hava fundraiser and "that’s not a knife"

A few weeks ago, I promised to add something involving bacon to the Honored American Veterans Afield fundraiser I am running, and darned if I am not going to deliver.

This, friends, is a knife:

In fact, it is literally a pig-sticker – that is a custom-engraved Ka-Bar Johnson Adventures Baconmaker.

The blade on this thing – 1095 Cro-Van with a Rockwell hardness of 56-58 – is a quarter of an inch thick and 7.125 inches long, with the handle making its overall length 12.75, and its total weight almost a full pound. In fact, it is so long that, as you can see, I had difficulty framing it right in my lightbox. The HAVA logo is boldly engraved on one flat of the blade, and the whole thing meets my requirements for "scary sharp" out of the box.

The handle… well, honestly, I do not even know what the handle is. All the websites I looked at indicate that the standard Baconmaker comes with some kind of textured G-10 or Micarta grip panels, but this… This looks like aerated polymer, grips like non-skid, and exfoliated my palm just while I was dorking around with it while taking pictures. If you drop this knife out in the field, it will be because you let go of it, not because it slipped out of your hands, no matter how muddy, wet, or bloody those hands get.

It comes with a polyester, MOLLE-compatible belt sheath with a plastic insert inside the sheath to keep it from cutting its way out and snaps to hold the whole thing in place.

You will have to provide the pig you are turning into bacon yourself, though. I do not hunt, but I dare say a knife that long with that kind of recurve will make short work of any kind of meat-removing chores you decide to task it with.

In case you have not noticed, I am a little envious about you all being able to win this thing. I have no idea what I would do with it, but I am sure I could figure out something.

And speaking of winning things, this knife is just so awesome, it is going to get to start its own package – the "Bacon" Package. I imagine it will be joined by a few more things in the coming days, but, really, with a knife like that, what else do you need?

Remember – you get a chance to win this knife, or one of the other eleven prize packages, for every $5 you donate to HAVA, which means you could walk away with this knife for well under its MSRP and help an awesome organization to boot. Where is the downside?

[Update]  Commenter Heath adds this about the knife: 

This HAVA Baconmaker is actually a semi custom knife from Johnson Adventure Blades and KaBar. The grips are a custom option, made in collaboration with TGG Inc out of Post Falls Idaho.

Steve, from Johnson Adventure Blades, and Don from TGG INC. have been awesome supporters of HAVA over the years, and the effort they put forth in this knife is just another indication of their commitment to those who have given so much in defense of our Nation.

TGG Inc seems to do a lot of stippling of polymer handguns and grips, which is probably where the idea for the grip scales on this knife came from.  I can see why people get the stippling done…  Thanks for the info!  [/Update]