A.G. Russell Knives

For many people the only knife for every day carry is a Barlow. Our new Medium Barlow Lockback is the perfect knife for that purpose. This is a Standard Barlow handle; that is a Swell End Jack shape with a Long Bolster. This is where we leave the Old Fashioned Barlow.

The NEW Acies2 drop-point blade of 1/8" thick ZDP-189 at 64-66 Rc. measures just under 3".

Sometime in the mid 1980s, probably 1984, Bob Loveless was a guest in my home. Bob and I had been close friends since we met in 1968. While visiting that year, Bob designed two knives for me, a lockback folder and an integral hunting knife.

In my version the large end is swelled until it looks like a very pregnant sow and the bolsters are curved allowing a very natural line for the open blade. I also designed blades that appear almost too long to fit into the handle, and added a stop pin that keeps the blades from ever meeting the back spring - no ding to the blade.

In early 2011, I introduced my version of the Sowbelly Trapper. The Sowbelly pattern is smaller at the blade end and somewhat serpentine in shape. In my version the large end is swelled until it looks like a very pregnant sow and the bolsters are curved allowing a very natural line for the open blade.

We introduced the A. G. Russell™ Medium Gunstock Lockback in January of 2011. Customer response has been very positive, but many tell us they would like one in a smaller size. We have reworked the design a little to produce this great knife in a NEW, pocketable size.

I did not design this knife, but the lock seems to have been inspired by my 1991 Japanese City Knife, which had a brass button in the side of the handle that unlocked the interior "liner lock". This new knife has the button as a part of the handle.

For the 2011 Texas Ranger Commemorative, I chose to combine elements from several traditional folders, creating a Sub-Hilt Toothpick with a Barong blade. Locking knives were almost entirely unknown in Texas during the 1840s. Remaining true to that fact, this model is a slipjoint.

The Cowboy, a larger version of the Rancher, big enough to trim a hoof, butcher, skin or perform any of the other tough jobs a cowboy or farmer might be called on to do.

For years, I have been an admirer of the Sodbuster class of knives. My favorites were always those made by Eye Brand of Solingen Germany, sadly now gone. Sodbuster, of course, is now a Case® Cutlery trademark, so I cannot offer you an A. G. Russell Sodbuster. Instead, I offer two variations: the A. G. Russell Rancher and the A G. Russell Cowboy.

We have taken a very old handle pattern and added a Wharncliffe blade made as the original designer intended. The blade measures fifty percent thicker than most other Wharncliffe blades and tapers to the edge and to the point. With a straight cutting edge and a needle point, the Wharncliffe blade works beautifully for digging a splinter out of your finger, cutting an article from the newspaper or making a fuzz stick.

The basic function of the button lock began with switchblades many years ago. Except for the William Henry Button Lock designed by Matt Conable, this type of lock never seemed to amount to anything. The William Henry Button Lock works wonderfully well, as you would expect from Matt's designs.

This version of the A.G. Russell Pinched Peanut is finished with gorgeous interior wooly mammoth ivory, hand chosen from our own ivory stock specifically for this knife. The mammoth ivory is premium and all of the final work is done by hand in our shop. The stabilized mammoth ivory ranges in color from creamy white to mottled light brown and is held in place by stainless pens.

The Large Folding Lockback was the second of our current series, limited edition Texas Ranger® knives with ebony Rucarta™ scales and the Texas Ranger inlay. An A.G. Russell design, it was introduced in 2009. Each A. G. Russell Texas Ranger model is limited to one thousand pieces. After those one thousand special knives, each model will be offered in civilian dress.

The Sowbelly pattern handle, like the Dogleg, is smaller at the blade end and somewhat serpentine in shape. I have taken the commonly accepted serpentine sowbelly and swollen the large end until it looks like a very pregnant sow. Notice the curve to the bolster, allowing a very natural line for the open blade. Also notice the huge Wharncliffe blade that appears to be too long to fit in the handle.

I designed this knife in 2008 and introduced it as the 2008 Texas Ranger® Knife. Each A.G. Russell™ Texas Ranger® model is limited to one thousand pieces. Each model will then be offered in civilian dress.

