My hometown of Portland, Oregon, is a city often imagined as a land filled with coffee shops, craft breweries, a new tech industry, and a free-artist vibe, along with a healthy dose of the outdoor vibe. While that is still somewhat true today, one thing that hasn’t changed here since I was a kid is the hidden knife culture that exists here, and it’s one thing that I think the Rose City deserves a bigger spotlight on: it’s the knife-making capital of the United States. Producing over half of the knives sold domestically, Portland is home to some of the biggest names in the industry. In 2024, five of those heavyweights—Benchmade, CRKT, Gerber Gear, Leatherman, and STEELPORT Knife Co.—joined forces to form the Portland Knife Center of Excellence (PKCoE), a coalition aimed at celebrating their craft, boosting the local economy, and cementing Portland’s reputation as a global hub for blades. I recently had the privilege of touring the factories of these founding partners, and let me tell you, it was a sharp experience—pun fully intended.
The PKCoE is an interesting idea. As it is supporting American manufacturing, I am hopeful it thrives.
We have been covering it as well.
PORTLAND KNIFE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOUNDED BY OREGON’S LEADING KNIFE MANUFACTURERS
This is more personal, and goes into much greater detail…
Read the whole thing at AllOutdoor.com
The Rose City’s Edge: The Portland Knife Center of Excellence (PKCoE)