While I consider myself much more of a knife user than a collector, and don’t generally dabble much in presentation knives, sometimes you run across a story that’s just worth telling. The ASP presentation knife is one of those. It’s as much about the people involved as it is the knife itself, as stunning as that knife may be.
If you’ve spent any time in law enforcement, you’re probably familiar with ASP. The company is best known for its expandable batons, along with handcuffs, flashlights and other law enforcement gear. Each year ASP holds a “Christmas in July” party in conjunction with its summer sales meeting and other company events. As part of that tradition, ASP employees pitch in to buy company founder and CEO Dr. Kevin Parsons a special gift.
For 2025, they decided to do something a little different. Rather than simply buying Parsons something, they commissioned a custom knife made from the product most closely associated with ASP itself: the expandable baton. That unusual project ended up in the hands of 23-year-old Texas knifemaker Tyler Tipton.
I love Tim’s open in this. I have been a fly on the wall during a debate beteen Tim and Mark. To Tim, a knife is worth nothing if you don’t use it. To Mark, using a knife makes it worth less.
Read the whole thing at KnifeWire.com
https://www.knifewire.com/features/2026/09/from-baton-to-blade-the-asp-damascus-knife/