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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 March 25, 2017 at 6:13: I don't know how I could top that beautiful stag Davis that Rick posted … so, I won’t even try! Since my last post was a mammoth and Rick posted his stag, decided to go with a nice wood for today. Picked this one up in December (2016) and it features some really nicely figured amboyna burl scales. The bolsters are a textured M3 composite which are really striking and give a nice contrast between the scales and the 3.0625” Del Ealy multi-bar Damascus blade. Del has been forging a lot of multi-bar Damascus lately and all of it is really stunning.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on March 24, 2017 at 4:29: Like I said when you got that one Rick .... it's a beauty! Love the stag on it. And, seeing this on reminded me, if anyone would like to look at a pic tour of Alan's shop, you can do so here.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on March 18, 2017 at 4:31: Here is a nice slim Davis that spends a fair amount of rotation time riding in a belt sheath. It was also one that I thought had escaped me. Back in early 2014 Alan made two small trailing points. One a flipper with a 1084 blade with hamon (I will post that one at a later date) and this one. He decided to keep this one for himself and sell the flipper, which I obviously bought. Then, in July of 2015, after carrying it for a little more than a year, he gave it a loving spa treatment and put it up for sale. When I saw it, I thought to myself that it looked so familiar, but didn't know why (dang sometimer’s disease was rearing its ugly head again!). I was able to snag it and when it arrived I realized why it looked so familiar. It was the sibling to the flipper I bought a year earlier! Anyway, love a trailing point and this one is no exception. It has some Mammoth bark scales and an Alabama Damascus blade that measures in at just under 3 inches. It is one of several slim Davis knives I own that keep me smiling!

Comment by Jan Carter on March 14, 2017 at 20:22: Rick,

WOW, that has to be one of the best examples of the pinecone scales I have seen. It takes someone that knows what they are doing working with them. The have to be placed where it will be the best view, no easy task since they look nothing like this when you start working with them

Comment by Rick Propas on March 14, 2017 at 19:07: Dennis, talk about a small world and I guess that this is a small world of Davis collectors. I have run into several of you who are waaaay more serious than I am and really great and helpful people.

But I do love these knives and I did send a PM with my e-mail. I'd love to add your pics to those I have taken.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on March 14, 2017 at 4:39: Rick ..... Love that knife! And .... love it for a whole lot of reasons. First being that I was the first to own it!!!!! I originally bought it from Alan in March of 2015. A beautiful piece and the most striking pine cone scales I have ever seen. Another collector loved it just as much and had been trying to persuade me to sell it to him for a long time. I finally decided to let it go, in hopes that some good karma would befall me in "my" attempts to acquire some pieces I was after!!! (btw ... it worked!!) I still have a bunch of pics of this one. If you would like them, just send me a msg with your direct email and I can get them to you in a zip file. Here's a bolster shot:

Comment by Jan Carter on March 12, 2017 at 21:46: Well you sure did deliver on the real stunner. And the first one to be engraved!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on March 11, 2017 at 4:29: This is the most recent addition to my Alan Davis collection … one that almost wasn’t to be!! Back in January my desire to take a late afternoon nap got the better of me. I let this outrageously beautiful and first of its kind Davis slip right through my fingers. It was quickly snapped up just minutes before I wiped the sand out of my eyes!! Fortunately, the owner took pity on me and recently offered it to me for my collection. That was an offer I could not refuse! This is the first knife Alan sent off to have the bolsters engraved. The bolsters are bronze and the engraver ( Jake Newell ) did an outstanding job on them. Scales are Mammoth bark and the blade is Doug Ponzio's Damascus (in a loose Turkish twist pattern), nicely sized at 2.6875". This is a drop dead gorgeous knife and am elated to have it in the collection.