This recent news of  the TSA allowing small knives onboard aircraft, has flooded the internet with misconceptions and question as to what constitutes a “small knife.” Today, with the help of a great email I received from KnifeRights.org, I’ll attempt to set the record straight.

John Pistole, a TSA administrator, recently announced the lift on their ban of small knives at an aviation conference in New York. He stated that these small knives would be limited to “retractable blades shorter than 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) and narrower than 1/2 inch at the widest point.” There would still, however, be a ban on “knives with locking blades or molded handles” and that “fixed blades are still prohibited.”

As you can see with the quotes above, this leaves a lot up to interpretation, so I was grateful when I received the recent email from Knife Rights that had images from the online TSA PDF, showing exactly what these new guidelines allow.

From the images, you can see that by “retractable,” Pistole means “folding.” If you’ve ever owned a Swiss Army Knife, you’ll know that the blades don’t lock in the open position, but are foldable. This can be dangerous when cutting, as the blade can fold back into your fingers if you’re not careful.

Obviously the TSA doesn’t believe these are just as capable of inflicting damage as a locking blade and are also still banning box cutters and razor blades. Pistole said ”there is just too much emotion involved with those.”

Knife Rights suggests that whatever knife you’re carrying through the airport, (after April 25th, 2013) be sure to measure the blade length from handle to tip, not just the sharp edge. They also mention that Leatherman “Squirt” or “Style” multi-tools are allowed.

The term “molded grip” has apparently been invented by the TSA and Knife Rights suggests that it means any handle that is ergonomic and excludes anything but slab-sided Swiss Army Knives or multi-tools.

Shortly after the announcement yesterday, one of my favorite knife companies, Emerson Knives, released an image on their Facebook page of the new “TSA Compliant”  knife, the Hummingbird. As you can see from the photo below, it’s questionable whether the TSA is going to allow this to get through. There’s no production timeline posted on the Hummingbird yet, but I’ll be waiting with baited breath for feedback on whether someone gets one through.

Just remember that the final decision on these allowable knives rests with the TSA, however “rational” their decision appears to be in this situation. I am glad to see this get through though, hopefully our Knife Rights organizations like kniferights.org and the American Knife and Tool Institute can help at getting the TSA to further relax their guidelines. It’s important to support these organizations, so please head on over to their Websites for more information and do what you can.

I assume it’s going to take quite awhile after April 25th for everyone working for the TSA to be brought up to speed, so be prepared to lose a few Swiss Army Knives until they get the memo. Kelly used to travel with small scissors for her crochet projects and got through just fine at multiple TSA checkpoints, only to have them taken by a misinformed TSA agent in Albuquerque, NM. Please remember the changes don’t go into effect until April 25, 2013, so don’t try to bring your small knife on board until then!

What does everyone think of the new guidelines? Does the Emerson Hummingbird stand a chance?

We’re stoked to have sat down with Triple Aught Design’s Global Sales Director, Raquel Rusing, last weekend while we were at the TAD + ITS Event in San Francisco, CA to talk about the new production Dauntless Knife.

Raquel gave us an exclusive walkthrough of the production Dauntless, which we have embedded here in full HD for your viewing pleasure.

The Dauntless Knife has existed in may iterations for the past eight years, when TAD first started reaching out to well known custom knife makers and commissioning them to craft their vision of the Dauntless. There have been some stunning collaborations, many of which can be seen beautifully on the Dauntless Archive, a Website devoted to cataloging each one.

With many signature aesthetics, the Dauntless customs have typically featured a double choil, 3 fullers on the handle, as well as a fuller and upper swedge on the blade. All these distinct characteristics can be found on the production Dauntless, which will be available in black or ranger green G10 and full titanium versions. It will also feature a 3.6″ S30V blade, brining the overall length to 8.2″ and is priced at $300 in G10 or $400 in titanium.

The production Dauntless felt amazing to hold and extremely lightweight. I took out my Emerson Commander, compared the heft, and definitely felt a noticeable weight difference. While I’ve never spent more on a knife than I did on my Emerson, I’m very tempted to pick up a Dauntless and put it through its paces. It certainly looks and feels like a fantastic knife with an elegant design… that I can’t wait to get dirty.

I’m very excited for TAD on this release, I know it’s been a long time coming and I could see the excitement and anticipation from everyone at TAD when they talked about the Dauntless. While no date has been set for the production Dauntless release, the photos shown here are from knives that were pulled from the production line with their blades ground, logos etched and certain serial numbers any TAD fan is sure to recognize.

Stay tuned to Triple Aught Design for more information on when the Dauntless will start shipping.

