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The humble Swiss Army knife has been a staple in the multipurpose tool market since 1884. Though it's evolved over the years, it's stayed relatively the same. Victorinox has been a dominant force in the industry world wide. Others have tried to grab some of the action, yet they cannot match the quality or production. They've got over 150 years of experience, one cannot simply compete. But instead of trying to copy them, why not innovate? Create something new, and fresh, use high end materials, and give people something they'll truly want. That is what Greg Medford of Medford Knives set out to do. His answer is called ASK Knives, which is an acronym for American Service Knife.
There are many things to consider when looking to purchase a sharpening system: price, ease of use, support, and warranty, to mention a few. When doing your research, one company seems to stand out time and time again: Work Sharp. Work Sharp is well known in the industry, offering many different products to keep things sharp.
Before I get into my review, I'd like to provide a little history lesson. Work Sharp used to be owned by a parent company named Darex. The company was founded in 1973 in Beecher, Illinois. The first three initials of the DAREX name represent three generations of the Bernard family: David, Arthur, and Richard Bernard. David and his father Richard founded Darex. His grandfather Arthur Bernard, who earlier founded the Bernard Welding Company, also contributed to Darex. In 1978, Darex relocated to Ashland, Oregon. In 2012, Matthew Bernard became the fourth-generation family owner of the company. In 2020, Darex Industrial was sold, and the company rebranded to Work Sharp, now completely focused on the consumer market.
The company has been in the abrasives industry for a long time. People all over the world rely on Work Sharp to keep their knives and other gear sharp, whether at home or in the field. A popular tool in the Work Sharp lineup is the Precision Adjust. The Adjust comes in three configurations: the base model called the Adjust, the Adjust Elite, and the Professional. Today, we're checking out the company's Elite model.
Published in
Sharpening Systems
Tromping around the Cretaceous period, the Talarurus thrives. Heavily armored, with a club on its tail it was built like a tank. That was 89 million years ago, but this tough thunder lizard still roams today. Enter the Talarurus, a new knife for 2024 from the folks at Vosteed. These guys normally name their products after modern animals, but seems the company is going way back, using dinos for inspiration. Oddly enough, their new Ankylo is really short for ankylosaurus which is in the same family as the Talarurus. Anyways, enough talk about dinosaurs let talk knives.
Born and raised Minnesotan Jacob Lundquist is the designer of the Kizer Varatas. He's got a Bachelor of Science in Design, has been an Industrial Designer, CNC Machinist, Manufacturing Engineer for nearly 20 years. He's been a knife guy for a long time, and can’t remember a time where he did not have a pocketknife. In 2021 he started Qvist Bladeworks, and subsequently Jacob Lundquist Design. He feels collaborations open up the EDC world. You can be freer to experiment and design more than just knives.
What's blue, and quicker than an egg-shaped villain? No, not Sonic but another hedgehog who's stealing the spotlight! Vosteed continues to come up with creative names for their products, and this is no exception. Hedgehogs are unique critters, having many things that make it special in the animal kingdom. This new knife from the creative mind of Yue Dong, has many cool features that make it special too.
When looking for a good, guided angle system there's lots of factors involved. Quality, warranty, support, and price are just a few of the things I look for. One such system that garners my attention, and meets these criteria is Gatco Ultimate Diamond Sharpener. You know I can't review a product without digging into company history, it wouldn't be one of my reviews, right? The company's website claims they've been in business for over two decades, with the company being purchased by Bear and Sons Cutlery November 14, 2016. But that's not the whole truth, thanks to Sal Glesser from Spyderco I've learned some Gatco lore. The original system was invented by Mr. Ray Longbrake back in the late 70's. Called the "Loray" sharpener. Arthur "Lansky" Levine was a distributor of Loray's. Ray and Aruthur had a falling out and Arthur tooled up and created the "Lansky" version. John Anthon was the Sales manager for Lansky. John and Arthur had a falling out and John created GATCO and tooled up his version.
Published in
Sharpening Systems
Kansept collaborates with numerous designers, some of whom are well-known and others who are gaining recognition. One designer who has just retired from the US Coast Guard is Greg Schob, who is getting back into knife making. Greg Schob is a metal fabricator by trade, and he began making knives about 6 years ago. He enjoys making knives, leather, and anything EDC related. Greg collaborated with Kansept to make the Fenrir model.