This titanium mid-lock folder is my own design. The concept began with the 2" "Ultimate Pen Knife" back in 2003, in response to a little thing Gerber introduced at what I considered an unbelievably high price.

For years, Goldie has wanted to produce this Dozier Trapper pattern. We have worked unsuccessfully with a couple of manufacturers, but in each instance they were unable, or unwilling, to produce the Dozier style lock with the exacting tolerances necessary, opting to simply use a liner style lock that they were already using on other knives. In the years it has taken us to find a factory that would produce the knife to our specifications, Bob has improved the lock design and we have applied for a patent. This is a lock that stops on a flat line tab, able to stand up to the battering to which we knife nuts subject our knives.

Because the grain pattern is small, Leopardwood is perfect for the A. G. Russell™ Dogleg Trapper. This beautiful handle material is very limited and is being applied here in our own shop.

Every time I order a steak in a restaurant, no matter how fine the restaurant, I am appalled by the quality of the steak knife. For years, I have simply used my pocketknife instead. I often thought it would be nice to have a pair of folding knives designed and reserved specifically for this purpose. This past year, Goldie and I finally designed such a knife.

Development of the A. G. Russell™ Dogleg Trapper took a long time. A couple of years ago one of the finest makers in Seki, Japan, who has been making A. G. Russell knives for some time, came to us with a handmade prototype of a Dogleg Trapper. He was interested in moving the quality of his knife production to a level beyond what he had been producing. I asked if he could repeatedly produce the quality of workmanship that I saw in that sample. He assured me that he could. The knife was exquisite and the design was so close to what I might have designed that we decided to work with it to develop a VERY top quality A. G. Russell™ folder.

The A. G. Russell™ Pinched Peanut is the second traditional slip joint folder in a series being made for us by one of the few makers in Seki, Japan still producing folders completely in Japan.

The Spire, a trim little gentleman's folder was designed by Matt Conable and produced in 2004 as William Henry's second model from Japan. While the Spire was a great success for A. G. Russell™ Knives, it was not particularly successful for William Henry® and they dropped the model after only one production run.

The CM-11 was produced in the mid-1980s in Japan, with an AUS-8 blade at 57-59 Rc., ground extremely thin for the very finest slicing capability.

You have never seen a knife made with such simplicity and strength. The handle is black Zytel, molded into one solid piece. It is checkered and shaped to fit your hand with comfort when working. The knife is slim enough to carry comfortably in the pocket, but has enough bulk to fill the hand.

In 1984, an opportunity presented itself to work with one of the best manufacturers of traditional folders in Seki, Japan. The CM-10 was the first of many folders produced for us by this fine Japanese maker. We have a VERY small quantity of the Collector Grade (serial numbers 301-1000), the Excelsior Grade (serial #26-300) with etched blade and with etched blade and engraved bolsters and the Premier Grade (serial numbers 1-25) with etched blade and special engraved bolsters.

This tiny Titanium Lockback Folder is based on the A. G. Russell Ultimate Pen Knife which we introduced mid-year 2003. The Pen Knife is a slip joint and measures only 2" closed. While it is an extremely handy and useful little knife, I saw the need for a knife that is just as thin (to rest comfortably in your pocket) but is a little larger and locks.

This is a wonderful example of the BEST of Japanese folding knives! In our quest for the best quality for the money, we sometimes accept knife designs from the companies or individuals who make knives for us. This beautifully made Trapper was designed by the maker for A.G. Russell™.

These knives are made using ATS-34, the steel that is used by most of today's top Custom Knifemakers. This steel is not used often in production knives for several reasons, the most important of which is cost. This steel cost several times as much as 440A or 8A and is more than twice the cost of 440C.

The original A.G. Russell™ SeaMaster™ has a 3-1/4" flat ground blade of ATS-34 high carbon stainless at 59-61 Rc. with serrations on the front half of the blade instead of the back half and an anodized Titanium Handle. Both the blade and the marlin spike are coated with a special coating composed of both Titanium and Aluminum. This is a very tough coating, with a hardness of 80 Rc. and great rust resistance. To build a knife with these over the top materials made the knife rather expensive.

