The Hobbit Hole pocketknife
By 300winmag
While I enthusiastically support the other Hobbit Hole projects, I had a vague sense of dissatisfaction with “care packages” of food, snacks, sunscreen, reading material, etc. As welcome as these are to troops away from home, many times the cost of postage exceeded the value of the item. Of course, there was a million dollars of love and prayers in each shipment, but that didn’t show up on the bottom line.
I knew some form of tools, or other “durable goods” would be appreciated, too. This would give the Hobbit Hole another “product line” to send out to the troops. I started to think about what would constitute a low weight (hence, lower postage), high value item. It should be something that could last a lifetime, and perhaps have room to identify it as a Hobbit Hole “product”.
A pocketknife would be perfect, if the right one could be found. If we had unlimited funds, this would be easy. If we had unlimited funds, we’d be buying body armor, radios, fighting tomahawks, and anything else a GI could want that we could legally ship. But the Hobbit Hole has to run on a budget, so we can get the most in gifts out to the troops. But how would I ever find the “perfect” knife?
I’m a genuine geek on several subjects. Knives is one of them. I get a number of catalogs and emails from dealers all over. Actually, I get a lot of knife advertising.
99% of the stuff doesn’t interest me, especially now when money is tight. So before browsing, I always say the small prayer, "Please, God, don’t let there be any temptation in here."
I wasn’t tempted by anything in that dealer’s catalog, but my eye caught the magic word, "closeout" used with the Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT) Sampson knife. I have one in my collection, so I was familiar with the design and quality of it. My eyes just about bugged out at a price of $17 for a knife still selling for $30-$50 by other dealers.
Based on my own experience, I knew a good pocketknife is as welcome to a GI as that tube of graphite for his weapon. There is just some simple stuff you never realize you need until you are lacking it. And while it was and is wonderful to send treats and poagie bait to the troops, what we mail to a chaplain is not necessarily what we mail directly to the troops themselves.
So while the question "where do I get two dozen good pocket knives from" percolated in the back of my mind, I had a major windfall on eBay. All of a sudden, I had $650 of "found money" burning a hole in my pocket.
It was while I was pondering the pleasant problem of how to fritter away this money that the knife sale dropped in my lap, and all the pieces fit instantly. I wouldn’t be spending the money on myself, after all, I told myself.
All that was left for me to do was invite you Hobbit Hole folks to participate, which you did magnificently. The laser engraving was the icing on the cake. And the rest, as they say, is history.
As a side note, the owner of the engraving company, Highest Honor, said he was showing off the knives to other customers, and everyone was amazed and impressed by the knives, the engraving, and the group that sponsored the whole thing. Maybe we will be an inspiration to others.
The Knife
Here’s the official web page from CRKT, describing the 2004 K.I.S.S knife line.
This is what CRKT said about the Sampson, which is no longer in their product line:
After the overwhelming acceptance of CRKT’s original patented K.I.S.S.® knife, we had one common request, especially from the law enforcement community: “It’s a great knife. But we’d like one just a little bigger.” So here is Sampson’s K.I.S.S., again designed and engineered by Ed Halligan, Knifemakers’ Guild Member.
It’s just a big K.I.S.S., but one that fills the hand better, for improved control and comfort when tackling bigger cutting tasks.
The two major components—blade and frame—are still precision fine blanked for superior fit and smooth operation.The K.I.S.S. Frame Lock™ design still offers the secure, safe and strong blade lock that serves not only as part of the frame, but also as the handle itself. A thumb stud is used to one-hand open the blade, and as the blade is fully rotated open, the Frame Lock snaps crisply in behind the blade to guarantee a sound lock-up. The blade can be closed with one-hand by simply releasing the Frame Lock.
When the blades are closed onto their handle/frame, the precision fit effectively “seals” the cutting edge to the frame, even though it’s exposed. Both blade and frame are AUS 6M stainless steel and are fine bead-blast finished, as is the pocket/money clip and other hardware.
The K.I.S.S. pocket/money clip allows it to be clipped to the pocket; to a belt, or to webbing.
The Engraving Process
Laser engraving consists of tiny “pits” blasted into the metal, making a rastered image in much the same way as on a computer monitor. A coating is sprayed on the blade. The laser, coloring the inside of the “pit” black, will vaporize it. The color is fused to the metal, and becomes part of it.
The entire process is computerized, and begins with aligning the knife on the work surface. This is done with a visible red laser, and provides for precise placement.
The actual engraving is done by high-powered laser beam operating outside of the visible spectrum. The laser head scans back and forth, leaving the lettering glowing like white fire for a second before it cools. The coating is cleaned off, and I take the knives home for what I call “tuning”.
The Tuning Process
This is the part of the process I like best, because it lets me spend “quality time” with each knife. First, all of the screws are tightened, after applying thread lock to them. While CRKT makes a quality product, we discovered that the screws holding on the pocket clip sometimes loosen, so everything is checked now, just to be safe.
Then I hone each knife on a leather strop. The knives are plenty sharp as they come out of the box, but an edge can always be made sharper. A truly sharp knife edge will shine like chrome, and these edges are shiny when I finish with the strop.
Finally, the knives are put back in their original boxes. I throw away the 2002 CRKT product list, which only adds weight to packages heading overseas. Then I carefully put two foam “peanuts” in the box along with the knife. This prevents the knife from rattling in the box. I’ve learned that packages that rattle tend to attract thieves more than “quiet” ones.
The boxes are stacked on a shelf, awaiting shipment in quantities of one, two, or twenty, to our troops overseas or here at home. We also express our thanks to Free Republic veterans by offering them a Hobbit Hole knife, as a way of thanking them for their past service to our country.
Caution!
These knives are sharp! When using the one-handed technique to open and close the knife, be sure to keep your hand out of the way!
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