How To Design a Pocket Knife
I’m going to teach you about Pocket Knife Design in this post, but first, I’m going to ramble and tell stories. Feel free to skip the rambles if you must.
I was sitting across the desk from the department director. The chairman. A big guy with a barrel chest. This professor would decide my fate for the next three years. His sprawling desk and piles of books were imposing. His influence on my future, outsized. He asked me what I wanted to do with a degree in broadcast. I rambled. I didn’t mean to deliver a nebulous answer, but I truly didn’t know. I loved video, filming, and crafting stories, but my pitch to the program was… flat. The interview ended and I got up to leave. As I made for the door, I complimented the professor on a live TV broadcast I knew he had produced. We chatted for a few more minutes about the emotion he had created in the broadcast, and how I’d never forgotten it. I told him that’s what I wanted from a Communications degree: tell stories with impact. Help people feel something. I left with a sense of doubt and chaos in my chest. I overanalyzed my answers, post-mortem. I stressed. I worried. I got in the program.
The next 7 semesters were hard, and I worked my tail off. Somewhere around semester 5, I realized broadcast wasn’t what I wanted. With a mere year to finish my undergrad, I panicked. I was on course to graduate in broadcast and film, but I didn’t want to work in either industry. I was married now with a kid on the way. I stressed. I doubted. I worried. I networked. And I landed at Blade HQ doing YouTube videos for my last year of college. If you’re unfamiliar with my professional story, this is where the journey begins for me. I plopped into the knife industry via video production, and I realized I enjoyed it. So I stayed.
The next 10 years were a blur of knives, job changes, apartments, cross country moves, frustration, doubt, worry, studying for grad school, decisions, no grad school, babies, more job changes. I built marketing programs and talked to audiences in the millions. I networked and strategized and dove deep in business.
After 9 years of working in pocket knives, I drew up my first knife design and released it with WE Knives in 2020. The Banter Pocket Knife was a hit.
Two years later, I left my job in corporate America and took my business, Knafs, full-time. It’s been an evolutionary journey with unexpected twists and turns. The further I go down this road, the more questions I’m getting about how I got here. They’re questions like “I want to work in the pocket knife industry. How do I get into it?” Or “Do you have a degree in design?” Or “How do I get a company to pick up my design?”
Unlike my interview with the department head so many years ago, I have some answers about my career now. Not all the answers, no. But a few. Let me preface this: I’m not an expert. I’ve spent 12 years in the knife industry, but there are much more talented and less social folks that have spent 25 and 40 years in this industry who know it better than I do. What I’m sharing is my experience and thoughts on how you might explore and chase a career path in this industry. Keep in mind there are many roads that lead to the same place. Also remember: life has a funny way of taking you where you need to be. You may start digging into knives and realize you actually have zero interest in turning your hobby into a career. Take my weird notes and adapt them for your own situation. Buckle up for true confessions and real talk:
I’m Not a Knife Guy
Whatt?!! How can this be?! Before you chase me down with your pitchforks and Cold Steel Espadas, let me explain: I don’t collect knives for fun and read Knife Steel Nerds for kicks. I don’t follow knives on Instagram because it’s my passion. Widgets are my passion, and knives are a widget. In business, “widget” is a placeholder for any product you sell. Widgets are brooms and carburetors and haircuts and pastries and toilet paper and t-shirts and anything else that is traded for money. The basic principles of business apply to any widget: operations, supply chain, research and development, manufacturing, quality, accounting, finance, marketing, etc. It’s all the same! Every business everywhere. Sure, there are nuances in knives and other businesses. That said, it’s still business. I know people who work in the knife industry who are brilliant at ops or accounting, but have absolutely zero interest in steel or lock types. This is great! We need those people. So, for starters, understand that you don’t have to be a knife aficionado to work in knives. I work in knives because this widget is super fun, useful, and I get incredibly excited from customers’ excitement. I love this widget! So maybe I am a knife guy? You decide.
Quick story: I worked in corporate America for 3 years selling widgets on Amazon for large businesses while I grew Knafs on the side. I managed bathroom fans, first aid kits, truck tuners, skin exfoliators, nail guns, makeup, and this foot acid that made all the skin on your feet fall off. I learned a lot, but it was rough for me. No one smiles about spending $280 on a bathroom fan or $30 for voluntary trench foot.
