Page 84 - Blade (February 2020)

COOL CUSTOM | BY BLADE STAFF
®
KNIFE IMAGE BY CALEB ROYER

ENS
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ON
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COMMOON SENSE KNIFE LAWW
PAVES TTHE WAY FOR MATT
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GASKILL’S WORLD WAR I
SPEC ECK
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CUSTOMM REPRO
MODEL NAME: Trench Knife
MAKER: Matt Gaskill
BLADE LENGTH: 5.5”
/
BLADE MATERIAL: 1095 carbon steel w/hamon
BLADE GRIND: Dagger
HANDLE MATERIAL: Rubberized carbon fiber
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LINERS AND HANDLE PINS: Brass
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ometi ngs must come together just right for good
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things to happen. Such is the case with Matt Gaskill’s custom KNIFE TO KNOW: Spikes on knuckle guard and skull
SWorld War I trench knife reproduction. crusher on butt are hardened
A friend of Matt’s had been after him to make a trench knife and, OVERALL LENGTH: 11”
since the enactment of HB 1935 in Texas in 2017, it is legal for an MAKER’S LIST PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $650
adult to carry any knife legal to possess anywhere in the state as long g
as the blade is not over 5.5 inches.* At 5.5 inches, the blade of Ma att’sts
knife is not over the maximum length limit. Not only is the trench knife the
“I drew up my own version of the knife and revised it with my fi rst model of the type he’s ever
friend a little,” Matt said. “The traditional trench knife had a lot t oof made, it also represents the fi rst
brass and we didn’t want to go with that.” However, to commemor te time Matt Gaskill (inset) has
applied a dagger grind to a blade.
the original, Matt made the liners and pins of brass instead. He has been making knives for
The stock-removal blade is 1095 carbon steel with a hamon and four-and-a-half years.
the handle is the new rubberized carbon fiber, in this insta ce
supplied by A.J. Composites. There’s a spike on each knuckle oof
the guard and a skull-crusher butt. The entire build of the knife e is
chronicled on Matt’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/
channel/UCgMivppcIv2eg3OJJVxp8WQ.
*There are some exceptions to the new law. For more on them visit

https://kniferights.org/knife-rights-texas-hb-1935-bottom-line/.
For more information contact Matt Gaskill on Instagram and d or
Facebook at gaskillknives, or visit his website at gaskillknives.com.
For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more visit bladem gg.
com, BLADE®’s popular Instagram page @blade_magazine, and oon
Facebook and Twitter.

82 BLADE FEBRUARY 2020