The Spyderco Dyad Jr. was a small two-bladed folding knife that was introduced for a short period in 1999. Spyderco occasionally produces what they call Sprint Runs; limited productions of previously discontinued knives. When I learned that Spyderco planned to do a Sprint Run of the Dyad Jr. in 2011, it quickly became one of the knives I was most excited for.

I had never handled a Dyad Jr. before, but it looked like it would be a really handy, practical knife, and since there would only be 1,200 made I figured I could always sell it if I didn’t like it. Well, I’ve been using mine every day for the last month, and I can already tell this little gem will be one of my favorites.

What makes this such a great knife is the efficiency of it. In terms of cutting edge per inch of handle, or cutting edge per ounce of knife, the Dyad Jr. cannot be beat. It’s a 1. ounce knife with 4.25” of cutting edge (not just blade length), all in a handle barely over 3”. That’s a hell of lot of cutting power in a very compact, lightweight package.

Dual Blades

The Dyad Jr. achieves this with its unique, two blade system. There is an extremely fine, full flat ground plain-edge VG10 steel blade, and a sturdy, hollow ground serrated sheepsfoot blade, all tucked into a blue-grey fiberglass reinforced nylon handle with a volcano grip.

The plain-edge blade is the finest I have seen from any production knife; the tip is like a heavy gauge needle, and the 2mm blade is ground so thin that it looks like it’s been sent to Tom Krein for a regrind. Let me repeat: this is an extraordinarily fine blade. Its great for detailed cutting or zipping through cardboard, which will please an experienced knife aficionado; the average clumsy user will rapidly snap the tip off. Never, ever, lend the plain-edge blade for someone to use.

For rough use, simply depress the bypass lock, flip the plain-edge blade closed, then thumb open the serrated-edge sheepsfoot blade. This blade is a full 2mm thick all the way to the tip and hollow ground for durability, so its will survive anything short of full on prying. There are 6 sets of scallops on the blade. They are nice and shallow, to cut smoothly without snagging, which is essential for a reliable high performance; overly steep serrations tend to snag in fibrous material. What I like about this blade is that there is no tip to snap off, which makes it great for loaning to a friend who needs a knife. It would also be handy if I were cutting something in a confined space where I might accidently jab something hard with the tip of my knife.

Both of these blades are great in their own right, but it’s having them both within the same lightweight handle that makes the Dyad Jr. exceptional.

Applications

For one thing, it’s a great travel knife. The small size and blue grey handle makes the knife universally friendly, even in non-knife cultures. Obviously there will be exceptions, but by and large this is not the type of knife that’s going to make people uncomfortable or worse, land your ass in a foreign jail. It’s just an eminently reasonable pocketknife, and people I’ve shown it too seem to like it.

But the real advantage for travel is the dual blades, which allow you to use one blade until it gets dull, then simply switch over and use the other, fresh blade. If you’re traveling for an extended period of time with one knife and no sharpener, the extended cutting endurance of the Dyad Jr. is a very valuable feature to have. The small size and dual blades also make it a great knife for an emergency survival tin, if that’s the sort of thing your interested in.

Redundant EDC

This extended cutting performance also makes the Dyad Jr. the ideal second knife for your every day carry. I’m a sucker for redundancy, with the cliché wisdom that “two is one, one is none” being very dear to my heart. So in general, I like to carry one large primary folder, and a smaller backup knife. The backup is primarily for using in public so as to not alarm the knife averse, but it’s also there in case I loose or destroy my primary — which is extremely unlikely, but that’s the way my brain works. So having my backup knife have two blades creates a nice, triple redundancy safety blanket that I find very reassuring.

The way I have it integrated into my EDC is to have my large primary knife (usually the C60 Ayoob) IWB, as my big task/ private use knife, while the Dyad Jr. rides in the front pocket with my Maratac AAA light. If I have a small cutting chore or need to do something in public, I use the plain-edge blade. I do not use the serrated-edge blade unless totally necessary, so that I always have one factory fresh edge with me at all times in case of emergency (seatbelts, rope, clothing.) The result is triple redundancy cutting tools, with only two knives.

Considerations

My biggest concern when looking at pictures of the knife was that it would be uncomfortable to hold, due to the spine of the folded knife digging into the hand. I am pleased to say this is not the case. Spyderco’s “design in the dark” adherence to ergonomics makes the Dyad Jr. surprisingly comfortable to hold. The spines of the knives, especially the serrated-edge sheepsfoot, are curved in such a way that they are comfortable to hold. Not the ergonomic bliss of most Spyderco knives, but more comfortable that many other pocketknives I’ve used, and certainly fine for a few minutes of use. If you expect to be whittling for hours at a time, however, I’d go with a more comfortable single blade knife like the Dragonfly.

