About Wicked Edge
In 2007, Clay Allison of Santa Fe Outfitters and Devin Kennemore of C Squared LLC joined together to design products for the outdoors industry. With decades of experience in outfitting and search-and-rescue, the two have a unique resume of combined talents and training that lend themselves to identifying areas of need in their fields and for developing solutions in those areas. In the spring of 2007 Clay and Devin were working on their up-coming video, “An Outfitter’s Guide to Field Dressing Large Game.” Field dressing is tough on knives and in the process, they did a lot of sharpening. By the end of the filming, they had each reached the end of patience with existing knife sharpeners. After talking it over, they got together to solve the shortcomings of the sharpeners they found so frustrating. The result of their collaboration was the first set of drawings for the sharpener that would become the Wicked Edge.
Refining the Concept
The initial prototype was a complete failure and they nearly threw in the towel on the project. Then late one night, inspiration struck and Clay sketched out a concept.Devin jumped in and added some much needed engineering expertise. After many refinements and painstaking revisions, the first successful prototype was created. Many months of testing and further refinements finally yielded the current sharpener; a fast and efficient precision machine.
The Wicked Edge Story as Told By Clay
‘Back in the day, I got ready for a hunting trip in the same way as all my friends; making lists, packing gear, preparing food, sighting my rifle etc… An essential part was always sharpening my knife. In those days, we all used the standard two-sided stone with techniques that had been passed on to us by our fathers and grand fathers. I remember working and working for hours to get what finally felt like a decent edge, only to find that the knife just didn’t get the job done in the field.
Eventually, I purchased an electric sharpener. My electric unit was fast and produced satisfying results. The knives weren’t razor sharp, but they were pretty good. By then I was outfitting hunts on a prestigous ranch in Colorado and I had plenty of opportunities to test out knives. What my guides and I all quickly found out was that you still needed to bring at least four knives to properly dress out an elk. I began examining the edges of my high dollar knives and I noticed that they had a scalloped appearance. I did some research and found out what professional sharpeners have known forever: A well formed edge stays sharp much longer. Poorly formed edges, like those created on electric sharpeners will quickly dull. It was then that I purchased my first controlled angle sharpener.
The new sharpener was truly a revelation to me. The first thing I found was that my knives’ edges lasted much longer. One knife was now taking me through a whole elk – skinning, quartering and caping. I was so impressed that I purchased several dozen controlled angle sharpeners and gave them out to my guides, family members and friends. The next thing I found was that with the purchase of the optional higher grit stones, I could get my knives truly razor sharp.
After nearly a decade of love, the fascination with my sharpener slowly began to fade.There were several frustrating issues with the sharpener: First was that the vise didn’t have enough clamping power to be truly effective. The knives would often work themselves out of the vise and the whole process would come to a halt while the knife was replaced and the vise was reset. Sometimes the knife would come all the way out and actually fall to the floor. Second was the awkward juggle that had to happen to switch sides for sharpening. It was always a fiasco that really slowed progress and often ended up causing nicks and cuts on my hands. The third and most aggravating problem with the sharpener was that I often found myself needing to recreate the edge from scratch (which required a considerable amount of time) when only a touch up was needed. The combination of frustrations finally led me to discuss sharpening with my partner and sparked the creation of our first prototypes. With the Wicked Edge, we have solved all of the problems inherent with all previous controlled angle sharpeners.’ – Clay Allison
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Eligibility
Prize winners must be U.S. residents at least 18 years of age who have made one or more qualifying contribution of at least $20 each to Knife Rights, Inc. (“KR”) during the eligibility period or who have submitted an entry in accordance with the published rules. Winners of firearms, suppressors or knives must not be prohibited from owning or possessing them under applicable laws.
Rules:
Offer void where prohibited. No more than one (1) prize will be awarded to any one person in each of the Early Bird Bonus Drawing and Main Drawing. No more than one (1) prize will be awarded to any one person in the Tail End Drawing, if held. A Tail End Drawing is not guaranteed to be held. You can donate as often as you like, but each donation is separate and independent from previous donations and will only entitle you to the number of entries specified at the donation level you have selected at the time of each donation.
Each donation must include full name, donation amount, shipping address and phone number (cell preferred) to be valid. Winners need not be physically present at the drawing to win.
