Punisher War Zone

Interview with Jeff Knox, Owner of Prototype #1 of the M4X Punisher Knife
By: Major Ian Humphrey

This is a first of a series of interviews Dan asked me to conduct of interesting people who either own Relentless Knives or were directly involved with the Punisher War Zone movie. The first interview was with Jeff Knox from St. Louis, Missouri who has the honor of owning the first prototype M4X Punisher knife.

Jeff Knox is not only a collector, he is also a budding knife maker who has trained under the famous Gil Hibben of Hibben Knives. Jeff’s Dad is Tom Knox who is president of the National Automatic Pistol Collectors Association (NAPCA) and is the editor of Automag. He also runs the Alamo Military Collectibles website (http://alamomilitary.com). So as you can imagine, Jeff spent a lot of time at gun shows and similar events. And like his father, Jeff was always fascinated by gadgets and things that “look different.” His knife collecting started with sword canes and miscellaneous “different looking” knives and when he was 16 he was introduced to a retired CIA operative who got him interested in special operations weapons, smatchets, Fairbairn daggers and pen guns. In 1998 he discovered EBay and found an early Gil Hibben double shadow knife. At the time he had no idea the difference between one knife maker vs. another nor just how much effort goes into custom knives. To his shock and amazement he did a search for Hibben knives and discovered countless unique models. This started his work in collecting custom and production versions of Gil’s knives. After a few meetings

with Gil Hibben at his shop and various gun and knife shows, Jeff signed up for a knife making class with Gil. Jeff considers this a defining moment in his life because he finally got to appreciate the work and dedication that goes into designing and crafting a knife from a paper drawing to sharpened steel.  Jeff is now making his own knives and can be viewed on his website that also features pictures of his amazing collection (http://fightingknives.info). Jeff still prefers “different looking” knives and you will see some examples that he is currently working on. These knives are actually made from prosthetic hip and shoulder joints which create a truly unique knife!
     My travels recently took me to St. Louis, MO and I was able to meet with Jeff in person and see his amazing collection first hand. He first showed me his shop and the current batch of knives he is working on. While they are unique, they are very well designed and comfortable to hold. And I can honestly say I have never seen a knife made from a replacement hip before! Then Jeff brought me to his collection and I was practically blown off my feet. To say Jeff has an extensive collection is an understatement. He has one of the largest collections of knives (especially military) that I have ever seen. The highlight of his collection, in my opinion, is his incredible collection of CIA/OSS/SOE Spec Ops equipment. Everything from coins with tiny knife blades attached, to a knife blade designed into the sole of a shoe are all proudly displayed in Jeff’s collection. He also has a huge assortment of smatchets and Fairbairn daggers that show the history of these designs.
     For Dan’s interview, we came up with eight questions that concentrate on knife collecting and what makes an “ideal military knife.” Jeff’s background can certainly lend credit to what he has to say:
What is your favorite military knife?
   “That’s a tough question, I don’t think I can narrow it down to just 1, I would have to give a top 5 in no particular order: Cruver machete, WWII Robbins Dudley punch knife, WWII Stone knife, Fairsword & V-42.”

Tell us more about your father’s military collectables business

    “My father opened Alamo Military Collectibles (716 Lemay Ferry, St Louis, MO 63125 – 314-638-6505) about 19 years ago here in St Louis, Missouri. He is a world renowned automatic pistol expert and before the divorce had the most complete WWII German naval pocket pistol collection in the world. Post divorce he has started collecting French pistols and published the updated French Service Handguns book https://www.combatbooks.com/cgi-bin/store/detail.cgi?productid=749
He is also the life president of NAPCA (National Automatic Pistol Collectors Association) http://www.napca.net/ and is the life editor of their magazine AutoMag.”
How long have you been a knife collector?
    “I guess I started with knives when I was 10ish. With my pops background I grew up in gun shows and always liked the blades better than the guns.”
Tell us more about Bob Tronolone’s knife collection
    “All I know is that he had an incredibe site of pictures of knives. One day I emailed him about buying 1 and I ended up buying 6 or 7.”
What made you collect your first two Relentless knives? How did you find the knives? Knife show, internet, friend, etc?
    “I, like my grandpa, like gadgets so anything that is different and out of the ordinary catches my eye which is exactly why I bought my first 2 relentless knives. I found them both online; my knuckle knife came from Bob Tronolone and the other I grabbed on EBay.”
Since you obviously know knives, what do you personally carry on a daily basis?
    “What I’d like to carry and what I can carry are different things but I currently carry a Gil Hibben pro folder 2 by United cutlery and a

Hibben custom double edged belt buckle knife.”
What would you consider the "perfect" mitary/tactical knife and why?
“Unfortunately being a collector and never having been in the military or hunting I have no reference on functionality of many knives ‘in the field’. Being a knife maker and connoisseur of blades I’m not sure it has been made. I would imagine it to be incredibly multipurpose, ergonomic and tough as nails. If I were to design it I would blend some Certo in with some Knox based on the BK&T RESQ DIV TUL prototype I have in the collection.”
So that is it for the first of a series of interviews coming to relentlessknives.com and the punisherknife.com websites. When you get a chance make sure to visit both Jeff Knox’s website at http://fightingknives.info and his father’s website at http://alamomilitary.com.