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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 October 19, 2020 at 2:49: [Update: This one has been gifted.]

Newest Davis added to the collection. This one is big and beautiful. Actually, much larger than would normally appeal to me. But, beautiful won out over big! The 3.375" blade is made from Burke feather pattern Damascus. The textured bolsters are from Ponzio Damascus. What really drew me to this one were the mammoth scales. Nicely matched and they have an almost stag-like appearance and texture.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on September 21, 2020 at 14:23: Okay .... here's a real beauty (well, to my eyes!). This gent's liner lock has some absolutely stunning blue mammoth ivory scales. The bolsters and the 3 inch blade are made from some of Chad Nichols' "cheetah" pattern Damascus. To further jazz things up, Alan did some extensive file work and double anodizing on the liners and back spacer. Took me all of about 10 seconds to know I wanted to add this one to the collection!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on September 19, 2020 at 7:23: Was able to pick up another Davis from another Alan Davis collector and am thrilled with it. It's a smaller slip joint with stunning Sambar stag covers and a 2.375" blade made from some of Del Ealy's T-Rex pattern Damascus. Del makes some very nice Damascus. Bought my first knife with his Damascus back in 2013.

If this one were not sweet enough .... have another, even sweeter, inbound as I type this!!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on July 24, 2020 at 12:59: This new one has already become my EDC for the time being. Really like it, despite it being just a little larger than I prefer, with a 3.375" blade. Lately, Alan has been forging his own Damascus. On this knife, he used a multi-bar, random pattern for the blade and bolsters. The scales are nicely dyed giraffe bone. And, of course, he did special file work, texturing, and double anodizing on the back spacer and liners.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on April 17, 2020 at 16:57: New Alan Davis arrived and couldn’t be happier. It’s similar to the stag liner lock I recently got from him, but has a slightly larger frame and dressed in copper and mammoth. The blade is just under 3 inches and made from some of Rob Thomas’ bold raindrop pattern Damascus.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on April 6, 2020 at 4:07: Thanks Rick. This is an absolutely fantastic knife. The only thing that could make it beyond fantastic would be if the presentation and pile side stag were a better match. Unfortunately, that is sometimes hard to do with stag!

Comment by Rick Propas on April 5, 2020 at 19:14: This one is stunning. No other word for it.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on April 5, 2020 at 11:20: Newest Davis arrived yesterday. This one is a liner lock with stag scales, a 3 inch blade made from some of Del Ealy's ladder pattern Damascus, and carved/antiqued bolsters with rat tail. Alan also antiqued the hardware as well as the Roman knot back spacer.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on March 15, 2020 at 15:29: Another Davis slip joint arrived yesterday. And ... it's another beauty. The natural Sambar stag covers look and feel great. Blade is 2.75" and made from some of Doug Ponzio's Damascus. The rat tail bolsters with some texturing, along with the textured shield and pins, add something extra.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on February 7, 2020 at 16:57: Another Alan Davis slip joint made its way into the collection. The more I look at it … the more I am thinking it will be part of my daily carry for a long, long time! Bolsters and handmade shield are antiqued copper, which … along with the copper pins … go really well with the jigged bone covers. The 2.625" blade is made from some of Del Ealy’s random pattern Damascus.