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JULY 29, 2025

Bear & Son Cutlery introduces their newest folding pocketknife — the Lawman. With its precision craftsmanship and unmistakable American-made pedigree, the Bear & Son Lawman is an elegant yet hardworking tool for those who demand both style and substance in a carry knife.
 

By Luke Causey

Dave Wenger, the maker and designer behind Wenger Blades, has made a mark on the bushcraft and outdoors community with his impeccable designs and tank-tough builds. We’re going to be looking at the man himself, the story, and a few of his designs.

Dave didn’t know I existed until I reached out to him and asked for an interview. I own three of his knives, and they’ve all been acquired through my own back pocket. I’ve seen his work for several years, and like most knife folks, once I had one in hand, they seemed to multiply. Over a year of using Wenger Blades in the Colorado back-country, I’ve come to appreciate his commitment to quality and attention to detail. When I reached out to him to ask if he’d do an interview, he was gracious enough to agree. We spent over an hour on the phone discussing his story and his business.

Dave Wenger’s knife journey began when he was in the 6th grade. He described himself as ‘nerdy’ and fascinated with the middle ages. His first blade he remembers making was a medieval sword that he hammered out of a scrap of conduit. From there, he sold his first two-handed sword to his teacher, for the whopping sum of $35. Over the years he continued to make knives as a hobby while running his landscape business.   

In 2012 he earned his Journeyman Bladesmith from the American Bladesmith Society. In 2013, with three kids and a packed schedule, life got to the point that he knew he couldn’t run the blade shop and continue with his landscaping business. He made the jump to fulltime knifemaker and founded Wenger Blades in 2013. Dave described the excitement during this period, but the seriousness of the move for his family, chuckling and saying, “This better work”.

Dave’s knives have ended up in some high-profile places on TV shows, as well as in the hands of some specialized military and law enforcement personnel. Despite that, he describes himself as a “common man’s knifemaker”. He makes his blades intending them to be used, no matter where they end up. He summed this up by saying; “I build knives for guys that have more skill than me.” That’s certainly an understatement on his part, but humility is the hallmark of talent.

Dave and I spent a few minutes discussing his relationship with the Tracker design, and his particular take on the knife. The Tracker can be decisive in the knife community with some folks saying it’s overly complicated and bulky while others insist that it’s a design for a more learned user. Dave started down the Tracker design path with a knife called the ‘Kuko’, which had a 10½” blade and was a blend of kuki and bolo blade shapes. This led to his Kuko 7, with a 7½” blade, then his version of the Tracker.

I mentioned to him that I’ve owned his Large Tracker for a while now, and always felt it was more like a kukri than a typical Tracker. He agreed completely and described his desire for a unique design. Dave gave a lot of respect to Dave Beck and his Tracker design and said that he wanted his to stand out in the market. I’ve used my Wenger Large Tracker quite a bit. It chops like a short kukri and carves and feathers wood just as well. With its tapered tang it balances nicely in the hand and works well for anything around camp that needs to be done. If I was going to be limited to one knife in the woods, with the skillset I’ve developed over the years, it would be a Wenger Tracker.

Dave’s versions of military knives came about from his affection for them as blades built at a contract price for general issue to the troops. Dave spoke fondly of the older Camillus and Ontario Pilot’s Knife, and expressed his desire to make a version for the modern woodsman. His Pilot Knife came about to “de-militarize” the knife and make a version that would be “more useful for the woods”. He describes his version as a full tang cross between the old Pilot knife, and the Ka-Bar. The Wener Pilot has a functional saw back and a sturdy tip; which is a vast improvement over the old military design.

The Wenger adaptations of military designs cover several sizes of the Smatchet, as well as tomahawks designed for breaching and tactical use. The Smatchet is a wide, leaf-bladed knife that was popularized in WW2 as a large-ish utility and light chopper. Dave produces the Smatchet in sizes that range from the 10” blade of the OSS, to the pocketable 3.75” blade of the MSK.

Dave and I spent a good bit of time talking about tomahawks, and his adaptations of full-tang hawks to the outdoor and military communities. He’s passionate about making knives, but he’s downright excited about making ‘hawks. Dave again gave props to another maker, Daniel Winkler, for inspiring him on his tomahawk journey. Dave said he started making his own hawks “because he couldn’t afford them” when discussing the Winkler’s. Dave knew that the Winkler hawks were more geared towards combative and breaching roles and said that the ‘bushcraft hawk’ wasn’t well represented in the market. Dave joked, “everybody wants to be an operator” while talking about the real difference between a hawk used in a combat capacity, and a hawk used in the woods. Based on how I see guys turn up in the woods sometimes, he ain’t wrong.

The Wenger Beohawk was his favorite to talk about. It features a 3” blade with an overall length of 14”. This hits the sweet spot for a hawk folks will use but isn’t too heavy to carry along. All of Dave’s hawk’s include a bowdrill divot in the head. The bowdrill divot is designed to replace the need to search for the perfect rock or shell when building a bowdrill set in the woods, and Dave’s desire with this was to really promote building those bushcraft skills among his customers. Most of his hawks come with a 550 paracord wrap at the top, and coupled with the divot, the time-consuming pieces of the bowdrill set are made that much more accessible. His Jaryl hawk is also pretty fascinating with a spike on the back to bust up firewood. I could see that being pretty handy to have around a campfire.

Dave and I talked for a while about his relationship with Boker Knives, and the Boker Plus line of his Tracker models. Bringing Wenger knife designs to market with another manufacturer was a big leap for Dave. He’s a particular guy when it comes to production quality, and the Boker Plus line of his designs took 2 years to get to market. Boker Plus currently offers versions of the Large, Mini, and Micro Trackers. They also offer a folding Micro Tracker of Dave’s design that’s done very well on the market since it’s release. Set to drop in the summer of this year, is the Boker Vigtig vs. Wild version of the Wenger Vigtig, which is a small fixed blade made in Germany, designed for daily carry and bushcraft tasks.

Dave’s EDC blade is the Wenger Companion. I own his Crafter, and I agree that the small fixed blades are just about perfect for having with you. His Aphid series caters to the neck-knife crowd, and several of the Aphid versions will fit into personal survival kits. Dave laughed when I asked if his small blades were a “gateway drug”…  “absolutely” he said.

We wrapped up the conversation with me asking a question I’ve always enjoyed hearing knife makers answer. I asked Dave “If you had the chance, what would you say to your customers?” Dave responded without hesitation, “That I appreciate them. They are the most important part of my business, and they’ve made everything possible.”   

Wenger Knives produces about 1,000 knives a year in a small Michigan shop. If I was in the business of predicting the future, I’d put money on Dave expanding production in the years to come. He’s a genuinely nice guy to talk to and encouraged his customers “don’t hesitate to reach out”. In a market space full of egos and hype, Dave’s take on knives and business is refreshingly polite. In his own words, “I would rather you have the skill. Gear is no replacement for skills.” He couldn’t be more right about that.

If you’re interested in great knives and tomahawks check out Wenger Blades. You’ll be extremely happy you did.

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