May 30 2019 is a day to celebrate for the whole knife community! A landmark battle has been won in New York. Today Governor Andrew Cuomo repealed the gravity knife ban.
Even small and totally innocuous knives like these could bring charges of “Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree” under the Gravity Knife Ban
The gravity knife ban, in effect since the 1950s, made it illegal to posses any knife that could be opened by “gravity or centrifugal force” and locked into place. The intentional vagueness allowed this definition to be applied to nearly ANY folding knife. Thousands of people were arrested per year without having committed any act of violence or destruction, but rather only for owning/carrying/using humanity’s most basic and universal tool. Beyond that, statistics indicate that the law was applied unequally with bias against minorites. This sad fact makes the law not only unjust, but also immoral.
Under the Gravity Knife Ban this fixed blade could technically be legal to carry…Whereas this miniscule knife could land you in jail with hefty fines… (I’m not at all suggesting either should be restricted)
TL;DR? Here’s the Knife Thoughts video to accompany this article. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!
This article will tell you all you need to know about the Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors Association 2019 club knife. To put it simply, the knife is a Great Eastern Cutlery made Northfield #97 Allegheny in Autumn Gold Jigged bone. It’s a unique knife and an extremely fine knife. This article will explain the details on how it came about, it’s makeup and quality, and my thoughts on the knife as a whole.
Superbly built and classic looking
First off, what is the Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors Association? The AMKCA is a knife club that meets once per month to show off knives, discuss current events in the knife world, and share the passion for knives. The membership is made up of collectors who, for the vast majority, primarily collect vintage knives. Some of the members are also interested in modern knives, but traditional slipjoints and fixed blades dominate the display boxes and knife rolls. Even with a relatively small regular attendance, at around 10 members, it’s always a treasure trove of incredible knives to “chicken eye and coon finger“. The members have also welcomed me with enthusiasm each time I’ve been able to make it to a meeting, despite my attendance being often irregular. The long time members are well acquainted with Great Eastern Cutlery, despite focusing their collections on vintage knives, and some even seem to be personal friends with Bill Howard (the owner of GEC). AMKCA was founded in late 1982 and has ordered a club knife each year since 1983, and the list of their yearly club knives is a sight to be seen for any traditional knife enthusiast. I first heard of the Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors Association, funnily enough, by seeing their logo on a cornhole set at the GEC Rendezvous. I also met and spoke with a couple members at one of the Rendezvous I’ve attended, maybe 2016. However, I didn’t become a member until early 2018. Since then I’ve attended meetings as regularly as possible (as the meetings are the real value of being a member), including bringing my fiancee to the club’s very nice Christmas party, and I’ve also purchased the yearly club knives for both 2018 and 2019.
AMKCA Annual Knife List
This year’s club knife has an interesting, and somewhat confusing, story of how it came about. At the end of 2018 the club discussed getting a 2019 knife in stag on one of GEC’s new patterns, the #97 or #29. I wasn’t able to make the January meeting due to a vacation, but at the February meeting the liaison between the club and GEC said that Christine (GEC sales manager) had suggested the new #97 Allegheny large coke bottle pattern in Smooth Yellow Bone, due to a shortage of stag large enough for that pattern, and that the club needed to decide ASAP. Due to this suggestion, and the genuine fact that GEC is very accommodating in allowing the club to order a small number of knives each year (in comparison to GEC’s recent knife run quantities), the members voted to go ahead with the #97 Allegheny in Smooth Yellow Bone with the AMKCA blade etch and bear shield on Northfield trim (the Northfield trim on this pattern included polished blade and bolsters, a saber ground blade, double pull, and lined bolsters). A little while later the president of the club messaged me to let me know that GEC had offered jigged yellow bone for the handle material, and to see what I thought of that. I was all for it, as I don’t have a jigged yellow bone handled knife.
