OK Joe, here is my story,not very interesting but here it is..... It was back in about 1983 and I was working on a ranch near here.I was one of the full time Cowboys and did nothing but ride all day. One Christmas morning under the tree was a small Ruana Knife, it was a great little knife and I used it a lot for all the stuff you use a knife for. The thing I liked about it was you could get to it without taking my chaps and gloves off! I had it about three months and one day I was out doctoring calves and noticed one with some hay string tangled around a foot, so I roped him and used the Ruana to cut away the string. A bit later I roped another calf and went to get the Ruana and it was gone. I backtracked and tried to find but the snow was too deep and no luck. After the snow was gone I went back and looked but I still couldnt find it. i think it is probably in the bottom of an old Buffalo Wallow that was in the pasture. Anyway, I started cutting out saw blades and using files and springs etc to try to make a similar knife but boy were they crude compared to the Ruana! I started getting a little better at making them when I injured my knee in a horse wreck, with nothing to do and a cast up to my butt for months I started getting serious about making knives and selling them. And well, here I am today, a part time maker with a lot of backorders!
http://www.simonichknives.com