Battle Blades

Book excerpt: Greg Walker evaluates daggers, bowies, switchblades and utility blades according to their design, performance, reliability and cost. He pays tribute to the legendary designers -- Fairbairn and Sykes, Randall, Gerber, Applegate and Al Mar -- and gives you an insider's peek at the best up-and-coming bladesmiths. He examines the pros and cons of benchmade vs. custom-made and forged vs. ground blades, as well as answering questions about steels, throwing knives, bowies, bayonets, training knives and much more.