Justin Leach, part-time maker / Born in Denver CO / Grew up outside Atlanta GA / As a kid, spent summers at my grandma’s house in rural MT, running wild, and discovering the value in a good knife / Helped build a cabin with my family in southern CO, where I learned to drive a stick-shift and swing a hammer / Played with lawn darts (jarts) / Watched Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood movies at an inappropriate age / Listened to Too Short and Luke Skyywalker at an inappropriate age / Have been stuck in quicksand / 37 years old, been with the same woman for 18 years and owned the same car for 21 years / Dig gardening and cooking / Unwind with a 32KG kettlebell
My goal in knife making is to create a tool that will be part of someone’s daily life, then passed down for another lifetime of use, building a story along the way. With this in mind, I use the best quality materials available and overbuild everything that passes through my shop. Both my Field and Chef knives are designed and built to perform, above all else. My design aesthetic is old meets new - High Plains Drifter meets The Mechanic, classic minimalism meets modern tactical. I use a subtle exaggeration of proportions and a blend of traditional and contemporary materials to get the look I’m after.
Knife making is a process for me to find Flow, something I’ve been missing since my snowboarding days. There is inherent value in turning raw materials into useful tools. With proper care, my knives will last several lifetimes. In today’s gleeful march towards planned obsolescence, this act of defiance means a lot to me.
