Greco Knives

B

Blade Traders

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Jun 9, 2024
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Is it me or is there not much interest in John Greco's work? I'm not anywhere near an authority on his work
but recently I have come to love his tactical series of Knives. Working for Jimmy Lile interest me even more. If anyone has
info to provide on his knives it would be greatly appreciated. Blade steels, model names, number and letter sequence would be
of interest.
John passed in 2019 and it seems internet wise his info has dried up.
 
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I think it’s kosher to post this, if it’s not mods can remove.

Arizona Custom Knives often displays his work.

I’ve had a few of his knives, but the only one I still have is a Companion in A2 tool steel. It’s well made, extremely tough, and holds a fine edge a long time.
 
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John Greco made the first custom knife that I ever purchased; and I had a couple dozen more of his knives after that. But, once he went to mass producing cheaper professionally cut models I lost interest. His product had changes from custom, forged and creative knives to bench made light production. Not only was his level of innovation way down, but so was interest in his earlier custom work. I once accused him of having undercut his own collector market. IIRC, the change may have been driven by a health issue. Non-the-less his stuff started fading fast. A better strategy would have been to continue some limited custom work while licensing production on some of the more popular models to another outfit.

A good maker - a good man - but he made a strategic error.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
John Greco made the first custom knife that I ever purchased; and I had a couple dozen more of his knives after that. But, once he went to mass producing cheaper professionally cut models I lost interest. His product had changes from custom, forged and creative knives to bench made light production. Not only was his level of innovation way down, but so was interest in his earlier custom work. I once accused him of having undercut his own collector market. IIRC, the change may have been driven by a health issue. Non-the-less his stuff started fading fast. A better strategy would have been to continue some limited custom work while licensing production on some of the more popular models to another outfit.

A good maker - a good man - but he made a strategic error.

n2s
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About when did John starting making his own knives?
 
killgar said:
I just did a search for "Greco" here in General Discussion and received 50 pages of search results.

Mr. Greco and his knives aren't a daily topic of discussion, but they do get mentioned now and then.
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Will be looking at those once I learn my way around. Lol
 
I was looking through a box of my old stuff today and came up with a Greco sheath knife I didn't remember still owning. I've carried them in past on camping and backpacking trips with no complaints. John had a good product at a reasonable price. I personally thought a lot of his designs were spot on for the working blade market.
 
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Have a Greco w/pouch type sheath that I've been taking to shows(mostly small ones in Mo. area) but it's gotten the most interest in Tulsa&Louisville. Several guys commented on the "Death Wind" style blade as being an tribute to Lile. Never really noticed untill then. But thought it was kinda strange more folks from outside this area knew/recognized the knife & Maker. jus sayin..
 
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One of the first makers I liked his simple styles of basic patterns, I have a small Bowie somewhere in 8670, first time I had heard of that steel. Always wanted a Companion, but got the small Bowie instead. Really liked the Scagel-style as well.
 
I had a small fixed blade by him I really liked. It was an A2 blade with a black micarta handle, red micarta spacer and black micarta hilt. I think it was called a Black Widow. Unfortunately I let it go in a trade. I'd love to find it again.
 
I have four of John's knives. A Prototype of his "Buffalo Skinner" similar to the photo beeinak, posted but a longer blade. Two of his "Danglers" a semi skinner and a drop point, and a "Bird Of Prey Falcon" which was a folder John built to be almost as strong as a fixed blade knife, and it is very strong. I had one more, a MST Mk IV, with a 5 5/8 inch fixed blade, but I gave it away to a"Rakkasan" of the 101st Division when I was on a training mission in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2002. All the knives are made from 8670 steel. John
 
I have owned several but unfortunately I sold the nice Scagel-style skinner. He used to place a small ad in some of the knife magazines. I remember they said “no sales to Kentucky residents” presumably because he didn’t want to fool with collecting the in-state sales tax. Several of the ones I bought came from his eBay sales back before they started collecting sales tax, so apparently he was OK with that.

His knives offered very good value for the cost, especially the cheap eBay auctions. I have a A2 fighter that could probably be used to pry open a Sherman tank.
 
This is one of his small “dangler” knives that I gave to my FIL. It’s a neat little small knife that would be great in a tool box or glove compartment, or hanging from a backpack.

a6h02pw.jpg
 
I got to know John Greco when he was a regular at most of the gun & knife shows in the late '80s and early '90s around the New Orleans/S.E. Louisiana region. As a TV News anchor/reporter I ended up doing a feature story on him after he moved over to the Mississippi Gulf coast -- later he moved farther away. A decent fellow, all around. John's earlier work then was very much handmade and built for function as well as looks. I had few nice fighter/combat knives, but all I have left from Greco is a slim frame-lock "Falcon Folder" that I got after he had moved away. Never got used to carrying in a pouch, since it has no pocket clip.
 
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