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Want to Help the Japanese Economy Recover? Shop at Rakuten

ECJ — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 05:22:28 +0000

You may be wondering how to help the people of Japan cope with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred March 11. You can do it by buying goods from Japanese companies online. This post tells you the best way to shop Japan via the Internet.

One idea for economic recovery that I have not seen mentioned is to shop directly with Japanese businesses online. Americans and others around the world have donated millions of dollars through various relief organizations, such as the Red Cross, and many others have traveled to Japan to volunteer their services. But, while donations of money satisfy the immediate need to get supplies to the people in the towns of the tsunami-ravaged Tohoku region, dollars can be infused into the Japanese economy long-term by shopping via the Internet from anywhere in the world at Rakuten.

Click to explore Rakuten's huge online mall

Many people outside Japan have not heard of Rakuten. It is an online shopping company. It is Japan’s equivalent of Amazon. The Japanese name “Rakuten Ichiba” translates to “Rakuten Shopping Mall,” which is exactly what it is — an aggregation of 33,000 Japanese shops and businesses. This huge online shopping site offers 60 million products. Rakuten is the second most visited site in Japan, with over 50 million registered users. In fact, this Internet shopping giant is the reason Amazon has not been able to make much headway into the Japanese market. It is estimated that one-third of households in Japan shop at Rakuten. And that says something: Japanese consumers, particularly online, are known for being finicky and demanding. Rakuten has met their needs to the point that it is now one of the top ten Internet companies in the world, and has an international presence. In addition to products, it also has its own extensive travel services site, which anyone in the world can use.

Rakuten is now actively expanding its shopping services in other markets throughout the world, including Europe and the United States. Amazon may be the largest online shopping company, but sheer size is no guarantee of quality (Microsoft sells more operating systems than any other company but no one thinks their OS is the best, and General Motors became the largest automaker in the world selling cars inferior to a number of other makes), so I would not be surprised if, in a few years, Rakuten has noticeably eroded Amazon’s market share. You can think of Rakuten as the Honda of online retailing.

What does that mean with respect to helping the Japanese economy weather the aftermath of the earthquake?

We know that the world’s economic fortunes are subject to ripple effects that transcend national boundaries. Mortgage foreclosures in the American mid-west affect the value of the Euro. The price of labor in China impacts how much Walmart pays its US workers. The Russian wheat harvest affects the price of food in Delhi and Des Moines. With respect to the world economy, Japan is a titan, boasting the third largest economy after the US and China. So any financial woes that Japan experiences as a result of the triple whammy of the earthquake, tsunami, and radiation contamination from damaged nuclear power plants will affect not only the Japanese people but people in the United States and around the world. (Already, it is projected that demand for the Prius will not be able to be met, since there are parts suppliers for the car in the affected region. And US beef exports to Japan may be hampered by damaged port facilities.) In other words, the domino effect from an economic slowdown in Japan coupled with the need to re-build infrastructure could affect your personal financial situation. So it behooves you to help your neighbor.

Thus, if you shop for Japanese goods, you can help not only Japanese businesses and consumers as they recover and re-build, but your own economy as well. The easiest (and most enjoyable) way to shop in Japan from outside Japan is Rakuten. Spend a few bucks there, get yourself some interesting, well-made Japanese products, and you’ll be helping float everyone’s boat. After all, just imagine what it would have meant to a local hardware or stationery store in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina if they had had a steady influx of customers… If they had experienced damage or hardship from the hurricane, sure, packets of freeze-dried food and blankets would have met their immediate physical needs, but long-term, it’s customers buying from businesses that sustain an economy, whether in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi or Ofunato, Japan.

You can find just about any kind of product at Rakuten, from books to ice cream to motorcycle parts. But why not get something interesting or unusual? How about:

Sake
Momotaro Jeans (maybe the best jeans in the world)
Japanese Sandals
Tea Sets
Samurai Clothes and Accessories
Edible Seaweed from Ofunato (the northeast region)

You can also try using the search field on the Rakuten homepage to search for city names in the northeast region, such as Sendai, Kamaishi, Miyako, and Kuji, in order to find stores in those cities from which to buy. Keep in mind that operations at those stores might be curtailed or slowed for awhile — but they will still appreciate the business!

Rakuten currently ships to over 50 countries (and the list is expanding) and their site has pages optimized for a number of countries, including the USA, Canada, China, France, and the UK. If you’re outside Japan, when you place an order you’ll usually be put in touch via email with the shop that sells the item to arrange a shipping method and cost. (Note that some shops offer special free international shipping promotions, or $1 international shipping.) There is a weight restriction on items shipped to the US via certain carriers, but many shops can arrange a shipping method to the US that gets around this limit.

When you first explore the site, you may wonder where to go and how to approach it, but anyone familiar with online shopping can quickly figure it out. Explore. In addition, they have a handy instructional page here.

Think of it as an adventure, man. As well as a good deed.

Here’s a testimonial from a customer in the US posted on the Rakuten site:

“I recently found Rakuten via Facebook, and boy I couldn’t be happier. As a person interested in Japanese culture, this website is great. I’ve found many things I had been looking for as well as new items that have caught my eye. The website is well laid out and very intuitive to navigate. And the search feature is one of the better ones I’ve encountered for a merchant website. And this is all from a website that isn’t set up for business in the USA. If the USA website is half as good, then it’ll be better than most merchants that I’ve purchased from. by Nick M – NJ, USA”

Hey, if Nick can do it, you can, too. And remember, you’ll be helping the cause. It all adds up.

If you have found something interesting or useful here on Best Stuff for Men, please consider making a donation, so others can benefit, too. Thanks!

Order “Mockingjay,” the Final Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy, from Barnes and Noble for a Great Discount

ECJ — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:01:43 +0000

Everyone I’ve talked to about the ”Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins raves about it. It’s intended for a young adult audience, but some of my adult friends have gotten it and proceeded to devour it in a weekend — you know, the kind of books you stay up until 3:00 a.m. reading, even though the next day is a work day. I know a number of you are eagerly anticipating the final book in the series, which is entitled Mockingjay (the first two books are The Hunger Games and Catching Fire).

So I wanted to let you know that Barnes & Noble has Mockingjay available for a great discount — almost half off the cover price, which means you get it for only $9.56. That’s a great price for a popular hardcover. You can order it by clicking here or on the cover image to the left. And, even better, you can have it shipped for FREE if you’re a member of the Barnes & Noble customer rewards program. Not a bad deal!

Also, contact your local Barnes & Noble store to find out about special “Hunger-Games”-related events.

Hey, there’s still some warm weather on tap this summer, so it’s not too late to plan ahead for some beach reading!

Click here to read a review of the book, and the series, in the N. Y. Times.

You’re welcome, Hunger Games fanatics.

Haven’t read ‘em yet? Get the first two books by clicking the images below (Barnes & Noble also currently has Catching Fire at a good discount)…

Father’s Day: Get Something Good for Your Dad (or Yourself)

ECJ — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:39:22 +0000

Here’s a wide variety of Father’s Day gift ideas. As you go through them, consider nabbing something for yourself.

Wait a minute… Get a gift for yourself for Father’s Day? Sure. When it comes to Father s Day gifts, if you get something for yourself, you know you’ll get what you want. Besides, why not celebrate your own fatherhood? You can do that even if you don’t have kids. After all, every mature man is a sort of “father”: an originator of ideas, shepherd of projects, creator of art, instigator of adventures. And if you do have kids, if you get a cool gift for yourself, you’ll be able to enjoy it along with your kids’ heartfelt (hopefully), competent (or not) gifts — their attempts to express their appreciation for your love, guidance, and encouragement.

Of course, you want to get a good gift for your own dad for Father’s Day, something that expresses your gratitude for his presence and influence in your life. I say “hopefully,” because Father’s Day can often be kind of an afterthought when it comes to parents’ days. Mother’s Day gets most of the headlines. Father’s Day seems to come in second in the popularity polls. The cliché of dad always getting a necktie for Father’s Day is a cliché because it’s true. But your dad deserves some consideration when it comes to gifts, doesn’t he? To jump-start some ideas, following are suggestions for gifts that don’t suck — things he will actually enjoy and use.

Let’s start with a classic gift idea that can’t miss: a wristwatch, and for a good price (he’ll appreciate your sensibleness). Watches are useful, stylish and, when you think about it, cool pieces of technology. (There’s a reason they’re given on important occasions such as graduation and retirement.) Every day, ChronoShark offers a new watch at the absolutely lowest price anywhere. You only get 24 hours to nab it.

I have a dedicated page to ChronoShark here). And if today’s watch deal doesn’t do it for you, there’s a good chance that tomorrow’s will — they select from the best when it comes to performance versus price. You could also try an excellent online retailer of watches: Discount Watch Store. They have thousands of watches for men, good customer service, guarantee the lowest prices on the Internet, and offer free shipping on all orders.

Polar FT7

Along the same lines as a watch, but a little more specialized and beneficial — how about a heart-rate monitor? Here’s a heart-rate monitor that’s well-reviewed: the Polar FT7. Outside magazine, among others, recommends it (“intuitive and powerful”). It has everything you need and nothing you don’t, and the price is right. Plus it’s cool-looking. Encourage your dad to achieve his fitness goals. Find the Polar FT7 at REI or Moosejaw. And if you want something more top-of-the-line, check out the Garmin Forerunner 110, which adds GPS capability to workout monitoring.

Everybody likes 007. Whether your dad is trying to get fitter or not, guys appreciate action (even if it’s vicarious), and quintessential manly action has always been carried out by James Bond. Get your dad a complete set of James Bond movies. Here’s Volume 1:

You can also find the complete collection of Bond movies on both DVD and Blu-ray at CD Universe, one of the best online sources for music and movies at good prices.

Or would he rather have a TV series? See my post on the best television series for men availale on DVD and blu-ray (for example: The Wire and Fawlty Towers).

With regard to relating to women (your mom or whoever), a good cologne is always appropriate (unless she’s got MCS, in which case there’s a whole ‘nother set of things to worry about besides smelling good). I have found only a few that seem to be universally appreciated by the opposite sex and here’s one of them: Marc Jacobs for Men. In my own informal polling, I’ve always had positive responses (I try it on at the store and ask random women if they like it). It’s also endorsed by the PUA community, and they should know, right? You can get it for an excellent discount from FragranceX.

Every guy should have at least one multitool. They’re handy and confidence-inducing. Here’s one that the editors of Outside endorsed as a practical, everyday choice: the Leatherman Squirt PS4 (can’t go wrong with anything from Leatherman). It’s got 9 tools (including pliers and scissors) in a compact form that isn’t annoying to carry around (just 2¼ inches closed). And it’s only about $40 (or less). Get it from REI. Or from Massey’s Professional Outfitters.

The sword of William Wallace

Here is something that is not a multitool. It’s a single-purpose tool: William Wallace’s sword from the movie Braveheart. Of course, this is not an actual battle sword ( for that you need to go to Swords.com or Budk), but it is an impressive 61-inch replica in high-carbon steel — the most accurate prop replica ever made of this sword. It comes with a display plaque. Inspire your dad with the formidable weapon that helped establish freedom!

Guys need a top-drawer pair of knockaround pair of shoes, whether for late-night ramblings along urban streets or stalking across frosty stubble pursuing a great telephoto shot of a wild turkey. Fortunately, Timberland has a classic pair of chukka boots that fit the bill — the Eastern Standard Chukka (that’s them above) – a vintage style based on shoes that first appeared decades ago, made with premium Horween leather, hand-finished for a rustic look, with coarse waxed cotton laces and a Vibram outsole. Intended to protect a man’s feet during diverse activities, while simultaneously making him look good. Get them from Timberland. Made in the USA.

And if you don’t think these boots are exactly your dad’s cup of tea (or you don’t know his shoe-size), then get him a gift certificate to Zappos and let him choose his preferred footwear. That goes for all the companies linked to on this page – if you’re not sure about a specific item, get a gift certificate: it always fits and is totally in style.

