You can download it here

There are several new Spyderco knives(all marked with a red tab).  I was cracking up at the “Manbug”.

When it comes to cheap red dot optics, my advice is to go as cheap as possible and buy several.  That way, you will have replacements on hand when they invariably fail.  For the most part, I haven’t seen much of a quality difference between $30 and $150.

For a .22LR, I doubt you’ll have many problems even with the cheap brands.

Personally, I have had good experiences with Primary Arms. They are the exception to my first statement. Check out their house brand “micro” models for $75-$80 each.  I have used these(for plinking) on ARs with no problems.

The Jeremy Krammes Shortcut is another highly regarded small custom folding knife with numerous options. The Shortcut has four distinctive pinholes at the top of the blade following the spine. The blade is a simple drop-point with a spine swedge. Here are the general specificatons:

• Overall Length(Open): 4 5/8″
• Length Closed: 2 5/8″
• Blade Length: 2″
• Liners: Titanium
• Handle: Carbon Fiber, G10, Titanium, ask
• Opening Device: Thumbhole
• Weight: ~2.3 oz.
• Clip: Tip Up Carry
• Linerlock

Here are some photos of the Shortcut from his website:

Visit http://jkknives-shortcut.blogspot.com for contact and ordering information for the Jeremy Krammes Shortcut.

The Eric Ochs Otter Folder fits right in the size range that we are looking at.  As you will see in the photos, the options are limitless, but here are the general specifications:

• Blade Length: 2 5/8″
• Blade Thickness: 5/32″
• Blade Grind: Flat ground with swedge
• Length While Closed: 3 7/8″
• Overall Length(Open): 6 1/2″
• Blade Steel: S30V
• Handle: Green, G10, Wood, Titanium, Carbon Fiber
• Weight: ~4.2 oz.
• Opening Device: Spyderco Hole or Hinderer Lockbar Stabilizer
• Clip: Tip Up Carry
• Locking Mechanism: Liner or Framelock with all lock faces carbidized

Since the Brad Southard Downing is a custom knife, there are no real constraints for materials.  Here are some general specifications:

• Blade Length: 2 1/8″
• Clip: Tip Up Carry
• Length while Closed: 3 1/8″
• Handle: Titanium / G10 / Carbon Fiber
• Overall Length (Open): 5 1/4″
• Opening Device: Thumb Hole
• Titanium Framelock
• Weight: ~2 oz
• Backspacer: Optional Glow in the Dark
• Blade Steels: Cryo-treated CPM-154, CPM-S30V
• Blade Finishes: Satin/Stonewash Combo, Bead-blasted, Hand-Rubbed
• Blade Shapes:  Drop-Point, Hawkbill

According to Brad Southard’s page on the Arizona Custom Knives website:

“Since my grandfather first gave me a knife at the age of 8 I’ve been hooked. The love grew from there and I’ve constantly searched for and sought after the best. When my love of woodworking led me to make my own chisels and hand planes, the step to knives was an obvious choice.

While studying Industrial Design in college I learned to machine, and quickly learned all I could about metal working and tried my hand at knives. What started as a hobby and pastime quickly began to pay for my tuition, and before I knew it, it was my main source of income. I made knives part time for quite a while but in 2009 was forced to go full time. I say forced, but it was a welcome move, although a hard one.

Every day I go to my shop and spend a few minutes sketching and drawing, hoping to see if a great new design appears. For every couple hundred sketches I get one or two worth developing farther. My constant goal with design and knives is the age old adage “Form follows function”. The comfort and usability of the blade comes long before how the knife looks, but when a good design comes together you can end up with a beautiful knife that functions well, and you just cant put it down. That’s what I strive for.”

Brad Southard is a relatively new knife maker out of Tucson, Arizona who is building a stellar reputation in the custom knife community.  Brad’s order book is currently closed, but you can still find his work through custom knife dealers and collaboration projects(i.e. Triple Aught Design, Liong Mah, etc.)

Special Thanks for the photos to:

• Moore Cutlery
• Arizona Custom Knives
• Knifeology.com

It seems like all the big, flashy custom knives get all the attention, but sometimes you need you need something light and small.  Sometimes you may wear dress pants that don’t like heavy knives.  Sometimes you need a small knife that won’t scare the sheeple.  Sometimes you may feel the need to go as small and light as possible.  Sometimes you just don’t want to carry a full size knife!

That doesn’t mean you want to abandon all semblance of style and panache.  Thankfully there are a number of custom knife makers with fantastic small custom folding knives that will fit your needs.  Over the next several weeks, we’ll look at a number of small custom folding knives.

