Chris Reeve

Christopher Stanley Reeve was born on December 4, 1953, in Durban, South Africa.

His original vocation was that of tool and die making. Reeve trained at the Pineware Manufacturing Company, serving a four-year tool- and die-making apprenticeship that finished in 1978.

Reeve credits his experience in tool and die for developing his grinding skills and giving him the manufacturing and materials knowledge he needed to jumpstart him in professional knife making.

As a young man, Reeve’s spare time was largely spent engaged in motorcycle racing. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a regular competitor in South Africa’s Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit. Unlike many of his competitors, Reeve did not have corporate funding.

As a result, Reeve used the highly competitive race setting to hone his problem-solving skills, custom tuning his motorcycle with components often designed and fabricated in his own shop.

In 1987, Chris married Anne Cameron in Johannesburg, South Africa. In order to pursue improved business opportunities, Chris and Anne moved to the United States in 1989, and settled in Boise, Idaho. In 2003, Chris and Anne were granted US citizenship.

Early days

Reeve began his knife-making career by chance.

Before being called up for a 3-month compulsory military service period in 1975 on the Mozambique / South African border, he noted that the standard army kit did not include a good all-purpose knife.

As a result, Reeve decided to design and make one.

A subsequent three-month military service period in 1978 was spent on the Angola/ Namibia border.

Reeve had previously designed and made for himself a hidden tang knife with a wooden handle, inlaid with silver wire. The climate in Durban where the knife was made is hot and humid, while the Angola/ Namibia area is semi-desert.

After a few days in the dry air, the wooden handle had dried and large cracks appeared. This set Reeve thinking about a knife that could be used across all climates without such damage.

The idea of an all-steel knife, with both handle and blade made from a single solid bar, started to germinate. Reeve’s resulting one piece knife concept was first produced as a custom knife in 1982.

The one piece concept hit production as the 7 inch bladed MK IV, with 40 pieces becoming available for sale early in 1983. Chris stopped tool making and became a full-time knifemaker in January 1984.