Live the Dream

I moved to Alaska 13 years ago because it seemed that is where adventure still lived on the grand scale. There are those that purchase adventure by the weekend and find joy in not having to sacrifice and learn in order to build their skills. This is not me, I set out to learn all I could from those that lived the life already. Alaska is an unforgiving land that cares not if you live or perish. Nature does not take kindly to those that fail to prepare, even near civilization there are no guarantees. I got a taste for hunting the high country some years ago and it has plagued me ever since. It's addictive and the purest form of hunting that exists. This year was dedicated to the pursuit of  mountain goat. My wife volounteered to hunt with methis year and act as Sherpa. We trained all season in the mountains and I shot hundreds of rounds practicing prone and sitting mimicking field conditions with my pack. It was the hardest hunt I've ever been on  so far, and the most rewarding. I went out with 15 rounds and came home with 14 and a story. This is why I started Knives of Malta to make knives and tools that support those that make their own adventure.

Goat Hunt in the Cugach Range

Knives for Soldiers

To say I have a fortunate life is an understatement, to say I call some amazing friends is even a bigger understatement. Many of my friends have served in the armed forces and many of them overseas. Much like my grandfather was given a knife before he left for France in WWII, I have taken it upon myself to send my friends over with a quality blade. It started with just buying nice production knives, and then grew to making partial custom knives, and finally producing sole authorship knives. Sole authorship is where I do everything myself, from forming the blade to heat treating and making sheaths. I mentioned a few months ago that if I had sponsorship I could provide many more soldiers with custom made knives. This was kind of a joke, more about my free time, but my incredible friends quickly responded with offers to sponsor knives for soldiers. Basically I would make a few knives for free to soldiers currently in uniform and others would pick up the tab. How awesome is that! I will give my time, others will provide the cost of materials and together we can give soldiers a quality knife and hopefully a heirloom. I have produced four knives to kick off this program, as that is all I have time for right now.

Want to sponsor one? Contact me directly as I have three of these left for sponsorship. Either I can choose a soldier from the many I know or you can. They can be any branch, guard, reserve, active, as long as they wear the uniform and will put the blade to good use. You can be anonymous, or a known donor. YOU CAN'T SPONSOR YOURSELF! Sorry, maybe another time. I will need to know the soldiers info and ship directly to them. If they can send a pic back to Knives of Malta with a proof of life, that is all I ask.

First Set:
Name: Bushcraft Alaskan
Thickness: 5/32" 
Steel: 1095 HC
Grind: Scandi
Blade Length: @ 4"
Overall Length: @8.25" (one has a slightly small grip for medium sized hands)
Hardness: 59-61 Rockwell
Grips: G10 Micarta

Second Set
Name: LUK (light utility knife)
Steel: 1095 HC
Thickness: 5/32"
Grind: Scandi
Blade Length:  4"
Overall Length: 8 (one has a slightly small grip for medium sized hands)
Hardness: 59-61 Rockwell
Grips: 550 Paracord
Coating: Antique Rust Browning

Why make a knife?

My first sole authorship knife

Why in the world in this day in age when more custom knife makers and high end production knives exist than ever before would I choose to make rudimentary knives in my backyard? Unfortunately, or fortunately it comes down to friendship and valuing something that was made for you.  It all started in 1943 when my grandfather Les Hayes was drafted into US Army and a friend made him a simple yet effective K-Bar style knife from a file with a leather wrapped handle. Les and the knife survived the war (even though the knife did try to kill him once) and both became a fixture in my life. He gave me the knife and his dog tags a few years before he passed on and both reside in a place of honor in my home today. Now it is my generation’s turn to fight and many of my friends have answered the call. It started with buying each one of them a quality knife that fit their personality and tasks. Then came my friend Stew’s turn for deployment and while searching for the knife that fit his personality (a monumental task in itself) he mentioned.. “It’d be cool to have a knife made for you, not just a production blade off the shelf.” Being one for a challenge, and underestimating how hard this could be, I decided to make him a knife for war. This couldn’t be any field knife; it had to fit Stew’s profile of the gentleman warrior. He would not be out of place leading a cavalry charge on horseback instead of in his Huey.  I decided on the classic Sykes Fairbairn style fighting knife, but it had to be something more. I couldn’t make a blade at the time so I found a premade blade that had the correct pattern. As he was going to Iraq I thought it only fitting that the knife have a little Iraqi flair and used some marble brought back from Saddam’s palace to make the handle. All in all I spent about 100 hours making this knife (and even carry a scar from it) and didn’t even have to forge it. Why? Ultimately it is only an object that can be lost or destroyed. Well, somebody thought enough of Les to make him a knife, and he held onto it his whole life and god willing I will as well, and so on. What if I could do the same?