Kansas City Steak Company

You get hungry after a day of stomping around in your boots, swinging your sword, and when a man gets hungry, the food of choice is meat (unless he’s a vegetarian — in which case, well, get him a carrot). Anyway, if you want to treat your dad to a premium steak or other great hunk o’ beef, you can’t go wrong with the Kansas City Steak Company — one of the best online companies for steak and other meats. And of course they’re offering some good deals now — for example, get 8 Classic Steakburgers FREE with a $100 order (use code ABRG84 at checkout). And get $4.95 shipping on all orders. This makes a mouthwatering gift…

Savile Row, London

You want your dad to look good and, believe it or not, he wants to look good, so how about getting him a shirt or two from one of the most renowned shirt makers in the world: Savile Row. They offer exquisite tailoring, use the finest cottons, and carry a variety of styles (all posh). Right now, if you buy 2 shirts you can get a third for half price (through June 21st only). They also carry men’s suits, casual wear, and accessories. Which means you can get him — yes! — a tie. But Savile Row ties are pretty cool. They have a 3-month satisfaction guarantee. Shipping to the US is only $21 and is free on orders over $175. And, for the quality, their prices are quite reasonable. Click the banner below.

A laser-engraved flask makes a personalized gift

We’ve handled your dad’s steak needs but what about when he gets thirsty? I’m not talking about when he needs a bit of agua after running a 10K. No, I’m talking about when he needs a drop of something a little more flavorful. For that, he doesn’t want to carry a Camelbak. He’ll need something a bit more sophisticated: a flask. And why not get him one that’s laser-engraved with art or a message of your choosing? This will be a gift that keeps on giving. See more flasks than you can shake a stick at at the FlaskShop, including photo flasks, stainless steel, novelty flasks, leather designs, monogrammed, and martini shaker sets (which he can use while unwinding with a Bond movie).

TaylorMade R9 Driver at InTheHole Golf

Your father must have a few hobbies. Is one of them golf? If so, my commiseration. No, just kidding… My 81-year-old dad plays golf and loves it. I know he always enjoys upgrading his equipment. So why not get your dad a new club or something else from InTheHole Golf, one of the best online destinations for everything you need to play the Game of Gentlemen. Check out the TaylorMade R9 driver — an advanced, adjustable design that is getting rave reviews. Or maybe he just needs a new golf bag (consider the Ogio Nexos Stand Bag). Or simply get him a gift certificate. You can’t go wrong at InTheHole Golf. Their helpful, informative website will help you choose a great gift.

And, from now until June 20, get 10% off for Father’s Day at IntheHoleGolf — just enter code DAD at checkout.

This is not your dad.

Of course, maybe your dad’s inclination is toward a sport that’s a little more mano-a-mano (as opposed to mano-a-course-o). How about tennis? Does he need a new tennis racket? Then the place to get it for a good price, with a wide selection, is Tennis Boom. Of course, if your budget is limited you could always just go with a can of balls.

The Daiwa Saltiga Surf Spinning Reel is one of the best

Or maybe your dad prefers the contest between man and fish. A new rod or surf reel could be in order. Find a huge selection of fishing equipment, from fly-fishing to deep-sea trolling, at Cabelas, the premier outdoor recreation/adventure outfitter, all offered with excellent customer service.

Utrecht Master's Studio Easel - on sale for over $100 off

Is your dad a visual artist? Remember how I mentioned that a man can be the ”father” of art? Well, if your dad fits that category, you can get art supplies and equipment for him at Utrecht. They’ve been supplying equipment and materials for artists since 1949.

They are currently offering their Master’s Studio Easel for an excellent discount.

Click for exclusive designs at Sunglass Hut

Now that we’re coming into summer, every guy, including your dad, needs some cool shades to wear with shorts and Hawaiian shirts. You can’t get cooler (or higher quality) than Ray-Ban (and Maui Jim). See an excellent selection of Ray-Ban models, including one-of-a-kind designer styles such as those done by graphic designer and muralist Matt Moore above, at Sunglass Hut. A pair of Ray-Bans, whether wayfarers or aviators, is a can’t-miss gift.

Click to see the Droids at Wirefly

A new phone — something he can use to call you or just surf the web. The new iPhone is about to come out and the Google Nexus One is getting rave reviews. Those aren’t the only excellent phones out there — the various Droid phones are also top-of-the-line. Is it about time for your dad to have a cool communication/Web/photo/GPS machine that won’t break the bank? Find many good selections at Wirefly (such as the Droid Incredible pictured at left, or the featured model in the banner below).

Maybe your dad isn’t much of a gamer. But he could be, especially when he finds out about the cool sports games you can play on the Nintendo Wii. Or he is a gamer but he hasn’t gotten around to getting the Wii yet. Or he’s gotten a Wii but he doesn’t have Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 yet. In any event, get him one or all of these things and he’ll have fun. Include Resident Evil 4, too (also find it here). And don’t forget Super Mario Galaxy 2 (about which CNET wrote: “…the new standard against which every 3D platformer must now be judged”). You can also find the Nintendo Wii in black at Buy.com, plus a bunch of accessories.

MEZZI WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase

When you combine style, a cool gadget, and uniqueness, you’ve got an unbeatable combination for a gift. And that’s what you get with the MEZZI WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase — a well-made aluminum briefcase with a wood finish and a chrome handle from Mezzi.com. The WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase was featured on Mission Impossible 3. (Mezzi has supplied cases for a number of TV shows and films, including all those nifty silver cases on Deal or No Deal.) This briefcase is made of high-quality aluminum and has chromed corners. The black interior has 4 compartments, 3 pen/pencil holders, customizable foam, and will securely hold a laptop of up to 17 inches. It’ll keep your dad’s stuff safe with a dual keypad combination lock. And he will own the most distinctive briefcase of anyone he knows. MEZZI makes stylish, durable briefcases at sensible prices. Check the customer reviews for this case on their site. You can also read an independent review of another MEZZI case — the LuxSlim Aluminum Laptop case in black — at Gear Diary, if you want additional input about their products. But really, all you need to know is that, in addition to Mission Impossible 3, the WOODLine Aluminum Briefcase was featured on NBC’s Chuck (one of my favorite shows).

Top 30 Bestselling Signed Books at Abebooks

Does your father like to read? All readers enjoy having a book signed by the author. And you can find a whole bunch of signed editions at Abebooks. Here’s a link to the latest, most popular signed editions at Abebooks. If you don’t see an author that you know your dad likes on that page, use the Abebooks search function here to search for signed editions by authors you know he’s a fan of. It makes for a cool, one-of-a-kind gift. And here’s something especially for Father’s Day: books by father and son writing teams.

Subscribe for under $12 for a year

Then again, maybe your dad is a reader but he doesn’t like books. He likes his reading short, practical, entertaining, and with plenty of pictures. In that case, get him a subscription to a car magazine. Every guy likes car magazines. Me, I like Car & Driver best. But hey, some people swear by Road & Track and AutoWeek. Also check other titles at University Subscription Service, which is one of my favorite online discount magazine subscription services (along with Blue Dolphin). You can’t beat the prices and the service is good. And a magazine subscription is a gift that keeps on giving every month. And don’t you want to let your father how much your care about him every month?

Happy Father’s Day!

“The Empire Strikes Back” Was Released 30 Years Ago Today

ECJ — Fri, 21 May 2010 23:08:58 +0000

Arguably the most important movie sequel ever made, The Empire Strikes Back forever changed the way Hollywood does business and cemented the place of Star Wars in pop culture. As a result, it even helped spawn a religion. Not many films can claim that.

Today, on the 30th anniversary of its release, we can take a moment to look back with appreciation, plus I’ll review some cool Star-Wars-related stuff that will enable you to enjoy the dream in more depth — and maybe create your own…

Many people, me among them, think The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars films. Its character development and emotional resonance are the most satisfying, while it managed to retain the kinetic action and jaw-dropping special effects of the first film. If it had flopped, Star Wars would not have become a franchise, Industrial Light & Magic might not have evolved into the groundbreaking special f/x juggernaut that created all the Indiana Jones films, the Terminator sequels, the Back to the Future trilogy, all the Jurassic Park movies, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, many of the Star Trek films, Harry Potter, Avatar, and on and on, and we would not now have a handful of big-budget summer sequels routinely taking up the bulk of Hollywood’s attention and resources every summer. It can be argued that there would probably not be movies like Iron Man 2 if The Empire Strikes Back had not succeeded.

And the hundreds of thousands of people world wide who claim to belong to the Jedi religion would have had to find something else to believe in.

As far as artistic merit goes, there’s little question that the greatest movie sequel ever is The Godfather Part 2, but that movie, excellent as it is, did not have as wide-ranging an effect on both the popular imagination and the way the movie business was subsequently conducted as The Empire Strikes Back. The Godfather Part 2 is an impressive achievement in cinema. But Star Wars changed lives and remains an indelible part of world culture.

Update 9/21/11: Now you can get the whole 6-film Star Wars Saga as a very good blu-ray edition. (Note: in addition to the preceding link, you can find Star Wars: The Complete Saga here and here.)

I made a pilgrimage with family and friends on that night in May 1980 to see The Empire Strikes Back on a 70 mm screen.

The big 70 mm screen was at the original Century 21 theater in San Jose, California. I wanted so much to like the film and was not disappointed. (Just like Isaac Asimov, after the movie was over, I wanted to stand on my chair and shout, “Start the third part!”) I mean, the sections with Yoda on Dagobah alone were worth the price of admission. I never became a full-fledged Star Wars geek (dressing like a wookie, collecting action figures, etc.), but it did fire my movie-going enthusiasm (which has not flagged to this day).

More than ten years later, when I had a delivery business in Marin County, I would occasionally make stops at Industrial Light & Magic in San Rafael. ILM was in a modern but nondescript office park. There was no identifying info or signage on the outside of the building — just an address number and a keypad. The windows were blacked out. I guess they were concerned about hordes of devotees showing up and asking for tours if they had known what was going on behind those unmarked doors.

In 1980, I frequently read Pauline Kael’s reviews in The New Yorker, and I wondered what she would think of the film. (For those younger sorts who never heard of her, Pauline Kael was the most influential movie critic at the time, and one of the most influential critics ever, in any art.) Here’s how she summed up The Empire Strikes Back in her book, 5001 Nights at the Movies:

By far the most imaginative part of the Star Wars trilogy. This middle, bridging film is chained to an unresolved plot and doesn’t have the leaping comic-book hedonism of the 1977 Star Wars, but you can feel the love of movie magic that went into its cascading imagery. George Lucas kept the first movie hopping by cutting it into short, choppy scenes; Irvin Kershner, who directed this one, is a master of visual flow, and, joining his own kinks and obsessions to Lucas’s, he gave Empire a splendiferousness that may even have transcended what Lucas had in mind. When Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is frozen into sculpture — his face protruding from a bas-relief, the mouth open as if calling out in pain — the scene has a terrifying grandeur. The characters in this fairy-tale cliff-hanger show more depth of feeling than they had in the first film, and the music — John Williams’ variations on the Star Wars theme — seems to saturate and enrich the intensely clear images. Scenes linger in the mind: the light playing on Darth Vader’s gleaming surfaces as this metal man, who’s like a giant armored insect, fills the screen; Han Solo saving Luke’s life on the ice planet Hoth by slashing open a snow camel and warming him inside; Luke’s hand being lopped off, and his seemingly endless fall through space; Chewbacca, the Wookie, growling in grief or in comic fear, his sounds so hyper-human you couldn’t help laughing at them; the big-eared green elf Yoda, with shining ancient eyes, who pontifically instructs Luke in how to grow up wise — Yoda looks like a wonton and talks like a fortune cookie…”

I think she liked it.

In the 30 years since The Empire Strikes Back came out, new generations of viewers continue to be engaged by the magic and wonder of Star Wars. To help you remember how entertaining and engrossing you found these films, see the following video, which shows the reaction of a 4-year-old as Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke’s father. You might looked like that, too…

The Making of The Empire Strikes Back

There is a new book about the making of the movie available now – The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, by J.W. Rinzler – that you might want to check out (and consider giving to your sci-fi/movie geek friends; you can also now find it at AbeBooks used, along with other Star Wars “making of” titles). Here’s an interesting factoid: David Prowse, the actor in the Darth Vader costume, was known to be an inveterate leaker of information about the film, so, during the filming of the pivotal fight between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in the cloud city, Prowse was given scripts with dummy lines to say that had nothing to do with Vader revealing the facts of Skywalker’s parentage. Of course, James Earl Jones subsequently dubbed Darth Vader’s voice. Prowse had no idea until he saw the premiere of the film that Darth Vader was Luke’s father. “I felt ridiculous,” he said. Yeah, well, loose lips sink star destroyers, David.

And to hold up that new book, here’s something even cooler: Star Wars bookends depicting details from Jabba’s palace. These are high-quality, painstakingly-rendered bookends that feature Boba Fett and a Gamorrean Guard on one side and Han Solo frozen in carbonite with Princess Leia disguised as the bounty-hunter Boussh on the other. They’re available now from Entertainment Earth (sell out risk is high, so order soonest). They’re limited-edition, hand-numbered, with a certificate of authenticity. Of course, there’s a lot more Star Wars stuff to explore at Entertainment Earth, too.

