Check it out guys.
I'm the guy the made the knife. Little about myself, I'm not a "Special Forces" guy and have never claimed to be. Every thread has said "Special Ops" Big difference. There are other units in the Special Operations community that most of the public have no idea what they do or their mission set. I did serve 26 years as a Marine, Army Paratrooper and Special Operations Soldier with 12 combat tours and am a disabled combat Vet. I've used knives in the field since I was a little boy hunting, Boy Scouts and as a professional Soldier and Marine. Spending half my life in a field environment has given me a great appreciation of what a knife should be. Along with being a "Gun geek" I always been fascinated with edged weapons and now it is my full time job. I make knives by stock removal methods and by hand forging. I use a variety of tool and stainless steels to include 1084, 1095, L6, 15n20, 01, D2, 154CM, CMPS35VN and one of my favorites 80CRV2. Every step in the knife making process is done by me in my shop to include heat treating. I even make my own pattern welded billets (Damascus). My customer list includes but is not limited to All of Fort Bragg (SF, Paratroopers, Cops, etc) SEALs, Dallas SWAT, Nashville PD K9, Rangers, NC DNR, Country Music Artists and little old ladies.
While in the Army I made custom traditional archery equipment for 17 years, Longbows, recurves and take-downs I also made a lot of primitive stuff like selfbows, arrows and points. I messed around with knives over the years but mostly concentrated on wood. After I retired I fought with depression, PTSD, wounds and having lost one of my best friends in a gunfight on the Syrian border along with a dozen other brothers over the years. I didn't go in my shop a year and a half, kinda like writer's block. I have a friend that makes knives and grinders for a living that I served with in the Unit and started hanging out in his shop. Chris Williams of "Wilmont Grinders/Knives" really turned me around. He got me focused back on what is important in life but most importantly got my hands back to work. One thing that I noticed was when I was behind a grinder that my head was clear .. the demons where held at bay. I made a few knives and Chris told me "Jack your a natural, you need to be a knife maker". So that was it. I quit corporate America, gutted my shop and retooled it to make knives. I decided this was the profession that I desired and like with everything else in my life I dedicated 100% to it.
I aspired to become the best knife maker that I could be so I read everything that I could find, hung out with other knife makers, sponsored "Grind ins" with Chris. Along the way I met and became friends with awesome guys like Bill Harsey, Chris Reeves, Ryan M. Johnson and Mark and Curtis from Spartan Blades just to name a few, (Curtis and I served in the Marines together). To give back what Chris gave to me I started a charity called "Warrior Hands". What we do is we train disabled combat Veterans in a skill of their choice and try to outfit them with a complete shop free of charge so they may start a small business to provide for themselves and their families. Most Vets don't want a hand out, they need a hand up. So no matter what their disability we try to match them up with what they are good at and what they can physically do. This is all accomplished by donations and masters of their profession freely donating their time and energy to train a guy. I myself make knifes and auction them off on my FaceBook page regularly to raise money.
The cost of the Kraken has come down now that I am no longer partnered with US Elite. Tactical Knives Magazine made it their cover story in the July 2014 issue. Check it out and by all means leave feed back.
Jack Stottlemire
Rustick Knives, LLC.
), esee 6, ontario rd6 to name a couple on the budget end of the spectrum at one third the price of that knife.
If you are on a budget, I cannot recommend Becker knives enough. Specifically the BK7 (I own and have used it a lot).