One critique of the Dyad Jr. is that it needs either a pocket clip or a lanyard hole. Pocket clips have spoiled me, and it took a total re-arrangement of my EDC load out to allow me to carry the Dyad Jr. loose in my pocket. Obviously, this was a 1,200 piece run of a 1999 era design, so I am totally satisfied in that regard. But if this knife were ever re-introduced, it really should have a pocket clip or lanyard hole for ease and security of carry.

I would also like to see another sprint of this knife, with either a polished micarta handle, or, ideally, with the beautiful, woven glass fiber handle featured on the CF Lum. Equipped with a pocket clip, that would be a truly wonderful knife.

In conclusion, I am an especially happy Spyderco customer this year, and the Dyad Jr. is a big part of that. This is one of the rare small knives that I would feel comfortable with as a primary, because there is so much cutting edge on hand that it is unlikely that I would ever “not have enough knife.” But where the Dyad Jr. really shines is in the roll of the secondary knife, where its two useful blades offer a reassuring backup to a primary folder. That’s how I’m using mine, and I look forward to carrying my Dyad Jr. for years to come.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Mark Greenman is an ITS contributor and creator of good-kit.com

Volumes have been written about improvised weapons. There are always people who desire tools that fly below the radar at work and when traveling, especially today. Some like to dedicate a great deal of time to thinking about what they can get on a plane. Truthfully, I am more worried about my exposure on the ground between checking my bags and getting them back. Face it: if you are on a plane and there is a problem, you are more likely to be killed in the crash than by someone on the plane.

Recently I taught a pre-deployment course for the military. The students were given a homework assignment. They were told to come in the next day and tell us about one improvised weapon in their room. I was puzzled by some of the answers, which included lamps, irons, and even the TV. I asked the students to tell me which parts of the body they would target with their weapons. Most said the head. A few with the iron mentioned the head, but they said that they could also use the electrical cord to choke an attacker. My thought was that too many people have watched the Bourne movies.

Combative Anatomy

Before discussing improvised weapons, we need to understand combative anatomy, which I define as the study of how to stop interpersonal human aggression in the shortest amount of time. When we involve weapons, most people think about edged weapons and firearms. Attacking the body with these tools has a good likelihood of serious physical injury and death, but they can take some time to be effective. It’s kind of like putting a hole in a garden hose or draining an oil pan.

Body Systems and Avenues of Attack

For our purposes, the body has three main systems.

1. The central nervous system, which is comprised of the brain and spine.
2. The structural system, comprised of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
3. The circulatory system, which includes both the traditional circulatory system, comprised of the heart, arteries, and veins, as well as the respiratory system.

There are only three ways of causing trauma to these systems: burning, cutting or crushing. When it comes to burning, I like hot liquids. I have responded to many calls for service with a steaming hot cup of coffee in my hand. Burns do a fantastic job of overloading the central nervous system, causing the person to fixate on their injury instead of what is going on around them. A hot liquid in the hand is a great example of an improvised weapon: it is not carried as a weapon, but is effective none the less.

Edged Weapons and Impact Weapons

There are only two types of weapons that you can hold in your hands: edged and impact. Even a bullet is a hybrid that goes really fast, crushing bone, and cutting through tissue. As a rule, at least with handheld weapons, impact weapons seek bone and edged weapons seek flesh.

If you pick something up, hit someone with it and it does not cut them, then you have an impact weapon. If it cuts them, then it is an edged weapon.

Handheld weapons produce a concentration of force on a small surface area, increasing trauma to that area. The force begins in your feet and travels through your hands to the end of your weapon.

If you end up on the ground in a dark alley fighting for your life and start feeling around for something to use as a weapon, you are way more likely to grab an impact weapon. And that can be a good thing.

Say you pick up a rock and swing it into the head of your attacker, attacking the central nervous system. Just like watching a good show on TV, the cable does not have to go out to mess up your viewing pleasure. All that is needed is a bad signal. So, you hit him over and over until the cable goes out. Since you are in the neighborhood anyway, land a few shots to the collar bone, extending your attacks to the structural system. This can deanimate the entire arm.

The rock is a small weapon that can be easily manipulated. If you pick up something heavy, like many of the objects that the students named in their exercise, you will naturally swing wide to hit with it. The same thing goes for something long. The bigger it is, the more room you need to deploy and use it.

