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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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Featured Comment by Jeremy B. Buchanan on November 12, 2016 at 20:30: Alan does awesome work.

Comment by Jan Carter on November 12, 2016 at 20:26: That Kevlar is awesome!

Comment by John Bamford on November 12, 2016 at 7:12: Very nice knife indeed !

As always.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on November 12, 2016 at 4:56: (Note: This knife has a new home!)

Here’s another Davis that has a unique look to it. This one is a slender knife that used to see a good deal of back pocket time. Scales are Thunderstorm Kevlar (which has some similarities to lightning strike carbon fiber ... but I like it far better). Blade is 3 inches and made from some of Chad Nichols’ Hailstorm pattern Damascus. While I much prefer natural materials for scales … the look of this Kevlar really appealed to me.

Now …. if you haven’s seen my post in the Member News and Announcements forum …. you ought to. You won’t want to miss it …. nor will you want to miss my Alan Davis blog posting next Saturday, November 19th!!!!!

Comment by John Bamford on November 5, 2016 at 13:16: That's just what the site I checked out said , it sounds interesting stuff but it could be too difficult for me .

Comment by Dennis Hibar on November 5, 2016 at 11:33: Thanks John. This is the second knife I've owned with a Stellite blade. Extremely corrosion resistant but a bear (in my opinion) to sharpen! Very difficult to get rid of the burr ... just keeps flopping from one side to the other! I have found that Stellite blades are excellent for slicing ... but tend to roll and edge with any type of serious chopping and such.

Comment by John Bamford on November 5, 2016 at 10:28: I am running out of superlatives now Dennis !!

That Stellite is interesting stuff , just looked it up , I hadn't heard of it before . They say it is extremely salt tolerant but I guess you won't be taking that knife sea fishing ?

Comment by Dennis Hibar on November 5, 2016 at 6:11: (Update: This knife has been sold)

Here is a neat Davis. Well, only because it is the first he made with this combination of materials … which is why I had to have it! Well, that and the fact that I knew my daughter would like it. The handle material is copper shred carbon fiber. Eric Ochs came up with the term shred carbon fiber and helped develop it with Composite Craft a couple years ago. Alan immediately bought some of the copper shred and started his magic. In this example, copper dust is infused in the shredded carbon fiber as it is transformed into sheets. The blade is from Stellite 6K, measures in at 3.25” and is stonewashed. It’s full flat grind make it an exceptional slicer! The rust color anodizing on the liners and clip really go well with the copper shred. I think most girls like glittery things and my daughter fell in love with this one (but thought it was a little too large for her!!!).

Comment by Dennis Hibar on October 29, 2016 at 16:28: Thanks John ... truth be told, if I didn't have my computer set up to give me a notification every Saturday morning ... I must forget to post a new one!!!

Comment by John Bamford on October 29, 2016 at 7:25: Another star there Dennis .

I managed to miss last week's fabulous offering though I don't know how as I look forward to seeing these knives . Oh I remember now , I was visiting an old relative of Sue's and he's not in the best of health to say the least . Must have taken my eye off the ball !

Anyway last weeks knife in Ironwood was a real beaut , I guess those curly grained woods are going to be prone to splitting but it is a great shame though . Good rescue job all the same !!