For Nintendo GameCube

As usual here on Best Stuff for Men, I don’t discuss a topic without giving you some opportunity to further explore it or act on your curiosity. All this talk of Star Wars might have gotten you in the mood to once again visit that galaxy far, far away, so here’s a good way to do it, game-wise: Star Wars Rogue Squadron III Rebel Strike, some of which takes place on Hoth (and of course there’s a ton more Star Wars games available). And find Star Wars novels at Barnes & Noble. (Did you know that there are now well over 200 Star Wars novels covering thousands of years of story and character development that go well beyond the movies, all coordinated by LucasArts?) If you’ve never read any Star Wars novels, try the Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy, by Timothy Zahn — they have a lot of the flavor of the original movies. Or try Dave Wolverton’s The Courtship of Princess Leia, where you find out whether Leia enters into a politically-advantageous marriage for the sake of the new Republic.

Do you want to make your own movies? Who will be the next George Lucas?

Then again, perhaps you’re more of a doer — someone who wants to go beyond the entertainment aspect of all this and become a filmmaker yourself. In that case, here’s what you need for a good start…

JVC GY-HM100U 3-CCD Camcorder

One of the best cameras for the beginning movie-maker is the JVC GY-HM100U 3-CCD Camcorder, a good combination of performance and price. One of its advantages is that it’s compatible with Apple’s popular Final Cut Studio editing software.

But you can’t make a movie (well, you can, but not very well) without writing something down first. And for that, you want the most useful software for writing a screenplay. So get Final Draft 8 for PC and Mac (the links here go to NothingButSoftware, one of the most respected software retailers on the Web).

After all, someone has to be the next George Lucas. Or the first you.

So, where were you when The Empire Strikes Back came out? How old were you when you first saw it? What did you think? Leave a comment below.

Hey, Gardeners, It’s Planting Time

ECJ — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:43:12 +0000

Here you’ll find everything you need to start your garden, whether you’re growing vegetables, flowers, herbs, or a combination of plants. Here you can obtain seeds, gardening tools, containers, soil, information… Everything but a green thumb.

However, if you take advantage of the informational resources linked to below, you’ll eventually develop the green thumb, too. Check out the books and magazines on gardening and horticulture, as well as the instructional videos and the list of the best gardening websites. Everything you need to know to get your garden growing is covered here.

How one man sought to feed himself and his family on an 800-sq.-ft. urban lot

When you think about it, T. S. Eliot had April all wrong — it’s not the cruelest month; it’s the month of possibility, when the soil is warming and seeds are beginning to stir. It’s the month of renewed potential. And you can take advantage of it by getting your garden started now. Then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all summer long and into the fall (and during the winter if you do some canning or preserving). Plus your friends and neighbors will enjoy it, too, especially if you plant zucchini (which you can never eat all of).

Anyway, Eliot wasn’t much of a gardener.

And it just so happens that April is National Gardening Month. So with all that springtime momentum going for you, it’s time to get started.

First, you need something to plant, and for that Generic Seeds has you covered.

Seeds

Generic Seeds carries a wide variety of seeds — all non-GMO (genetically modified organism) – for low prices. They have vegetable seeds, herbs, and flowers. They carry heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. (Open pollination is the natural, uncontrolled way that some plants reproduce, as opposed to cross-pollination that produces hybrids. Open pollination can produce varied plants that adapt to local conditions. These plants also produce seed that can be saved and used from one generation to the next.) All of their products are guaranteed. Many start at only $1.39 for a packet that contains more seeds than you’ll usually find in commercial seed packets, and they offer free shipping on orders over $20.

Click to get Golden Bantam Open Pollinated Corn Seed from Generic Seeds

To the right is an example of one of their open-pollination varieties of corn — the Golden Bantam, which produces kernels that are tender, milky, and an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

Click here, or on the banner below to explore their site…

Generic Seeds carries over 30 varieties of tomato seeds.

Click to explore tomato varieties at Generic Seeds

More than 35 varieties of peppers….

Peppers

Carrots

6 varieties of carrots…

And more beans than you can shake an aerator at…

Bush beans and pole beans

Cimmaron Romaine Heirloom Lettuce Seeds

Check out their collection of valuable heirloom seeds:

And of course they have many varieties of flower seeds as well, along with seeds to grow an entire herb garden, including a culinary herb kit…

And to get those seeds started, you can take advantage of all their growing supplies, including domed sprouting trays…

Jiffy-Dome sprouting tray from Generic Seeds

And if you need something to actually put the seeds in to start them – i.e., dirt — or you’re going to be doing some indoor gardening, you can find potting soil here and here.

Garden Tools

To work that soil, cultivate, weed, prune, and so forth, you’ll need tools. There are a number of fine companies that make good gardening tools. One thing to look for is the use of forged stainless steel, and in that regard you can’t do any better than Corona Tools — an industry leader, setting the standard for tools for both professional and home gardeners for over 80 years. (See a video review of one of their products below.) You can find an excellent selection of Corona Tools from Sears and Buy.com for good prices, including an extendable-handle cultivator that telescopes to improve your reach and comfort (see video review of an earlier model from Corona below).

You’ll probably need a shovel to get started. Sears carries an excellent, all-purpose Craftsman long-handle, round-point shovel with a fiberglass handle that is inexpensive, versatile, and rugged:

Craftsman round-point shovel with fiberglass handle

Maybe you’re working with clay, however, so you might to start with a mattock. Here’s a rugged Craftsman mattock with a 5-pound head:

For further tilling the soil, try a spading fork, and when it comes time to start planting, you can use this versatile Corona Planting Mattock…

Click to see the Mantis Electric Mini-Tiller/Cultivator from Sears

Of course, you just might want a power rototiller:

To move dirt and stuff around, a wheelbarrow is indispensable – or better yet, a garden cart (easier to lift, dumps easily, etc.):

Lifetime Yard Cart

For that, get a Lifetime Yard Cart. It holds 10 cubic feet of soil or whatever you need to haul around — up to 650 pounds in weight. It’s got side pockets to hold tools, as well as cup holders. (You can’t beat a wheelbarrow with cup holders!) It will convert to a towable trailer and the bed lifts and tilts forward easily to dump loads.

Here are general links to the best sources of garden tools, equipment, accessories, and products on the Web:

In addition to the list of companies above, you should also spend some time browsing through the gardening section of Green and More for environmentally-friendly garden products, including composters, rain barrels, and greenhouses. If you really want to get more environmentally-friendly with your gardening — and your lifestyle in general — Green and More has what it takes.

Note: Save 10% on any order at GreenandMore.com using coupon code SPRING2011GAMCJ. Enter code at checkout. Expires 5/31/11.

Dual Batch Compost Tumbler from Gardener's Supply

Information for developing your green thumb — planting, seed starting, how to grow specific types of plants, and more

Speaking of having what it takes, I mentioned that you would be able to find here things that would help you develop a green thumb. There’s no need to be intimidated when it comes to starting a garden. There’s a ton of free info on the web, and there are magazines and books that can help you get started, solve problems, inspire you, give you new ideas, and answer your questions.

For example, if you can grow plants in Colorado’s harsh conditions, you can grow them just about anywhere. Accordingly, you should check out this series of gardening videos offered by the Daily Camera, Boulder, Colorado’s local newspaper. Carol O’Meara, a horticulturalist and agricultural extension agent at Colorado State University, tells you pretty much everything you need to know to get your garden started, including how to plant peas, spinach, lettuce, rhubarb, and horseradish. Click here to see the series. Below is an example of the videos. This one shows how to start seeds…

Carol mentions what to shop for to create your garden — tools, seeds, equipment, etc. — and you can actually find all that stuff through the links in this post. Why go out and drive all over town when you can get everything online, delivered to your door?

Here’s an article on seed starting from the Mother Earth News website. Mother Earth News is one of the premier sources of information on organic gardening, traditional skills, green living, self-sufficiency, alternative energy, home businesses, and related topics. Just about any gardener can find something useful in this publication.

List of the Best Websites On Gardening

On the web, in addition to the National Gardening Association, one of the best places for regularly-updated info on gardening is Marie Iannotti’s page at About.com: Gardening. She has put together many how-to articles.

Another site worthy of exploration is WebGarden, created by Ohio State University. They have a searchable database of plant photos, over 200 videos explaining many aspects of gardening, and 800 questions on gardening answered in their FAQ section.

You can get many of your personal questions answered by going to the Helpful Gardener Gardening Forum (a Business Week “Best of the Web” winner).

And finally, check Dave’s Garden for a vast array of articles, videos, and 253 forums on gardening.

Informative and Inspiring Gardening Magazines

In addition to Mother Earth News, there are several other excellent magazines on gardening that will inspire you and help with everything from planting to canning your produce. Click on the images to below to check them out and subscribe — often for a good discount:

Organic Gardening -- the grandaddy of organic gardening publications

For serious gardeners who want to get better

Country Gardens offers comprehensive info on a wide variety of gardening topics

Excellent photos and the info will have you saving each issue

Best Books on Gardening (tried-and-true gardening classics)

And then there are the books. There are almost as many books on gardening as there are cookbooks, but you only need three to get started. Each is a classic. Here they are (click the images):

Those three will get you started with all of the basics and more. If you live in the west, you should get Sunset’s Western Garden Book instead of the National Garden Book. It’s the go-to guide for western gardeners, from beginners to experts.

Finally, here’s a video of Manny Howard, who undertook a project to feed himself and his family for a month on what he could produce from a small plot of land in the middle of Brooklyn. He didn’t know much about gardening but he’d heard about the localization movement and decided to delve into it. He taught himself the basics, learned through trial and error, and things were looking pretty good. Then the tornado hit. That wasn’t the end, though… He wrote a book about his experience. Gardeners, and anyone who attempts to push the envelope, should find it fascinating (that’s the book’s cover at the top of this post).

Best of luck with your own empire of dirt, large or small.

You THOUGHT “The Lord of the Rings” Was Coming Out on Blu-ray Today…

ECJ — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:39:54 +0000

…but it isn’t. What is coming out are the theatrical versions of the films on blu-ray discs plus some DVDs of featurettes that have been released previously.

Unlike many other movies that have come out as “special editions” or “extended editions” (such as George Lucas’s fibroid tweaks of the original Star Wars films), the “Extended Edition” of each of the Lord of the Rings movies by Peter Jackson can be regarded as the true films, the best expression of his artistic intent. I think the majority of those who enjoy these movies would agree. The Extended Editions of the three LOTR movies are probably the best extended editions ever made. They enhance the story visually, dramatically, and descriptively.

Click for the Fellowship of the Ring movie poster

The blu-ray editions released today were not those films. They are the theatrical versions.

The case can be made, then, that we’re still waiting for The Lord of the Rings on blu-ray. Well, so be it. Gandalf worked for hundreds of years to defeat the Enemy. We can wait a couple more years for the LOTR Extended Editions to come out on blu-ray. (Rumor has it that the studio will probably release the Extended Editions just before The Hobbit premiers, which could be slated for 2011.)

(However, see the Update below.)

Just wanted to let you know in case you were thinking of buying these. And if you are thinking of buying them, you might want to rent them or stream them first (via Netflix) because critics of this blu-ray have said that the visual quality of the films is not superb. That is, visually they get about a “B” (though the audio quality in DTS HD Master Audio 6.1 gets an “A”). Good, but not great, and don’t you want “great” if you’re going to buy the blu-rays? So check them out first. You might find yourself just about as satisfied watching the upconverted DVDs on your blu-ray player. Hopefully, when the the Extended Edition of LOTR comes out on blu-ray, the visual improvement over what has been released today will be noticeable.

(Update: Well, everyone was wrong — we didn’t have to wait for The Hobbit to premier (thank goodness). The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition on blu-ray came out on June 28, 2011. And yes, it’s improved over the theatrical edition blu-ray. In addition to the preceding link, you can also find the Extended Edtion blu-ray here and here.)

Given all that, you still might want to buy the theatrical version blu-rays. So, where? Following are the best sources and prices as this is written.

Today, the best price is from Best Buy at $59.99 (and you can usually order it online and pick it up at the store). You can also get a special version from Best Buy that includes a letter opener in the shape of Anduril (Aragorn’s sword) for $74.99. Well, letter openers are handy.

