Owning a genuinely handmade knife is a privilege. Each one is made by hand, one at a time, from named steel and named wood, and it carries the maker's mark and a certificate that says so.
A short film about the knives and what goes into them. Owning a genuinely handmade knife is a privilege: each one is unique, made with skill and attention to detail, and carries the maker's name for life.
Willie also writes. In his survival thriller Ready and Waiting, set in a South Africa where the grid has gone down for good, a bearded stranger named Kobus steps out of the barn with a Ruger Mini-14 on his shoulder and, on his hip, a large handmade hunting knife. The engraving on the blade reads "Handmade in South Africa by Willie Jordaan". Asked where he got it, Kobus says only that it was a gift, a long time ago.
Five of the knives on this page are in stock and ready to go, at the prices shown; the others are previous work and have been sold. Handmade means no two knives are ever the same: each was shaped as the steel, the wood and Willie's own eye led him, and none will be made again.
A full-size hunting companion in stainless N690 with a handle of African mopane, one of the hardest and most beautiful of the bushveld woods.
A big, classic hunting blade in 1095 high-carbon steel with a mirror finish, with Turkish walnut scales on a full tang. It is named for Harry Wolhuter, one of the first rangers of the Sabi Game Reserve, now the Kruger National Park. One evening at dusk in August 1903 a lion sprang onto his horse's hindquarters and knocked him out of the saddle, and a second lion seized him by the right shoulder and dragged him into the bush. He reached the sheath knife on his belt, stabbed the lion twice behind the left shoulder and once in the throat, and killed it, then climbed a tree while his dog Bull held off the other lion until his men found him. The knife and the lion's skin are still on display at Skukuza.
A thin, light, flat-ground N690 blade for game birds and fish, where a slim blade and a fine point matter more than brute strength.
In the Nordic countries the puukko is the everyday knife, used for everything from hunting and fishing to gardening and opening boxes. This one wears wild olive from our own bushveld.
A compact take on the classic Bowie clip point in stainless N690, with a wild olive handle and a coffin-style profile that fills the hand.
A mirror-polished 1095 blade with a Kirinite handle that glows in the dark. Charge it under a light and it is easy to find in the tent, the boat or the bakkie at night.
Willie's own everyday-carry pattern: a compact N690 blade that does the daily work without fuss, on scarce African blackwood with mosaic pins.
A hollow-ground Bird & Trout in N690, with orange G10 liners under Turkish walnut.
A puukko in African leadwood, the hardekool of the bushveld, one of the densest woods in the world.
A flat-ground hunter in 440C with a camel thorn handle, made for a friend and named after him.
When orders open again, tell Willie what the knife is for, and what you like in the knives you have seen here, and he will suggest a pattern, a steel and a handle to suit it. From there the knife takes its own shape as the making leads him: the result is a knife of its own, with its own serial number and certificate, not a copy of a knife shown here. Every made-to-order knife is quoted individually, and the quote will say what is included and how long it will take.
Prices are in South African rand. We are not registered for VAT, so no VAT is charged. Every knife is different, so anything unusual is quoted after we have seen it. Nothing on this page is legal advice; see our terms.