The Cutting Edge

The official blog of Knife Depot

Category: Knife News (page 1 of 8)

NYC’s Ban on Gravity Knives Upheld by Federal Appeals Court

Hot off the heels of a ruling by the highest court in New York State that potentially makes all assisted-opening knives illegal, a federal appeals court upheld New York City’s vague ban on gravity knives.

The case of Copeland v. Vance has been a long-running battle between Knife Rights and New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Knife Rights has challenged the gravity knife policy of New York City that allows cops to call any locking folder that can be opened with a flick an illegal gravity knife.

Knife Rights has insisted that the practice of the wrist flick is inconsistent and unconstitutional because there is no test that would allow a user to determine whether the knife is legal. The panel, however, argued that the test was constitutionally applied at least once in 2010.

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Student Suspended for ‘Doing the Right Thing’ After Bringing Knife to School

It’s another one of those what-is-this-world-coming-to stories.

An eighth grader at a middle school in Pennsylvania was suspended for three days and may face a 10-day suspension after accidentally bringing a pocket knife to school. The story wouldn’t be so shocking thanks to school policies these days, but the boy had actually done the right thing and immediately turned his knife into the principal when he realized it was in his pocket.

Doing the right thing did not matter. He was immediately suspended.

“The safety and well-being of our students and staff is paramount,” Superintendent Keith Hartbauer said to Pittsburg’s Action News 4. “We will follow our district’s policy, procedures, and solicitor’s recommendation regarding this discipline incident.”

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Spyderco Says Knife Disassembly Does Not Void Warranty

Over the years, Spyderco has made it crystal clear that if you disassemble your knife, it will void the warranty.

At one point in 2010, Spyderco marketer Kristi Hunter said it in plain terms on the Spyderco forums:

Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty. Period. There was a question about this being a “myth”. It is not a myth. It does not matter if you don’t break anything when you do it. If we can tell that a knife has been disassembled (whether it’s a FrankenSpyder or not) the warranty is technically void.

But earlier this month, Spyderco announced that disassembling your knife does not automatically void the warranty.

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Medford Launches Knife-Centric Comic Book Titled ‘Jack Knyff’

Are you looking for some way to get that youngster in your life into knives? We’ve got the thing for you.

Behold “The Adventures of Jack Knyff.”

Yes, Medford Knife and Tool has launched a brand new comic series following the tales of Jack Knyff.

The idea behind the new comic is pretty interesting. Greg Medford doesn’t just want to sell knives anymore (he still does, of course) but he wants to reach a broader audience, not just an insulated community of knife nuts.

“The whole goal is I feel like the knife industry is for naught if we can’t get kids into cutlery and into knives,” he said in a recent YouTube video. “The whole thing is about trying to get kids to engage a little and I’m hoping dads and knife customers will read it and maybe give one to a kid in their life to read.”

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PA Court Rules Switchblades Aren’t Covered Under Second Amendment

A panel of judges in the Pennsylvania Superior Court reaffirmed a ruling Thursday that says switchblades are not protected under the Second Amendment.

In a short non-precedential opinion published Thursday, the three-judge panel struck down an appeal filed by a man arrested for carrying a switchblade, also known as an automatic knife. (See the difference between a switchblade and assisted-opener here.)

On July 29, 2014, William Battle went into the Pike County Administrative Building for an appointment with a probation officer related to an incident in 2009. When Battle emptied his pockets to go through the metal detector, a deputy saw an automatic knife with a four-inch blade.

Battle was promptly arrested and charged with possession of an illegal offensive weapon.

He was found guilty in a jury trial in January 2016 and was subsequently sentenced to one to three years in jail, despite his attorney’s arguing that Pennsylvania’s criminal code (18 Pa.C.S. § 908) prohibiting the possession of offensive weapons was unconstitutional.

So he filed an appeal.

Switchblades ‘serve no common purpose’

While Battle and his attorneys acknowledge that the state law does indeed prohibit the possession of automatic knives, they argue that it conflicts with the right to bear arms laid out in the Second Amendment.