Buy.com has probably the most balanced and informative review I’ve found of this blu-ray set. (On the product page, scroll down to “Expert Review.”) Buy.com has it for $70.94 today, with free shipping.

Overstock has it for $62.99. CD Universe has it for $73.99. Barnes & Noble has it for $79.99 and free shipping on orders over $25.

My take on the movies…and books

Quick summary of where I stand on the movies… I’m a fan of the books (The Lord of the Rings wasn’t selected in a poll as the 20th century’s best book for nothing, not to mention other top 10 and top 100 lists); I practically memorized them as a teen. As with many readers of Tolkien, I think the books are far superior to the movies. I suppose it’s because the intensity of the experience as a reader — the internal “cinematography” and the prolonged immersion in the epic story as you read it over a number of days — will always surpass a few hours watching someone else’s interpretation on screen. Given that, Peter Jackson’s films are good — head and shoulders and knees above any other dramatic adaptation. Still, I’ve never quite forgiven him for leaving out Tom Bombadil. That segment of the story was an integral factor in establishing the proper magical, dramatic tone. You need the part where the heroes go “into the woods” (in this case, the Old Forest) to get the ball rolling properly. I understand why Jackson left it out, sort of, but still it was a disservice to Tolkien. Bombadil is actually an archetype, the shaman-trickster-poet, a character vivid enough to have established a quasi-subversive cultural presence that has lasted to this day.

Aside from that glaring omission, the movies are high-quality entertainment. New Zealand made an acceptable stand-in for Middle Earth, though the films could probably have benefited from a cinematic visual enhancement on the order of what was done with 300, which would have produced a more luminous, ethereal, “age-of-elves” feel to the world. The acting and writing were serviceable. Legolas and Gimli are the most satisfying characters, ably played by Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies (who also did a good job as the voice of Treebeard), followed by Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Eowyn (Miranda Otto), and Pippin (Billy Boyd). Frodo-wise, there were just too many lingering close-ups of Elijah Wood giving soulful or tormented looks. Viggo Mortensen did not project enough gravitas in the part of Aragorn, who is supposed to be the stern yet uplifting representative of a time when men were at the apex of their heroism. Liv Tyler as Arwen was mostly a murmuring non-entity, though that could have been the fault of Jackson’s direction. And I could never quite see Hugo Weaving as Elrond — he’s still “Smith” from The Matrix as far as I’m concerned. The CGI was great and the battle scenes were broodingly atmospheric, gritty, and epic. The music was pretty good, though a little ponderous at times. All in all, the films were worth $7 at the theater. And I’ve watched the extended editions on DVD a number of times since. You kind of need your Lord of the Rings fix every so often. (But to mainline the experience, the books are best. You can also find thousands for sale used at AbeBooks.)

Eventually, these movies are going to look great on blu-ray. Just not the set released today.

Hey, if you haven’t read The Silmarillion yet, give it a try (that’s a map of Middle Earth at the time of The Silmarillion below). That book will help tide you over until the “real” films come out.

Map of Middle Earth from "The Silmarillion" -- the Epic History of the Elves

Thanks, Robert B. Parker (1932 – 2010)

ECJ — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:26:07 +0000

The last Spenser, Jesse Stone, and Sunny Randall novels have been written… Fortunately, there are a lot of them, and you can enjoy them for a lifetime.

Robert B. Parker was among my top ten favorite authors — I would read just about anything he wrote. I was coming of age as Parker’s iconic character, Spenser, was launching his career as a P.I. in The Godwulf Manuscript. From the first paragraph of that book, I was hooked…

Click to get a first edition of The Godwulf Manuscript from AbeBooks

“The office of the university president looked like the front parlor of a successful Victorian whorehouse. It was paneled in big squares of dark walnut, with ornately figured maroon drapes at the long windows. There was maroon carpeting and the furniture was black leather with brass studs. The office was much nicer than the classrooms; maybe I should have worn a tie.”

…and I have never stopped reading Parker’s stuff since. So, in a sense, I grew into adulthood with Spenser. And Parker’s notions of how a man could, and should act, as presented in his many novels, have informed my personal development and moral aesthetics.

Spenser — accomplished cook, sleuth, romantic, fighter, baseball fan, dog lover, sculptor, sardonic wise-ass — became an indelible character in the landscape of crime fiction. Fundamentally, Spenser was a doer. Though he could be uncertain of the right course of action, and sometimes self-castigating, Spenser was never a victim. He exemplified what it means to live on your own terms. Sometimes those terms would change — he adopted situational ethics from time to time (but don’t we all?) — but they were always formed by a fundamental sense of character and integrity. As with any fictional character, Spenser mirrored aspects of his author (Parker wrote a book on weight-lifting, for example: Training With Weights: The Athlete’s Free Weight Guide), and the arc of his life reflected at times what was going on in Parker’s own life. For example, the gradual deterioration (and subsequent rejuvenation) of Spenser’s relationship with his long-time main squeeze, Susan Silverman, reflected Parker’s difficulties in his own marriage. (About which, something I’ve always been impressed with: Parker and his wife, Joan, realized that they did not do well living together, and so after separating for a time they decided to inhabit separate floors of a large house, each thus maintaining the physical and emotional autonomy they both enjoyed, while at the same time maintaining their relationship. That is some creative, outside-the-box thinking. Who says married people have to live together? I think many couples would be much happier if they didn’t. I appreciate Parker for being an independent enough thinker to adopt that situation.)

Spenser’s romance with Susan (and it was a romance in both a chivalric and sexual sense) informed his most fundamental motivations, though it was not without tension between what he felt was right to do in his life and what he felt was best to do in his relationship — a conundrum many of us have wrestled with.

Another brilliant creation of Parker’s was the character Hawk — someone whom television and movies have never quite gotten right (though Avery Brooks wasn’t too bad). This is probably because, while Spenser is iconic, Hawk is mythological — while at the same time being one of the most palpably solid characters anybody has ever created. That’s probably why Hawk never worked on the small screen — the reader gets too strong a sense of him from the books ever to let him be confined to some actor’s performance.

Parker had a knack for creating indelible characters, from ironically self-aware crime bosses to dogs. You could almost see Spenser, Hawk, and Henry Cimoli working out at the Harbor Health Club, or figured you knew exactly the length and color of Lieutenant Quirk’s crew-cut. Parker sketched them with admirable efficiency, portraying their essence with just a few brushstrokes, rounding out the visuals with the telling ways his characters spoke and acted. As a writer, Parker epitomized the dictum show, don’t tell. In that respect, he also created sharp, memorable action scenes. In his narrative flow, action and violence could arise at any moment, without foreshadowing — just like, some might say, real life (though personally, I believe if you’re paying attention you can always have a sense of warning). But it gave his plots an edge that helped sweep one through the story, and the often violent climaxes of his books were dynamic, mini-epics of action. Here, for example, is the concise final showdown from Pale Kings and Princes, where Spenser, Hawk, and a friend who’s a state policeman take on a Colombian drug kingpin, his henchmen, and some crooked cops (warning: spoilers here, if you haven’t read the book):

The door of Esteva’s car opened and Cesar got out from the driver’s side and opened the back door. There was movement and Esteva got out of the rear. Behind him, on a short leather lead, the big Rottweiler I’d seen when I visited Emmy. Felice got out of the other front door of the Lincoln, and the three men walked toward us.

Esteva said very calmly, “Hello, pig fucker.”

“Perhaps you have me confused with someone else,” I said.

“Before I kill you,” Esteva said, “I want you to know that I’m giong to do it.”

“Or the pet cops you brought along,” I said, and jerked my head toward the cruiser.

Beside me Hawk was looking at Cesar and Cesar’s gaze was steady on Hawk. He didn’t even blink as the snow came at him. To Esteva’s left Felice was wearing his Celtics jacket over a red plaid shirt. The collar of the shirt was turned up outside the jacket. He had an excited smirk.

“Whoever has the pleasure of actually doing it,” Esteva said, “it will be me, my will.”

Behind us I could hear the police car’s door open. Two doors, one closed, the other didn’t.

“Are you ready to die, pig fucker?”

“I have promises to keep,” I said.

Esteva spoke to the dog in Spanish and let go of the leather lead. The dog sprang at my throat. Hawk shot Cesar with the .25 through his mitten. I hit the dog with a left cross and went for my gun with my right. The force of my punch turned the dog in midair and he fell in front of Cesar, and stayed there. I shot Felice as he brought his gun up from his hip pocket. Cesar stepped over the dog, going toward Hawk. Hawk shot him again with the .25. Behind me I heard Lundquist say, “State Police, freeze,” and then the boom of the shotgun and someone grunted. There was a pistol shot and another shotgun boom. Cesar staggered but stayed on his feet and got hold of Hawk’s jacket. Esteva was backing into the blizzard. Cesar had gotten his arms around Hawk. A bullet hissed through the snow and whanged off a rock to our right. I stopped and steadied and brought the Python down slowly with both hands, knees bent slightly, feet comfortably apart. Another shot plunked into the side of the van. Esteva’s blurred shape rested uncertainly on the top of my front sight. I exhaled and steadied. He was firm on the sight, his gun at arm’s length. I squeezed the trigger carefully, and the gun barrel bounced and Esteva was down. I turned toward Hawk. Cesar had bent him backward a bit. Hawk had his right hand under Cesar’s chin. He was shaking the mitten off his left hand. He seemed unhurried. Cesar bent him back further. Hawk brought the small automatic up with his left hand and placed it under Cesar’s chin and pressed up a little and pulled the trigger. Cesar jounced and then sagged forward and his hold on Hawk loosened and he slid slowly down Hawk’s body to earth, leaving a smear of bright blood the length of Hawk’s person.

Lundquist leaned against the side of the van with the shotgun held barrel-up against his hip. Captain Henry and J.D. were dead in front of him.

“Jesus,” he said.

There was blood on the front of his left thigh.

The action scenes are taut and dynamic, but what Parker especially excelled at was dialogue. No one has ever produced more entertaining and/or humorous conversation on the page (some authors are as good — Elmore Leonard comes to mind — but no one is better). Parker’s dialogue spoils you for the stilted imitation of dialogue produced by the majority of authors.

For example, here’s a little interlude from Widow’s Walk, where Spenser and his girlfriend, Susan Silverman (who has decided they should go for a bike ride along the river), pause to eat some of the “sandwiches” that Susan, ever the fastidious eater, has brought along.

… Susan took a brown paper bag out of her backpack and began to set out finger sandwiches.

“There,” Susan said. “Was that fun?”

“What would be fun about it?” I said. “We’re not even together while we’re riding.”

“You’re just afraid you’ll fall off and embarrass yourself.”

“I thought you thought I was fearless,” I said.

“About stuff that matters,” she said. “But when it doesn’t matter, you hate doing things at which you’re not accomplished.”

“Shall I lean back, Doc, and recall my childhood?”

Susan took a small bite of her egg salad sandwich. “I have all the information about you I require,” she said. “Tell me about the Nathan Smith business you’re working on.”

“There’s a lot wrong with the Nathan Smith business,” I said. “First of all, there’s someone following me.”

“Dangerous?”

“No,” I said. “It’s a what’s-he-up-to tail, rather than a try-to-kill-him tail.”

“Oh good,” Susan said. “Do they know you’ve spotted them?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “They’re still being covert. If they knew I’d made them they wouldn’t bother.”

“And you think it relates to the Nathan Smith murder?”

“Started shortly after I took the case,” I said.

“Do you know who they are?”

“They’re connected to a company called Soldiers Field Development Limited, the CEO of which is on Mary Smith’s invitation list.”

I took a second finger sandwich from the bag.

“What’s here besides bread and ham?” I said.

“Butter.”

“Butter?”

“Well, not exactly butter. I sprayed it with one of those no-calorie butter-flavored sprays. Same thing.”

“Jesus,” I said.

“Is it possible that it’s a coincidence, the surveillance and stuff? Or maybe connected to another case you were involved in? A loose end somewhere?”

“Always possible,” I said. “I leave enough loose ends. On the other hand, what do you shrinks think about coincidences?”

“They occur, but it is not a good idea to assume them.”

“That’s what we sleuths think about them, too,” I said.

And here’s a scene from Crimson Joy, in which Spenser works out at the Harbor Health Club and afterward he’s talking with his friend, Henry Cimoli, a former featherweight boxer who runs the club and is a personal trainer to rich dilettantes.

When I got through with the jump rope I was blowing my breath and soaked with sweat. I felt like a squeezed-out sponge. When I was fighting I used to be good in the late rounds. The other guy was getting arm-weary and I was still full of starch.

