A little bit of history about my knife making

I started in knife making by making traditional hunters and camp knives and marketing and selling them at nearby gun shows. My early knives were made by the stock removal method. Due to my earlier occupation as a farrier and blacksmith I eventually drifted into the forged method of making knives. Influenced by my teacher and mentor of the period Hugh Bartrug I found myself fascinated by Damascus and and art knives. That area was to be my specialty for the next 13 years.  At the close of those years I longed to get back to what I used to do, and that was to make knives that were to be used and used hard. I missed selling a knife to a person who may have saved up all year to buy that one knife he was allotted and I found great satisfaction in him picking my knife to spend his hard earned money on. And I was always tickled to hear stories back from customers after they used their new knife and how happy they were with it. For this reason I stopped making art knives entirely and began putting in steel all those designs I came up with just for the hunters and outdoorsman. Eventually my knives made there way into the hands of law enforcement and the soldiers going overseas. I knew then that I found my new rebirth in knife making. Not long after my decision Gerber contacted me about collaborating on a folding hunter that I made called the “Gamepro” thus became my first design collaboration with a major knife company. Since then I have designed the “Firestorm”, “Torch”, and the new “Hinderer Rescue” with them. About a 1 ½ after signing with Gerber I signed on a design with Benchmade called the “High Country Hunter” for their NRA line.

During this time I also invented an improvement to the framelock folding knife called the “Lockbar Stabilizer” This improves the framelock by preventing any over travel of the lockbar and prevents vertical flexing of the lockbar. Stride knives seen the value of this on their framelocks so they approached me and I granted them a license to use the Lockbar Stabilizer on their SMF and SNG models. Kershaw knives which are making the Zero Tolerance brand of knives are also using the Lockbar Stabilizer with my permission.

During that time I also came up with a new design of self defense tool called the Modular Kubaton which is gaining wide recognition in the LE and military community.

I feel that I am just getting started and am very excited about the future of Rick Hinderer Knives!