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About
Winkler Knives produces knives, axes, and breaching tools at a 35,000-square-foot facility in Boone, North Carolina, operated by Master Bladesmith Daniel Winkler and his partner Karen Shook. Winkler made his first blade in 1975 as a historical re-enactor seeking to accurately replicate 18th-century American frontier edged tools, became a full-time bladesmith in 1988, and earned accreditation as a Master Bladesmith from the American Bladesmith Society in 1993. The company’s connection to military and law enforcement customers began after the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans, for which Winkler made knives and axes, leading to a request from a Navy SEAL for a combat axe and the subsequent development of a tactical product line. Since 2004, Winkler Knives has supplied knives and axes to U.S. Special Operations Forces, producing each piece at the North Carolina facility.