I was out of the shower and getting dressed when Henry came in.

“Used to be simple,” Henry said. “I’d train hard and then when I was ready, I’d go in the ring and Willie Pep or Sandy Saddler would ring my chimes for me, and I’d go home and in a few days I’d start training again.”

“That woman didn’t seem to have the killer instinct about training,” I said.

“Half the people who come in here are like that. They want to feel great and look great and not pop a sweat. That woman was bad. But the worst are the guys who always thought jocks were vulgar, you know? And then they get a physical and the doctor says they need exercise. So they come down here wearing black socks and white tennis shoes and say things like ‘this machine is rather intimidating,’ and you got to practically put their fucking hands on the handles for them. They don’t come down and scope things out a little. They don’t look at the machine and notice there’s probably only one way it can work. They don’t watch other people work out for a few minutes and see how they do it. They come in and get on the fucking equipment upside down and flap their fucking arms like a fucking cocka doodle fucking do until you go over and say, ‘Perhaps it would work better if you did it this way.’”

I was dressed by the time Henry got through and was buttoning up my shirt.

“Feel better?” I said.

Henry grinned. “On the other hand, I haven’t had any stitches in my lip lately.”

“Good point,” I said.

Parker also delved into writing westerns and, later in his career, seemingly effortlessly created two more vivid characters when he expanded his oeuvre to include New England police chief Jesse Stone and private investigator Sunny Randall. And TV finally got a Parker-based production right with the Jesse Stone movies featuring Tom Selleck. Selleck seems to me to lack the athleticism of Jesse Stone (he is a former pro baseball player) but he still manages to make the role his own in a satisfying way. In general, Parker has not translated well to the big or little screen — there is a literary, brightly-verbal quality to his inventiveness that relies so effectively on the reader’s imagination that movies of his work mostly come across as plodding or tepid. Maybe someone will someday get more of that stuff right.

What is for sure is that, on the western front, the movie adaptation of Appaloosa pretty much got it right.

By all accounts, Parker had an interesting life, and a quintessentially American one. He seems to have come to grips early-on with what it meant to live on his own terms — what it meant to even desire to do that. From an early age he wanted to be a writer and he did various things to support himself and his family (including getting a PhD in English literature and becoming a college professor) that would enable him to have time to write. Eventually, after five successful Spenser novels, he was able to quit teaching and write full-time. He said that he met his wife Joan when the two were still toddlers. They had two sons, both gay, both of whom are pursuing careers in the arts. He took up weight-lifting long before it was popular. He was disciplined, confident, literate, passionate, industrious, generous, and thougtful. He took on various social and philosophical themes in his books, but always came back to one fundamental question: what does personal autonomy mean and how do you achieve it? This is a corollary to Socates’ dictum to “Know thyself.” In that sense, from Parker’s point of view, you can decide what you want to do, how you want to live, and then discover who you are as you live it. Since each of us is a work in progress — nowhere is this more obvious than in the arc of Spenser’s fictional career — there is always going to be something new to discover, to know.

Parker was not only a success commercially; the critical response to his work was also generally favorable (not that he particularly cared). In 1989, Pulitzer Prize winner R. W. B. Lewis wrote of the Spenser novels in the N. Y. Times Book Review: “Robert B. Parker established such an elevated standard with his first four novels, through Promised Land in 1976, that it would have been virtually impossible to keep it up. The level was impressively highy, though, through five or six more titles, by which time it was clear that we were witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story.”

And Parker continued for another two decades. Not every book has been a masterpiece, of course — that would be virtually impossible — but they are all entertaining. And from the 1980s on, all have been best-sellers. What is even more telling: many of today’s younger mystery and detective fiction writers acknowledge being inspired by Parker’s work. As Harlan Coben noted in 2007: “When it comes to detective novels, 90 percent of us admit he’s an influence, and the rest of us lie about it.” Just another indication that Parker, along with his heroes Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald, was one of the top four or five writers of detective/PI fiction in the 20th century (and the 21st). As Sarah Weinman pointed out in the Los Angeles Times in January after his death: “[Parker] didn’t concern himself with looking back. Instead, he wrote, and in the process irrevocably altered American detective fiction, forging a link between classic depictions and more contemporary approaches to the form.”

There’s even been a cookbook featuring Spenser’s recipes published in Japan.

So far, 39 Spenser novels have been published, 9 Jesse Stone novels, and 6 Sunny Randall novels, not to mention westerns and miscellaneous other works, including 3 novels for young adults. (There may be more that will be published posthumously.) That means that in the genre of detective fiction alone, there are 54 novels available. If you’ve never taken the opportunity to enjoy Parker’s work, you can average reading 4 of his books a year for the next 13 years. That’s something to be grateful about.

Thank you, Robert.

The first 12 novels of the Spenser series include some of Parker’s best work. Read those and you’ll understand Spenser’s world and the accomplishment of his creator. Here they are in order of publication (and in sequence of Spenser’s life). Get them for yourself now:

Top 30 Bestselling Signed Books

The Best Zombie Books to Get You Started Enjoying the Living Dead

ECJ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:01:07 +0000

Click Zombie or he may eat your brain

Zombie stories are not just for Halloween anymore. Zombie fiction has hit the big time. Here is how to get a jump on enjoying the literature of the living dead…

I was going to begin by saying that all things zombie are enjoying a renaissance, but “renaissance” translates to “rebirth” and somehow that doesn’t seem quite appropriate. Maybe “remortaissance” would be better. Bottom line, zombie stuff of all kinds is experiencing a vogue, but zombie books especially are thriving. (Sure, the movie Zombieland is out now and doing pretty well, and George Romero’s films remain popular, but zombie novels have been sprouting up like mushrooms in recent years.) Bookstores now dedicate entire display tables to zombie fiction — a merchandising approach that, among the “monster” genre, used to be reserved only for vampires. When a sub-genre of horror receives its own dedicated shelves and end-racks in bookstores, you know it’s arrived. (Or dearly departed, as the case may be.)

Why now? Why are zombies popping up like zits on the forehead of our cultural psyche? Perhaps it’s a sign of the times. Perhaps there’s a sense of creeping destitution spreading across the land. Zombies personify and objectify anxiety. It’s no coincidence that zombie stories began to arise in the U.S. in the 1950′s, and that Night of the Living Dead struck a nerve in 1968. The government had been telling us to worry about hordes of communists on the march and Soviet nuclear weapons for two decades and then we began to suspect that something might not be quite right with our own government during the Vietnam War. Nowadays, it’s terrorism and the economy we’re supposed to be worried about — two big, amorphous threats that are hard to palpably grasp (but again, promulgated by a government that prefers its citizenry to be fearful, and therefore manipulable). In contrast to theoretical threats, it’s easy to spot the menace of a zombie shambling toward you. You feel somehow better when you can actually see the threat.

Alternatively, maybe zombies fascinate and horrify us because they’ve got one foot in the grave — as do each of us. But with zombies it’s objectified: our fate is standing there for us to see. I mean, they’re already dead. On the other hand, maybe we like them because they want us so badly (albeit only for our bodies), and everybody wants to be wanted. (“Brains!”)

Zombies are also perversely reassuring because they give us something tangible to fight. And not something too tough — they’re sorta easy to kill. There’s something satisfying about mowing them down like nine-pins. A zombie problem is simple and straightforward to solve. You just cut off the head. Or set it on fire. Any rube with a machete, a chain saw, or lighter fluid and a match can take on a zombie. Afterwards, you go on about your business. It’s comforting and convenient.

So, what are the best books to launch you successfully into this grisly yet fun genre? (And what about zombie fashion?)

It was the book The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, by Max Brooks that really got the ball rolling in the arena of zombie books in 2003. It was a sleeper hit, and just a few days ago the publisher announced that the book had passed 1 million copies in print. That’s reassuring. It’s good to know so many people are up to speed on zombie eradication procedures. Brooks’s book — more of a how-to guide than a story — managed to pave the way for the plethora of undead novels that followed.

I admit, I haven’t gotten into a great deal of zombie books yet (movies are another story). I’m still sort of a vampire guy. But you know who has gotten into them? My GF (Wonder Woman). Wonder Woman has read a ton of zombie books — a ton. She is also smart, well-read, picky, and a writer herself, so if she likes a book, it’s gotta be good. I asked for her picks of the top 5 zombie novels of all time. She gave me 6 (she couldn’t narrow it to 5). I used her recommendations as a jumping-off point for the reviews that follow. These books will enable you to begin a rewarding journey into the world of ambulatory rotting flesh:

World War Z is Max Brooks’s wildly popular follow-up to The Zombie Survival Guide. It spent 4 weeks on the N. Y. Times Best- Seller list. It even has a pretty extensive Wikipedia page. It is known not only for its engrossing narrative but for its stylistic innovation of presenting the story as a series of oral histories of the war against the zombies — the one that nearly made humanity extinct.

If you like the type of zombie scenario envisioned by George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead; Dawn of the Dead) then Day by Day Armageddon, by J. L. Bourne, should offer just the kind of zombified world you’ll relish. Written by an active-duty military officer, this story has been described by New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor (The Last Patriot) as “…hands down the best zombie book I have ever read.” Gabrielle Faust, on Fearzone.com said: “It is a unique anthropological and psychological study on the individual’s ability to adapt…” That may be, but don’t worry, the entertainment factor is anything but academic: it’s been described as “gripping, chilling, raw, and crazed.” Oh yes — there’s a sequel coming along, too: Beyond Exile.

Eden, by Tony Monchinski, is praised particularly for the quality of the characters created and for the tale of a tragic hero in a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun by ravenous brain-eaters. One interesting fact about this book is that it was originally self-published by Monchinski and it found an audience and was eventually picked up by Permuted Press, publishers of horror, zombies, science fiction, and apocalyptic fantasy. (Imagine being an editor there.) That brings me to one other point — some reviewers have pointed out that this book has a fair amount of typos and whatnot. Not that it spoils the story, but if you’re obsessive about good copy-editing, you might get a tad annoyed at times. But you’re not like that, are you? Zombies will still relish eating your internal organs, whether you’re a good speller or not.

Z. A. Recht’s books have been described as “gripping you in a way you have not been gripped before.” Hmm. See what all the fuss is about with the first book in his series, Plague of the Dead (the Morningstar Strain). It’s a well-paced story, with good action writing and all the zombie high- (and low-) points you could wish for. This book was selected in July, 2009 as the ”Zombie Book of the Month” by Midnightpodcast.com. It will be followed by Thunder and Ashes. An interesting thing to note is that Z. A. Recht has demonstrated a willingness to respond to online customer reviews, even negative ones, for Plague of the Dead. So, unlike his villains, he’s a gracious and thoughtful fellow.

Down the Road: On the Last Day, by Bowie Ibarra, is actually the followup to his first “Down the Road” book. It’s probably the better of the two, and stands alone fine. For those who like their horror graphic, you’ll find it here. Some sex, too, which you don’t always get in zombie tales. And there’s a story element about the U. N. setting up a new government in a zombie-ravaged world and how a small Texas town stands up to the “one-worlders.” Some good stuff, right there! You also get musings on the benefits of gun ownership — not an uncommon theme among zombie cognoscenti. But again, plenty of graphic, intestine-pulling gore and action.

Kim Paffenroth’s Dying to Live: A Novel of Life Among the Undead could be considered, as one reviewer put it, “…the philosopher’s guide to existence after a zombie invasion.” If that philosopher has to regularly drive sharp objects into zombie skulls, that is. This book has been called “disturbingly brilliant in its realism,” and that reading it is like “eating scary candy.” Paffenroth brings a background as a religious studies professor to this tale of a mostly-lone survivor in a horrifically-changed world. So you get some religion and some allusions to Paradise Lost along with the mayhem. On Fearzone.com, Gabrielle Faust writes that Dying to Live is “by far the best zombie novel I have ever read!”

(For the sake of thoroughness, I should also mention Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which has been loitering on the best-seller lists for the last several months. It is a goofy parody, having little enough to do with the actual reality of animated corpses. It is a silly book.)

So, there you have it: an undead reading list of which to be proud. This will get you started in style in the expanding world of zombie gore and lore. Just the sort of stuff to be reading now that the nights are getting longer…and longer…an–

Oh, yes, what about zombie fashion? Time for T-shirts…

Zombie -- click to see him on Zazzle

…Which are a little different than books (but not too much, because they’ve got stuff written on them). First, we have this charming guy:

He’s a zombie, of course, with all the malevolent motivation and putrefaction that that implies. He’s just a bit more cheerful and optimistic about it than most. That is, he still wants to eat your spleen – and so much the better if you’re alive and twitching like a cheerleader’s pom-pom as he does — it’s just that he pursues his zombie business with a little more zest and verve than your run-of-the-mill reanimated character.

