In 1987, two gentlemen named Mike Stewart and Steven Lewis formed Blackjack Knives
in Los Angeles, CA. With the intention of importing and selling Chris
Reeve’s range of South African fixed blade knives as well as developing
their own range of knives.
Consequently, Blackjack’s first, non-Chris Reeve knife, was the
“Mamba”. These knives were designed and ground by Mike Stewart and
released in 1987 with the logos chemically etched onto the blade.
Unfortunately, the
company was poorly managed and nearly went bankrupt the same year the
Mamba was released. However, the company managed to survive its first
brush with death. As the company recovered and began to grow, Blackjack
began to expand its product line and moved their production to Seki
City, Japan where Mike’s knives were produced by the Kencrest Corporation.
However, although the Japanese-produced knives were praised for their
quality, profit margins for Blackjack were small because of the
weakness of the American Dollar against the Japanese Yen at the time.
Then, compounding matters, Mike also began having trouble with the
Japanese producers because the knives they produced sometimes differed
slightly from the prototypes sent to them.
Therefore, in 1991, Blackjack Knives moved
its production back to the United States and set operations in
Effingham, Illinois with the help of a small investment firm that had
approached Mike about investing in his company. Unfortunately, at this
point (according to the reports I have read), Mike Stewart was reduced to the level of an employee as his company became controlled by a board of directors.
Then, in 1995, the
company was indicted on federal bank fraud charges for allegedly
defrauding the Murphy Wall Street Bank and was forced to close its doors
shortly afterward. However, the company is now back in business under
the same name but, with an entirely different model line.
Very reminiscent of Bo Randall’s designs, the Blackjack Model 125 has an overall length of 9 1/2” with a 5”, Drop Point blade with a flat ground bevel and a convex ground edge, a half-choil and an extra-long ricasso made from non-stainless A2 tool steel that is hardened to 58 Rockwell.
In addition, this knife features a brass bolster with a single quillion
and a stacked leather handle with decorative washers over a partial
tang with a brass butt cap. Last, each Blackjack Model 125 is supplied
with a “top quality leather sheath” made by Sharpshooter Sheath Systems.
Like many professional hunting guides, when it comes to hunting
knives, I prefer a knife with a 5” to 6” blade (especially when
processing large game) over the more commonly preferred 4” blade length.
I also like a knife that is aesthetically pleasing to me and I
absolutely demand a blade steel that is tough as nails and will hold an edge forever (or at least until I get finished with the whole animal!).
In addition, I also like a knife with a handle that is not only
comfortable to hold and use, I like for it to look pretty as well.
However, out of all of the production knife manufacturers out there
today, VERY few of them meet these criteria! Instead, it seems to me
that the majority of today’s hunting knives look more like tactical
knives with bead blasted or coated blades and black or grey Micarta or
G10 handle slabs in place of the beautiful nickel-sliver bolsters and
exotic and burl hard woods of old.
For all these, I find the new Blackjack Model 125 to be a VERY refreshing sight for sore eyes!
To me, this knife is reminiscent of the original Bo Randal designs
and yet, the blade of the Blackjack Model 125 is not like anything Bo
ever produced. Besides being one of the prettiest blade designs I have
seen in a long time, it is also very .
Starting at the choil, the straight edge is plenty long enough for
slicing and the shape of the sweep is absolutely perfect for removing
the hide from game animals like deer, elk, caribou and moose. Also, the
subtlety curved spine combined with the long straight false edge at
first gives the impression of a California Clip Point blade design. But
upon closer examination, you can see that it is actually a Drop Point.
Very clever!
In addition, the stacked leather handle is not only ergonomically
shaped, it is super tough as well. The fact that it looks good does not
hurt my feelings any either. Plus, although I normally don’t like choils
or long ricassos, I can see where it could be useful on this knife if you felt a need to choke up on the blade for better control or more leverage.
Also, while I don’t care for brass bolsters or butt caps either
because they inevitably tarnish, I have to admit that they are a nice
compliment to the stacked leather handle and in fact, are more
appropriate than stainless steel on this particular knife design.
Last, while I really don’t like non-stainless steel blades
because they require considerably more care to keep them corrosion free
than stainless steel blades do, the A2 tool steel that the Blackjack Model 125 is made from is extremely
tough and very hard since it contains 0.95%-1.05% Carbon, 4.75%-5.5%
Chromium, 1.0% Manganese, 0.9%-1.40% Molybdenum, 0.15%-0.5% Vanadium and
0.30% Nickel.
However, with less than 10.5% Chromium, it is not a stainless steel.
So, while it does meet my criteria of being both very tough and yet hard
enough to hold and edge forever, it does not meet my requirement of
being a stainless steel. However, two out of three is not bad!
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