Benchmade Knives: Quality you can count on for serious outdoor adventure.
Editor’s note: This feature was supported by our friends at Benchmade.
For Benchmade, making quality knives is a story that starts with family. Benchmade-founder and skilled craftsman Les de Asis was given a Bali-Song knife by his uncle as a kid growing up near Los Angeles, a knife that is ingrained in Philippine culture. He loved the way the knife felt and the way he could open and close it with one hand.
But the product wasn’t being made in America, due to the stigma surrounding traditional butterfly knives. So in the late 1970s, Les—who attended USC—went to work with a machine shop to create the best product possible right here in the U.S. It worked.
Benchmade founder Les Asis
Looking to sell his new knife, Les took his Bali-Song into a local outdoor shop and the shop owner asked for 100 more. Thus Bali-Song Inc. was born, a pre-cursor to Benchmade, which now makes some of the most quality knives in the world.
After Bali-Song became Pacific Cutlery Corp., market instability and the frustrations of importing parts took its toll on the fledgling company, which folded. But Les, who was born with a never-give-up mentality and California entrepreneurial roots that run deep, kept at his dream. He re-launched the company with a new name that spoke to how the product was created: “Benchmade” represented the quality put into the product. He was building an operation that made precision parts, but with hand assembly on the finished products. And with a move to a new factory in Clackamas, Oregon, the company re-committed itself to making everything in America, searching out the finest steels and metals to create knives built for rugged outdoor use.
Many technological advancements were now possible and Benchmade became the first company to own and employ a high-powered laser cutter, allowing for work with steels too hard to stamp. The company also became the world leader in automatic knife manufacturing (still true to this day) and began to supply military units.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlFAElHl3ND/?taken-by=benchmadeknifecompany
With demand soaring, the company started utilizing the skills of the world’s best knife designers like Mel Pardue and Warren Osborne, to expand its product offerings and moved into a new 144,000-square-foot facility in Oregon City, Oregon, where the company is still located.
Today, Benchmade makes knives satisfying every need of American life from military to home cutlery to outdoor products that have literally become necessities for everything from hunting to backpacking and fishing. Each Benchmade knife goes through the most rigorous testing in the world and the company’s technological advancements that include the use of the latest steels and carbon fibers are at the forefront of manufacturing. Benchmade, with its support of outdoor conservation groups, is also a leader in protecting the places we play and recreate. A testament to the brand’s commitment to making the best products right here at home.