He wants to be your peep. Take his likeness into your daily life as a reminder that the world is always decaying slightly around the edges. Smile at that and you can smile at anything.

T-shirts with Zombie — get ‘em before they get you…

Zombie can crump by ericj9999
Shop for shirts online at Zazzle

Zombie lost an arm. But he found some pie. by ericj9999
Shop for a shirt on zazzle.com

Next, Zombie will eat your foot by ericj9999
Make a custom tee shirt online at zazzle

There are a lot more designs and pictures of Zombie — all customizable on T-shirts where you can choose the style and color. New products added frequently!

To wrap this post up, we need a good zombie dance number. So here you go…

Kitchen Knives for a Lifetime of Cooking Adventures

ECJ — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:08:09 +0000

The single most common use for knives these days is in the kitchen. If you’re cooking, you will definitely need a knife or two. So, what are the best kitchen knives? You will know after reading this review of high-quality knives to accompany your cooking adventures. Plus you’ll know about helpful cutlery accessories you might want to add, such as knife-friendly cutting boards and sharpening steel.

Guys are no longer running around the woods chasing down big game with a bowie knife (I’ve always cracked up at Jake Johanssen’s take on “knife season,” (see the 7:30 point…)), nor are most men silently taking out sentinels around a terrorist camp in the dead of night, but we are cooking and eating every day, and for that a good chef’s knife, paring knife, santoku knife, cleaver, and other cooking cutlery is indispensable. Not to mention cutting boards, knife sharpeners, and cookbooks telling us how to use them. The best of all these tools for cutting, peeling, slicing, and dicing add a lot to the ease and satisfaction of preparing food.

Click to begin creating your own feast

You’ve probably already got a few knives in your kitchen but chances are that not a lot of planning went into getting them. For such a commonly-used tool as a kitchen knife, it’s too bad most guys don’t put more attention on obtaining the best.

You may not be a professional chef, but if you cook at all, you’re basically doing what a professional chef does when it comes to cutting up food, peeling vegetables, and slicing meat. Good kitchen knives can add to the enjoyment of the whole cooking and eating experience. Plus, it makes the job a heck of a lot easier.

In addition, as I’ve mentioned in my previous posts on knives every guy needs, a well-made knife is simply a satisfying object to own.

Here, in what amounts to “Kitchen Knives 101,” I’ll give some suggestions on how to acquire the best kitchen knives to use for your culinary tasks — knives you’ll be proud to own. You can buy them all through this post from the best online retailers of kitchen equipment by clicking on the links and images of each type of knife listed below.

The first to thing to know is that you can pretty much meet your need for kitchen cutlery by having just 3 versatile knives.

You can get by with a santoku knife, a good paring knife, and a chef’s knife. The best models and manufacturers of these types of knives are described below. You don’t have to break the bank to buy good kitchen knives but keep in mind that a number of the best brands offer lifetime warranties, so that makes them a little more expensive. Be aware that a top-rated, well-made kitchen knife can last for generations.

By the way, if you end up with knives from different manufacturers, don’t worry — any professional chef’s kitchen has the same diversity of kitchen cutlery and it just means you’re discriminating about your tools…

Santoku Knife

A santoku knife is the “utility infielder” of the kitchen knife team. It does a lot of things well. After trying a santoku knife, many cooks would not be without one.

The shape of the santoku knife — kind of a combination of a cleaver and a chef’s knife — allows it to excel in the areas of slicing, dicing, and chopping, particularly vegetables and fruits, but it also works well with meats like fish and chicken, which you can slice very thinly with a santoku.

The thinness and sharpness of the blade also makes it easier to mince things (you can make mincemeat of, well, meat). Many santoku knives have a granton edge, which is a pattern of grooves along the side of the blade that creates air pockets so that vegetables and fruit tend to stick less to the blade as you’re slicing. Santoku knives often handle more easily than a heavier chef’s knife. You can get pretty fast with one after practice. About the only thing a santoku knife might not do well is chop through bones. And for slicing bread, a longer-bladed, serrated knife might work a little better.

Below are a couple of top-rated santoku knives.

Rachel Ray helped popularize the santoku knives made by Wusthof and for good reason: they’re excellent knives. For a knife of this quality, it’s also reasonably priced. It has a lifetime guarantee. The blade is high-carbon stainless steel with a granton edge, full tang, and the handle is triple-riveted polypropylene.

The Wusthof Gourmet 7-inch Santoku Knife with Granton Edge has become one of the most popular kitchen knives ever:

Wusthof Gourmet 7-inch Santoku Knife with granton edge

I’ve used this knife myself and particularly like its balance and maneuverability. Many other reviewers have praised this knife as well.

New York Magazine asked chef Masayoshi “Masa” Takayama to evaluate ten of the top santoku knives in the world. He tested them by chopping onions, slicing chicken, and mincing parsley — even slicing parchment paper. Of the Wusthof, he said that it was well-balanced and that “the blade is very thin, but in a good way, and it’s very sharp and cuts well. Ideal for slicing chicken and vegetables.” Cooks Illustrated magazine consistently rates these Wusthof knives at or near the top. Click here to see the entire collection of Wusthof Santoku knives at Cooking.com, including the top-rated Classic and the Ikon.

Below is another variation on the santoku. It is the Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife with Granton Edge. This knife was Blade Magazine’s 2008 “Kitchen Knife of the Year,” so I think it’s safe to say it’s one of the best kitchen knives. It was also the number 1 knife on Chef Takayama’s list. It is made in Japan by Kai using the Damascus process, which produces a beautiful moiré pattern on the blade. It arrives from the factory exceedingly sharp. (Try cutting a tomato with this baby — it requires almost no pressure beyond the blade itself.)

Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife with granton edge

It has a little more rocker in the blade than many other santoku knives, so for those who prefer a bit of a compromise between the classic santoku straight edge and a conventional chef’s knife, this knife fits the bill.

It has stainless steel bolsters and buttcaps and a high-carbon stainless steel blade. The blade is clad with 16 layers of softer steel for durability, then etched to show the unique “Damascus” finish. The edge is harder than that found on most knives, allowing for extra sharpness.

Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife handle detail

The handle is made of Pakkawood and starts out as thin layers of white birch that are dyed black. The birch sheets are layered between sheets of plastic resin, then fused together under high heat and pressure. The result is a handle that looks and feels like wood but is dishwasher safe. The other unique feature of the handle is the design. The manufacturer calls it a “D”shape but it actually looks more like a tear drop. It has a distinct ridge that goes down the side of the handle that fits perfectly in the hand (for right-handers), as well as stabilizes the blade to prevent turning and twisting.

Though a little costlier than the Wusthof, the Shun 7-inch Santoku Knife is worth it for those who prefer the best. Modern materials (forged VG-10 steel blade clad with SUS410 high-carbon stainless steel) combined with a classic design make this a truly remarkable kitchen knife that will last a lifetime. It may not turn you into a master chef but when you use it you’ll feel like one. Find it at a good discount here.

Paring Knife

No cook can be without a paring knife; you can use them to do everything from peeling an apple to removing eyes from potatoes to de-veining shrimp — anything that requires precision and/or working in tight spaces. The blades are generally in the 3- to 4-inch range.

You can find a cheap-ass paring knife for about $9, but why do that to yourself? The steel won’t be great, you’ll be getting the low end of manufacturing quality, and it won’t last a lifetime. You can find really good-quality paring knives for not too much more. A worthwhile paring knife will set you back about $40. Moving up, among the best paring knives you can find some that are works of art for double that amount. Below are several models to consider in order of cost and (IMHO) beauty.

Wusthof Classic 3.5-inch Paring Knife

First is the Wusthof Classic 3½-inch Paring Knife. It’s got a lifetime warranty, a high-carbon stainless steel blade, and a triple-riveted handle that is dishwasher safe. The blade has a pointed tip for tasks like digging the stems out of peppers, and a super-sharp, hand-polished edge. A great little knife that you can get for under $40 here.

Kershaw Shun 3.5-inch Paring Knife

Moving up a bit in quality, to the left is the outstanding Shun 3½-inch Paring Knife with a Damascus blade that’s razor-sharp right out of the box, Pakkawood handle, a piercing tip, and stainless-steel end cap and bolster. A knife that you’ll be proud to own and display in your kitchen. This is one you’ll want to hand-wash (as with most of your great kitchen knives, actually — why have them banging around in the dishwasher?). The VG-10 “super-steel” blade is composed of carbon, chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, and vanadium.Find it here.

Al Mar Paring Knife with Damascus blade

Now here is an exceedingly cool paring knife — the 3-inch Ultra-Chef from Al Mar. With a one-piece, hollow, stainless-steel handle and a blade that comprises 33 layers of steel surrounding a central cutting core made of VG-10 stainless that has been heat-treated to a Rockwell C-scale hardness of 60-62, this is the samurai sword of paring knives. It is exceedingly light and comfortable in the hand.

Each Al Mar knife is hand-finished and hand-sharpened at the factory. It comes gift-boxed from Japan. Al Mar is not necessarily a famous household name in the U.S. (except among professionals), but their manufactured knives rival custom, hand-made blades. Sure, the price reflects that, but for that price you get a work of art. Get one for yourself or as a gift for a discriminating cook here for a good discount.

Click to see other great knives by Al Mar

Although expensive, Al Mar knives are worth every penny, especially for highly-trained chefs who are serious about what they do. One review posted online states: “It’s the best knife I’ve ever bought. Grade A+.” Bottom line: you cannot get a better kitchen knife than one from Al Mar.

Haiku 3.25-inch Paring Knife

Finally, here is a paring knife from Japan that is also quite stylish but in a more rustic — though no less high-quality — way: the Haiku 3¼-inch Paring Knife. These traditionally-styled Japanese knives feature handles made of honoki wood (the wood traditionally used to make the handles of Japanese swords), and have molybdenum/vanadium steel blades. Haiku knives have a bamboo peg (a “mekugi”) inserted into the side where the tang and handle are joined. This adds stability and is the same technique used by Japanese sword makers for hundreds of years. The 2005 and 2007 winners of the Bocuse d’Or (Serge Vieira and Fabrice Desvignes, respectively) were noted for using Haiku knives. This is a charming, mid-priced knife that can be found here for a good price.

Haiku 5-inch Utility Knife

Haiku also makes a fine 5-inch Utility Knife that is a little larger than a traditional paring knife and is suitable for a wide variety of cutting tasks in the kitchen. That’s it to the right. It can be purchased here.

Choosing one of the fine paring knives mentioned here will not disappoint even the most discriminating of cooks. When you think about it, there has probably never been as broad a selection of high-quality knives in the history of the world as you’ll find in the marketplace these days. As with many products, knives keep getting better while the price relative to quality goes down. And we still have the “star” of kitchen knives to consider…

The Chef’s Knife

Next we move on to the “Babe Ruth” of the kitchen-knife team: the burly chef’s knife. This is often the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the typical “kitchen knife.” It comes in handy for a wide variety of kitchen tasks, as well as in cheap slasher horror flicks.

Also known as a “French knife,” the chef’s knife is a general-purpose tool that can be used for slicing vegetables, meat, and cheese, mincing and chopping, as well as disjointing chickens and larger cuts of beef and ham (not to mention buffalo and ostrich). The blade can be anywhere from 6 to 14 inches in length (8″ is common), and features a pronounced curve toward the tip, which allows for a rocking technique when chopping or dicing. There are a lot of good chef’s knives on the market. I have used a number of different ones. Below are three to consider, in order of quality and prestige.

Forschner 8-inch Chef's Knife

Here’s a good “entry-level” chef’s knife that could serve you well for a long time — for a lifetime, actually, since it’s got a lifetime warranty: the Forschner 8-inch Chef’s Knife. It’s also sold under the Victorinox name (yes, the company that makes Swiss Army knives).

This knife was recommended by Cooks Illustrated as a best buy.

The knife is light-weight, with pretty good balance. It’s got a stamped, polished, high-carbon steel blade, and a taper ground with no bolster. Since it’s got no finger guard, you can easily hold it by the top of the blade, if you like that technique. It’s tempered to accept numerous sharpenings. The handle is made of a patented material called Fibrox that gives a good grip, even when wet. It’s certified by NSF International for commercial food service. Customer reviews praise this knife for the quality relative to the cost. It’s a good knife for around $30. If you’re watching your budget, start with the Forschner and you can upgrade down the road to one of the models below.

