THE
APACHE
The Apache began its existence as a concept, as many other knives do, but it was a concept discussed between outdoorsmen with highly varied backgrounds. A desert rat, a man who'd spent his years first on a farm and then wandering the wilds of California, and a man who'd first learned his skills in the back country of Ohio; then tried his luck up north in Canada.
But one of the men had a unique skill with steel and the ability to turn those ideas into form. Not only that, but he was capable of doing it under primitive conditions.
That man was Joe Schilling, the Deer Runner.
Joe took the ideas, experimented with them,
tried different materials and kept trying until he felt that it
was just about perfect. A knife that could be used in
varying climactic conditions and widely differing ecologies. A knife that could be just as at home in the swamps of Louisiana as it is up near the Arctic circle.
That knife is the Apache.
Named for the legendary warriors of the desert, who were famous for their toughness, dedication and their ability to thrive anywhere that the Creator saw fit to send them. This knife has so far survived some of the most destructive testing that the three of us have been able to come up with, I'm still working on more tests.
But so far, there's only one other knife that has come close to approaching the versatility and utility of this one.
As an author, and longtime friend of Joe, I was only able to come up with one thing to do, to give this knife the attention it deserved.
I wrote it into a story, as a further extension of myself.
As all resoundingly excellent tools shoud be ....
So .... if you've got a desire for a prime example of the
bladesmith's craft, a knife so ugly that it's beautiful, and
(most importantly) a knife that won't let you down no matter
what ... you can contact Joe at
DeerRunnerknifeworks@gmail.com
It's a great piece of work by a great man, folks .....
