Our Story

Born to Blade

It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say "I was born with a knife in my hand.” In one of my earliest memories, I recall turning the back seat of my Mom’s vintage Ford Econoline van into swiss cheese with the help of my trusty pocket knife. I don’t know why I did it, but Mom was not happy to say the least. However, the reprimand I received did little to diminish my love of cutlery. In fact, I dare say it only encouraged me. I was hooked on knives.

The Early Days

And so began a lifelong love affair with blade design. I was fortunate enough to have an ever-present friend and mentor who fostered my passion and helped stoke the fire. His influence inspired my first custom knife which Gil Hibben built in 2001. Later, I teamed with the likes of John Coheah and Dylan Farnham (just to name a few) to bring other creations to life.

Making My Mark

Like many designers before me, I have long pursued the Unicorn of blade design; One knife that does it all. For years my efforts were largely in vain.

While pursuing my Unicorn, I closely followed one of the most hotly contested debates of the bladed survival tool market, “big knife vs camp axe.” After years of watching this debate unsuccessfully resolve itself on the discussion forums, I began to think there might be an undiscovered 3rd option that could successfully supplant the perennial kings of the survival tool market (big knife/small axe) and once and for all lay the age-old debate to rest. 

10,000 Years in the Making

My “ah-ha” moment occurred when I began to consider the shared origin of both the knife and the axe. Before these two tools diverged into separate evolutionary paths, they shared a common ancestor – the stone age hand axe. Often made out of flint, they could be chipped to produce razor-sharp edges for slicing and cutting, or they could be lashed to wooden hafts to make axes. With this as a starting point, I began to see ways that modern technology could improve upon this stone age design.

Trial & Error

Where to Go from Here?

Sometimes, the only way to find yourself is to get a little lost along the way. At the time I discovered the Axxis, I was a Realtor living in Austin, TX and not only did I lack the will to turn my dream into a reality, but I also lacked the technical know-how. Great Ideas are like A$$ holes; everybody’s got em… I knew I had something when I discovered the Axxis, but a great idea is nothing more than a dream without the will and ability to wrestle it free from the subconscious.

A Man with Dreams, Needs A Women with Vision.

I am not ashamed to admit, while in Austin, I met the love of my life on OkCupid. In my profile, I talked about knives. A lot. Unlike other girls, she did not recoil from my passion for cutlery. No, this one was clearly special. She prefers a hot forging and a full tang if you know what I mean. A survivalist at heart, she took my dreams and made them her own.

They say that love can set you free, and in our case, that was certainly the truth. 9 months after we met, we gave up the security of our careers and packed our bags for Colorado. Marooned in the wilderness of the Rockies, we threw ourselves into making this dream a reality.

03/26/2020 - The Axxis Successfully Funded on Kickstarter

We launched the Axxis Kickstarter campaign just as the Corona crashed our party. Though it could have sunk the ship, the Axxis successfully funded on Kickstarter, and we overshot our goal by 37%, giving us the funds to put the Axxis into production and then some. This is just one of many milestones we have planned for our journey.