Okay, you’ve decided that you’re committed to having some of the best kitchen tools money can buy — or you’re looking for a great gift for a friend who’s a serious chef or a recent graduate from cooking school. In either case, consider one of the following two knives.

Shun Classic 10-inch Chef's Knife

First, the Shun Classic 10-inch Chef’s Knife. This is a large knife with a core of VG-10 super-steel clad with 16 layers of SUS410 high-carbon steel on each side, producing a 33-layer blade with the distinctive Damascus look. This knife is made in Seki City, Japan, known for hundreds of years as an important center for producing samurai swords, and you will probably feel like a samurai the first time you pick up this beautiful knife. At the least, you’ll feel like a kitchen pro. The knife features a Pakkawood handle and stainless steel bolsters and endcaps. The blade is sharpened to an astonishingly sharp 16 degrees. Go ahead — break down a whole turkey or split a hard squash, even slice bread; this knife can do it all (including more delicate slicing and mincing tasks). The additional leverage from the 10-inch blade is noticeable. Additionally, it will look impressive up on a magnetic strip on the wall of your kitchen — where any passing food-guy will note it appreciatively. This is the knife preferred by cookbook author and TV host Alton Brown. Use it carefully — if you have not been exposed to a knife of this quality, you will not believe how sharp it is! For example, if you try to test the edge by running your thumb along it…well, probably not a good idea. Just use it a lot for cooking, treat it well (wash and dry by hand after use and sharpen as needed, preferably professionally). Find it here for a 20% discount. Guaranteed for life by Kershaw Shun. (Note: the handle of the Classic is optimised for right-handers. If you want a more “ambidextrous” knife, try the Shun Elite 8-inch Chef’s Knife. It’s more expensive, but it’s also made from SG-2 powdered steel, which makes for a blade with a state-of-the-art molecular structure.)

Ken Onion 8-inch Chef's Knife with Stand

And then we have the Ken Onion 8-inch Chef’s Knife — the only knife on this page that comes with a display stand. Why? Because in addition to being functional, it’s a work of art. It’s got those ergonomic yet organic curves going on. You won’t want to hide this knife in a drawer (not that you’ll want any of your fine knives banging around in a drawer with the rest of your everyday kitchen implements). If you’ve been reading these knife entries, you’ve probably gotten the impression by now that I like Ken Onion’s stuff. You’d be right. His designs are distinctive and he’s a multi award-winner. This knife is no exception. It was selected “Kitchen Knife of the Year” by Blade Magazine, and won awards at the 2005 Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair. Bon Appétit reviewed the knife and stated that it had good balance, making it easy to maneuver. The blade is VG-10 high-carbon stainless steel with a Damascus finish; the handle is Pakkawood. The handle is designed to minimize arm tension and provide increased safety during use. The shape of the blade allows for “gliding” the knife across the cutting surface and the bolster is angled to create space for your thumb and index finger for an efficient grip.

Ken Onion 8-inch Chef's Knife

In other words, the knife is both efficient and beautiful. Sure, it’s more expensive than other chef’s knives available out there but, aside from its outstanding quality, it’s distinctive and will last you a lifetime. That makes it a good value and a tool you’ll be proud to own. Alton Brown says that this knife has the sharpest straight-from-the-factory edge he’s ever seen. Try it for yourself! Find it here for a good discount.

That will cover the basics of your kitchen knife collection. Begin by getting the knife that will be the most useful — wherever the most glaring “hole” currently exists in your collection. If you’ve got a sort of acceptable chef’s knife, start with a santoku. Then move on to a paring knife. Or whatever you’ll use the most. Acquire one of the above knives every couple of months to spread the cost out over time. Or drop obvious hints before Christmas or your birthday. Eventually, you’ll have a set of kitchen knives that rivals that of a professional chef.

Beyond the Basics

Now, if you’ve already got some pretty good knives and you want to add something really exotic (yet functional) to your collection, consider the following deals:

Titanium Blades

Kasumi Titanium-coated 7-inch Santoku Knife

Just about anything made with titanium is cool. Titanium is light, strong, resists corrosion, and can withstand high temperatures. Who wouldn’t want to use it to make knives? Kasumi, located in Seki, Japan (800 years of samurai sword-making tradition) thought titanium made sense and produced these gorgeous knives that combine molybdenum/vanadium steel with a titanium coating, making for one of the sharpest possible knife edges. Titanium is non-toxic and does not generate the ferrous ions that can give food that “metallic” flavor from conventional steel knives. It’s abrasion-resistant and easy to care for in daily use. The abrasion-resistance also protects the steel, enabling the blade to maintain a razor-sharp edge for a longer time, yet it glides through food easily.

Kasumi Titanium-coated 3-inch Paring Knife

Pictured are Kasumi’s 7-inch Santoku and 3-inch Paring Knives. These lovely blue blades will generate conversation in your kitchen!

Ceramic Knives

Kyocera Revolution Ceramic Santoku and Paring Knives with black blades

And one more exotic set of tools to consider is ceramic knives. Some chef’s swear by them, especially this set from Kyocera — a 5½-inch Santoku and a 3-inch Paring Knife. The blades are made from zirconium oxide, an advanced ceramic second in hardness only to diamond. They are extremely sharp and will hold their edge for years without sharpening if handled correctly. They resist stains and rust and are chemically inert, meaning food acids will not affect them. They are also light in weight and easily handled. They come with a 5-year warranty from the manufacturer. The blades of the knives at left are black, which makes them kind of intimidating (in a good way). Just don’t drop them (they might shatter) or try to chop bones (the blade can chip). Anything else, though — slicing, dicing, mincing, julienning, cutting, trimming, seeding, and peeling — these knives will whip through. Considering their high-tech origin, the price is reasonable. Find them here. Use them only on a wooden or polyethylene cutting board (see below). If they ever need sharpening, you must send them back to Kyocera. These will also be a conversation-starter in your kitchen!

Meat Cleaver

Hardly anyone really needs a meat cleaver. Except maybe a butcher. Then again, you may frequently be cutting up chicken parts for stock or dealing with lobsters, so you might find it handy to have one. What is for sure is that there’s just something satisfying about having a big ‘ol cleaver hanging up on the wall of your kitchen, just sitting there all ready to use, powerful and unapologetically functional. So, for when you feel powerful and unapologetically functional, here’s a premium cleaver for your consideration:

: Global 6.5-inch Meat Cleaver

This is the Global 6½-inch Cleaver. The blade is 6½ inches of stainless steel, ice-hardened and sharpened to a 15-degree angle. The three-piece construction — blade and two handle halves — are welded or forged (depending on the Global model) for a seamless, hygienic, uniquely balanced instrument of death. Global knives are known for their innovative design and quality. Cooks Illustrated rated this cleaver at the top. It has been praised by reviewers for its balance — heavy enough to cut without being tiring, light enough for maneuverability. What it does best is chop through just about anything. “Will split bone without chipping,” wrote one online reviewer. Another wrote, “It chops bones, bangs through half-frozen carcasses when necessary and is worth every penny.” Used by top-ranking chefs world wide. Find it here for almost no discount (Global knives rarely get discounted; but…worth every penny, remember).

Chroma Type 301 Cleaver

On the other hand, with regard to usefulness, there is the Chinese cleaver, which some cooks swear by. It’s sort of like a santoku on steroids. Used mainly for chopping vegetables and light meats (some cooks even employ two cleavers when mincing and turn their cutting board into a manual Cuisinart). It also mashes, scrapes, and scoops. Plus the better ones still look impressive. Especially the stainless steel Chroma Type 301 Chinese cleaver with 7″ blade (pictured at right). It was designed by F. A. Porsche (yes, the designer of the 911 sports car) with input from Austrian chef Jörg Wörther. Chef Wolfgang Puck uses Chroma knives in his home. This cleaver is beautiful (not necessarily a word you use often with cleavers) — functional, too, with a hand-ground blade and lifetime warranty. Find it here for a pretty good discount.

Honing and Sharpening Your Knives

It won’t do you any good to have the best kitchen knives in the world if they’re not sharp. Aside from ceramic blades, knives — including all the steel models listed above — need occasional sharpening and regular honing. Honing — which smooths the blade — can be done at home with a steel.

When it comes to sharpening, many folks send their high-quality knives to a professional sharpener about once a year. You can try to sharpen them at home, but you should know what you’re doing or you may not get the best result.

Wusthof Classic 10-inch Sharpening Steel

Here is a high-quality steel you can use to hone your knives — the Wusthof Classic 10-inch Sharpening Steel (somewhat of a misnomer, since knives are best sharpened using stones and honed using steel). This is a good steel that’s not too expensive. You should hone your knives regularly. See below for a video on how to hone your knives. Remember, there’s a difference between honing (smooths the blade) and sharpening (reestablishes the blade angle).

You can sharpen your knives with a Smith's Sharpening System

Of course, it’s not impossible to sharpen your own knives and it’s a handy thing to know how to do. If you’d like to try sharpening your knives at home, you’ll need a good set of stones (heh). Electric knife sharpeners sometimes tend to not put the right angle on a blade and they also remove a fair amount of steel. So start with this set of hard and medium sharpening stones: Smith’s Diamond Hone Sharpening System. There are are two diamond sharpening stones and a medium Arkansas stone. It includes a sharpening angles guide. This is one of the best sharpening sets you can get and is suitable not only for kitchen knives but for pocket knives, hunting knives, and other edged tools.

Here’s the video on how to hone and sharpen knives:

Cutting Boards

Of course, when you’re cutting something you’ll need something appropriate to cut on. You don’t want to cut on a granite counter-top, glass, or a ceramic dinner plate (any of which will take the edge off your knives pretty quickly). You’ll want a good cutting board. Following are several that are beautiful and functional. Since they’re made of bamboo, they’re also environmentally hip. This is the Bamboo Cutting Board Collection designed by bambu — available from Bambeco:

Click to choose from 3 attractive "undercut" design bamboo cutting boards from Bambeco

Bamboo is actually 16% harder than maple and thus more durable. Bamboo is also sustainably harvested and regrows quickly. These cutting boards come in 3 useful sizes and are sold for good prices at Bambeco.

Bamboo and other wooden cutting boards are good for just about any kitchen cutting task, but you might want to add a polyethylene plastic cutting board (also fine for knife blades) for use with meats, poultry, and fish. Unlike the bamboo board, you can stick the plastic board in the dishwasher.

The Gripper cutting board from Architec is a top-rated plastic cutting board

Here is a top-rated high-density plastic cutting board in a cool green color (11 x 14 inches) — the Architec “The Gripper” Cutting Board:

Find this multi-purpose cutting board for a low price at Cooking.com.

Finally, if you want a really stylish and versatile piece of kitchen furniture to use as a cutting surface, as well as for serving, storage, and as a central organizing piece in your kitchen, consider the Professional Bamboo Cart from Totally Bamboo. It’s beautiful and functional, with a 4-inch butcher-block top, a drawer, towel racks, heavy-duty casters, etc. The company, Totally Bamboo, is one of the original innovators of bamboo products and follows some of the most stringent environmental protocols in producing its products. You can find this beautiful cart here.

Professional Bamboo Cart from Totally Bamboo

So, unless you’re one of those guys who just “knows” how to do things — repair a car, invade a city, use a knife — you’ve gotta learn some techniques to get started. Otherwise you won’t get the most out of your collection of fine kitchen knives. You think the greatest chefs in the world came out of the womb knowing how to julienne? Knowing which end of the knife to hold is a start, and here’s a good basic intro video for technique:

After all this talk about knives…

It would be nice to have something to cook, right? What will it be? Bouillabaisse? Meat loaf? Parsnip oven fries with curry dipping sauce? Whatever, you’ll probably want a good cookbook to get some ideas and methods. The movie “Julie and Julia” has done a thorough job of reminding everyone just how good Julia Child’s cookbook is. Some say it’s the best cookbook ever. Put it on your shelf alongside other classics such as the Betty Crocker Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking. Then pick a recipe and start slicing!

Click to purchase from Barnes & Noble

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(What the heck does that mean? It means the same as the title of the magazine below on the right, only in Swedish.) (Say: “Smah-kleeg mole-teed.”)

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Survival Knives

ECJ — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:21:27 +0000

You can handle any knife-related survival tasks with one of the three survival knives reviewed below. These are knives you can count on in a survival situation. When it comes to surviving outside the bounds of civilization, simpler is better, so go with one of these tried and true knives. They are classics.

