Journeyman Smith Jan Vaterlaus (b.1963) is a knifemaker from Idaho whose knives are crafted by a man who prefers the outdoors to a cubicle. Vaterlaus' knives are meant for hard use, composed with materials that will endure and are built to perform at the highest standards in the harshest environments. He integrates natural materials, a love of dramatic and fine grained woods, with hand-forged precision metalwork and a focus on reliability and longevity in his knives.
Vaterlaus is an Idaho native who grew up immersed in the rugged beauty of the state’s high country — places like the White Clouds, Seven Devils, and Bighorn Crags shaped his passion for the outdoors. In his youth, his love of the deep wilderness had Jan working as a hunting guide in Alaska, aiding high-altitude hunts. There, he formed a practical understanding of the need for knives with edges that would endure. The extreme environments of hunts for Dall sheep, grizzly bear, moose, and wolves inspire him to craft knives built for durability in the toughest conditions.
Jan is a perfectionist who has always been drawn to working with his hands. Beginning with building a gun cabinet as a kid, he discovered a love for woodworking. As an adult, his garage became a full woodshop where one of his many projects was making handles for knife blanks he had ordered. Unsatisfied with relying on someone else's craftsmanship, he began exploring forging and tempering carbon steel into knives. In no time at all, he had an addition to his garage: a forge with all the tools needed to harden steel and to create his own blades. His drive for perfection led him to the American Blademith Society and the qualifications needed to become a journeyman smith. His desire for that accreditation had him traveling to Maine to take an intensive two week class at the New England School of Metalwork with ABS Hall of Fame Master Smith Jim Crowell. This humbling, yet amazing class taught him many things. The most important to Jan was that it would take him five lifetimes to learn everything about bladesmithing. His knifemaking philosophy, at its core, is that success comes from trying, failing, studying the failure, and learning from each failure until success is achieved.
Vaterlaus' hand forged, outdoor-focused knives are proven hard-use tools and actually saved the life of biologist Jacey from a grizzly bear attack. Jacey and her friend Randi documented their journey learning to bow hunt in the wilderness of Alberta, Canada through Instagram posts. Their love of the outdoors and bowhunting caught Jan's eye as he began to post his knives and his own outdoor adventures on Instagram. A friendship was struck up and he ended up making custom knives for Jacey and Randi. One day, when Jacey was cataloging goat populations for her job as a biologist, she stumbled upon a grizzly and his freshly killed mountain goat. Before she could react, she had been flung to the ground and pinned down by the bear above her. Fortunately, Jacey kept Vaterlaus’ knife and sheath attached to her bino harness and was able to shove it into the bear's neck. Easily cutting into the thick pelt, it caused the bear to retreat enough for Jacey to use her bear spray. Escaping with many bruises but only relatively shallow cuts, she credits Jan's meticulously constructed knife with saving her life.
Jan Vaterlaus is a skilled journeyman smith who crafts knives inspired by his connection to the land. He focuses on making reliable tools for tough, outdoors conditions rather than following trends. His beautiful knives, while being meticulously crafted, are built to perform at the highest level in the harshest conditions.