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Watch a Diver Remove a 12-inch Knife from Shark’s Head

As dive instructor Brett Johnson and his students were scuba diving off the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, he noticed a three-foot nurse shark in the sand near a hanging reef.

“I was guiding a dive and spotted the nurse shark in the sand,” he said to the local news. “Obviously something wasn’t right and I moved in for a closer look.”

That’s when he noticed the massive foot-long knife sticking out of its head.

“Once I got close enough to see what exactly was going on I hovered for a bit to think of the best approach to get the knife out,” he continued. “At that point the shark turned around and settled right below me as if asking for help.”

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Smith & Wesson to Buy Taylor Brands

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Taylor Brands has been one of the best knife companies of the last few years. Not only did the Taylor family save established brands like Schrade, Old Timer, Uncle Henry, and Imperial knives from oblivion but they made a constant effort to improve their knives through public feedback. (See the SCHF51 and SCHF52, for example.)

Now, Smith & Wesson is purchasing Taylor Brands, which also licenses the Smith & Wesson name, for $85 million in cash.

What does this mean for the knives currently under Taylor Brands? We’re not quite sure yet.

Here’s what we do know. Since Taylor Brands licensed the Smith & Wesson name for knives, it’s likely S&W wanted to keep everything under one roof while also expanding its name and portfolio.

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Spyderco Tool Used in Ongoing Effort to Free Blue Whale

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Whale entanglements are on the rise. In 2015, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 61 incidents of whale entanglements along the West Coast. That’s the most since the NOAA started keeping records in 1982.

On Monday, an 80-foot blue whale entangled in crab traps and lines attached to buoys was spotted off the coast of Orange County. Blue whales are endangered after being hunted mercilessly by whalers for decades, so it’s a shame for the whale to be stuck.

That’s where Spyderco comes into the picture.

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UK Looking to Ban the Sale of "Zombie Killer" Knives

It’s a well-known fact by now that the UK is cracking down on knives, but police officials across the pond are now taking aim at a specific type of knife: zombie killer knives.

“Zombie killer” knives or, as we like to call them, zombie apocalypse survival tools are a genre of knives that many consider novelty items. Apparently, local gangs are using these knives as status symbols or for intimidation.

Here’s more from the Independent:

Sales of so-called “zombie killer” knives, serrated weapons with long blades inspired by horror films, have led to calls for a crackdown on the marketing methods of online vendors who sell them as collectors’ items to “exterminate the undead”.

But police forces have become so concerned at the potential proliferation of the knives in big cities that steps are now being taken to introduce an outright ban on the weapons.

If you still don’t know what we’re talking about, check out this Zombie Killer War Blade Set—a best-seller here at Knife Depot.

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So those aren’t exactly the type of knives that are functional or designed for anything else other than collecting and showing your buddies. However, zombie survival tools can be quite useful for more than just “decapitating zombies.”

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Washington State’s Top Court Rules No Constitutional Right to Carry a Knife

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In a setback for knife rights advocates, Washington State’s high court upheld a ban on knives in Seattle, ruling that there is no constitutional right to carry a knife.

Wait, what?

Let’s go back to the beginning. In February 2010, Wayne Anthony Evans was pulled over for speeding in Seattle. Evans told the officer he had a sheathed kitchen knife in his pocket when the officer asked. As a result, prosecutors from Seattle charged Evans with unlawful possession of a “dangerous” knife under the city’s ordinance.

After being charged with a misdemeanor, Evans appealed the conviction claiming his constitutional rights were violated.

In 2014, the state court of appeals in Washington upheld the conviction because it concluded that kitchen knives shouldn’t be considered “arms” and therefore were not protected by the Second Amendment.

A paring knife, which may have been similar to the one Evans was carrying when he was pulled over.

A paring knife, which may have been similar to the one Evans was carrying when he was charged.

Then, a week ago, the Supreme Court of Washington State confirmed the earlier ruling that the Seattle law prohibiting the carrying of small fixed blades does not conflict with the Second Amendment.

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