Blade Show 2022: RoseCraft Blades Arrives with 12-Model Lineup

RoseCraft Blades, a new production knife outfit from Tenessee, is stepping onto the stage this weekend at Blade. RoseCraft is coming out strong with a 12-knife lineup showcasing the talents of its in-house team, which includes brand new and established designers.

The RoseCraft knife design team consists of four people. Hawkins Rose and Chase Snyder are first time professional designers, but Savannah Swaggerty, AKA Swaggs, has signed up too after testing the knife design waters in 2020 with the Kizer Cutlery Swayback and the CJRB Maileah. Finally, RoseCraft General Manager and Lead Designer Andy Armstrong brings decades of experience working with CRKT, Rough Rider, and other manufacturers.

Barra

A fresh design from Swaggerty, the Barra combines an all-purpose, 3.4-inch drop point blade with a tri-purpose pry bar/bottle opener/hex driver on the back end. In between is a G-10 clad handle with a liner lock underneath.

Pocket Monster

Fresh Swaggs design no. 2 is the Pocket Monster, seen above in its blue “Sully” coloration. This is an ergos-first design, marrying a comfortable handle to a 2.75-inch blade with a major finger choil beneath the edge. Like the Barra, the Pocket Monster has a liner lock and opens with a thumb stud.

Mohok

This one comes from the mind of Hawkins Rose, and that 3.5-inch harpoon blade gives it a real tactical vibe. Opened with either the dual thumb studs or the flipper, the Mohok has D2 blade steel and gray Micarta scales.

Little Chonk

Truth in advertising: the Rose’s Little Chonk is, indeed, a bit of a chunk, with a listed carry weight of 6.4 oz. for the aluminum-handled model, and 5.8 oz. for the G-10 one. It packs a 3-inch wharncliffe blade (again made from D2) and a steel liner lock underneath its off-side scale, no matter the material.

Adjuta

The only frame lock in this initial RoseCraft offering, the Rose-designed Adjuta pairs the popular mechanism with a 3.2-inch, AR-RPM9 clip blade. Like the Mohok, both a thumb stud and flipper can fire that blade open.

Ogee

A wild, sweeping cleaver blade stars on the Ogee, which is one of Chase Snyder’s designs. It measures 3.34 inches, comes in D2, and generally looks ready for an “EDC Plus” role.

Alenta

By contrast, Snyder’s Alenta has a 3.3-inch trailing point: similar length, but slender and sinuous where the Ogee cleaver is stout. It is paired to a G-10 handle, with the familiar liner lock, thumb stud, and flipper setup.

Skink

RoseCraft head honcho Andy Armstrong contributed this design to the modern folder line. The Skink has an appropriately slinky, 3.2-inch trailing point, and is the only button lock model in the RoseCraft lineup.

Clinch River Swayback

Armstrong’s background includes traditional knife design, so he is the man behind all four RoseCraft traditionals, starting with the Clinch River. Its handle is very much in the established swayback tradition, but the D2 wharncliffe blade, with its big forward finger choil, is quite distinct.

Holston River Surgeon’s Knife

This is Armstrong’s rendition of a lesser-known traditional pattern, usually called a Doctor’s Knife. A more traditional take on the format has a small spatula alongside the main blade; here, the spatula is replaced by a secondary wharncliffe. Both the spear point and the wharnie are made from D2.

Appalachian Jack

Another light twist on an existing traditional pattern, the Appalachian Jack packs the expected 3.3-inch clip blade as its main implement, but on the back end, interestingly, is a steel pry bar.

Little Riverbend Skinner

The Little Riverbend Skinner is defined by its 2.9 inch trailing point blade, done with a saber grind. As is the case across the rest of the RoseCraft traditional line, the blade steel is D2, but the covers are the only ones made with smooth white bone.

Knife in Featured Image: RoseCraft Cutlery Skink