Lionsteel and Gudy Van Poppel Bring Out Production Gitano

One eye-catching piece at Lionsteel‘s booth at Blade this year was their production collaboration slipjoint with Gudy Van Poppel. The knife is a production adaptation of Van Poppel’s Gitano custom.

The most obvious draw with the Gitano is its historically-minded look, which borrows heavily from the Spanish Navaja. It has a scene-stealing, swashbuckling clip point blade with a big stretch of belly and dramatic swedge. The handle has a correspondingly dramatic taper, terminating at the back end with a rounded pommel.

The Gitano’s historical inspiration varied in size, shape, and application, but Van Poppel’s riff hits a sensible, carry-friendly size and comes with a pocket clip that follows the extreme curve of the handle. LionSteel attended to the manufacturing and the materials: Niolox steel, titanium frame, and both natural and synthetic handle choices. Besides the two wood options Lionsteel relishes in employing, users can also grab the Gitano in carbon fiber, G-10 and Micarta.

This is the first time Van Poppel has collaborated with LionSteel. His work should be familiar with those on the custom scene, and users predominately into production pieces will recognize that he was the man behind last summer’s We Knife Co. Ferox.

According to LionSteel, the Gitano is still at least three months away from release.

Knife in Featured Image: LionSteel Gitano