When I compiled this list, I was looking for something similar in size to the Spyderco Dragonfly, a production knife that many would consider to be the standard in the small and light folding knife category:

I’ll be covering custom knives that are similar to these dimensions. I realize that “similar” is a very subjective word since every knife is different, but I think you will be happy with the selction.  Here are few of the knives we will be covering:

• Warren Thomas Mini Model 2
• Yuna EQ-2
• Steve Kelly Kogia Folder
• Brad Southard Downing
• Curtiss Knives Nano
• Jeremy Krammes Shortcut
• Gerry McGinnis Prawn
• and more…

I received an email from a friend with a heartwarming story about the kindness of Cold Steel Knives:

Our daughter, Kristen, already has her first knife. I took a picture of her in my cold steel hat and put it on twitter. The media guy of cold steel showed it to the CEO of cold steel and the picture made him laugh. He told them to get my address and they sent her a knife with her name engraved upon it.

Good on Cold Steel Knives!

Yesterday, I posted about a 4Sevens Preon clicky tailcap modification from Zodiac Engineering.

Here’s what I wrote:

I saw your photo of the modified preon tailcap.  Is that a service you currently offer? At what cost?  Can you tell me any more about the modification?

I received the following response today from Ken at Zodiac Engineering:

Modification consisted of removing the titanium cover and turning down the remaining cap flush with the rubber boot then adding a large chamfer on the ID to allow your thumb to still activate the button.

Modification runs $16 plus return shipping.

So they are removing the metal cap and pressing the rubber boot itself to actuate the switch.  Hmm…

I’m willing to try it out if they do the mod on the regular(non-titanium) tailcaps.

I also wonder how the rubber holds up to heavy use?

According to the Zodiac Engineering website:

Modified @4Sevens Titanium Preon 2 tailcap. Titanium cover removed, retaining ring faced flush with the rubber cover and countersunk deep at 45 degrees to allow access to the switch. This allows the user to stand the light on end as a candle and still retain the guard around the switch to not accidentally turn it on when pushing down into your pocket.

I like the concept of an improved 4Sevens Preon clicky tailcap and I’d love to see how this turned out.

No price is given, but the information was posted two months ago.  I emailed for more information…

Those of you that read my review of the 4Sevens Preon 1 saw that I had a problem with the 4Sevens Preon clicky tailcaps.  It seemed that they collected every piece of dirt or grime within a 20 mile radius.  I had numerous issues with the clicker sticking in one position or the other.  I had heard better things about the tailcap mechanism from the Streamlight Microstream, but I wasn’t too impressed with the light itself.

But what if you could combine the emitter and the guts of the 4Sevens Preon with the body and clicky tailcap(push button) of the Streamlight Microstream?  I hear that you can.  Bear in mind that I have not verified or done this myself yet, but I have read this on three different occasions from three different sources.

I understand that it’s not a quick and easy removal, but it is possible.

Most recommended placing the Microstream body in a vise and using a heatgun(or hair dryer):

 Slowly heat the threads and after every couple of seconds you need to try to twist the head off.  It’s all about slowly heating and twisting the head every couple of seconds. That way you’re not melting the body and head together.

This is not the only way. Someone else had this advice:

Ziploc baggie, boiling water, and a (very) small strapwrench does the trick every time.

Basically, with a little patience you can combine the two lights.

When I get my Microstream, I’ll get some photos while I do the work and let you all know how it goes.

Have any of you already done this?  I’d love to see some pics…

Here is some amazing work that was done on the scales of two Rick Hinderer XM Series Knives.  These titanium scales were machined, then blasted for a beautiful finish:

The work was done by Barry H.  You can see more of his work here:

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/BarryH_1956/

After hearing about all the gadget trade-in programs with major retailers, I wonder if there are any similar programs in the knife world?

I’m sure there are tons of lightly used knives that people would love to trade for quick cash.  Not everyone feels like doing price research and taking the time to post them on ebay or various forums.  Is anyone doing this already?

This time we have some beautiful wood scales on a smaller knife: The Spyderco Dragonfly

The wood is Hawaiian Koa:

The work was done by the Custom Scale Division in Europe.

Good prices on the Spyderco Dragonfly.

Here is something I sent them this week:

I appreciate what you are doing with firearms training.  You have brought high-quality training to the masses with high-quality production values.  You are putting out some great material.

I hope you will consider doing something similar with practical blade training in the future.  If it is produced in the same manner as your previous work, I am certain that it would be well received.  It would have a market similar to your other work, but also a much wider base.  Even if this isn’t an area of expertise, I feel confident that you would do a good job finding competent and well spoken instructors and acting as a liaison to bring their information and skills to the public.

