I am a long time knife nerd. 

I was deeply, deeply involved in the Filipino and Indonesian Martial Arts from around 1982, through 1997 or so. I even had instructor certifications in multiple systems. I have carried a knife on me every day of my life since the original Spdyerco Police model came out in 1984. So my bonafides are deep and rock solid. 

One knife I have always loved since being introduced to it circa 2006 is the Shivworks Disciple. It appeals hard to my inner FMA nerd, and it was a nice segue to being convinced of the efficacy of the Clinchpick. 

While not quite as easily concealable as the Clinchpick, the Disciple is still good for concealed carry, and it is a bit more intuitive to use. But back in the day, they were very, very rare. Even Craig Douglas, the man behind the idea and concept of the knife did not have ready access to them. 

I was resigned to never being able to have one, until my good friend Michael Brown gave me one of his original Trace Rinaldi made ones. I could not believe what a fantastic and thoughtful gift it was. Michael could have sold it for a good chunk of cash, but instead, being the good man that he is, he gave it to me after a seminar I taught for his training group of LEOs in Tulsa. I loved it and wore it all the time, even risking losing such an almost irreplaceable tool. 

A bit later, I became a convert to the Clincpick, and the Disciple became a sometimes carried blade, but that gift always has had a great palace in my heart. 

A few years ago, Craig – through the Shivworks Product Group – brought the Disciple back into availability at a great price that put it in reach of pretty much everyone. I have a number of them and they are everything the older blades were. 

I even tried to make a Disciple version of my IAC Clinchpick sheath (from JM Custom Kydex). Myself and Tony Mayer of JM tried many iterations, but it just did not work unfortunately. The handle length of the Disciple defeated the deep concealment aspect of the sheath. 

Pictured here are all of the above. The far left is the original Rinaldi blade that Michael gave me, the middle two versions are the current SPG produced ones, and the far right is my failed attempt to do the IAC sheath.