said captured exactly what he built it to be. Salvitti and maker John Gray produced 175 custom Fourth Option editions with acid-etched finishes and pinned wood handles for the book launch, and a production version of the Fourth Option LowViz is currently in progress.

The episode also covers Salvitti\'s approach to situational awareness and what he posts on the Regiment Blades Instagram: real street-violence footage, shared not for shock value but to show people what unscripted violence actually looks like. No flying kicks. No fancy blade work. Just speed, aggression, and whoever prepared better. His philosophy is direct: the wheel is always spinning, and training before it stops on you is the only option worth taking seriously.

For full show notes, past episodes, and more from The Knife Junkie, visit theknifejunkie.com. Find the Regiment Blades lineup, including the LowViz fixed blade, the folder, and news on the Fourth Option production run, at regimentblades.com. Training videos and real-world fight analysis are posted regularly on the Regiment Blades Instagram.

Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details. You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives.

Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.

To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

What happens when one knife brand builds its entire identity around traditional American slip-joint patterns and then starts making locking, flipping versions of every single one? You get a collection that is hard to look away from. In Episode 672 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco puts the full lineup of locking Jack Wolf Knives folders on camera, showing each one beside the slip-joint sibling that inspired it. Designer Ben Belkin has been at this for a while now, and seeing the whole collection together tells a story that no single knife can tell on its own.

Before getting to the main segment, Bob runs a pocket check featuring the Spyderco Military (the original, not the Military 2 he is thinking about buying), the Great Eastern Cutlery #15 Boy\'s Knife, the Brock Blades Magni XL in 3V steel, and the CRKT HZ6 (ESK) from designer James Williams.

Knife Life News covers four standout releases: the CRKT M16 nearly 30th anniversary edition at $48, the long-awaited TOPS Badger Creek at $300, the We Knife Notchline at $254, and the Civivi High Grass bird-and-trout fixed blade at $63. Bob also walks through the history of the Kephart knife in the show\'s \"First Tool\" segment, covering how Horace Kephart arrived at one of the most copied camp knife designs in history.

The State of the Collection introduces four recent additions: the Spyderco Native Chief in CPM-CruWear and Crucarta, the Spyderco Yojimbo 2 Breast Cancer Awareness Sprint Run in hot pink and black (exclusive at Knives Ship Free), the Fisher Blades Harvey PK compact fixed blade, and a preview of the brand new Jack Wolf Knives Feelbetter Jack, the knife that inspired the entire main segment and the May 2026 release from the brand.

The main segment walks through all seven locking Jack Wolf Knives models: the Gunslinger Jack (three runs), the Afterhours Jack, the Diamondback Jack (Bob\'s personal favorite in the whole lineup), the Primo Jack, the Bionic Jack, the Benny, and the Feelbetter Jack. Each locking folder appears alongside the slip-joint it came from, giving a rare look at how Belkin translated traditional patterns into modern locking folders without losing what made the originals worth building in the first place. Full-height hollow ground S90V blades, premium bolsters, and meticulous fit and finish across the board.

Whether you own a Jack Wolf Knives knife, have one on the wish list, or have just been hearing the name and wondering what the fuss is about, this episode will show you everything you need to know. Bob has carried and used these knives, not just collected them, and that comes through in every comparison on screen.

Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life News stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/672.

Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.

Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.

To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

Lynn Thompson founded Cold Steel Knives in the early 1980s and ran it for about 40 years, building it into one of the most recognized tactical knife brands in the world. After selling to GSM Outdoors and honoring his non-compete through June 2025, Lynn is back with something new: Lynn Thompson Tactical Knives, available at NeverUnarmed.com.

On Episode 671 of The Knife Junkie Podcast, host Bob DeMarco sits down with Lynn for a wide-open conversation about where it all started and where it is going.

Lynn traces his love of knives back to wooden ones his father made for him when he was a four-year-old growing up in Brazil. That passion led him to build his first push daggers in 1980, years before the word \"tactical\" was applied to knives as a category. After breaking two Gerber Mark II blades during backyard training, he set out to design a knife with an unbreakable point—and that drive eventually produced the Tanto, with the final Trail Master design sketched on a placemat at the Pierpont Inn in Ventura. Bob and Lynn also discuss the sub-hilt fighter, the history of the push dagger from the katar to the riverboat South, and the debate between double-edged and single-edged blades.