It’s not a small knife, as this comparison to the Spyderco Native shows, but like other large coke bottles it feels great in the hand
However, soon after that GEC posted a picture of the AMKCA club knife with Autumn Gold Jigged bone handles. Now, one of the things that you get to know about Great Eastern Cutlery after following them is that Bill Howard isn’t afraid to do things his own way, and their naming of handle materials, colors, and jigging patterns can be both redundant and random. For example, they often make a handle material called Antique Yellow Jigged bone that isn’t what most people would recognize as yellow (although a little yellow peaks through where the bone meets the bolsters). Still, Autumn Gold is not Antique Yellow, let alone plain yellow. So I checked with Christine and she confirmed it was Autumn Gold, but then a few days later I got the club newsletter shown below which seems to suggest that the knife would be plain yellow bone jigged! So I was very confused. Going into this month’s meeting (5/5/19) I was excited to see what version actually came to fruition.
GEC’s image showing the AMKCA 2019 club knife ready to ship
AMKCA newsletter / order form for the 2019 club knife
What I’d expect based upon the AMKCA 2019 club knife order form / newsletter above (this image seems to have originated on eBay, if it’s yours please let me know if it’s okay to use it)
As it turned out they are handled in Autumn Gold Jigged bone after all, and wow did they turn out great! First off, despite the confusion, I like the Autumn Gold color and the jigging pattern a lot more than I expected. I don’t always love jigging, particularly when the jigging pattern is uniform rather than random, but I think the large jig marks and side to side pattern fit the knife and look traditional. The color is also more caramel malty than plain brown, as some of the Autumn Gold bone I’ve seen has been. Although I still don’t think it would be my first choice, I am really happy with how the Autumn Gold jigged bone looks.
Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors Association 2019 Club Knife, Great Eastern Cutlery Northfield #97 Allegheny in Autumn Gold Jigged Bone with Pin
The fit and finish of this knife is plainly incredible. There are no visible gaps between the backspring and liners, even when held up to the light. This is not an easy feat to accomplish on a traditional knife, and even GEC made knives (the best production knives you can get) sometimes have small gaps. The transitions between the bone and bolsters are smooth with no catching, another area that really demonstrates the care put into hafting the knife. The backspring is flush with the liners in the open and closed positions. All three of these attributes are areas that collectors look at to assess the quality of the construction. One thing that some of the collectors at the AMKCA dislike about GEC is their “sunken pins”. Sunken pins are those that are spun and countersunk, rather than being flush with the handle and held in place by hammering the face of the pin to expand it creating a press fit (a process known as “peening”). Most vintage knives are peened and have flush pins. I started out by collecting GEC knives, so sunk pins are what I’m used to and don’t bother me.
With another saber ground clip point hunter, a Queen Hunter rehandled in Canvas MicartaShowing the double pull and front grindsThe pile side might be even better lookingLook at those swedges!
Online, on BladeForums and the like, many people had complaints about light springs and off center blades on the #97s. In their earlier years GEC was known for having bear trap springs, with pull strengths between 6 and 9 out of 10. However, recently some of their runs of knives have had significantly lighter pulls. My #43 Oregon Trapper had a light pull strength, but great walk and talk and snappy action. The same can be said for my #97 Allegheny. It’s spring is closer to a 4 than a 6, and definitely lighter than most GEC knives I’ve had, but it has superb walk and talk with snappy action and buttery smooth opening and closing. If you want to get a better feel for the action, make sure to watch my corresponding video review linked here and at my YouTube Channel (and don’t forget to subscribe!). My blade is nearly perfectly centered, and certainly nowhere near an issue. The knife also has absolutely no blade play. I was slightly concerned that there might be blade rap (the edge hitting the backspring) because larger knives like this sometimes overtravel when closing, but as far as I can tell there’s none to be seen on my Allegheny. Overall, the attention to detail and immaculate fit and finish make this one of the best made knives I’ve ever received.
2018 club knife #46 Whaler in Abalone with the 2019 club knife
The only issue I’ve found is a small one and could easily be missed; the blade etch is slightly doubled, as if the stencil moved minutely during the etching process. It’s difficult to see, but the bases of the letters and the bars/lines are doubled just enough to perceive when you look closely. This is definitely more of a nitpick than an issue, and not something that would matter in the least in use, but I try to be as honest as possible and don’t hide any negatives. The fact that this is the only issue with the knife honestly just gives more credence to its overall excellence.
