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Custom Knives by Alan Davis

Thought I would start a blog here to showcase the work of my favorite knifemaker. I stumbled across Alan Davis, a knifemaker from Boerne, Texas, in late 2012. I was blown away by his knife designs. Even more astounding was the fact that they were virtually all one of a kind creations. Alan didn't just make one or two patterns and then just outfit them with different materials. Each and every one was pretty much different. While he did have a few designs that people seemed to like and ask for, even those were made a little differently to make them unique. Alan works with all types of handle and blade material ... but does prefer Damascus blades. I currently own 67 of his knives (mainly his linerlock folders, do have a few frame locks, slip joints and fixed blades) and jokingly told Alan that I would love to have owned 100 of his knives before I die. Wasn't sure that would happen (while I sell many of his knives, I have been known to give a some away to close friends, so that they understand why I keep praising Alan's work!) ... but, that milestone was reached on April 19th, 2021, when I hit that 100 goal. He is the only maker who I would have no problem asking to make a knife for me and leaving everything (material/design) up to him ... and be confident that I would be thrilled with the results! I have done this twice .... and thrilled both times!

To start things off, here is one of my favorites that I picked up in 2014 (though I have so many I love, that picking favorites is a very difficult task!). It is a beautiful linerlock folder with amber Sambar stag scales and M3 composite bolsters. The blade measures 3.375" and is made from Damascus by Zoe Crist (in his Blackhawk pattern). Pocket clip is also Zoe's Damascus. Backspacer and liners are nuggetized and anodized a sort of plum color. All in all, a beautiful knife that feels super nice in the hand and is not too large or heavy to carry around clipped to your pocket all day. Hope you like it.

Stay tuned ....

Tags: Alan, David, Knives

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Comment by Dennis Hibar on June 1, 2017 at 4:42: Thanks Ellis. As for getting rid of it ..... ummm .... no! While there are a few of my Davis knives for which my arm could be twisted .... this isn't one of them! While I love all of Alan's knives, there are a number of them (this one included) where everything just comes together so beautifully.

Comment by Ellis H. Roberson on May 31, 2017 at 18:25: Ah, Dennis.. You did great there. I love the looks of that knife.. Simply Beautiful. Want to get rid of it????? LOL

Comment by Jan Carter on May 29, 2017 at 13:57: The stonewash was the perfect blade finish for this one. It allows the beauty of the handle material to stand out

Comment by Dennis Hibar on May 29, 2017 at 5:05: Thanks Rick. In addition to really liking the handle/bolster combination .... absolutely love the blade profile on this one.

Comment by Rick Propas on May 28, 2017 at 8:55: That's gorgeous!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on May 27, 2017 at 4:22: Here is one of my special Davis knives. Special, because I missed out on the first folder he made using this handle material. It’s a liner lock with some nice tiger coral scales. The bolsters are titanium texture tech. The just shy of 3 inch blade is CTS-XHP which Alan acid and stonewashed. Everything from blade to bolsters to handle come together quite nicely on this folder.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on May 20, 2017 at 4:29: Here is a nice trailing point flipper dressed up in Mammoth bark ivory. I posted its sibling back on March 18th, 2017. That one, however wasn’t a flipper and it had a Damascus blade. While I like Damascus … sure glad that Alan occasionally puts out a knife with a non-Damascus blade. In the case of this flipper, the blade is made from 1084 and has a differential heat treat with a nice visible hamon. Blade length is perfect for me at 2.875” … and I absolutely love that it is a trailing point (though not overly pronounced). I do believe it is one of my favorite blade profiles.

Comment by Rick Propas on May 15, 2017 at 13:29: This is one of those knives that isn't overly fancy, but really looks to get the job done. I've been buying from some other makers recently, but I need to get back to Alan's work, because nothing feels quite the same.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on May 13, 2017 at 4:34: Here’s a Davis that I almost didn’t buy because I thought the blade was a little too large. However, while the blade was a tad large … it was also significantly more than a tad beautiful! So, I caved. As it turns out, this one makes it into my Davis EDC rotation quite often. This one features some Honduran Rosewood scales and a 3.375” Zoe Crist Damascus blade in his Explosion pattern. Let me tell you, Zoe’s Explosion pattern is mesmerizing. Love it.