Rethinking Improvised Weapons

So, let’s go back to the students’ homework assignment. There is no need to be exotic. Most people overlooked things that were likely right beside the bed: keys, pens, flashlights, beer bottles, etc. How the object feels in your grip is a good indication of how effective it will be for follow up shots if your first one fails. This is especially important if you are dealing with multiple attackers.

Another funny thing about impact weapons is that you have several natural ones: feet, knees, torso, elbows, shoulders, hands, and the head. We may not be naturally equipped with the best tools to kill someone barehanded, but we are very well equipped to get them to stop attacking us right away.

Now that all of the above has been stated, my favorite weapon, even though it is not so much improvised, is the common 28-inch rattan escrima stick. I have one by every door in the house, and along the seat of every vehicle I drive in. It not only extends my striking distance, but is great for multiple attackers.

After receiving the above information, the troops looked at things a little differently. Maybe you will too.

There’s enough information out there about sharpening knives to fill an encyclopedia and in fact many books have been written on the topic.

Many of us that sit down to sharpen our cutting tools end up with a dull edge, or only occasionally achieve a nice sharp edge. While some of us can get a sharp edge consistently, we find that it doesn’t last long.

I was such an individual at one time and this article is aimed at laying a foundation for getting a consistent edge that will last.

Sticks & Stones

With so many options available for sharpening a blade, it is important to look at the 1tools used to accomplish the task, and what purpose they best serve. Soft stones, like Arkansas stones, are good for putting an initial edge on, but tend to be coarse. An edge from one of these alone usually will not last.

Diamond stones come in many grits, but will remove material fast and the diamond dust will wear off after many uses. I will usually only use these if I need to do extensive repairs to the edge of a blade. Diamond sticks are great for sharpening serrations and are handy to pack for use in the field, although they have the same drawbacks as diamond stones.

My preferred stone is a Japanese water stone, with two different grits. Mine has 300 grit on one side and 800 grit on the other. I will mainly use the 800 grit, unless I have heavily dulled my knife. They are kept in water, and during use will develop a slush of water and stone material that helps to polish the edge as you sharpen.

Technique

Once you have selected a stone, work with one side of the blade, pushing the edge across the stone with the cutting edge first. Do this until you feel a small burr develop on the opposite side of the cutting edge. This lets you know that you have removed enough material to cut a new edge. Flip the blade over and repeat the motion until a burr has been developed on this side, then move on to a finer grit to polish off the burr.

Different stones and blade materials will affect how quickly the burr will develop, so just keep feeling for the burr after every couple of strokes. A tip to ensure you are using the correct angle is to use a marker on the edge being ground. If the marker is only removed near the edge your angle is too steep, and if there is still marker near the edge it is too shallow.

You want the entire mark to be ground off and you can repeat this method to ensure a consistent angle until you get a feel for the grind of the blade.

Stropping

Stropping a blade for short periods will remove any wire edge that stones may leave behind. Stropping for longer periods will leave your blade polished, razor sharp, and will hold an edge considerably longer. I have seen a number of materials used to strop a blade, from cardboard to leather. In a pinch you can even use denim or canvas, though for safety reasons preferably not when on your body.

Leather strops can be expensive, but with a simple DIY project you can make your own for much less. Use contact cement to attach a leather belt (not the fake pressed type leather) to a block of wood, rough side out on one side and finished side out on the other. The strop may be charged with a light coat of polishing compound (stick type, not paste or liquid).

Using the strop is easy: just drag the blade across the leather away from the cutting edge (opposite of how you would use a stone) at the same angle as if you were sharpening. Most of the strop work will be on the rough side. Only use the smooth side to clean up the edge with just a couple of final passes.

If you find that you have a sharp edge that dulls out quickly, it’s because there’s a wire edge that feels sharp but folds over after a couple of uses. More stropping will remove this wire and leave you with a clean sharp edge.

Final Thoughts

Deciding whether to strop a blade to a polished razor edge depends on how you will use it. Stones leave micro serrations that will make slicing tasks easier, like cutting through rope. Stropping for long periods will polish these micro serrations away, and will make push cuts easier, like carving a spear point or shaving.

My preference for my EDC, survival, and hunting knives is to strop them to a polished razor finish, because I never know how I will need to use them. A polished edge may take a little more effort for slicing jobs, but the edge will usually last longer no matter what. You will find it more difficult to make push cuts with a blade that isn’t polished and they will tend to lose their edge faster.