A lot of us have a ton of gear but rarely have a good way of storing them. For a long time I have used these little Rubbermaid drawers that can be stacked, it's great for convenience sake but it can be a little unforgiving to some of my more treasured items. A nice solution is the cases made by Vault. They have an assortment of different sizes, and accessories to meet just about every need.
Products define a company, it may be their best selling item, or could be the first one they released. Examples of this would be Benchmade and its Griptilian. Spyderco and the Delica, or perhaps Buck and the famous 110. All of them defined that company and will forever by synonymous with them. When it comes to Kizer, I feel no other knife put them on the map as much as the Sheepdog. This Chris Conaway collaboration has spawned, a mini, an XL version, and many more. It's design is so popular that I feel helped define the company.
Because multitools have been around for decades there's literally hundreds to choose from. This has caused many a thread here on the forum, Facebook, or even Reddit to be created by folks needing help finding the perfect tool for their needs. With varying degrees of sizes and implements, it's a lot to sort through. Even through all that, there's folks who aren't happy with what's already out there. There are tools that are close, but don't quite check all those boxes. To solve this problem people got into modding their tools. Thanks to the community here at multitool.org and other places around the globe, people now have the means to make the perfect tool.
However, not everyone is savvy enough to modify their tool even with help. Enter in the new era of multitools, the modular design. With a modular design customers can take a tool and build it from the ground up with the tools they want. No filler or redundant tools that waste space and go unused. Don't need a can opener because you don't go camping? Leave it out in favor of an Allen key for instance. This simple idea is going to radically change the multitool landscape. The pioneer, or shall we say the first modern iteration was by Michael O'Donnell from GOAT Tools. This tool features a set of standard tools with the ability to purchase additional tools and swap them out. The GOAT has quite a following but like every tool has its pros and cons. Though not perfect it was a proof of concept, showing that a modular design could fix issues people had with customization.
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We've looked at a few higher priced sharpening systems, and I feel we need to take a look at a more affordable option. Not everyone has the dinero to drop on a professional system and that's understandable. There's a ton of systems and methods out there, all with different price points. One that really grabbed my attention was by a company named Xarilk. Xarilk says they were born from a passion for quality and innovation, specializing in crafting precision knife sharpeners. The company has not long launched their new Pro Precision Gen2 model. This update address issues with the old model as well as improvements from customer feedback. Issues are always going to pop up when consumers spend countless hours testing out a product. It's good to see companies listen to that feedback and make proper changes.
Published in
Sharpening Systems
I'm big on things that have to do with tradition, history, and carrying on a legacy. When I found out that Steamboat Sharpeners still existed, I was elated. Since seeing them pulled from local hardware stores I had figured the company had become history. After getting in touch with the folks over at Steamboat they are very much in business.
In early 2021, a family passionate about their Steamboat Quad sharpener reached out to the company in early 2021 to purchase another sharpening unit. They learned that the Steamboat Super Sharpener was for sale and saw a need for these sharpeners to remain in production. They're superior to the competition, wholly made in the United States, and affordably priced. In June 2021 they created JGRG, LLC. for the purpose of producing and marketing Steamboat Super Sharpeners.
Published in
Sharpening Systems
We love our gadgets, from pocketknives to fidget toys, they get the job done, and entertain all at the same time. Those cleaver folks at Pichi Design found a way to give us both a high-quality knife that's also fidget friendly. Till recently I've only used my job specific box cutter at work, I honestly didn't consider anything else. Over the last 6 months I've come across some very high-quality creations, and I had never considered adding a utility blade to my everyday carry.
There are quite a few options out there for camping, and outdoor eating utensils. I don't spend any time outside like I used to. I used to be into camping, mountain biking, hiking, etc. Since moving to the south of the United States I don't have much of a desire to do those things anymore, maybe it's the humidity. I did however get to play with a very cool combo tool made for such a outing called the CMB Made Knives Titanium 2 in 1 Folding Fork and Spoon Combo. Now I won't be taking this on any walks in the woods but thought this might be a great take along for my meals at work. I usually take leftovers because they save us money and most place, I go have a microwave handy. I've been taking the spoon-fork combo along with me, and this is my thoughts. Due to the super long name this product has I think I'll refer to it by its model number which is CMB-E01.
Interested in this or a different tool and still have more questions?
Why not join us over on the Multitool.org Forum where our community can help you find what you're looking for!
Join the discussion now!
Why not join us over on the Multitool.org Forum where our community can help you find what you're looking for!
Join the discussion now!
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.