Reiff Knives
Our story begins in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. Our roots run deep there. Our Grandmother was a native West Virginian and our grandfather was an avid sportsman from just over the mountains in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In the early 80's our grandparents bought a piece of land from our great uncle's homestead and built a small cabin. It was there, in the backcountry of West Virginia, twenty minutes off any paved road and hours from the crime and madness of the cities that my siblings and I fell in love with the outdoors.
That little cabin is where we learned to shoot, hunt, fish, process game, ride four-wheelers and respect the land. Growing up, we spent our holidays and summer vacations there. Thanksgivings were always particularly memorable. It was deer hunting season and everyone hunted... a lot. There was always plenty to eat, and although we must have had turkey some years, none of us can remember it. What we do remember are chicken fried venison steaks, potatoes and onions fried in a skillet and canned wild ramps from the cellar. The venison and ramps were harvested from the pristine mountain slopes surrounding the property. The potatoes and onions came from the homestead gardens where we would hunt for bugs while our great aunt and uncle tended the crops. Everything came from the land.
One of our fondest childhood memories is sitting around the family table, prepping the day's harvest and preparing it for the freezers. In the summer, we'd spend our days exploring, hunting, fishing, riding four-wheelers, building forts, building fires and swimming in the cool mountain streams. It was an incredible way to grow up.
What does any of this have to do with knives? Well, even as young children we were taught to use and respect knives. We'd help dress and butcher game, build forts, build fires, whittle wood and do just about any other job you can imagine that required a sharp edge. Knives are part of our family's heritage and are one of humankind's oldest, most essential tools. Most people on earth, American or otherwise, use knives on a daily basis. They are integral to our survival as a species, whether in the wild, the warehouse, the kitchen or on the battlefield. They also happen to be one of the most beautiful tools you can own. Maybe we are biased, but we know a lot of folks who would agree.
So why knives? Well, as passionate outdoorsmen, regular knife users and obsessive knife collectors, we look around the knife industry and get frustrated. We're frustrated, because like so many other industries in America, we see an overabundance of compromise. We see quality compromises in the craftsmanship and materials being used to make knives. We see iconic American brands forsaking their country and outsourcing to save a dollar. We see cheap, low quality, poorly designed knives being mass-produced overseas by American companies in a time when good, hard-working, highly skilled people in our own country are desperate and out of work.
We see all of these things and we know we can do better. So, Instead of whining about it, we've decided to forsake the status quo, roll up our sleeves and get to work. Reiff Knives is the result.
Reiff Knives is a family owned and operated, American knife and tool company started by two brothers, Stu and Ben Shank. We're sourcing the best materials from American suppliers and making our products in American factories. We know we have a responsibility to the people who work with us and to the people who buy our tools. We don't make compromises to bolster the bottom line and we don't lie or spin to make garbage sound great. We build the best, heirloom quality knives and we charge a fair price for tools that are guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Thank you for checking out our website. We hope you like what you see. If you buy something and you love it, please let us know. If you buy something and you hate it, please let us know. If you don't see anything you like, please don't hesitate to contact us and tell us what you'd like to see and we'll do our best to make it.
It's an honor to serve you. Thank you for supporting our American dream.
