American-Made Blades, Part Two: What the Southwest Builds

For the United States Semiquincentennial, RECOIL has been running a series on American-made knives by region, and the second instalment moves from the Northwest to the Southwest. The framing is looser than it sounds. What ties Texas to California here is not geography but an approach: knives designed as tools first, with the decoration arriving second if at all.

The most interesting entry is Tracker Dan's Bloodshark Edge and Half. Its designer is a former Navy SEAL and Kali instructor, and the knife is his answer to a specific problem: how to carry a fixed blade in a front pocket without the sheath announcing itself. The handle is gutted 550 paracord wrapped Japanese-style over hemp and resin-coated, which produces a grip that does not slip when wet and does not rot. The blade runs MagnaCut, Larrin Thomas's stainless that pairs near-CruWear toughness with genuine corrosion resistance, and the Kydex sheath carries a deep-carry clip Dan designed for pocket ride. RECOIL's own note is fair: a few jurisdictions take a dim view of concealed fixed blades, so the design assumes you know your local law.

Spyderco's entry, the Native 5 Salt, makes the opposite case. The Salt series exists for maritime use, and Spyderco may have been the first manufacturer to move an entire product line to MagnaCut because of what that steel does in salt water: it resists pitting the way H-1 does while holding an edge like a proper knife steel. The Native 5 is made in Golden, Colorado, and is drilled for ambidextrous tip-up or tip-down carry.

Taken together the two knives frame the region's output. Auxiliary Manufacturing, Dawson Knives, Knives of Alaska and Tactile Knives fill in the middle of the range from hardworking field knives to near-jewellery folders. It is worth reading the whole piece; the differences between the four corners of American knifemaking are more pronounced than the marketing suggests.