Me $lingin’ bathroom fanz by the million$. Actually, I’m pretty sure this was an inventory disaster I was trying to solve that was costing us millions in my job. The corporate America thug life was rough on me.
I get a high from seeing people enjoy what I create, and no one who buys a pocket knife leaves with a frown. I genuinely love watching that happen. So, my first piece of advice is find something you genuinely enjoy. That sounds basic as I write it. I suppose what I mean is if knives are your hobby, perfect. Knife manufacturing might suck your soul. Knife accounting might be your personal Hell. Be cautious about making your hobby your career. If you’re going to chase pocket knives, realize your passion will become your job with all of the HR, accounting, spreadsheets, and things you may hate. It’s still business. This shouldn’t discourage you, but be realistic with yourself. It’s a money making tool to eat. Some days will be rugged. Pick your widget wisely.
I spent 2.5 hours talking with Kyle and Dan on the Knife Perspective Podcast about the joys of running a business and knife design. It’s loooong, but if you’re serious about learning how to turn your widget into a living, I’d recommend it as required listening:
Did you go to school for knife making and knife design?
No. I studied broadcast and film. It’s the best thing I could have done for me and my path. I’m so glad I got that degree. It’s been invaluable. It taught me to talk to people, tell stories, negotiate, write succinctly (despite the length of this post), and make things happen. I learned Illustrator, Premiere, and Photoshop— tools I use all the time in designing and selling knives. It opened doors at Blade HQ and continues to open doors today. My path into pocket knives went through the world of video production.
Filming my college documentary in Honduras. I don’t know where I found that outfit, but someone should have pulled me aside to fix it.
Schooling, learning, and mentorship is a critical step, no matter your field. Our product development specialist at Knafs is studying Outdoor Product Design at a local university. Our marketing manager went to coding and dev school. Our operations manager has a degree from the retail school of hard knocks. Learning can happen anywhere. But you typically have to chase it. Absorb it. Ask for help. I learned knives by taking what I knew (broadcast and film), applying it to what I don’t, then expanding outward.
How do I get into making Knives?
Here’s my first suggestion: if you’d like to make knives, dig in and start doing. Find a mentor. LT Wright has a knifemaking class you can pay to attend. Dig in to find a knifemaker near you and connect with them. Be genuine. Make friends. Ask for favors gently. Repay in ways that make sense. Keep in mind, knifemaking is hands on. It’s mechanics and engineering and geometry and materials science and math all combined with artistry.
You can take two paths here: custom or production knives. Customs are typically a one-person shop in small batches— the convergence of art and science. Production is large batch with CNC machines, grinders, and processes. Making is hands-on. Now let’s talk about designing knives: How do I design Knives? I’ve never made a knife in my life. I have soft hands, and I’m not the world’s greatest maker of physical things. Instead, I design knives. I then hand those knives off to a production team. I’ve written extensively about my process of designing the Lulu Fixed Blade Knife here.
But let’s talk about how I see design. Knife design is one part art and one part data. I start with data. These are inputs and inspirations from hundreds of different places: my preferences, existing knives, comments on social media, conversations at trade shows, field use, Amazon reviews, website reviews, customer feedback. Inspiration is everywhere. I take these inputs and start creating outputs. Some folks are designing knife art. I am not. I am designing functional tools that perform in the market. How do I balance personal preference with what sells? Data. My preference is to make money and eat. So I design knives that the data shows will sell. I’m not making art for art’s sake. Some designers are. Elijah Isham (RIP) comes to mind. And it worked! Watching the sales numbers on his work blew my mind when I worked at Blade HQ. I didn’t think it would sell. But it did, extraordinarily well. Two different roads to the same place.
Elijah Isham’s knife design work compared to mine. Totally different worlds and philosophies. Both have been successful in the market for very different reasons.
I think this is where passion comes in. Elijah was incredibly good at telling a story around his work. He could sell a knife that looked like an alien, no problem. I cannot. I design and sell knives that look like they were designed in a bakery that only sells white bread. Nick Shabazz called the Banter a “tall glass of vanilla.” Guilty as charged. Vanilla sells. White bread sells. I like to sell.
So you want to design a knife?