This tiny Titanium Lockback Folder is a continuation of a series of folders based on the A. G. Russell™ Ultimate Pen Knife, which we introduced mid-year 2003. That small pen knife is a slip joint and measures only 2" closed. While it is an extremely handy and useful little knife, I saw the need for a series of knives that would be just as thin, or nearly as thin (to rest comfortably in your pocket) but a little larger and with a locking blade.

For years, I have wanted to offer A. G. Russell™ customers an outstanding hawkbill knife.  With the help of our new engineering department, we have gone far beyond the hawkbill as produced by knife manufacturers in the past.

Please look closely at this knife. I have redesigned all three blades and think that the new shapes will be as exciting to you as they are to me. In the past 75-100 years, no one has taken the time and trouble to do what we are doing with pocket knives.

This is a knife for food preparation. It is designed to be a personal knife for those who want the finest possible tool for slicing, dicing and otherwise preparing vegetables and meats. Also shown are all purpose tweezers.

The A.G. Russell One Hand Knife has been our best selling knife since the first ones were shipped in 1988. The handle, which is machined from a piece of solid stainless spring steel, works in conjunction with the blade to create an unusual locking system. This locking system and the location of a thumb stud on both sides of the blade, allows the knife to be closed, or opened, one handed using either the right hand or the left hand. That's why we call it the "One Hand Knife".

We produced the Ultimate Pen Knife because a knife this small hasn't been produced for many years and never previously with Titanium scales or VG-10 blade steel. This is the most PC knife you can imagine. It is so small, it will not offend anyone.

Over the years I have seen many sailors knives, including the one made for us in Japan. Year after year, those knives have proved to be both durable and dependable, but I have long felt that a new, modern design was needed. I have had requests from sailors for a knife with current materials and technical features.

For the past 35 years, I have been designing knives and having them made by makers (both handmade and production) in all parts of the United States as well as in Solingen, Germany, Poland and Seki City, Japan. There have been several dozen companies, large and small, but never have I had another company go from pencil drawing (or ball point on a paper napkin) as fast as our colleagues in Italy. They take my sketch, fax me a formal drawing and on approval make a prototype.

If you are in the market for a larger folder, please consider our Tactical Folder. This 4-1/2" Titanium frame lock has a 3-1/2" blade of ATS-34 at 59-61 Rc. or beautiful Twist pattern Damasteel® with a center core of ATS-34.

At less than 3 oz., this Titanium handled Frame Lock is a very handy knife. The flat ground spear point blade makes it a fine hunting knife or utility knife, in most instances, a street legal knife for all purposes.

Besieged by orange and grapefruit growers in Texas and California to produce a quality Fruit Testing Knife that would stand-up to hard professional use, I developed the A.G. Russell Airweight Fruit Knife.

Made by the Knife Collectors Club in 1976 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. The handles are sculpted of solid brass.

To commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the founding of the Knife Collectors Club™, A.G. has designed the Cattaraugus® Two Blade Whittler. While this is a Reverse Congress pattern, notice that it is like no other Reverse Congress you have seen.

Forty years ago, I discovered the loss of my Arkansas stone and searched out a maker in Hot Springs. That loss prompted me to offer those stones in space ads in national magazines like the American Rifleman.

This is the high-end. We use the same materials that you will find in handmade knives which sell at much, much higher prices.

You have never seen a knife made with such simplicity and strength. The handle is fiberglass reinforced nylon, molded in one solid piece. It is checkered and shaped, not only to fit your hand with comfort when working, but to also fit your pocket without wearing holes in it.

A great all purpose knife; sleek and lightweight (only 1.5 oz). One hand easy open to close. It fits as nicely in your hand as in your pocket. Kydex neck sheath.

This 1990 Knife Collectors Club offering, is a unique knife in several ways. Probably the most unusual thing about it is the way the large blade unlocks. In 1988 or 1989, I was shown an old knife which made use of this locking system and I was immediately intrigued. There are very few two bladed knives with a locking blade.

In 1973, I took the Knife Collector's Club knife production to Germany. For the CM-3, The Luger Pistol, I dealt with the Baron whose family had owned the Puma Cutlery Company for over 100 years