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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 August 29, 2016 at 14:55: Thanks Jan. I like (actually love) both of those knives .... but could admire that feather Damascus blade all day long!! Really glad that Alan parted with that billet to make this knife for me.

Comment by Jan Carter on August 28, 2016 at 13:12: and I have decided that gimlet looks like blue lava in that stunning beauty!

Comment by Jan Carter on August 28, 2016 at 13:09: OH DENNIS!

Camel bone and HHH feather damascus! Now Randy Jr makes some of the most amazing damascus patterns I have ever seen but no one touches his feathers. If this one ever needs a home you just let me know

Comment by Dennis Hibar on August 27, 2016 at 4:31: [Update: This one has been sold.]

This is the first of two knives that I had Alan custom make just for me. I have absolutely no artistic ability and it is very difficult for me to visualize what I might like. I need to see something, before it registers in my brain. I bought my first Alan Davis knife in January of 2013 (look for that one next Saturday!). I was SO pleased with it that the same month, I asked Alan to make a folder just for me. Biggest problem was to describe what I might like! I told him that the only thing I knew for sure was that I would like it to have giraffe bone scales … which contained darks and lights, silver twill carbon fiber bolsters, and a Del Ealy Damascus blade in his fish pattern. I then went on to tell Alan that, to be honest, I would rather the blade be in some of Randy Haas’ (HHH) feather Damascus … but that stuff was so darn hard to come by. Alan told me that he just happened to have a billet of Randy’s feather Damascus that he was saving for himself, but would gladly use it on my knife!!! I certainly couldn’t turn that offer down. I told him to go for it and build the knife and that I didn’t want to see any pics of it. I wanted to be surprised when I opened the package. Seven months later, it arrived. Couldn’t have been more pleased. It had the nicely colored giraffe bone scales I asked for, silver twill bolsters and a beautifully patterned, 3.5 inch feather Damascus blade. Alan also added a synthetic sapphire thumb stud to accent the blue anodizing on the liners/clip. I was so happy with the knife, I placed another order with him. Of course, Alan’s work was starting to get so popular that the second knife took 2 years to complete!! Hope you like it.

Comment by John Bamford on August 20, 2016 at 5:58: That is delightful Dennis I am not usually a fan of those resin and wood handles but this one is very nice .

I love the blue liners , and the backspring is a great contrast thanks for sharing it .

Comment by Dennis Hibar on August 20, 2016 at 4:33: (Note: This knife has a new home!)

Time for another Davis in a unique wood. More than unique (I would say rare), as I have rarely seen it used for knife handles. The wood is Australian gimlet burl. The burl of gimlet usually contains many more voids than found in other burls. The wood is often used for decorative bowls, where the voids are left unfilled, or filled with various resins. In this case, the voids were filled with a blue-turquoise resin, which gives it a very different look. I normally don’t prefer flippers, but couldn’t pass this one up. Not only that, but the blade is larger than I normally like. But, again, it was all about the wood! Blade is CPM-4V and is 3.6625” from tip to frame. Hope you like. Must be 5pm somewhere … time for a drink. Perhaps a gimlet (for those old enough to remember them!!!).

Comment by Dennis Hibar on August 13, 2016 at 14:39: To be perfectly honest Jan, this little knife is more for show than carry! But when it does find its way into my pocket, it is in a small pocket sheath!

Comment by Jan Carter on August 13, 2016 at 13:25: Dennis,

seems I wake up on Saturdays thinking....Dennis is gonna post a knife! This recent is unique in many ways. You know I like my wood but OMG the Carbon fiber on this one is anything but boring! Not quite sure how I would feel with that bottle opener in my pocket but could always put it in a pouch :)

Comment by Dennis Hibar on August 13, 2016 at 4:27: It's Saturday already and time for a showing. I am normally not a huge fan of man-made materials and much prefer woods, bone and ivory to adorn the handles of my knives. There are, however, times when I make exceptions. This is one of them. This is the first and only multi-use (for lack of a better term) folder that Alan has made. It is a small folder (closed length is just under 3.25”). The scales are (now, hard to come by) Blacksite carbon fiber. The nitre blued Rob Calcinore Damascus blade is 2.3125” and the back spacer is file worked, double anodized and incorporates a bottle opener at the butt of the knife. All in all, a really unique and attention getting folder!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on August 6, 2016 at 4:41: Been a helluva week here. Figured I would post this before I get too deep in the hole that it becomes impossible to get out! Anyway ...

There are a few woods that exhibit a chatoyancy that is nigh on impossible to capture in a plain ole two dimensional photograph. Hawaiian curly koa is one of them! Here is one of Alan Davis’ liner locks with some beautiful koa that needs to be seen in hand to really appreciate its beauty. The Alabama Damascus blade is 3.25” with a pattern that reminds me a little of van Gogh’s The Starry Night painting. The shape of the handle is so nicely contoured that it feels super nice in hand. This one often finds its way clipped inside my pocket!!

*Note: This one is no longer with me in my collection.