Barely visible double etch
One last point about the knife’s construction that came as a surprise to me; the AMKCA bear shield is glued. The Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors Association has used a unique bear shield that resembles Bob Cargill’s three legged buffalo shield for decades. I like the look of the shield, but in checking inside this year’s club knife I noticed that there seemed to be no shield pin through the liner. I knew this meant that the shield was not pinned, but rather glued. I strongly dislike glued shields. In fact, GEC’s usual habit of ALWAYS pinning their shields is one of the things that signals their dedication to making knives the right way. Glued shields are a sign of a shortcut taken, as it’s much easier and less work intensive to just glue the shield into the handle material than to take the time to drill the hole, place the shield just right, and peen it into the handle liner. There’s just something less secure and classic feeling to a chemical bond holding the shield on rather than a mechanical bond. Now, I don’t think GEC did this as a shortcut; they had to do it, as there was no way they could pin the shields. It just so happened that another member of the AMKCA had a previous year’s club knife (also from GEC) with him that’s shield had fallen out! Upon further inspection of that dislodged shield, I found that the bear shields were not manufactured with pins. Aside from showing that GEC couldn’t have pinned the shields even if they’d wanted to, it also confirmed my dislike of glued shields. Heck, a glued shield is okay on a $10 Rough Ryder but it’s kept me from buying a $50 Case and it’s downright unacceptable on a $100+ GEC. Although I do like the look of the bear shield that AMKCA uses, I really dislike the fact that it must be glued and that fact honestly cheapens all the knives with that shield in my opinion.
All of GEC’s coke bottle patterns: #06 Pemberton, #45 Lumberjack, #97 Allegheny
All things considered, I’m very happy to have this knife in my collection. I really enjoy the coke bottle pattern, and this completes my trio of GEC coke bottle patterns they’ve made so far. If you’d like to learn more about the coke bottle pattern you can check out my article on the GEC #06 Pemberton. It’s a rare, unique, and extremely well made knife. It also represents the time I’ve spent at the Allegheny Mountain Knife Collectors club. I have decided to collect the GEC Rendezvous Special knives and the AMKCA Club knives, and I’m glad this club knife came together so well despite the confusion. If you’re interested in a Coke Bottle Hunter pattern knife, you won’t go wrong with a Great Eastern Cutlery #97 Allegheny. If you’d like to get one for yourself you can find several versions at a few of my favorite knife dealers: Blue Creek Cutlery, JSR Sports and More, and Traditional Pocket Knives. These dealers all have given me great customer service. I’m not affiliated with them, but you can let them know you heard about them on Knife Thoughts… can’t hurt! Unfortunately, if you’d like to get this specific AMKCA version you’ll have to get it on the secondary market, and even that would be difficult. I hope this article has painted a full picture of the 2019 AMKCA Club Knife Great Eastern Cutlery Northfield #97 Allegheny in Autumn Gold Jigged Bone for you, and has gotten you as excited about it as I am!
It would be difficult to argue that any aspect of a knife is more important than the blade. The blade is the soul of the knife; it influences how the knife is best used, the cutting style and effectiveness of the knife, the overall aesthetic of the knife, and it can even determine the handle shape and lock style on a folding knife. Knives and knife like tools have been made for well over a million years, but the first tools most people would recognize as knives were probably made around 2,000 bce. Both stone age and early metal knife blades were usually in a dagger or leaf shape, but in the 4,000 years since man began forging metal into blades a myriad of other styles have risen to meet the innumerable cutting needs of humanity. In this article I’ll define and discuss some of the most recognizable blade shapes.
TL;DR? Check out this corresponding video from my YouTube channel!
Curved Edges
Spear Point
An extremely classic and widespread blade shape is the spear point. Spear point blade shapes can differ greatly in overall aesthetics, but they do have some specific hallmarks. The edge and spine should both curve toward the point nearer to the tip than the handle, and not continuously (like on a barong or leaf shaped blade). The curvatures of the edge and spine should be very similar, although either can be slightly more pronounced. The point should sit at or near the center line of the blade. Spear point blades can range from extremely tall or “fat” with an exaggerated curvature of the edge and spine, all the way to being extremely slender with a parallel edge and spine up until an abrupt curve to the point. I personally really enjoy the spear point for its general utility; it usually is ground to slice well but can still pierce effectively, and it offers both straight and curved edge portions. I also appreciate the relative symmetry of spear points and resulting aesthetic.