Firearms and suppressors will not be shipped directly to winners, but rather to Federal Firearms Licensees (“FFLs”) specified by winners (or selected by KR or Hill Country Class 3 LLC d.b.a. Silencer Shop (Silencer Shop), in KR’s and Silencer Shop’s sole discretion). Winners can only take possession of firearms and suppressors from the FFLs. Optional suppressor included with some firearms prizes can be excluded if the winner is ineligible for any reason or prefers not to become subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act (NFA). Current wait times for NFA transfers conducted by the BATFE are nine to twelve months and could be longer. KR is not responsible for tracking such wait times. Winner is responsible for compliance with the NFA and all state and local laws governing the possession of NFA items in the winner’s jurisdiction. Neither KR, nor KR Affiliates (as defined below), nor their successors or assigns, nor the supplier of the suppressor prize, are responsible for failure to complete delivery of such prize for any reason, including without limitation the prize winner’s failure to comply with any legal requirements. Declining to accept a suppressor prize, or failure to satisfy the legal requirements for a firearms or suppressor prize selected, forfeits any claim to that firearm or suppressor prize and no replacement, alternative prize, or cash equivalent will be provided. Automatic knives will not be shipped directly to winners unless a legal recipient under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1241-1245 and 18 U.S.C. § 1716(g), but rather to an authorized dealer in eligible winner’s state from which winner can claim prize.
Some prizes are subject to additional limitation(s) that is/are included in prize description and by selection of such a prize the winner automatically accepts and is bound by the stated limitation(s) and rules regarding selection and delivery as if the limitation(s) was/were included herein. Claim to prizes is not transferable with the exception that delivery of a suppressor prize can be received by a trust of which the winner is a responsible person qualified to receive an NFA item.
The odds of winning vary based on the number of donations and amounts donated. Winners will be drawn on or after September 30, 2021, for the Main Drawing. Early Bird winners will be drawn on or after June 30, 2021. If held, Tail End Drawing winners will be drawn on or after September 30, 2021, immediately prior to the Main Drawing. The closing date of the Main and Tail End Drawings may be extended up to 90 days due to exigencies resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic as necessary. Winners drawn will have first choice of prizes available after any prior winner(s) have selected, in the order in which such winners were drawn (“Winner’s Choice”). At KR’s option, additional Winner’s Choice prizes may be awarded. Accordingly, the final posting of winners may take up to 180 days post drawing.
Winners must comply with all applicable legal requirements prior to taking possession of firearms, suppressors or knives. Winners are solely responsible for determination of legality. If for any reason winners cannot comply, prizes will be held for 30 days and then will be forfeited and returned to KR. Winners of firearms are responsible for shipping charges ($25 Pistol Caliber/$50 Rifle Caliber and Long Gun), transfer fees to FFLs and any other applicable fees and may be required to prepay such expenses by valid credit card or other method to be determined in KR’s sole discretion. NFA prizes will be transferred via the “Powered By Silencer Shop” dealer network. Winner will not incur any additional charges unless exceptions are made. Exceptions include but are not limited to: changing SOT dealers after paperwork is filed, changing registration type, facilitating a dealer outside of the “Powered By Silencer Shop” dealer network. In most cases, Silencer Shop will handle the transfer from start to user receipt and will require contact with the winner to insure registration information is valid and complete. If communication cannot be facilitated between Silencer Shop and the winner, NFA Prizes will be held for 30 days before return transfer to the manufacturer is initiated.
All prizes other than firearms will be shipped at KR’s expense via a shipping method of KR’s choice, signature required at KR’s option, to the addresses provided by winners, insured. If winner declines KR’s signature required delivery, they accept all risk for non-delivery regardless of cause. If delivery is not completed on original shipment, regardless of fault, winner is responsible for any redelivery charges. Winners are hereby warned not to sign for delivery without the package in hand and undamaged. Winners who do not respond to a delivery notice, regardless of reason, are responsible for any redelivery charges. Winners of prizes after the Winner’s Choice prizes are selected will be sent their prizes without prior notification to the address provided. It is donor’s responsibility to notify KR of any change in address.
KR is not responsible for lost, damaged, stolen or undelivered prizes, regardless of cause, and winners agree to look solely to insurance carried by KR or included by shipper with regard to same. KR is not responsible for reimbursement of any insurance deductible, which may be in an amount of up to $500. Risk of loss or damage is solely with winners.
KR will attempt to notify all Winner’s Choice winners using the contact information supplied. It is donor’s responsibility to notify KR of any change in contact information. Any prize not claimed by a Winner’s Choice winner within 48 hours from KR’s first attempt to notify the winner will be forfeited and all other winners drawn will move up one place in priority. If a Winner’s Choice winner that does not respond within the 48 hours later contacts KR, they will be offered the choice of prizes then currently available if within the Winner’s Choice draws, if any, after the current notified winner selects a prize. Otherwise, prize will be forfeit. All entries and donations are non-refundable and will become the sole property of KR once submitted. Acceptance of a prize constitutes winners’ permission for KR to use winner’s name and likeness for KR promotional purposes without additional consideration.
