If you’re a fan of Great Eastern Cutlery made knives, you’re probably aware of the Northwoods brand. Northwoods is a brand that was created by Dave Shirley in 2004-2005 (corrected thanks to Rex Null, who sent me this link to an interview with Dave Shirley. Although he began having knives made under other brands he owned, like Marbles, over 30 years ago, the Northwoods brand is relatively recent), but KnivesShipFree purchased the brand in 2010. At that time Derrick Bohn was the head of KniveShipFree. Derrick passed away suddenly in May 2018, and he will be missed and remembered as a major figure in the traditional knife world and a true knife enthusiast. Since early in its time under KniveShipFree’s direction, Jay Rouch has been at the helm of the Northwoods brand. Now, as CEO, Jay continues to fulfill Derrick’s legacy and vision by producing an ever-flowing stream of high quality Northwoods knives.
Since its inception, Northwoods knives have been manufactured out of house at a few manufacturers. At first most were built by Queen cutlery, including some models made after KnivesShipFree acquired the brand. Unfortunately, like many runs of knives made by Queen in its latter days before closing down permanently in January 2018, the Northwoods knives made by Queen had less than ideal fit and finish. Since then, all Northwoods folding knives have been manufactured by Great Eastern Cutlery.
Northwoods knives are differentiated from GEC’s in house brands in several ways, both aesthetic and functional. First, they have a more rustic finish (I will tell you why soon, so keep reading!). Some of the heat treating oxidation is left on the flats of the blade. They also seem to be media tumbled on recent runs, which is a new process for GEC. Both of these characteristics provide a working knife look. They also often have extra or emphasized swedging, to give the blades a vintage look that isn’t a carbon copy of general GEC made blades. Speaking of the blades, they are almost always (with some notable exceptions like the Presidential model, which I kick myself for passing), single blades. Although some might disagree, I think this lends a practical functionality in the sense that it’s a simple tool on which one blade will do all the work you need. Some complain that wharncliffe blade shapes are over-represented, but if one looks through Northwoods runs they’ll see that there is a variation of practical blade shapes including drop points, spear points, and clip points (of course, along with a few wharncliffes!). The handle materials vary from burlap micarta synthetics (which I sometimes think look good, and always think make for very grippy and practical covers) to exotic bones like kudu and giraffe (which take dye in a very unique way) all the way to mammoth ivory and the like (which is sometimes beautiful and, to be brutally honest, sometimes hideous to my eye). Finally, the blades are often saber ground. This means that the grind only rises up part of the height of the blade from the edge to the spine, unlike a full flat grind which GEC does on the vast majority of their knives. Some say saber grinds don’t slice as well as a full flat grind, and in theory that should be true all things equal, but I haven’t noticed a major difference in real world use. A saber grind should be tougher also, being that more material is left on the blade, which fits right in with the rustic working knife look. All these characteristics come together for a very coherent and recognizable aesthetic.
So, what makes the recent Northwoods Heritage Jack model special? It is based on the knife that originally inspired the rustic aesthetic by which the Northwoods brand has come to be recognized. In conversing with Jay Rouch recently, he told me that the Northwoods aesthetic was inspired by the old Schatt & Morgan “Jess Crouch” knives. He said that he and Derrick started asking Bill to do a knife based on these vintage knives way back in 2012, but Bill was reluctant and it took almost 8 years to finally convince him. I hadn’t been aware of these “Jess Crouch” knives before Jay mentioned them, so naturally I delved into the forums for more information. It turns out that some of the key figures in the Schatt & Morgan outfit made knives with their names stamped in large lettering on the blades and a rustic design, sometime around 1900-1920. They were bareheaded regular jack patterns with plain handles. They seem to always be found with a spear point, somewhat resembling a Zulu spear point in the sense that the tip sat below the centerline (rather than at it), and always a single blade. The blades were quite thick, retaining almost all of their width all the way to the tip (meaning no distal taper). Finally, they had no nail nick so that they were opened with a pinch grip. Overall, they’re very interesting knives with a utilitarian, and tank like construction not often found on other knives of their time.
Once you see one of these vintage knives, the resemblance to the Heritage Jack is immediate and clear. The Heritage Jack frame is the same large regular jack pattern. The blade is a very similar low tip spear point, and some of the originals even had the emphasized swedge that can be found on the Heritage Jack (and many other Northwoods). The blade stays thick almost the whole way to the tip with no distal taper and a squared spine, which is unusual for GEC made knives. Like almost all Northwoods knives, the blade is stamped (not etched) NORTHWOODS. It seems a logical conclusion to assume this feature that is found across the Northwoods line was inspired by the stamped blade of the “Jess Crouch” and similar knives. Only two features of the Heritage Jack deviate in any meaningful way from its inspiration: it has the trademark Northwoods arrowhead shield whereas the inspiration knives were shieldless, and it has a long pull whereas the inspiration knives were pinch open only. Even with these two small finishing additions, the Heritage Jack is clearly a direct homage to the “Jess Crouch” and similar knives made at the turn of the 20th century.
When I first got my Heritage Jack, I saw it as a really well made sturdy knife with a rustic aesthetic and interesting handle material, but not something particularly unique amongst other Northwoods knives. I do love quirky handle materials, and it doesn’t get much more quirky than a Burlap Micarta made to look like Frosted Mini Wheat cereal! That said, I wasn’t sure if it was a keeper. I got more knives on this #86 pattern run than I intended (check out my video overview of the run at this link, and an article on the Tidioute #86 at this link). So I didn’t know if the Heritage Jack would make the cut as a user or collection piece. Now that I know the history behind the knife and it’s importance as the inspiration for the Northwoods brand as we know it, I’ve put it in my pocket (after sharpening it and such) and I’m going to keep and use it out of respect to its heritage (pun intended). After all, the historicity with which traditional pocket knives are imbued is one of the aspects that I most enjoy about them. I think the Great Eastern Cutlery made Northwoods Heritage Jack from KnivesShipFree is a great example of everything that gives traditional knives that hard to describe quality that makes them so special.
Northwoods knives sell out quickly these days, and the Heritage Jack was no exception. I think they were completely sold out in less than 5 minutes. However, Jay has said that he is ordering as many knives as he can. I really think he and his team at KnivesShipFree are doing a commendable job of getting these heirloom quality knives to customers. I’m sure they’ll do several models of Northwoods knives each year going forward. They are usually made at the end of the corresponding GEC pattern run and released shortly after completion of production. The best way to stay up to date on when a new model will be released is to join the Northwoods Facebook groups linked here and here (it seems like Jay pretty much only posts in the latter, so that’s the one I am active in and would suggest joining), and to enter your email for notification from KnivesShipFree at this link. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you get every knife you want!