Lots of slipjoint spear points, from thin and straight to tall and bulbous
The spear point name comes from the shape of a traditional western style spear with a point protruding in line with the handle and an equal curvature of both the edge and spine (or to both edges) to the point, but that specific blade shape has become more commonly known as the dagger blade shape / grind. The dagger blade shape is more of a sub-category of spear points in which the blade is ground toward both the edge and spine (or both edges) from the centerline. Although double edged knives were ubiquitous for most of the history of humanity, they have become less common with restrictive knife laws and therefore the dagger grind has also lessened in popularity. A dagger shaped blade is more often a single edged knife with the spine side only partially ground to a false edge. Another reason for this blade shape’s falling popularity is that its grind is less well suited to the daily needs of the modern knife user, which consists more of slicing cardboard and less of fighting off attackers or wild animals. Still, the dagger blade shape is a timeless design and I find it calls back to the romanticized trappings of knights and the middle ages.
Frank B Stiletto, Cold Steel FGX Balisong, Kershaw Hinderer Decimus
Another sub-category of blade shapes that has regained popularity with the rise of Spyderco is the leaf shaped blade. I say regained because what Spyderco, and now most of the industry, calls a leaf shaped blade is very similar to the traditional barong knife and many of the lithic knives used by humans for tens of thousands of years. The leaf shaped blade differs from the spear point in that it has a continuous curve of the edge and spine, rather than a more abrupt curve toward the tip end of the blade. The leaf blade shape lends itself to many uses and is one that I have used and enjoyed quite a bit, but I don’t currently have any great examples to show.
A final sub-category of spear points is the pen blade shape. The pen blade is basically a spear point as a small secondary blade. A pen blade is always a secondary blade, and can be found on many different kinds of traditional patterns. As a secondary blade the pen blade is always smaller in size than the main blade, but they can vary in size and shape across patterns.
A group of pen blades showing a wide range of variation
Drop Point
The drop point is a blade shape with an edge that curves upward to the point at a much more pronounced angle than that at which the spine curves downward to the point. If you’ve ever heard the term “belly” used in reference to a knife edge, this pronounced curve is that characteristic. The drop point is well suited for hunting and other outdoor tasks, so many traditional American fixed blades have this blade shape. Many modern one hand opening and locking knives are drop points, although in the last few years other blade shapes including those with straight edges have gained popularity, probably because modern one hand opening and locking knives developed in large part as a more convenient replacement for carrying fixed blades. On traditional knives the drop point blade shape is most often a main blade, as on the A.G. Russell Rancher shown in the picture below, or on many of GEC’s larger trapper patterns like the #73 and #23 but it can also be a secondary blade, as on the GEC Northfield #82 stockman shown in the picture below, as well as some other traditional patterns like small jacks and whittlers.
A few drop point blades on slipjoints
A few drop points on modern folding knives (the Kershaw Thistle is a modified drop point / sheepfoot)
A couple drop point fixed blades. A modern, Steel Will Roamer R300, and a traditional, Blind Horse Knives Woodsman Pro.
Clip Point
The clip point is a widely recognized blade shape because it has become the symbol of iconic characters such as Jim Bowie, Crocodile Dundee, and Rambo. It has a curve of the edge toward the tip end of the blade, but it is characterized by a “clipped” section of the blade on the spine side from the tip toward the handle side. The curvature and length of the clipped area of the spine can vary and, along with the degree of curvature of the edge, can make for a wide range of clip point blade shapes. There are classic clip points, slender clip points, and several other variations including saber ground clip points. I like the look of clip points and have several of them. They just look plain classic to me; it’s tough to explain but they just hit me the right way. I also find them to be quite utilitarian. They offer a solid amount of belly, but still have a very useful point due to the clipped portion. However, they’re not for everyone; my fiancee HATES the look of clip points!
A variety of clip point style blades
Hawkbill / Talon / Pruner
Another very traditional blade shape that has several different names and variations is the hawkbill. The hawkbill blade shape is characterized by a concave edge with a downward pointing tip. There are many traditional knife patterns with similar blade shapes such as the pruner, karambit, and talon knives. An interesting aspect of these knives is that they often originated as agricultural tools, with the concave or downward curved edge being suited for pulling cuts commonly used in farming, gardening, etc.. However, they have come to be associated more with self defense due to their use as improvised weapons by those who didn’t have access to implements purposefully designed as weapons, such as farmers who couldn’t afford swords using sickles as weapons.
