Good morning,

A lot of us are doing that thing now where it’s dark when we drive into work and dark when we drive home in the evening. I’m one of you. In my mind, it’s just another excuse for an early afternoon QuikTrip run. Is it gonna be a Liquid Death or a Red Bull today? It’s Monday so the odds of making the “better” choice are not high.

This was a good shop weekend. I have this truly gnarly set of mammoth ivory scales I’ve been hanging onto since Bladeshow in June. Because of the checking and surface cracks present (For those of you who aren’t in the know, apparently in mammoth ivory knife handles this is considered a desirable thing?” made me sure I was going to ruin them when I finally tried to use them, but it’s amazing what you can do with a little patience and a fresh $28 drill bit.

As far as the pattern goes, this is a Malinois. The only obvious difference is that I cut it for a brass guard rather than the usual self-guarded situation. This was a design choice that had nothing to do with the fact that the scales I used were only JUST long enough for use with a guard, and not the normal angled scale faces I do on this pattern. Blue liners. Mosaic. War wash. Tapered tang. All the usual stuff. This is not a cheap knife and it refuses to apologize.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve got something I typically only do around the holidays – a revisiting of my closely guarded 7” chef’s knife pattern, the Falco. Yes, I have opted for a hollow grind rather than a full flat grind because that’s how I like to grind my blades. As someone who cooks with an identical knife nearly every day, I assure you this pattern wants for nothing. Above all else, the blasted G10 scales I do lend themselves nicely to kitchen work, so there was no sense deviating from my usual approach. For obvious reasons, these don’t ship with sheaths.

Most of you have some sort of family obligations this weekend. Mind the hot oil, don’t forget condiments/utensils, abstain from starting arguments if you can, and pleas remember that while day-drinking during a family gathering is a sacred rite,  your BAC will still go up, and it ought to be at a nice round zero before you start the drive back home, so time your indulgence accordingly.

Stay safe,

-Alex