If payment of any donation is rejected, denied, returned for insufficient funds, refunded for any reason or otherwise not made, and the responsible party does not subsequently make full payment plus processing fees of $35.00 that clears no later than 7 (seven) days prior to drawing, the entries related to that donation will be removed from the drawing. Winners of “Early Bird” prizes are eligible for (and their winning entry will be automatically entered in) the Main Drawing. If held, winners of “Tail End” prizes are eligible for (and their winning entry will be automatically entered in) the Main Drawing. Once an individual winner has been selected as a prize winner in the Main Drawing, that winning entry is removed. There is no cash substitution for any prizes.
Winners Choice winners will be notified using the contact information supplied and informed how to claim prizes. Only those named as the entrant on a valid winning entry form are eligible to claim a prize, and such persons may be required to provide proof of identification acceptable to KR in KR’s sole discretion. KR shall not be liable for failure of notification arising from incorrect or illegible contact information supplied, or email or voice mail induced failures, or failure of entrants to respond to communications (or failure of KR to actually receive such responses regardless of cause) within 48 hours of KR’s first attempt to notify the winners. KR’s obligation is limited to making good faith efforts to notify winners. Once all winners are drawn and notified, names of winners (given name and surname initial.) will be posted at the Knife Rights Ultimate Steel web site: www.KnifeRights.org/UltimateSteel.
All prize winners are subject to applicable drawing procedures, restrictions, rules, directives, applicable laws and regulations, and are solely responsible for all applicable taxes, fees, assessments and charges relating to the prizes. Your participation in this fundraiser (including without limitation the act of submitting a donation and/or winning a prize) signifies and is conditioned upon your acknowledgement, agreement, covenant, representation and warranty to KR, based on good and valuable consideration, receipt of which you acknowledge, that (i) KR, its officers, directors, affiliates, professionals, personnel, representatives and members, together with Silencer Shop and its officers, directors, affiliates, professionals, personnel and representatives together with prize donors and their officers, directors, affiliates, professionals, personnel and representatives (collectively, “KR Affiliates”) shall have no liability whatsoever in connection with this fundraiser, the prizes (or their acceptance, possession, use, or misuse), or anything arising out of or relating thereto; (ii) you waive and release any and all claims you may now or ever have against KR Affiliates; and (iii) you will not make any claims against KR affiliates and shall be estopped from so doing.
KR makes no claim regarding the actual value of any prize and is not responsible for the accuracy of any value estimate provided by prize donors or anyone else listed as “Retail Value” and a prize may not realize the Retail Value listed if sold by winner. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price are listed for production items which may be purchasable for a lower price. KR does not guarantee the accuracy of the prize descriptions published. Prizes are in as-is condition. KR makes no warranty as to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, suitability or condition of the prizes. Prizes donated by individuals may have been previously used. Prize may have been exhibited and may have been cosmetically damaged as a result. Firearm prizes may have been converted to non-firing condition for exhibition and back to firing condition and Winner should have a competent gunsmith inspect firearm to ensure it is safe for use upon receipt. Any repair required is the responsibility of the Winner. Firearms prize package accessories may have been mounted for display and then dismounted from the firearm and may have been cosmetically damaged as a result. Notice is hereby given that prizes incorporating Mammoth, Mastodon, or Fossil Walrus ivory, tooth or tusk (and/or other materials that may become prohibited or regulated) are prohibited by state law from being claimed by residents of some states, including but not limited to California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
Prizes subject to change without notice. Production prizes may be substituted with prizes of equal or greater value prior to prize selection. Some prizes were not received by KR prior to the start of the fundraiser and KR is not responsible for the failure of any prize donor to fulfill the obligation to deliver the prize by the drawing date.
A donation is not required to be entered in the drawing. To enter without making a financial donation, send a postcard with your name, phone number, email and shipping address to: Knife Rights 2021 Ultimate Steel, PO Box 657, Gilbert, AZ 85299. Your postcard must be received no later than June 30, 2021 for the Early Bird Drawing and September 30, 2021 for the Main Drawing to be considered a valid entry. Only one postcard per person is allowed. KR is not responsible for undelivered or illegible postcards.
Knife Rights, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) exempt organization. Donations to Knife Rights, Inc. are not tax deductible charitable contributions. Check with your tax professional for additional information.