Coopersville, MI – -(Ammoland.com)- White River Knife &Tool is a newer U.S. company that makes premium knives.
White River started out several years ago as a sub-contractor producing components and blades for other well-known knife companies and recently began producing complete, ultra-quality production knives under the White River Knife brand.
White River Knife brand knives are so good looking and well-made that if you placed them side by side with extreme-quality, high-dollar, handmade custom knives of the same design and materials, you would be hard-pressed to tell which is which.
It is this level of quality that is propelling this family-owned company to prominence in the high-end production knife market.
White River Knife &Tool (its full name) is located in Coopersville, Michigan, and in fact the White River for which the company is named flows through the family property in the Manistee National Forest. About White River’s walking bear logo? Well, that logo is patterned after a much-loved 450-pound pet bear. Poo-bear lived for many years in a massive bear cage on the family property. He passed on a while back, but the cage still stands in his memory and the family decided to further perpetuate his memory through the logo on the new line of knives it is producing under the White River name.
So how did this all come about? For more than 20 years the John Cammenga family has manufactured high-end products. From 1992 until 2005, they were the exclusive manufacturer of tritium lensatic compasses for the U.S. military. They sold this company in 2005, forever ending all involvement in the company that still bears the family name.
After selling the compass company, John and wife Susan wanted to start a new venture they could feel passionate about. Their love of quality custom knives inspired them to take on the production of high-end completed knives and it has worked well because their precision equipment manufacturing knowledge and capabilities, coupled with their experience meeting tough military specifications for life-on-the line equipment, transferred easily to the new knife company. Moreover, their sons John Junior and Matt are also deeply involved in the company, making it a true family business.
In addition to the White River brand and continued involvement in making blades and parts for other knife companies, the company also makes specialty blades and tools that are unrelated to the world of cutlery (hence the full company name includes the word “Tool”).
White River Knives also does something that is fast becoming unique: every part, piece and component of its products, to include the steel, leather, thread, and rivets, are made in the USA. Nothing imported is used anywhere in the company’s products. In fact, White River also uses only U.S. companies exclusively to print its catalogs, brochures and promotional items, right down to and including the ink and paper!
White River Knives uses a variety of super American made steels in their blades, to include CPM S30V and CPM S35VN (stainless steels that contain more edge-holding and vicious cutting carbon than the older high-carbon steels many outdoorsmen and hunters know well and which are generally used in hand-forged, high-carbon blades). White River also uses some more familiar high-carbon steels such as U.S.-sourced 52100 and, for its fillet knife line, 440C stainless.
The company uses the design skills of both its internal staff and that of famed custom knife maker Jerry Fisk. Fisk knives are generally priced in the lofty $2,000.00-plus range and one Jerry Fisk-designed custom knife recently fetched a cool $33,000.00 at the 2014 NRA Convention fundraising auction. The guy knows a little about designing knives and it has paid off for White River Knives.
White River Knives sells its knives principally through brick-and-mortar retailers who wish to carry near-custom made knives at a surprisingly affordable price point for customers who appreciate custom knife quality. They are also available for purchase through a select few quality internet resellers who honor the brick-and-mortar store pricing.
- White River Knives are for sale on Amazon:
- White River Knives can be visited on the web at www.whiteriverknives.com
Please drop by Booth 2253 at this year’s SHOT Show and visit with the Cammenga Family–and check out their NEW line of custom-quality retail sales production knives–seriously neat stuff!