If you actually find yourself out in the wilderness trying to survive…

…then you’ll want a knife made to handle those conditions — whether you’re lost in the mountains, stranded in the desert, bushwhacking out of a jungle, or marooned on a tropical island. The right knife can mean the difference between survival and a beat-down by the environment.

There are any number of knives touted as survival knives and many of them are pretty good. But if you have a choice, why not choose a knife that has stood the test of time? One that is known to be reliable and practical? If your bush plane goes down in Alaska in the winter and it’s 40 below and you’re trying to stay alive in the woods, you don’t necessarily care how sexy or fashionable your survival knife is, you just want it to fucking do the job.

Three knives will be reviewed here that will fit the bill (plus a fourth knife that, though popular, might not). In addition to your wits — which are your single most important survival factor – these tools (plus a few other essential survival tools you might want to carry, such as a flint and steel and some cord or a survival strap) can help you execute a wide variety of survival-oriented tasks, including building a shelter, which is often the most important thing to accomplish first. Hacking up bushes and cutting limbs is a darn sight easier and more efficient if you’re not trying to do it with your bare hands.

And when it comes to how to use your knife to survive, I’ve included a list of three of the top survival books of all time. You’ll find these manuals listed at the end of this post, conveniently linked to for purchasing.

But first, the knives. We’ll start with the legendary star of this class…

The Ka-Bar USMC Fighting/Utility Knife

KA-BAR U. S. Marine Corps Fighting/Utility Knife

This is possibly the most famous knife in the world. It was conceived in 1942, when the U. S. Marine Corps needed a better combat/utility knife to issue to its personnel during WW II. The Ka-Bar company, in conjunction with military advisors, came up with this design, and it became one of the most popular knives ever, with more than a million manufactured by Ka-Bar during the war alone. It continues to be used by several branches of the US military today, including the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Underwater Demolition Teams, and remains the personal knife of choice for many Marines. The design has been upgraded as materials have improved in the 67 years since the knife was first issued.

The Ka-Bar Marine Corps Fighting/Utility Knife can do pretty much anything a knife is supposed to do, plus a few more. In the war it was used to dig trenches, pound tent stakes, drive nails, open ration cans, and defend oneself, while still remaining sharp enough for the occasional shave. It is presently in use in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also become a favorite of outdoorsmen, adventurers, and survivalists. In its “How to Survive” issue in 2008, National Geographic Adventure magazine listed a knife as an indispensable survival tool and endorsed the Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife as the only knife you would need. Of the Ka-Bar, they wrote: “Drop someone naked in the middle of nowhere with nothing but this tool — and a survival school education — and they’ll be lounging fireside in rabbit fur by sundown.” This knife is durable, rugged, versatile, and a bargain when you consider its quality.

Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife - straight-edge version with sheath

The 7-inch blade, legendary for its extreme sharpness, is constructed of 1095 carbon steel coated with epoxy powder . It has a Rockwell hardness rating of 56-58. The handle is stacked leather (ah, that leather aroma). The overall length is 11 and 7/8 inches and the weight comes in at just under 11 ounces, so you won’t mind carrying it around. The butt cap is powdered metal and the guard is carbon steel. It comes in both straight-edge and serrated versions. Find the straight-edge version here for a good price. It comes with a leather sheath. It’s made in the USA. Online reviewers speak glowingly (even passionately) about this knife. Go ahead — split wood, gut a catfish, cut barbed wire: this solid knife can handle it and will keep coming back for more. Keep one in your glove compartment, tackle box, backpack, snowmobile tool compartment, survival pack, etc. Just remember, unless you’re in a survival situation, you might get in trouble if you carry it around naked.

Here is a video review of the Ka-Bar Marine Corps Fighting/Utility Knife:

Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife

Next we have a knife named after a fish — the Roach Belly Knife by Cold Steel. This knife is an excellent value — a tough, utilitarian, light-weight survival knife for a good price. It’s a multi-tasking fixed-blade knife that you can use in a variety of outdoor (and indoor) situations, especially where lightness, compactness, and toughness are prerequisites. The Roach Belly design has a long history behind it, having originated in 17th-century Britain. It was used extensively in the American colonies, particularly in the Hudson Bay region, and was believed to have been named after the roach fish, which had a similar curve to its body as the blade. The design has stood the test of time, with its pronounced up-curve and versatile piercing tip. One online reviewer of the Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife wrote that: “I was able to drill a tiny hole completely through a green piece of sapling [with the tip] and make a broiler. No doubt it would be great in making notches to start your bow drill as well. And trap trigger carving would be a breeze. The fine point held up very well despite the blatant abuse I subjected it to while trying to open up a rotten log to check out a marbled salamander. I was very pleased with the rigidity and durability of the point… Speaking of rigidity, despite my anti-baton preaching, I did conduct such a practice with this knife… I was able to baton [i.e., hammer] this lightweight knife through an extra tough piece of wood with no handle cracking and no abuse to the edge. Needless to say, I was very impressed. No white marks on the black handle to show off inner wear, warping or twisting of the polymer handle, and no rattling or clicking either, it held up far beyond that of many knives in its price range, especially in handle rigidity aspect. The edge grind held up extremely well, too, with no nicks or dings or imperfections to the edge.”

The Cold Steel Roach Belly Knife has an overall length of 8½ inches and a blade length of 4½ inches. It weighs 2.6 ounces, so you’ll hardly know it’s there when carrying it – making it especially good for climbers, ultra-light backpackers, and kayakers. The hollow-ground blade is made of 4116 Krupp Stainless Steel, with a hardness of Rc 56-57; the edge is finely-honed and easy to re-sharpen. It comes with a Cordura sheath. Some online reviewers were not impressed with the stock sheath and suggested having a Kydex sheath made for this knife. Various companies will custom-make one for you. I don’t have personal experience with the following companies, but you can check out a couple here and here. (If you happen to have dealt with these companies, or you do try them, please leave a comment below regarding your experience.)

At less than $15, this knife would complement the Ka-Bar Fighting/Utility Knife or the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie (described below). Or you could buy several to stash in various locations, as well as to carry during outings. It would make an excellent stocking-stuffer for the outdoor people on your gift list or for anyone who would like a versatile, fixed-blade knife. In addition, it also makes a good kitchen or barbecue knife. Use it to cut a hunky chunk of squash, slice salami and cheese, carve up celery sticks, prune a flower arrangement…

Following is a video showing a Ka-Bar knife and the Cold Steel Roach Belly in action in the field. Ever wonder how to get a fire going with the most basic tools? Watch and learn…

The Ka-Bar and Cold Steel knives will fit the bill for most situations. However, they are not necessarily the creme de la creme of survival knives. If you want the BMW of survival knives, then read on for a review of a really kick-ass knife. It is the…

Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie

At some time, every man has wanted a bowie knife. There is no more significant knife available. Admit it…if you’re in a hardware store or outdoor supply place and you happen to wander by the glass case with the knives and there’s a bowie knife in it, doesn’t your gaze linger? Don’t you, if only for a moment, feel lust in your heart? Yeah, well, you’re supposed to feel like that. As Crocodile Dundee stated, “That’s a knife.” There are a number of bowie designs around and the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master is one of the best. It’s 14½ inches long overall with a 9½-inch blade made of stainless San Mai III steel. The weight is 17.5 ounces.

San Mai III steel diagram

Cold Steel explains the San Mai III blade fabrication process by likening it to a “sandwich” with three parts: the ”meat center” is hard, high-carbon steel and the two “pieces of bread” on either side are the lower-carbon protective sides. The edge of a blade needs to be hard to maximize edge-holding while the body of the blade must be able to resist impact and lateral stresses. Otherwise, a knife could be damaged during rigorous use. Counterintuitively, the softer and more flexible a steel is, the “tougher” it is, but a steel of such consistency won’t hold a superior edge. So, two different kinds of steel are combined to provide the best of both qualities, sharpness and hardiness. Is the San Mai Trail Master tough? You bet. Is it sharp? It will shave your arm hair. Cold Steel claims that this knife will outperform “by a wide margin” any factory-made knife and 99% of all hand-forged blades. If you spend your hard-earned money on this knife, you know you’re getting one of the best. It is possibly the most knife for the money ever commercially built. The blade and the non-slip Kraton grip are virtually immune to water, salt, and the humidity of a jungle environment.

Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master in sheath

You may not believe some of the things this knife will do. Seeing is believing, however, so check out the following video to see this knife in action.

While it is more expensive than the knives listed above, the Cold Steel San Mai Trail Master Bowie is, quite simply, worth it if you ever find yourself in the kind of situation where a good knife can mean the difference between surviving and, well, not. And really, why be satisfied with lusting in your heart when you can actually possess one of the best bowie knives ever? Find it from True Swords, one of the best online retailers for knives and swords (excellent prices and customer service) and also from Kennesaw Cutlery, which has a large selection of other survival knives, too (on their site, search on “Survival knives” — and if for some reason you don’t get one of the knives reviewed here, at least make sure the knife you select has a carbon steel blade).

The San Mai Trail Master Bowie might be the knife Jim Bridger would carry if he was alive today. I don’t doubt that there’s at least a little bit of Jim Bridger in you…

You can’t go wrong with the knives reviewed above when it comes to a survival knife you can rely on when the chips are down or to keep around “just in case.” They will outperform many others on the market and your kids will be pleased to inherit them (after you die in bed peacefully at a ripe old age, having survived many adventures). However, before we leave the topic of survival knives, I should mention, for the sake of thoroughness, one more thing…

And now for something completely different — a survival knife you actually might not want: the Tom Brown Tracker Knife

A lot of us have heard of the Tom Brown Tracker Knife due to the movie (which I really like) “The Hunted.” (If you haven’t seen the movie, hie thee to this site and remedy the situation immediately by purchasing it. It’ll be a good addition to your collection of man-films.)

Now, I have nothing but admiration for Tom Brown, Jr., who is a preeminent tracker, survival teacher, and author. He is the modern-day equivalent of an Apache scout. He once lived in the wilderness for a year with nothing but his bare hands. And his Tracker School is probably the best-known tracking and survival school in the nation, if not the world. Knifewise, he was a consultant on the movie “The Hunted” (check out the interesting material about Tom on the featurettes included on the DVD). So it stands to reason that he would choose to feature a knife in that movie that he had a hand in designing. In fact, the movie is kind of an extended commercial for the knife, as well as knife skills in general. But does the blade actually live up to the hype? And the high price?

Some say no. The knife is relatively heavy to lug around (28 ounces), for one thing. (A Ka-Bar knife and a Gerber Back Paxe together would weigh only 2 ounces more and you’d have money left over to buy fishing tackle.) Despite the weight, the “multi-purpose” blade is only 6 inches long (4¼ inches according to the TOPS website, but that specification is in doubt). Some say it tries to offer too many functions in too short a space. It looks cool, at least, and it has that Tommy Lee Jones/Benicio Del Torro cachet, but is it worth nearly $300? You can decide for yourself. Some people seem to love it more or less for the idea of it. But would you want it over other knives in a survival situation?

Check out the following video from Nutnfancy for a thought-provoking review.

If you still want the burly Tom Brown Tracker Knife you can find it here. Sometimes an item will speak to you, regardless of its comparative utility.

That’s why there isn’t just one of everything.

May all your challenges be survivable — and, if not survivable, a hell of a lot of fun.

More Essential Info Relating to Edged Implements and Surviving

How do you get that “survival school education”? In addition to schools such as the Tom Brown Tracker School, check out the following outstanding books. They’ll tell you how to put your knife to good use, among a lot of other things:

This is the revised edition of a classic on survival — SAS Survival Handbook: For Any Climate in Any Situation, by John “Lofty” Wiseman.

Wilderness Survival (2nd. ed.), by Gregory Davenport, a former USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) instructor, covers most survival basics.

The Ultimate Guide to U.S. Army Survival Skills, Tactics, and Techniques, by the Department of the Army (Jay McCullough, ed.) covers not only multiple survival scenarios in depth but combat contingencies as well. Quite thorough.

I’m a fan of multiple sources when it comes to learning how to do something. Of course, it takes more than reading books to learn how to survive. Then again, as mentioned at the top of this post, your most important survival tool is your brain. Add some hands-on practice, and you’ll be fine.

To see a huge variety of additional survival knives and find more in-depth info, check the sources below:

Field & Stream is the classic outdoor/adventure magazine. There’s a reason it’s been around for 100 years…

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Blade is the godfather of knife magazines…

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