My color changing knives keep coming out of their bag
and clank against each other and the drawstrings are no good and ...


I'm about to introduce a leather case to hold color changing knives.
The first batch will be small ... and so will the case.
2 3/4" x 3 3/4". It will hold 4 knives. I've decided on a zippered
case to allow easy access to the knives an also will STAY CLOSED!

I use the Haydn set of Mogar knives. That is the size this particular case
is meant for.

I plan on using 'smash climax knives' and the case was designed to
also hold a handful of these babies without them spilling all over the place.

Those of you that use CCK, let me know if you have any other suggestions
for features or sizes or quantity of knives.

My first suggestion was to add a belt loop on the back. This was done for the
first batch.

Anything else?

Will this be functional so you can easily locate a particular knife in your pocket or is it simply a carrying case?

Frank, what is a better design idea is a 3 or 4 section holder that will be used in a pocket. Leather is a stiff material and will be very useful in this regard. The knives should slide out easily from each pocket.

If you can put a flip over snap on the pouch would work for carrying in the case. A zipper would mark the knives and be a hassel to open in the pocket.

Check out the Tamariz routine and the Ken Brooke routine for uses of this method.

It will be functional.

The zipper should not touch the knives but I think it's important as it requires less bulk than a flap and the smash climax knives will be safe and secure between performances.

The knives will also easily be removed from the case. Using it in the pocket should be easy. It's basically a 4 section holder that will zip closed but also work from the pocket.

Thanks for your feedback. I have not seen the Ken Brooke routine.
Ou et le routine?

Frank, I'll be watching for pics of your CCK holder. I too could use 3 section holder for my Scotty York set of knives.

Hmmm, KB's routine is in the book: 'Ken Brookes Magic' *The Unique Years* on page 50 under the name of *Ken Brookes Penknife routine*.

However in Lewis Gansons *Routined Manipuilations* part 2, there is a large chapter re the Colourchanging Knifes too.. (which includes holders)
Apart from this, there is sooo much out re this, Ascanios handlings (Ascanio's World of Knives), and in his booklet (which includes holders)there even is Fred Kaps' handling of FKs routine re this effect..the list is almost endless re that piece of magic...

I'm going to have the knife holder be a removable insert that can be taken from the storage case and put into the pocket to allow easy access to the knives. the storage case will be a zipper case to hold the knives and climax knives between shows or could also remain in the pocket.

The zipper case is almost exactly the size of a deck of cards.
Thanks for the info.

Frank

This sounds cool, let us know when your photos are up

Steve Dela

Hello, could you put a small inverted bag, with a snap closure,
under thelarger kinves? when opened this would allow gravity to fill your hand with the mini knives.Slipping your thumb under the flap to open the snap would leave your fingers free to curl and recieve the knives.The case would need to extend to the bottom of an average pocket to allow room under the bag and hold the case more securly in one part of the pocket. Most pockets aren't square at the bottom so a taper (/) in the bottom of the case would allow
the case to stay in the inner pointed part of the pocket.

Thanks Glen. I'll take note of that and see what's possible.

Hi Frank,
What a great idea! I am a big fan of the CC Knives.

I carry the Hayden/Mogar set as well. But, per Michael Skinner, carry one knife in the left pocket and two in the right. I still like the idea of a case though. When I am working sans jacket I try to wear pants w/ a change pocket in the right pocket to hold the knives seperate from the coins & TT I also have w/me. I usually have a deck in the left pocket and that acts as a divider.

I guess my question is: Does the case have to be the size of a deck? Could it be smaller? The removable insert may solve that issue for me when I am working.

Either way, looking forward to seeing what you have come up with.

Thanks,
Bruce

The insert should take care of that.
I also have another idea for the climax "dispenser" based on Glenn's question above.
I need to take some measurements, however. If it works out, it could be very cool.

Frank,I had another idea . The knives for the Whit Hayden routine are nice because you can tell by feel which knife is in your hand. This is not the case with all knives.
If the front of each section of the knife holder was extended like a flat shoe lace.
Each knife pushes a lace into it's holder.


The lace forms a U shape from the front of the case ,under the knife and comes up behind the knife. When you pull up on the lace the knife comes up.


On one lace you put a small button,and on another lace you put a metal grommet .This helps to identify which knife you have.

One of the nicest cases is the one designed by Michael Weber and Phil Varrichio. It used to switch Knives in and out of play. Its also used for ringing the miniature knives in for the smash climax. If you can get one, do! its a great case.

Sean Macfarlane

Sean, this sounds a lot like my design. It would be interesting to see one.

I spoke with Joe Mogar this evening. After the discussion, there will be two cases.
One will be a zippered case that holds up to 4 knives and a place for a bunch of mini (or climax) knives. The case will be zippered to keep any of the items from spilling out. Mostly meant to store the knives between performances, in your close-up case.

Case 2 is meant for the pocket during performance, and will also hold up to 4 knives and will also allow climax knives to drop into your hand. A zippered case to store this unit will also be available.

I stapled together a prototype of case 2 this afternoon and passed it on to be constructed.

A prototype of case 1 has been made and the necessary adjustments will be easy and completed soon.

I should have a half-dozen of each ready quite soon.

Phil has been offering those cases for some time now. I think they first came up when we were making the Scotty York knives. Phil is in Vegas and a great person too.

-=tabman

I have the cases done.

here's a link to the storage case:
http://www.theambitiouscard.com/pouches/DSC_0351.jpg

here's a link to the working case:
http://www.theambitiouscard.com/pouches/DSC_0358.jpg

here's a link to several photos of the cases (scroll about halfway down):
http://www.theambitiouscard.com/pouches/samples.pl


The photos are taken with the Mogar Haydn set of knives.

The working case is meant for residing in your pocket while you're perfoming and can also hold a handful of climax(mini) knives in the 'secret' compartment.
A squeeze of the case drops the mini knives into your hand.

The storage case has a beltloop on the back for just such an occassion.
It's large enough to also store a handful of the climax knives between shows.

If you're interested, let me know.

Those look great! Are they available now? How much?

Bjørn

Yes. I need to do the web pages for them
but you can do direct paypal in the meanwhile.
they are $29 for zippered case and $24 for 'squeeze' case.

pm me for details.
Posted: Dec 1, 2005 4:20pm
You can get them here now.

http://www.theambitiouscard.com/pouches/pouches.cfm

Frank, a zipper sounds good. If you have any problem with it in the future, you might want to try velco flaps. Close a flap when the knives are in place of their pockets. At the end of the flap has velco sewn in. It locks the knives in place when it sticks to the velco sewn against the case at the bottom of the knives pockets. When the flap is released from the velcro buy pulling it up, the knives will be easy to pull out of each open cut pockets at the top. The flap will easily hide the back of the knives as pulling them out of the pockets.

When you finish, I would like to purchase one from you. Good luck.

Posted: Dec 15, 2005 9:48pm

Oh yea, another idea is have the case made for holding other items like coins or packets.