#178: GM1-Texas und GMF1-Chef

A new point on a familiar face You know the GMF1: small, skeletonised, so flat that you eventually forget it’s on your belt at all. The Texas keeps exactly that handle and swaps the blade shape up front. In place of the familiar drop point line, you get a clip point blade. The swedged tip runs finer, and you notice it on anything that asks for precision – lifting the edge of packing tape, picking apart a seam, working a knot out of a line. With 4 mm of stock, there’s still enough material behind it that the tip isn’t something you need to worry about. The blade measures 5.6 cm, the whole knife 13.7 cm at 57 g. The handle comes in at 8.1 cm and carries three jimping zones for secure thumb pressure. The steel is new as well: cryo-treated Hybrid Cryo, paired with a stonewash finish that lets signs of use quietly slide. It ships in a brown leather sheath that takes on a beautiful patina over the years. At 5.6 cm the blade sits well below the 12 cm mark, so under German law (§ 42a WaffG) you may generally carry the GMF1-Texas. Meant as orientation, not as legal advice.

The GMF1 for the cutting board Cooking on the road rarely fails because of the recipe. It fails because of the blunt thing sitting in the holiday flat’s drawer or in the camper – or because you’re trying to get onions into even rings with your EDC folder. The GMF1-Chef takes the familiar GMF1 platform and points it at food prep. The blade is noticeably taller, so your fingers stay off the board when you rock through a cut, and it’s made from Nitro-B, a nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel from GiantMouse’s kitchen knife line. In practice that means lemon juice, tomato work and half an hour lying unwashed on the board are no problem. The stonewash finish covers the rest. The black G10 scales don’t take on water and stay grippy when your fingers are greasy. They’re screwed on, so you can take them off for a proper clean – after two weeks of camping, that’s a real argument. It comes with a Kydex sheath instead of the usual Italian leather. Leather and damp blades don’t stay friends for long. Kydex goes under the tap, gets a shake, done. For the camping table, the van and every kitchen where you’re only a guest.

Sunday afternoon, the telly is on, and in the western the man in the hat has a Bowie hanging off his belt. You were maybe ten, knew nothing about steel and still knew straight away that you wanted one too. The silhouette goes back to the Sandbar Fight of 1827, but it grew up on the big screen. Jakeb Ginsberg scaled that shape down for Jack Wolf Knives to a size that actually works in a trouser pocket. The Bordertown Bowie is a compact fixed blade with a clip point blade: 17.6 cm overall, 8.75 cm of that blade at 3 mm stock. Depending on the version it weighs between 62 and 82 g. Sounds like nothing, but it sits surprisingly solid in your hand, because the handle has enough “belly” that you don’t have to work with your fingertips. The hollow-ground blade is Crucible CPM S90V, hardened to 60 – 61 HRC. That steel is known for holding an edge until you start wondering when you last sharpened anything. You work your way through weeks of parcel tape and cut the odd fish roll down on the pontoon before the stone is allowed back to work. Behind the edge the blade runs thin, which is why the cut feels closer to a scalpel than to a cleaver. Carry, sheath, § 42a The leather sheath has an integrated clip, so the knife either rides on your belt or disappears deep in your pocket. That is exactly the point for a lot of people: a fixed blade without any Kydex rattle, something you pocket in the morning and then forget about. And yes, you are allowed to carry it. § 42a of the German Weapons Act draws the line for fixed blades at 12 cm of blade length, and at 8.75 cm the Bordertown stays clearly below that, which makes it § 42a compliant. Four versions and the rest of the kit There is also a snake knot lanyard with a titanium bead, colour-matched to each version. And the VHS-format box with an illustration by Sean Tiffany that honestly deserves its own spot in the display cabinet. You can choose between Fat Carbon Arctic Storm, Titanium Crystalized Purple, Titanium Starburst Bronze and Bordeaux Jute Micarta. The two titanium versions bring a bit more weight and sparkle in return, while carbon and micarta are the lightweights in the field. The man in the hat would have given up his horse for it. All you need is a pocket.

Sunday afternoon, the telly is on, and in the western the man in the hat has a Bowie hanging off his belt. You were maybe ten, knew nothing about steel and still knew straight away that you wanted one too. The silhouette goes back to the Sandbar Fight of 1827, but it grew up on the big screen. Jakeb Ginsberg scaled that shape down for Jack Wolf Knives to a size that actually works in a trouser pocket. The Bordertown Bowie is a compact fixed blade with a clip point blade: 17.6 cm overall, 8.75 cm of that blade at 3 mm stock. Depending on the version it weighs between 62 and 82 g. Sounds like nothing, but it sits surprisingly solid in your hand, because the handle has enough “belly” that you don’t have to work with your fingertips. The hollow-ground blade is Crucible CPM S90V, hardened to 60 – 61 HRC. That steel is known for holding an edge until you start wondering when you last sharpened anything. You work your way through weeks of parcel tape and cut the odd fish roll down on the pontoon before the stone is allowed back to work. Behind the edge the blade runs thin, which is why the cut feels closer to a scalpel than to a cleaver. Carry, sheath, § 42a The leather sheath has an integrated clip, so the knife either rides on your belt or disappears deep in your pocket. That is exactly the point for a lot of people: a fixed blade without any Kydex rattle, something you pocket in the morning and then forget about. And yes, you are allowed to carry it. § 42a of the German Weapons Act draws the line for fixed blades at 12 cm of blade length, and at 8.75 cm the Bordertown stays clearly below that, which makes it § 42a compliant. Four versions and the rest of the kit There is also a snake knot lanyard with a titanium bead, colour-matched to each version. And the VHS-format box with an illustration by Sean Tiffany that honestly deserves its own spot in the display cabinet. You can choose between Fat Carbon Arctic Storm, Titanium Crystalized Purple, Titanium Starburst Bronze and Bordeaux Jute Micarta. The two titanium versions bring a bit more weight and sparkle in return, while carbon and micarta are the lightweights in the field. The man in the hat would have given up his horse for it. All you need is a pocket.

