Our Story
My name is Jon Chu and I've been interested in knives since I was a young child. This interest only grew over time - as a result, I've been a user, collector, and maker of knives for many years. I have followed the knife industry closely for the last decade, closely enough to observe trends and internally note some wonderful success stories: who is producing high-quality knives, offering them at reasonable prices, and how are they accomplishing it?
I describe myself as a "user" of knives first and foremost intentionally. Knives are meant to be used, just like any other tool. One fact I've learned about myself over the years is that I get very little satisfaction from buying and owning expensive/fancy knives, whereas I get an incredible amount of fulfillment from using knives. Maybe it's the knife you took on a camping trip or used to cook a meal. Maybe it's the one you take fishing or hunting. Or maybe it's just the knife that has been dutifully opening boxes with you for years. Sharing these experiences with knives leads to very fulfilling relationships with them.
With that in mind, you won't be surprised to hear that my journey as a maker of knives has trended towards making highly practical knives - specifically, knives that I personally want to start using the moment I finish making them!
That was exactly my mission in the fall of 2025, when I was forging a knife for myself out of a piece of 5160 round stock. I wanted to end up with a practical, small fixed-blade knife that I could realistically carry all the time and use for everything. It was meant to be rather minimalistic - just steel with good ergonomics forged into the handle and good cutting performance forger into the blade. For those who know the term, I was going for a brute-de-forge appearance.
Happily enough, I felt that knife was a success, and it went straight into my pocket. I used it constantly and showed it to friends. I loved it. They loved it. I got a crazy idea in my head: maybe the rest of the knife community would appreciate this knife (or a close approximation of it), too! The Model 1 was born.
When we first got the production version of the Model 1 in hand, I was incredibly pleased and impressed by the work of the factory in Finland. At the same time, I immediately thought of a number of things I could improve in the next iteration of this model. Many early users have had a similar experience, loving the knife and generously sharing their ideas for how to make it better.
As a company, we will iterate and constantly improve our products. Our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, practical knives to the community. In other words, we want to make knives that people fall in love with because of how much they use them, not because of how expensive they are.
If the Model 1 isn't for you - don't worry! Our Model 2 is currently in production, and it will have some characteristics that you might love if you happen to hate something about the Model 1, including:
- 14C28N Stainless blade steel
- Larger overall size
- Flat ground blade
- Micarta or G10 handle scales
So, my final message is this: if you love the knives we have available right now, great! Keep buying and using the heck out of them. If you hate the knives we have available right now, that's still great! We have more models coming and they will be different from the existing knives. Follow along, because eventually we'll have something for you. Better yet, tell us what you're looking for and your suggestions will help make it happen!
Thank you for everything! The knife community is a wonderful place to operate.
Sincerely,
Jon Chu