The Leafted collective

 seattle WA

https://www.instagram.com/leafted

 

Lacey Rae is an Irish, Welsh, Germanic , Chickasaw, Cherokee animist. Living a life observing cycles,learning the langage of the plants .She is the founder of Indigenous Regeneration.

 I grew up in Montana until the age of 12.  Being in this environment, I became accustom to knives and their importance particularly in the outdoors.  Whether I was hunting or fishing, I always had a knife on my side. These experiences instilled in me that when an outdoorsman goes into the wild, he should always be prepared, and a significant part of that preparation is carrying a reliable blade. 

We moved to the PNW as a young teenage boy.  I spent a considerable amount of time in the woods hunting, fishing and exploring.  At the age of 13 I purchased a small Buck hunting knife. It was always with me on my adventures.  I still have that knife to this day.

The thought of making knives for my adventures, never entered my mind until later in life.  There was this large woods blade that caught my attention. At the time, it was a bit of a leap for me to make the purchase.  After doing some research on the subject of making knives with basic hand tools, I set out to make my version of that large woods blade.  Using a file, sandpaper, and a ton of elbow grease, I managed to do a decent job on this blade. This blade featured a forced patina finish using horseradish.  The whole process sparked a desire to make another knife and another and………. Now I’m three years into the adventure. 

Knife making is extremely rewarding, but also highly technical.  To advance, one must remain a student of the craft. Each blade offers new insights on how to further improve the design, execution and process.  In my opinion, knife making is at the pinnacle of craftsmanship. It combines a number of materials into the design, all of which have unique characteristics, that are both aesthetic as well as functional.  A thorough knowledge of these materials is essential for a quality product. Not only does a knife need to look good, it must perform. The performance is centered around the type of steel and how the steel is heat treated and tempered. Our steel is heat treated to provide toughness, but also prolonged edge retention and corrosion resistance.

Through my three years of knife making, I’ve made a variety of knives ranging from small hunting knives to large bowies and a number of kitchen style knives.  Some of the more custom style knives such as the bowie pictured below are extremely time consuming, sometimes taking weeks to fabricate. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience to envision a blade in the minds eye and then see it completed with all the colors and textures.  

I’ve began to get more focused as of late in producing outdoor knives.  I find that in doing so, it takes me back to my roots as a young adventurer.

One knife in particular that I’ve spent time developing is the Falcon Field Knife.  The Falcon is designed for the outdoor enthusiast who desires a compact high-performance blade that is affordable.  The Falcon integrates not only the best materials, it’s also aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Moreover, the Falcon is comfortable in the hand.  My goal is to make the highest quality field knife that provides value to the outdoor community.  

Designing and fabricating knives for the outdoorsman is so rewarding.  The idea of having a Wirtz Made field knife in the hands of an outdoorsman is humbling, but also super exciting.  In many ways, I get to live vicariously through my knives as they accompany the outdoorsman on his/her adventures.