You’ve got a sketch all ready to submit somewhere? Let me fill you in on a secret: knife companies don’t need your knife design. They have in-house designers, established designers, and R&D teams. Despite your abilities to sketch something cool, they don’t need you, and they’d prefer not to pay the royalty to you. So, you must figure out how to make yourself useful to them. Do you have an audience on social media? Do you have a new mechanism or innovative idea? Are you an artist like Elijah whose designs are otherworldly? Have you established yourself as a custom maker with unfulfilled demand? Are you a thought leader? What do you bring to their table? How will you ensure your knife sells?
This is one of the original sketches for the Civivi Sendy (originally supposed to be the Cedar). A big part of this knife is the story behind it.
As a bad example: I was having a conversation with a friend that has designed a knife for a company— beautiful design, well manufactured. I asked him how it was selling. He told me slow. I asked how he was marketing it. He told me it was the manufacturer’s responsibility to market it. I balked, and we had a great conversation about how no one cares about his knife design. I was kind, but firm. He is solely responsible for the success and failure of his knife design in the market. If it has his name on it, it’s his responsibility. If it’s his work, it’s his responsibility. Many a designer’s work has languished because the designer did not complete the Knife Design. More on that shortly.
As a good example, one of my friends in the knife industry is TJ Schwarz. He runs Schwarz Knives and designs knives for CRKT. I’ve watched from a front row seat as his career has unfolded, and I’ve decided he’s a mastermind. Here’s what he did: TJ and Bill Koenig designed an innovative knife that tears down without tools. He shopped it around. They won an award. He networked like crazy. I remember him wandering around trade shows introducing himself. Making an impression. Exchanging phone numbers.
CRKT picked up his first factory collaboration at the recommendation of Ken Onion. He stood in their booth at shows to promote his product. More networking. He taught himself CAD, bought a CNC machine, turned his garage into a shop, and went from designer to maker. He released his own designs, made in his one car garage. He and Lucas Burnley started a podcast. His career has not been one of submitting a sketch and waiting. His sketch landed on fertile ground at CRKT because TJ carefully cultivated every piece of that ground. TJ is an example of Knife Design, rather than knife design.
Knife Design vs. knife design
Too many people are thinking about knife design as a one dimensional tent with a single tent pole. This floppy structure looks like this:
Rarely do those knives make money. Rarely do designers make a living from this strategy. Anyone can create a knife design. I don’t mean that to be condescending. I’ve watched my kids sketch out knife designs at our kitchen table with crayons. It’s fun! There’s value in that. However, fun is not a widget to sell. It is not putting food on a table. And this is where Knife Design happens.
Knife Design is the full picture. It’s multiple tent poles that are carefully built into the design. It’s thinking about knives as a business. Your napkin sketch is not a business. I venture to say “knife design” is myopic— short sighted. If you want to design knives, you’d better start thinking about Knife Design, not knife design. You’d better love the marketing. You’d better love the story. You’d better love the packaging and package inserts and sell through and trade shows and strategy and pricing and bartering and negotiating and promoting and networking behind that product.
I was at dinner with Jens Anso a few weeks ago (rumor has it, he’s one of the top 10 knife designers in the world, so it’s safe to say he knows this stuff), and he said, “I don’t sell knives. I sell stories.” Two things stand out to me there: sell and stories. Jens recognizes that he is selling. It’s a business. And the widget he’s selling is a story, disguised as a knife. I could write for days on that concept. However, let me paraphrase by saying this: it’s not enough to be interested in knives and have an idea. You must be willing to think about it as a widget within a business. Jens is selling.
I’m going to categorize knife designers into four bunches:
1 - Design knives for a royalty
This is what I do with WE and Civivi Knives. Those companies accept design submissions from outside parties. So, I submit an idea to them, they look it over, and make a decision about adding it to their line. It’s a pretty cool arrangement because they handle manufacturing, distribution, finance, etc. I only design and help market the product. However, it’s important to know that there is an aspect of control that you give up in this situation. You sign over the design to the company. They control release dates, quality, packaging, and a million other variables. You are no longer in full control— a reality that is both a positive and a negative.