My only hawkbill blade, the Spyderco Reverse, with its superb DarkStar Gear sheath
Straight Edges
Wharncliffe
A wharncliffe has a straight edge and a spine that curves gradually down to meet the tip. Due to the more gradual curve of the spine to the edge, a wharncliffe tends to have a finer point than the proceeding two straight edged blade shapes. A wharncliffe is often a secondary blade on multi blade knives, but can also be a main blade especially on its own as a single blade. The wharncliffe is a great blade for fine work and pull cuts, and I usually prefer it as a small secondary. I like pen style two blade knives with a straight edged secondary, and a wharncliffe is probably my favorite in that role of the three listed here.
A sheepfoot has a straight edge, but the spine has a straight portion that angles downward to the tip with a rounded area connecting the two spine portions. I’m not sure I have done a great job describing that well enough that you could picture it accurately based on the description alone, but thankfully I have lots of examples to show! The sheepfoot is a well liked blade shape. It is often a secondary blade, especially on stockman patterns, but can be a main blade even on multi bladed knives. My first GEC, the knife that got me back into traditionals, was a #15 TC barlow with a single sheepfoot blade. I’ve found it to be extremely practical, despite its lack of a fine point and lack of a curved edge. I also think it looks great when manufactured with the right proportions. The sheepfoot can also another great option of a straight edged secondary blade, like on the GEC #35 Churchill or the GEC #98 Texas Camp Knife.
A coping blade is very similar to a sheepfoot, but with the connection of the two spine areas that come together having a sharp angle rather than being rounded. Coping blades are almost always secondary blades. Coping blades are often found on whittler and congress patterns. Although they can work well for small fine cuts in whittling and other similar tasks, I have often found that the angled spine of a coping blade can decrease the ergonomic comfortability of a knife, especially on a heavy user. Unfortunately, I don’t currently have a coping blade to take a close up picture but the Queen Railsplitter below has a secondary blade that is on the coping side of a sheepfoot.
Queen Railsplitter with Coping secondary blade
Tanto
The tanto blade shape is essentially the same shape as a coping blade, but with the spine and edge sides switched. A tanto has a long straight edge, sometimes with a slight continuous curve, starting from the handle that meets at an angle with another shorter edge that is angled upward and connects with the spine to form the tip. The tanto blade shape originated in Japan and was slightly different than it is commonly made now, with a less hard angle at the intersection of the two edges and an upward curved spine. The now more well known “Americanized tanto” usually has a straight or downward curved spine and a very hard angle at the intersection of the two edges. A tanto often has a hollow grind on the long edge and a flat grind on the shorter edge, for increased strength at the tip, but this is not universal. I like the tanto blade as a utility knife. It excels at opening boxes, using the angled intersection of the edges, and push cuts like those done while breaking down cardboard.
Cold Steel Micro Recon 1, Kershaw Cathode, Outdoor Edge Chasm 2.5, with varying degrees of “Americanized” tanto blade shapes
Americanized Tanto Fixed Blade, Cold Steel Kobun
Traditional Tanto, DCL Knives Kwaiken
Outliers
There are many traditional blade shapes not discussed in full above, and an endless continuum of variations between and upon the traditional blade shapes. Modern knife makers have also designed many modified versions of traditional blade shapes. A. G. Russell has contributed a great deal to the knife community over the years, and they offer an incredible resource in their Blade Shapes Encyclopedia. Although I don’t use the exact same terminology or definitions as them across the board, their site has a huge amount of helpful information.
Several blade shapes that span more than one traditional pattern or are modified from a traditional pattern
Blade shapes are designated by specific traits and how they relate to each other: edge shape, spine shape, tip height, and sometimes spine and edge angles. However, many of these traits and their relations to discrete blade shapes work more subjectively and on sliding scales, rather than as clear cut absolutes. Some of the most common curved edge blade shapes are the spear point, drop point, and clip point. Some of the most common straight edged blade shapes are the wharncliffe, sheepfoot, and coping blades. Still, sometimes a blade won’t fit these general categories and you’ll have to just look at the knife and categorize it based on its overall design and aesthetic. Yet again, another aspect of the knife hobby comes down to “you know it when you see it”!