Thanks in advance for any consideration,

Rob Robideau

More fantastic Spyderco customization work from Roman at CustomSpyderco.com:

Handle: Cocobolo Rosewood
Liners: Titanium
Back Spacer: Titanium

According to their website, work like this would cost ~$370 USD depending on the specific wood.

I’m sure we will be covering more of his work in the future…

Here are some good prices on the Spyderco Endura

According to Magpul Dynamics:

Magpul’s Art of the Precision Rifle is now available for pre-order and will be shipping to dealers and distributors mid-December. The Art of the Precision Rifle features nearly ten hours of actual live fire class instruction and additional instructional material.

Precision Rifle Expert Todd Hodnett and Magpul Dynamics Instructors Chris Costa, Travis Haley, Steve Fisher, Mike Olivella and Caylen Wojcik cover the fundamentals and “how to” aspects of long range shooting, advanced techniques and formulas, military and law enforcement sniping, precision shooting gear, and the sniper mindset.

Here is the full five-disc breakdown:

DISC ONE (142 min)
Course Part 1

• Intro
• Rifle Setup
• Zeroing
• Reticles
• Truing
• Special Features
• Ballistics
• Cold Bore vs. Clean Bore
• Trace

DISC TWO (133 min)
Course Part 2

• Broken Scope Field Zero
• Accuracy 1st Wind Formula
• Wind Course (Part 1, 2, Wrap Up)
• The One Mile Shot
• Wrap Up
• Special Features
• - Mindset

DISC THREE (126 min)
USMC Fundamentals

• The Sniper
• The USMC Sniper
• The Law Enforcement Sniper
• Tools of the Military Sniper
• Military Semi-Auto Weapons
• Data Books
• Exercises
• - Dialing and Scope Calibration
• - The Milling Exercise
• - Natural Point-of-Aim
• Quick Reference Drills
• - Rapid Bolt Manipulation
• - Tac Reload
• - Speed Reload
• - Reaction Side Bolt Manipulation

DISC FOUR (97 min)
Gear

• Bolt Action
• Semi-Automatic
• Ancillary Gear
• Rifle Optics
• Muzzle Accessories
• Support Equipment

DISC FIVE (93 min)
Bonus Features

• Additional Course Material
• Unconventional Positions
• Long Range Trajectory
• The TReMoR Reticle
• Cleaning
• Raising the Bar
• Bonus Material
• - Bloopers
• - The Whiz Wheel
• - Reading Wind
• - Formula Review
• - More from Magpul (Trailers)

I know that the vast majority of knife owners never even contemplate sharpening their knife, much less changing parts, customizing, or modifying it, but there is still a group of passionate knife owners that want to take their production knives to the next level.

Any knife enthusiasts who has been doing this for any length of time is bound to have a drawer or box full of spare parts.  Extra scales, screws, blades, etc. from parts knives.  For some of us, that pile of parts represents a significant monetary investment.

Maybe this is just a pipe dream, but I would love to see more production knife manufacturers offer individual knife parts for sale.  I can’t offer any hard numbers to convince them that they would make any money in this endeavor, but I can say with certainty that it would foster a great deal of goodwill amongst their most passionate customers.  Can you really put a price on that?

This one is even better than the last:

This amazing and beautiful custom work makes me forget for a moment that it’s a production knife!

Cost was Php 15,000(~$350 USD)

From Exotic Custom Knives and Tools

I seem to be on a small knife kick lately and I’m looking at how I can make them better.  One of the first steps is a better knife blade steel.  I’d like to get some opinions from those of you that have experience with both the ZDP-189 blades and the VG-10 blades.

• Is the ZDP-189 really that much of an upgrade?
• How much extra time do you get between sharpenings?

I’d really like to get the Spyderco Dragonfly 2 in the ZDP-189 steel, but it’s only available in the British Racing Green.  Not that I don’t like the British Racing Green color, but I would prefer Stainless Steel.  Unfortunately, the only way to end up with at Stainless Steel Spyderco Dragonfly 2 in ZDP-189 would be to switch blades.  I guess I can still sell the Dragonfly 2 British Racing Green handle with the regular VG-10 blade and really confuse someone.

I came across this work of art and had to share:

Very nice pattern on the back of the knife handle, but a bit plain on the base of the spine.  I wonder if it has any functional value like jimping?  I’d love to see some photos of the work being done.

The work was done by Exotic Custom Knives and Tools in the Phillipines

Price on the website was listed at Php 18,000 or about $415