2 - Design knives as a contractor
I have a good friend named Fred Karl who has worked internally at established knife companies as an industrial designer. He’s since branched off and created a boutique design firm where he does work for hire. It’s his work, but you won’t see his name on the designs; it’s behind-the-scenes contract work for companies big and small. He makes a living designing knives, yet he doesn’t have to deal with any of the front-end marketing, sales, or public dog and pony shows of a knife designer. It suits him well, and he gets to create really cool things under the shroud of corporate NDAs and ghost designing. Plus, he’s wicked good at it, and he can work in all sorts of industries at the same time:
A sampling of Fred’s work from his website, gearsproductmarketing.com
3 - Design knives within an established company
If you simply want to design knives, I’d suggest going to school and becoming an industrial designer, then getting a job within an established company. This is a totally viable option. Montana Knife Company just hired a former Benchmade knife designer who is brilliant. Kershaw/ZT has two of the best knife designers in the industry. They are part of a system that encapsulates their designs in an established widget-machine. The HR is done. The payroll runs. Marketing picks up the model. Trade shows are handled. The knife design happened with a designer, but the Knife Design happened as a 50-300 person team.
4 - Design knives for your own business
I have another friend, Michael Reed, who just released his first knife design, the Truffles. He raised $161K on Kickstarter— a remarkable feat. He and I have had some long conversations about how he now takes his knife design to a Knife Design. He has to think about pricing, margins, retail, and distribution. He is stressed about quality control and shipping 800 units. Michael and his wife Melody are incredibly capable, and they’ll do great at this game. But I’d daresay the widget-business side of this whole game was unexpected for them.
The Truffles knife raised $161K on Kickstarter! That’s amazing. Now, the fun begins with shipping, QC, and running a business.
This is the same process I do with my company, Knafs. I design knives (along with our highly capable team), then we manage the projects, end to end. We assume all of the financial risk, and we run it as a business with EIN numbers, accountants, payroll, and all the headaches. I have several other friends in the same boat— they’re committed to the knife design they’ve created, and now they have to deal with the face-slapping, hard charging, wild chaos of a widget business. They’re now having to do Knife Design.
How do you find manufacturers to work with?
Go to trade shows. Ask around. Talk to people. Buy samples of their existing work. Make phone calls. Swan dive into it with Knife Designs. It’s remarkable how many OEM manufacturers contact me daily now that they can see Knafs is making knives. I’m amazed by how things in life happen when you put a worm on your hook and drop it in the water. Start fishing and usually you’ll figure out how it works.
I had another friend ask how I vet OEM manufacturers to avoid heartache. Same way. Phone calls. Emails. References. Expectations management. Prototyping. Patience. Willingness to walk away from vendors and suppliers that aren’t compatible.
How to design for personal taste vs mass appeal?
Along with broadcast and film, I studied a bit of art in college. We studied different media and mixed media, golden means, and the paintings of the masters. I’m of the opinion that art falls into two categories: art you can eat and art you can’t. Art you can’t eat is a beautiful thing. Let your heart make things. Art for art’s sake is wonderful. But making art to eat and sell crosses into the wonderful world of widgets. My knives are designed and calibrated to sell. This isn’t a pro-bono exercise of artistic flare for me. So, I look at what sells already. I dig into the data. I study lines. I utilize Occam’s Razor. I create what I like. My personal taste is to sell, and the knife must have mass appeal to sell in the mass market. If you’re a custom maker, your mass appeal can be much, much smaller and you can be highly successful. I look at the Vallaton family in that regard. Their knives are wiiiiild. Not my style. But they do great because their personal taste appeals to the right masses.
Whoa. That was a lot of writing. I hope it was less of a ramble-fest than my college department interview. But maybe not. Life isn’t linear. It doesn’t compartmentalize into nice, clean chapters with clear explanations for the test. Life ebbs and flows and isn’t always clear in the moment. I believe in God and that our life has meaning and purpose beyond the “now.” I’m convinced that moving in a direction allows for God to make changes and adjust our course to good things. Now, even if that’s not your personal belief system, I would argue that the same principles apply: you can’t get into the Comms program if you don’t apply to the program. You can’t see a physical knife if you don’t start sketching and pitching. You can’t adjust the direction of a stopped vehicle. You can’t steer a boat that’s not moving. So, pick a direction and start moving. Knock on the doors. Network into the opportunities. Chase it. And life. Life has a way of working out in ways we never imagined.