Lynn is a serious practitioner, not just a designer. He trains with blades four sessions a week in a gymnasium stocked with $80,000 worth of aluminum training weapons, working with students and training partners on knife fighting, Bowie work, and combative research across multiple martial systems. He talks about what he would fix on the Trail Master guard, how fighting with a Bowie taught him to use the crossguard, and why he believes the Bowie knife is one of the hardest fighting tools to beat when it is built and balanced correctly.

Lynn Thompson Tactical Knives is launching with 35 knives, including two new Bowie designs, the Japanese Quaken, a cutlass, and plans for sword canes. His new factory has 12 five-axis CNC grinding machines, robotics, automatic sharpeners, and polishing equipment that he calls the best he has ever had access to. You can find Lynn and the full lineup at Blade Show 2026 in Atlanta at booth 2413 in the secondary room and online at NeverUnarmed.com.

This is one of the most knowledge-packed conversations in the history of The Knife Junkie Podcast. Whether you collect Cold Steel, study knife history, or just want to hear one of the legends of the knife world talk about what he is building next, this episode is required listening.

Be sure to support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.

You can also support The Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives.

Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.

To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.

Episode 670 of The Knife Junkie Podcast is all about great high-end knife carry combinations, and host Bob DeMarco brings seven of them to the table. Each pairing follows two simple rules: never carry two knives from the same company, and never carry two knives with the same blade shape. The result is a thoughtful and practical look at how to build a multi-knife carry that actually makes sense.

Whether it is a heavy-duty folder paired with a slim fixed blade, a large clip point paired with a straight-edge Wharncliffe, or a utility folder paired with a defensive fixed blade, Bob breaks down the logic behind every combo.

Before getting to the carry combos, Bob runs a full pocket check featuring the Off-Grid Knives Polaris XL in Vanax SuperClean steel, the Jack Wolf Knives Feelgood Jack in S90V, the Dirk Pinkerton Matador with its JL Hansen and Son handle scales, and the Edgy American Blade Works Junkie, a Seax-style fixed blade by Shane Gable in Cru-Wear at 64 HRC. He also covers four notable new releases in Knife Life News: the Bestech Kobber designed by Jake Diaz of Happy as Larry, the RoseCraft Blades Birchfield Camp Jack, the Civivi Dracolis Balisong trainer, and the TOPS Snake River Rescue dive knife by John Garcia.

The \"First Tool\" segment of this episode covers the Seax, the single-edged blade of the Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and Vikings that served as the original everyday carry knife throughout early medieval Europe. Bob traces the Seax from its role as a farmer\'s tool and a warrior\'s weapon to its appearance as a decorated object of identity, including the famous Seax of Beagnoth found in the River Thames. He also draws a direct line from the broken-back Seax profile to the modern clip point, connecting a thousand years of blade design in a few short minutes.

The State of the Collection segment adds more to an already full episode, with Bob showing the Spyderco Lum Tanto and Cold Steel El Vaquero acquired from Dirk Pinkerton, plus the brand-new Fisher Blades Harvey PK, the first EDC knife from Chaz and John Fisher of Fisher Blades. A set of custom leather XL Espada sheaths from patron Cesario Aton rounds out the segment. Bob also spotlights the 3 Dog Knife affiliate offer (25% off with code \"knifejunkie\" at theknifejunkie.com/3dogknife) and the Patreon-exclusive \"American Edge 250\" series, which covers historical American blade designs in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Whether you are building your own two-knife carry or just love seeing high-quality blades presented by someone who genuinely cares about them, Episode 670 delivers from the first minute to the last. Bob wraps it up with a question for the community: What carry combos are you running? Drop your answer in the comments and bring it to Thursday Night Knives, every Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern on YouTube and Twitch.

Find the list of all the knives shown in the show and links to the Knife Life news stories at https://theknifejunkie.com/670.

Support the Knife Junkie channel with your next knife purchase. Find our affiliate links at https://theknifejunkie.com/knives. You can also support The Knife Junkie and get in on the perks of being a patron, including early access to the podcast and exclusive bonus content. Visit https://www.theknifejunkie.com/patreon for details.

Let us know what you thought about this episode and leave a rating and/or a review. Your feedback is appreciated. You can also email theknifejunkie@gmail.com with any comments, feedback, or suggestions.

To watch or listen to past episodes of the podcast, visit https://theknifejunkie.com/listen. And for professional podcast hosting, use our preferred platform: https://theknifejunkie.com/podhost.