Al Mar's background.?

J

jjcoolay

Joined
Jul 4, 2002
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I was wondering if anyone knows the racial background of Al Mar? I was curious because of the fact he uses a chinese mark as his symbol. Is he chinese or is his use of the symbol just that, something that looks good but is of no particular meaning?

I tried to email Al Mar Knives this question but they have yet to respond. I sent this question in about a month ago
 
I figured his first name was "Al" and the last "Mar"

"Ma" in Chinese is often anglicized into "Mar"

Like how "Lei", is often spelled "Lee"
 
One of the characters in the name corresponds to the Ma last name, the rest of his name is a mystery to me.
 
JJ,
From what I know of the late Al Mar( RIP) was of chinese descent. He served in Vietnam with a SF "A" team as an enlisted man and was a friend of the late Col Nick Rowe (RIP). He designed knives for different companies before going on his own. Sadly he passed suddenly in 1992. He was a good man even though I have never met him he has left his mark.

Melvin-Pervis may have a better answer.

S/F,
Ceya..Ceya Knife Designz
 
Hi there!

As far as I heard, Al Mar was of chinese heritage. His last name "Mar" might be the translation of "horse" in chinese and the sign on the blades was the chinese sign for "horse". Dont't remember where I've got this from but hope it is correct.

Take care
Allmi
 
My Al Mar Eagle Ultralight says MOKI / JAPAN on the blade. My Al Mar Havana Clipper Automatic has no country of origin. Maybe he is part Japanese.
 
Al Mar was of oriental descent, I don't remember off the top of my head exactly where he was from but you may ask this in the Spyderco forum for Sal Glesser I think he may have known Al Mar and could give you some more information.
 
Originally posted by ThePsychologist
My Al Mar Eagle Ultralight says MOKI / JAPAN on the blade. My Al Mar Havana Clipper Automatic has no country of origin. Maybe he is part Japanese.
Click to expand...
Moki is the company that Al Mar Knives contracts to manufacture their knives. They are based in Japan.

Al Mar is of Chinese decent.
 
The late Al Mar is indeed of Chinese descent.. Some years ago, during my pilgrimage to Spyderland at Golden, Colorado, I came across Mr Mar's portrait in Kendo outfit. Sal Glesser of Spyderco holds Mar in high regards, especially for sharing his knowledge and encouraging Glesser to produce the Spydies in Seki, Japan.. ;) The is a tribute to Al Mar on the 'Spyderco Story'.. :D

Sam
 
Al Mar was Chinese - American.

His family hails from Seattle, Washington.

His symbol as used for Al Mar Knives indeed reflects "Horse" as noted in a previous post.

Mar served with Special Forces very early on during the Vietnam War. He is associated with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). He was a member of the Special Forces Association and Special Operations Association.

Mar was school trained in design at the Los Angeles Art Institute.

He worked as a designer for Gerber Legendary Knives in Portland, Oregon.

He left Gerber to start Al Mar Knives where he literally birthed the specialty cutlery industry. Many of his designs were manufactured in Seki City, Japan. He also had limited production runs done by other Japanese based cutlery sources. Much of his prototype work was handled by Oregon knife designer and maker William Harsey.

Mar passed away suddenly in the early 90s. He was influential in a number of specialty production companies success to include Spyderco, SOG Specialty Knives, Cold Steel, and Benchmade Knives (who produced the first AMK automatic knife for Mar).

GW
 
You beat me to it Greg. I remember all that from Fighting Knives magazine.
RIP Al, you were one of a kind.
 
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