Austin Jackson has been working steadily to build his knife shop, Traditional Pocket Knives (also known as C. Risner Cutlery), into a one stop destination for quality knives. From traditional slipjoints to modern flippers, he carries an eclectic range of knives. He describes it as “a hobby with friends, not a business with customers” and that has certainly matched my experience. I’ve gotten to know Austin over the last several years and thought an interview would be interesting those like me who enjoy hearing the stories of those who share my love of good cutlery.
A Hobby with Friends, Not a Business with Customers
Austin Jackson, TraditionalPocketKnives.com
I know that continuing your grandfather’s legacy in taking over C. Risner Cutlery was a meaningful undertaking for you, and I see the effort you put into innovating the business. How has your vision for the company evolved since then?
Grandpa had three websites back in the day. Those websites were Schattandmorgan.com (Schatt & Morgan knives), CRisnerCutlery.com (Queen Cutlery knives), and ClarenceRisner.com (German Eye brand knives). Grandpa and I talked often about how I wanted to combine all three websites into one website, TraditionalPocketKnives.com. After grandpa passed in 2016, I began working on combining all three sites into one site. After doing so, this quickly turned out to be a great decision. Obviously combining three sites into one site made it much simpler for people to shop and browse knives. I had discussed with grandpa that I wanted to begin carrying more modern knives, both modern slipjoints and modern folding/flipping knives. My first modern addition to the site was Finch Knife Co. Finch offers some really neat modern knives while keeping their designs traditional. This was a great decision and has been a huge success. Over the years, I kept adding quality brands to the site and have taken grandpas small hobby and grown it into a small business. Grandpa always told me to never worry about stocking [too much] quality inventory. And in March of 2020, this little piece of information turned out to be paramount. As knife factories began to shut down temporarily in 2020 due to the pandemic, inventory began to move quickly. Many people were stuck at home with nothing to do, so they began shopping online. Having a large inventory of quality knives allowed me to sell knives throughout the entire year without purchasing new knives since factories were shut down. To this day, I carry a large inventory of quality knives and products. This has allowed me to evolve and expand the site to focus more on the “online shopping experience” rather than just offering a “shop and go” experience.
The Lake Champlain Barlow is a unique design named after the USS Lake Champlain, where your grandfather served. Can you share more about the inspiration and design process behind this knife? Do you plan to rerelease the Lake Champlain like you have the Ohio River Jack, and if so will you make design adjustments like you have on the ORJ? You know I love a Barlow!
The Ohio River Jack was my first ever OEM design. I went all in on this design too, not really knowing where it would lead me. The knife community largely accepted and has thoroughly enjoyed the Ohio River Jack. This success led me to design the Lake Champlain Barlow. With all of my designs, I want to honor my Grandfather’s legacy because I am so grateful he introduced me to this hobby as a young kid. In matter of fact, Grandpa started my knife collection before I was even born! I still have the knife collection to this day. Grandpa loved a well designed and strongly built Barlow. I knew I would eventually want to design a Barlow that grandpa would have carried. The Lake Champlain Barlow was just that. Having a closed length of 4.25″, the Lake Champlain Barlow is a well built and rugged modern slipjoint. Most of our Lake Champlain Barlow inventory has sold but we still have a few of the micarta versions available on the site. I am currently working on another Lake Champlain Barlow run featuring a long and beautifully shaped spearpoint blade. I will be adding an easy-open notch to the design along with jimping and swedges to the blade. My newly designed second release of the Ohio River Jacks has been another great success within the knife community and has added confidence in me wanting to produce the Lake Champlain Barlow spearpoint version.
Traditional Pocket Knives offers a range of exclusive designs. How do you decide which patterns and collaborations to pursue? For example, the Lush is much different from your in house exclusive designs.
Quality, quality, quality. As a young boy, I attended almost every knife show that Grandpa set up at. During these shows, grandpa would teach me about the different styles, patterns and designs of pocket knives. Grandpa knew which knives and which brands would sell the best and which ones would not… or in his words, “these are absolute junk”. Even as knives have changed in the last ten to fifteen years, those lessons from grandpa still remain with me. This has allowed me to filter which knife designs and brands I want to carry in the store. Secondly and just as important, I want to personally know the owner of the knife brand which I carry and sell. Every brand I offer in the store, at any time I can personally call up the owners of those brands and have a thirty minute conversation before we even begin talking about pocket knives.
Balancing the legacy of C. Risner Cutlery with modern market demands must be challenging. How do you honor tradition while innovating in the current knife industry?
Grandpa would have never carried any knife besides a slipjoint. He appreciated a beautifully designed traditional slipjoint. And modern folding knives are obviously designed and produced much differently than a traditionally made slipjoint. In my opinion, a pocket knife is a pocket knife. If the knife cuts like a knife, looks like a knife, feels like a knife, then it’s very much so a pocket knife. It doesn’t matter if your interests are in Great Eastern Cutlery and your buddy’s interests are in Spyderco, we all share the same passion for pocket knives and that is what makes the knife community so enjoyable. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Grandpa had German Eyebrand produce his Indian Head trademarked knives. These knives featured his name, “C. Risner” stamped into the blade tangs. On all of my current OEM designs, I have “C. Risner” lasered into the tangs of these knives. I want to always honor the legacy and tradition of my Grandfather.
You’ve been involved in the knife community from a young age. How have your early experiences influenced your approach to running Traditional Pocket Knives today?
Grandpa not only taught me so much about business and pocket knives, he, along with my father, taught me lessons which helped me to become a man, leader, community supporter, Christian, Marine, and many other things. I will be forever grateful for the relationship I had with my grandfather. Even though he has passed, working on knives daily is like spending time with him. I didn’t realize at the time but attending the knife shows with Grandpa at a young age instilled confidence in me that helps me run the business to this day. Having guided grandpa’s small hobby into a small business which is constantly growing, I am faced with daily challenges. To help deal with these challenges, I often refer back to the times I spent with grandpa fulfilling orders, reviewing inventory, and speaking with customers. Being an entrepreneur, frustrations and failures will knock you down and make you be brutally honest with yourself. The one thing that keeps me strong is the love I have for pocket knives. If it wasn’t for this love and passion I have for pocket knives, the business wouldn’t be where it is today.
To some, a pocket knife is just a tool and that is completely understandable. To others, a pocket knife is a memory of our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, friends, etc. A pocket knife is a lesson about life or a pocket knife can bring joy, love, and excitement. No matter what style of pocket knife you carry, being a part of the knife community and sharing the hobby with others is what brings us all together and that alone is worth celebrating.
People like Austin help to make the knife community great. I love to see someone continue a family tradition and build a thriving and growing business at the same time. Who says the American dream is dead? If you decide to pick something up from Traditional Pocket Knives, feel free to use code “KT10” and you just might get a discount, and tell Austin I say hello!