I like to stay on top of keeping my tools sharp, so they won’t take as long to sharpen. By doing this you can usually get away with using a higher grit stone the first time. With a little practice you will be able to put a consistent sharp edge on your cutting tools and get the most out of them.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Adam Ziegler as a contributor on ITS Tactical. Adam is a Navy Veteran and avid outdoorsman. He spends his time enjoying hunting, hiking, fishing, camping and shooting.

Let me start off by saying I have a thing for knifes. I’m not sure if it is their simplicity, or their all around general usefulness, or maybe it just appeals to the more primitive part of my brain. One knife I own epitomizes all three of these aspects, my Strider WP tanto point.

This knife couldn’t be more simple, it is a solid piece of S30V steel with an edge, a point, and wrapped in 550 cord. It has proved itself to be exceptionally useful with it’s thick blade and sharp edge.

It has cut anything I have put before it, and also pried and bashed it’s way through jobs no knife should be asked to do and come out no worse for the wear. What could be more primitive than a sharpened hunk of steel with a piece of rope wrapped around it for a handle?

Details

Let’s start by taking a look at the knife itself.  It’s 7 3/4” of S30V steel with a 3 3/4” Americanized Tanto point blade as popularized by the late Bob Lum. One of the more impressive things about this knife if the width of the blade. It’s 1/4” across except for where it tapers down for the point, compared to most knifes this is massive.

My EDC folder is a Spyderco Endura Wave and it has a fairly thick blade at only 1/8”, half that of the Strider. The blade on the very popular Benchmade Griptillian is even thinner. With the blade being this thick it is not a problem to use this knife for more than just a little light pry work. The butt of the knife is squared off and with it’s width is well suited for occasional bashing. I have actually used the butt of this knife to hammer in tent stakes and deal with errant nails sticking out where they should not be.

The blade also has a very attractive tiger stripe pattern that is hand applied to the blade. This tiger stripe pattern has become a de facto trademark of Strider blades. Even the blades put out by Zero Tolerance that are a collaboration with Strider have this pattern. I am not entirely sure what this coating is made up of but it sure works good. I have pretty much abused this knife and it still looks brand new. Plus you cannot discount the CDI factor of tiger stripes.

Paracord Wrapping

I am also a big fan of the handle wrapped with 550 cord. The knife is available with several different colors of cord wrapping including olive drab, black, and coyote like mine. It is a double wrap pattern that Bryan demonstrated on a previous “knot of the week” segment.  This makes the handle big enough to fill the hand but not be too bulky. I do wish the handle was just a hair longer to fit my hand better but it’s girth is just about right.

It comes from Strider with a enough cord hanging off the back to put your wrist through and use as a lanyard. I actually shortened the cord on mine down significantly, I have it mounted to my IBA and the cord was too likely to get caught on things or tangled. The cord can easily be removed for anything you might need cord for including attaching the knife to a pole for use as a makeshift spear if needed. I don’t anticipate ever doing this, but it’s nice to know the capability is there.

Sheath

Finally, let’s take a look at the included sheath. It’s a custom molded piece of fairly thick Kydex made from a single sheet folded over and riveted together. It’s very rigid and wide at the opening making re-sheathing of the knife very easy without looking. The sheath is screwed to a Tek-Lock from Blade Tech for attaching to different size belts.

I’m a big fan of the Tek-Lock’s, they have an adjustable bar on the inside to make it fit different size belts but still fit snugly enough not to move around. One thing I found is that if you remove the belt adjustment bar you can barely fit the center section through a loop of PALS webbing and then reattach the adjustment bar to put it on any MOLLE gear you might have. I’m not sure if it was designed this way intentionally or not as Blade Tech also sells a separate MOLLE-Lok but this process works for me.

Mounting

The way I use this piece of kit is mounted to the front of my IBA slightly left of center line where it still can be reached with either hand, but can also be quickly grabbed by my left hand in a weapon retention scenario as a “get off me” tool. It is still easily accessible to my right hand if I ever need to get to it for more mundane (and common) tasks such as cutting or prying. I do hate carrying an expensive knife like this but good kit is seldom cheap and this knife was made to be used.

The Strider WP is one of Strider’s most inexpensive knives and is a great knife for those who need a true hard-use tool.  While it’s still not cheap, I consider it a lot of knife for the money. After using this knife for a few years I have a real craving for one of Strider’s folders but I’m still not sure about EDC’n a knife that costs that much and I refuse to buy a safe queen. Maybe one day…

Keep up the good fight
~Rob

Editor’s Note: Please join us in welcoming Rob Kroupa as an ITS Contributor. Rob is Active-Duty Air Force stationed in Alaska, a fellow Texan and ITS Plank Owner. Be sure to check out his blog at tacticaltexan.wordpress.com