James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Lone Wolf Defender Knife Of the Year 2009 by Paul Poehlmann | Gentleman’s Tactical Folder w/ Cocobolo Handle
1 min read
The Paul Defender from Lone Wolf Knives won Blade Magazine’s 2009 award for Overall Knife of the Year. Termed the Gentleman’s Tactical Folder by the manufacturer, the Defender is a collaboration between Lone Wolf’s designers and Paul Poehlmann, inventor of the Paul Axiel lock.
What you’ll notice first is the beautiful Lone Wolf design expressed in cocobolo wood handle slabs and a tapered dagger blade of 154CM high carbon stainless steel. Lone Wolf knives have a distinctive look based on frontier concepts as much as function. Even though the Paul Defender does resemble the Applegate-Fairbairn fighting knife in silhouette, this is a much sleeker version of the tactical dagger with perks WWII’s commando experts never imagined.
Internally, the Paul Defender utilizes one of the strongest blade locks available — the Paul Axiel lock — for safe use and safe pocket storage. The single-edged and flat ground 3.9-inch blade locks in both open and closed positions automatically and opens with true one-handed simplicity. There’s no double-action required — no lock to unlock before you swing the blade out with your thumb. In fact, unless you see it done, you may not stumble onto the trick. There’s no thumb stud and no thumbnail notch — not even a thumb loop to spoil the appearance of the blade.
The lock button located on the pivot bearing frees the mechanism. Grip the pivot bearing of the knife blade with finger and thumb, and point the handle upward. Squeezing this axial button holds the blade steady while the handle swings free and falls back to the palm. Fully opened, the blade locks until the axial button is pressed again.
The Paul Defender may be rigged for either left or right hand use by removing clip and cocobolo handle slabs and reversing the grip layout. Precision screws make the operation simple, but you’ll need a special screwdriver to fit. The Defender also comes in other versions with handle slabs of G-10 or black carbon fiber. Prices vary with material types.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
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The Paul Defender from Lone Wolf Knives won Blade Magazine’s 2009 award for Overall Knife of the Year. Termed the Gentleman’s Tactical Folder by the manufacturer, the Defender is a collaboration between Lone Wolf’s designers and Paul Poehlmann, inventor of the Paul Axiel lock.
