A new design often stems from a single message.

“Do you make custom knives?”

“Yes. Yes, I do. You’ve come to the right place.”

I received this message back in February from Albert, a client who had a story that stuck with me. "I lost my favourite knives in a fire last year, near Lac du Bonnet, and I'm looking to replace one of them with something special, a forever knife."

I've had a few people ask me about my trip from Winnipeg to the Toronto Knife Show. Here's my report! I enjoyed my time hanging out with Steve and Mayuko Cornelsen. I feel fortunate that they invited me to crash at their place leading up to the event, feeding me and letting me make friends with their pets.

Luckily, the people organizing the event had enough demand to expand the show space. Because of this, Rainy Day Forge will be at the show at table 60.

The plan, with the post-Christmas lull, was to make a variety of beautiful hand-crafted knives for the show. A smattering of Japanese-inspired culinary knives, classic Canadian bushcrafters and classy EDC knives…

“That’s dead sexy” - Rude Serceau.

“Great Design.” - Drew Strayer.

“Wicked looking knives! I love them.” - Zach Aminot.

“Price ???$$%%%.” - Kim Ruttan.

A new knife to upgrade your 2025 hunting season.

Introducing the Rainy Day Forge Panache skinner.

7 7/8” OAL with a 3 5/8” full belly blade, Grip-tec handle with G10 pins. A lanyard tube at the butt of the knife to add paracord/beads.

Available for pre-order until October in etched carbon 8670 steel and stainless magnacut. Leather sheath with Ulti-Clip.

(Handle will have a different profile than the blue test knife.)

One of my favorite parts of running a knife company is getting to choose a blade for real-world field testing. As I packed for my annual Victoria Day—aka May Long—adventure into the wild, I thumbed through the Rainy Day Forge inventory and settled on an 80CRV2 Cisco featuring vintage caramel micarta scales and brown canvas micarta pins.

But where were we heading?

As a blacksmith, my passion extends beyond the forge; it's about building a community, sharing knowledge, and preserving the art of metalworking. Over the years, I've had the privilege of contributing to CanIRON, Canada's premier biennial blacksmithing conference, and I'd like to share that journey with you.

I receive a fair number of messages from people wanting to get a knife made by me. Some were referred by a friend, some saw a photo of one of my blades online, and others found me through a simple Google search. However they arrive, I’m always glad to hear from folks looking for something meaningful—something built to last.