Pocket Hunter with Leather Sheath

Krein, Tom

I have been fascinated with knives for as long as I can remember. I can’t remember a time that I didn’t have a knife… Growing up I usually had a slip joint of some kind in my pocket. As I got older I realized how useful a good knife was while playing in the woods, or fishing on the creek. After seeing a copy of Blade magazine my sophomore year in high school I decided that I wanted to be a custom knife maker. After reading everything I could find on the subject I started making some fixed blades around 1993. A little later I got a chance to work for knife making legends Bob Dozier, and A.G. Russell. I currently work for myself and my three boys help in the shop. Knives are some of man’s oldest tools. I feel the beauty of a knife is that it can be tool and weapon in one package. In my knives I feel that form should follow function. This doesn’t mean that a knife can’t be beautiful, just that its functionality shouldn’t be affected by aesthetics. I continually strive to improve my knives and the methods I use to build them.