How To Engineer Knives And Trust Your Gut! 5 Knives For Life With TJ Schwarz From Schwarz Knives

Published: 2 days ago

Huge Thanks for TJ for coming on!
Check out his knives here: https://www.schwarzknives.com/
Follow along here: https://www.instagram.com/knife.designer/?hl=en

We get burgers and fries in this one! This week we are talking to TJ Schwarz of Schwarz knives in Idaho. TJ started designing knives 13 years ago and making his own in his garage 10 years ago. In this installment we talk about how to be a knife maker and business owner, the difference between craft and design, the importance of innovation and engineering at the edge of an industry, and how to trust your gut when there is no clear path forward.

TJ believes that the process is the product when it comes to designing and making knives which leads to knives that are well balanced, thought out, and most importantly usable. By looking at and diving into classics like Victorinox/Swiss Army, Leatherman, and Morkaniv TJ walks through knife world designs in a master class on the process being the product.

0:01 Introducing TJ Schwarz and his knife career
1:53 TJ's First Knife And Why We All Love It
13:51 Survival Knives And How To Actually Survive
24:58 Multi Tools Can Solve Most Problems With Experience
47:55 The Most Important Knife In Knife Design
1:03:07 Fixed Blades That Actually Matter