Master Bladesmith Jason Knight was born and raised in the South Carolina Lowcountry. He lives with his wife Shelly, their two children, Tristen and Tigerlily and his grandmother, M yrtle, in the Four Hole Swamp area of Dorchester County in South Carolina.

Jason has taken his craft to the level of fine art. His knives are all handmade from the finest materials available.

"Since childhood, I have expressed myself through art. I have used many different art mediums from drawing to sculpture in wood, bone, stone, and steel. Though I enjoy and appreciate many forms of art, I find bladesmithing the most appealing and satisfying creatively. When I was a child, I cut sections out of a long metal ladder that belonged to my grandmother. I thought I could forge these into a blade using a claw hammer and a concrete block for an anvil. That unsuccessful attempt kept my blades on paper and in wood until I was in high school at which time I began to forge 1/8 inch drill rods into miniature knives."

Jason attended The American Bladesmith Society’s Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing associated with Texarkana College in Old Washington, Arkansas, and began his apprenticeship in 2001.

"I was encouraged by my grandmother and my wife to attended the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing. There, I learned the basics of forging and heat treating. Since then I have studied the art of bladesmithing as a full time occupation."

In that same year, he won Best New Maker at Blade Show West in Irvine, California. He became the first recipient of the South Carolina Association of Knifemakers "Knife of the Year" award in 2002. He has won national and international awards for his outstanding work in bladesmithing. In June of 2007, Jason became South Carolina’s first and only Master Bladesmith. He also won The American Bladesmith Society’s coveted B.R. Hughes Award.

There are approximately 103 living ABS Mastersmiths worldwide. Jason has taught students from Alaska and the lower 48 and as far away as Taipei City, Taiwan. He has also been featured at the South Carolina State Museum as part of an exhibit on South Carolina knifemakers.

Since 2001 he has been featured in national and international magazines including, American Bladesmith, Blade Magazine, Knife World, Sporting Classics, Knives Illustrated, Knives Annual, France’s La Passion des Couteaux, Taiwan’s Knife and Life, and Japan’s Knife Magazine.

In June 2008, Jason went to Nicaragua to teach bladesmithing at Christian Blacksmith’s International School, founded by Mike Deibert. It was a satisfying and successful trip for Jason to share the art he loved in a way that practically benefited the lives of others in need. One of his students, Ramone, has been forging knives in order to earn the money needed to build a house for his wife and daughter.

Awards

2008 BLADE Handmade Award for Best Bowie; Blade Magazine

2008 Bill Moran Award; American Bladesmith Society (ABS)

2008 Best Bowie; Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair

2008 Best Fighter; Arkansas Knife Makers Association Show

2007 B.R. Hughes Award; American Bladesmith Society (ABS)

2007 Aquired ABS Mastersmith Rating

2006 Best Fighter; Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair

2006 Best Fighter; Arkansas Knife Makers Association Show

2004 BLADE Handmade Award for Best Non-Damascus Hand-Forged Knife; Blade Magazine

2004 Best Non-Damascus Hand-Forged; Blade Show and International Cutlery Fair

2002 South Carolina Knife of the Year; South Carolina Association of Knifemakers

2001 Best New Maker;  Blade Show West