Sunday afternoon, the telly is on, and in the western the man in the hat has a Bowie hanging off his belt. You were maybe ten, knew nothing about steel and still knew straight away that you wanted one too. The silhouette goes back to the Sandbar Fight of 1827, but it grew up on the big screen. Jakeb Ginsberg scaled that shape down for Jack Wolf Knives to a size that actually works in a trouser pocket. The Bordertown Bowie is a compact fixed blade with a clip point blade: 17.6 cm overall, 8.75 cm of that blade at 3 mm stock. Depending on the version it weighs between 62 and 82 g. Sounds like nothing, but it sits surprisingly solid in your hand, because the handle has enough “belly” that you don’t have to work with your fingertips. The hollow-ground blade is Crucible CPM S90V, hardened to 60 – 61 HRC. That steel is known for holding an edge until you start wondering when you last sharpened anything. You work your way through weeks of parcel tape and cut the odd fish roll down on the pontoon before the stone is allowed back to work. Behind the edge the blade runs thin, which is why the cut feels closer to a scalpel than to a cleaver. Carry, sheath, § 42a The leather sheath has an integrated clip, so the knife either rides on your belt or disappears deep in your pocket. That is exactly the point for a lot of people: a fixed blade without any Kydex rattle, something you pocket in the morning and then forget about. And yes, you are allowed to carry it. § 42a of the German Weapons Act draws the line for fixed blades at 12 cm of blade length, and at 8.75 cm the Bordertown stays clearly below that, which makes it § 42a compliant. Four versions and the rest of the kit There is also a snake knot lanyard with a titanium bead, colour-matched to each version. And the VHS-format box with an illustration by Sean Tiffany that honestly deserves its own spot in the display cabinet. You can choose between Fat Carbon Arctic Storm, Titanium Crystalized Purple, Titanium Starburst Bronze and Bordeaux Jute Micarta. The two titanium versions bring a bit more weight and sparkle in return, while carbon and micarta are the lightweights in the field. The man in the hat would have given up his horse for it. All you need is a pocket.

Sunday afternoon, the telly is on, and in the western the man in the hat has a Bowie hanging off his belt. You were maybe ten, knew nothing about steel and still knew straight away that you wanted one too. The silhouette goes back to the Sandbar Fight of 1827, but it grew up on the big screen. Jakeb Ginsberg scaled that shape down for Jack Wolf Knives to a size that actually works in a trouser pocket. The Bordertown Bowie is a compact fixed blade with a clip point blade: 17.6 cm overall, 8.75 cm of that blade at 3 mm stock. Depending on the version it weighs between 62 and 82 g. Sounds like nothing, but it sits surprisingly solid in your hand, because the handle has enough “belly” that you don’t have to work with your fingertips. The hollow-ground blade is Crucible CPM S90V, hardened to 60 – 61 HRC. That steel is known for holding an edge until you start wondering when you last sharpened anything. You work your way through weeks of parcel tape and cut the odd fish roll down on the pontoon before the stone is allowed back to work. Behind the edge the blade runs thin, which is why the cut feels closer to a scalpel than to a cleaver. Carry, sheath, § 42a The leather sheath has an integrated clip, so the knife either rides on your belt or disappears deep in your pocket. That is exactly the point for a lot of people: a fixed blade without any Kydex rattle, something you pocket in the morning and then forget about. And yes, you are allowed to carry it. § 42a of the German Weapons Act draws the line for fixed blades at 12 cm of blade length, and at 8.75 cm the Bordertown stays clearly below that, which makes it § 42a compliant. Four versions and the rest of the kit There is also a snake knot lanyard with a titanium bead, colour-matched to each version. And the VHS-format box with an illustration by Sean Tiffany that honestly deserves its own spot in the display cabinet. You can choose between Fat Carbon Arctic Storm, Titanium Crystalized Purple, Titanium Starburst Bronze and Bordeaux Jute Micarta. The two titanium versions bring a bit more weight and sparkle in return, while carbon and micarta are the lightweights in the field. The man in the hat would have given up his horse for it. All you need is a pocket.