“Live a life you don’t need a vacation from” that's how Greg describes his life and his 38 years of knifemaking. He lives on a ranch in Kitscoty, Alberta, and is a full-time knifemaker. He sells his knives internationally, with a large portion to collectors. He has 13.2K Instagram followers and has been featured in several knifemaking magazines. Many of his knives have been reviewed on YouTube. He says he feels blessed that he has a career where he can be an artist, a craftsman and a businessman and still has time to enjoy many outdoor hobbies.
Greg says it was not easy when he started in 1988. After buying some knives he began thinking he could make better knives. He was a machinist and knew how to work with steel. He bought a very basic knifemaking book by David Boye, and used old blades from a buzz saw to make 15-20 knives that he either sold or traded. Then a couple of years later while he was tree planting in Prince George BC, he went into a magazine shop and found a Knife Illustrated magazine. He read about people who were making a living from knifemaking and he never looked back.
There was no Internet when he started so learning knifemaking was a challenge, “you had to figure it out as you went, there was a lot of trial and error”. The majority of knives he made in the early days were fixed blades. To learn more and promote his knives he went to 5-7 knife shows a year. He met well established knifemakers including Rod Olson who would critique his knives and Brian Lyttle showed him how to work with Damascus. Tony Marfione taught him how to do a hollow grind, and some of Joel Pirela’s designs inspired him. Greg says the three main characteristics that make a unique knife are Design, Elements, and Materials.
Design - Greg uses a marine theme, specifically a shark, in his designs. He is a scuba diver and he has always liked the look and personality of sharks “they can either swim with you or they bite you”. He feels the shark personifies his “refined aggressive” personality. Once he mocked up a design that was just a black shape that was placed with other knives. A woman came by and chose the mocked up knife. When he asked her what she liked about it she replied “it looks sexy”. Greg realized that the shape had a warmth and comfort about it. “That was the best compliment I could have received, it made me realize that a design doesn’t need to be aggressive to be appealing.” When looking at his knives you can see the shark’s head, tail, or fins eloquently incorporated into the designs.
Greg has collaborated with other knifemakers such as Jared Van Otterloo who has given him new ideas and enhanced his designs such as the Pit Boss and Falcon-X. Greg is currently working on a design that he developed 25 years ago. He says “working with it today is very different because I can take the base design and incorporate everything I have learned over the years and the knife will turn out differently”.
He says using different materials in designs such as Icon and Apex will give a different look. Also, the L-CC 2000 design is coming back. It was a very successful design; it went gold at the Altanta Knife Show in 2000. He calls his knives “Extreme Jewelry” because some are worn as neck knives or people pull them from their pockets and show them; similar to showing an expensive watch.
Elements – Greg uses unique elements in his knives such as a floating back spacer, 6 gun pivots, clip design (if you put a line and hook on it you could catch a fish), and subtle elements such as a recurved blade (makes a sexier knife). Whatever elements Greg uses he applies outstanding attention to detail.
Materials – He specializes in natural handle materials such as pearl, mammoth tusk, and the “best high end materials available, that is what makes the knives unique”. He uses a lot of carbon fibre for its varied texture and titanium for colour anodizing. He uses a variety of Damascus for his blades.
To remain innovative and creative Greg maintains a strong work/life balance. “When I’m snow biking, mountain biking, motor racing, hunting or working out, I see things I can incorporate into my designs. Or while I’m working on a design I take 20 minutes to walk outside and shoot my bow. Then I come back, feeling refreshed and get new ideas.”
Greg has worked hard to develop a successful business and establish his name internationally. He reinvested as much as possible in advertising and until COVID, he attended many knife shows. Now he sells his knives mainly online. His customers are international, with a significant number coming from the US. One prominent customer, Rock Star Axl Rose, (Guns N’ Roses), bought a number of knives.
Greg concluded by saying “I’ve had a long career, I’m still going strong, and staying young, I plan to keep going for a long time. I have a life that I don’t need to take a vacation from!”
Words of Advice - “If you dabble, you will not succeed … train hard. Like a prizefighter, if you lose, don’t give up, train harder, and go back … keep motivated always to get better. Also, you need to have the right design; because if you don’t, no matter how much you grind or polish you will not have a good knife.
See Greg’s Website – https://www.lightfootknives.com/
Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/greglightfoot123/
Some of Greg’s YouTube - Knife Reviews, Interview & Podcast
Empire Custom Knife - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBRawnEVK3o
Turbocharger Custom Knife - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_JiFC63qsA
Pit Boss Custom Knife - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYUohAoI32w
Full Contact Fighter - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvzd_gYUxSY
Hybrid / Veyron/ Middleweight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baZf_LSlTL0
L-CC Custom Knife - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKTGbA2JxAE
Knife Centre Interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwSpI8mnTdM
Greg Lightfoot of Lightfoot Knives - The Knife Junkie Podcast (#44)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpXnbue1knU
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