moment in time they make for a very tantalizing assort-o-pack.
Techno Advances Advancements on blade opening
mechanisms, locking systems and blade steel continue to push cutlery technology forward, stimulating knife buying consumers in the process. One of the most exciting of these is the IKBS (Ikoma Korth Bearing System) for folding knives. Invented and pat- ented by Brazilian custom knifemak- ers Flavio Ikoma and Rick Lala (who uses the Korth trademark) this sys- tem uses ball bearings in the pivot of a folding knife which allows the blade to be accessed much faster and effort- lessly than a standard flat bearing. The IKBS system was first offered
on a manufactured knife by CRKT (Columbia River Knife & Tool) on a Ken Onion Knives design. The com- pany has now — at Onion’s urging — brought Ikoma into their stable of collaborators. Their first effort is the Ikoma Sampa model, a slick “gent’s tactical” that is every bit as handsome is it is techno. The Sampa is 7.25" overall with a 3.125" re-curved drop- point blade, and once you experience the IKBS opener firsthand you may never want to go back! The Ti-lock, a collaboration of cut-
lery manufacturer Chris Reeve and creative custom knifemakers Grant and Gavin Hawk, exhibits both a new blade lock design and the latest in state-of-the-art blade steel. The Ti-lock mechanism isolates the lock from the body of the knife, moving it instead to the backside of the blade where the thumb stud (ambidextrous) is lifted for disengagement. A very clever design and every bit the qual- ity you’d expect from Reeve and the father and son Hawk duo. The Ti-lock utilizes S35VN blade
steel, a new offering from Crucible industries developed in conjunction with Reeve’s expert input. Accord- ing to Reeve this steel contains the element Niobium that makes the steel tougher but easier to finish than its predecessor S30V. Although Crucible Industries has
dominated the high-end steel mar- ket, in recent years companies such as domestic producer Carpenter Tech- nology of Reading, Pa. and Bohler- Uddeholm headquartered in Vienna, Austria, are hot on their tail. Spyder- co has also been having great success with rust-free H-1 steel, manufac- tured in Japan.
Mean And Nasties When the modern day tactical
movement started in the early 1990s,
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 49
Spyderco is hot on slip joints. Two popular models are the Urban, shown at top, and UK Pen below.
These runts are direct and to the point. Shown here are Benchmade’s Sibert MPR (top) and Spyderco’s Perrin PPT (bottom).
the early iterations were called com- bat folders. This eventually gave way to the more politically correct name tactical folders, which we know to- day. For years, many of these had
If you like traditional folders, you’ll love this pair. Great Eastern’s Tidioute Lock-back Trapper (top) and KA-BAR’s Swing-guard Hunter are both limited editions.
a cookie cutter look, but as experi- mentation with blade geometry and handle shape became more prolific, the genre has evolved into knives with more aggressive, wicked looks.
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