Owning a genuinely handmade knife is a privilege. Each one is made by hand, one at a time, from named steel and named wood, and it carries the maker's mark and a certificate that says so.
A short film about the knives and what goes into them. Owning a genuinely handmade knife is a privilege: each one is unique, made with skill and attention to detail, and carries the maker's name for life.
The Mopane Hunter is in stock and ready to go. Every other knife on this page was made once and has found its owner. No knife is ever repeated: each one is shaped as the steel, the wood and Willie's own eye lead him, so a knife you see here is an idea of what you might want, not a model you can order.
A full-size hunting companion in stainless N690 with a handle of African mopane, one of the hardest and most beautiful of the bushveld woods.
A big, classic hunting blade in 1095 high-carbon steel with a mirror finish, with Turkish walnut scales on a full tang. It is named for Harry Wolhuter, one of the first rangers of the Sabi Game Reserve, now the Kruger National Park. One night in August 1903 a lion pulled him off his horse and dragged him by the shoulder into the bush. Half-conscious, he reached the sheath knife on his belt, stabbed the lion twice in the chest and once in the neck, and killed it, then climbed a tree while his dog Bull held off the second lion until his men found him. The knife and the lion's skin are still on display at Skukuza.
A mirror-polished 1095 blade with a Kirinite handle that glows in the dark. Charge it under a light and it is easy to find in the tent, the boat or the bakkie at night.
Willie's own everyday-carry pattern: a compact N690 blade that does the daily work without fuss, on scarce African blackwood with mosaic pins.
A thin, light, flat-ground N690 blade for game birds and fish, where a slim blade and a fine point matter more than brute strength.
In the Nordic countries the puukko is the everyday knife, used for everything from hunting and fishing to gardening and opening boxes. This one wears wild olive from our own bushveld.
A compact take on the classic Bowie clip point in stainless N690, with a wild olive handle and a coffin-style profile that fills the hand.
Sold. Shown here as an example of the pattern, with orange G10 liners under Turkish walnut.
Sold. The same puukko pattern in African leadwood, the hardekool of the bushveld, one of the densest woods in the world.
Sold. A flat-ground hunter in 440C with a camel thorn handle, made for a friend and named after him.
Tell Willie what the knife is for, and what you like in the knives you have seen here, and he will suggest a pattern, a steel and a handle to suit it. From there the knife takes its own shape as the making leads him: the result is a knife of its own, with its own serial number and certificate, not a copy of one that has gone before. Every made-to-order knife is quoted individually, and the quote will say what is included and how long it will take.
Prices are in South African rand and include VAT where applicable; we are not a VAT vendor, so no VAT is added. Every knife is different, so anything unusual is quoted after we have seen it. Nothing on this page is legal advice; see our terms.