Where did Fitz come from?

Much like my mentor, Ben Petersen, I didn’t originally set out to work in the knife industry. I know, blasphemous. Especially to an audience that I assume is made up of mostly knife nerds (and my mom). But it’s true, I wasn’t even a knife guy before working at Knafs. I had friends who spent their hard-earned cash on Benchmades and Leathermans, and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why.

At the time I met Ben, I was 20 years old, living with my parents, and working at a local bike shop over summer break, and I had no clue about the knife world. I’d bought a few knives at boy scout camp, and I used them for very important tasks, (like opening Christmas presents) but I didn’t yet see the point of carrying one with me everyday.

Then one day, I came home from mountain biking, still buzzing about my new Santa Cruz and trying to make the most of my day off, when my dad stormed into my room.

Now, my dad and I are avid gearheads. We’ve spent countless hours talking to strangers about their hot rods in gas station parking lots. So when he told me to get dressed because we were going to “go look at someone’s garage,” I assumed we’d be admiring a ’57 Chevy or maybe a ’65 Mustang.

So you can imagine my confusion when we pulled up to Ben Petersen’s house and saw… no car. Just a little garage workspace and some pick-pack-ship shelves.

Turns out my dad had met Ben at a tire shop earlier that day. Trapped together in the waiting room with nothing to do, they got to chatting and realized they were neighbors. Later that day, we were touring Ben’s garage startup. And while I didn’t know anything about the business, I thought there might be some opportunity here.

This may be a good time to mention that I had just completed my first year at Utah State University, studying Outdoor Product Design and Development. I had always assumed that my career would have something to do with designing mountain bikes, or overlanding gear, but suddenly I found myself talking to a fledgling knife designer, and I asked what projects he was working on next. 

Ben showed me the early prototypes of what would become the Tool Burrito, and mentioned that he had been poking around at creating a bit driver. 

That bit driver would be my first project with Knafs. Ben needed someone who could 3D model, and I had just finished my first SolidWorks class. So I jumped in. That project made it into my sophomore portfolio, and even after it wrapped up, we stayed in touch.

About 9 months later, Ben sent me a message, asking if I knew any seniors in my program that were looking for work. This message was disheartening, as I was hoping that once Ben had more work, I would be his go-to contractor. But I also knew I couldn’t commit full-time. I still had two years left of school, and Knafs was an hour away. 

But still, I threw my hat in the ring, and responded with a pitch for myself. After some slight convincing, I started working at Knafs the summer after I met Ben in that strange, hot, garage. After some more convincing, Ben let me stay on during school, and work for Knafs part-time, and remotely from Logan.

2 years later, I’ve graduated from Utah State with a bachelor's degree in Outdoor Product Design, and work as a full time product designer and developer at Knafs. And somewhere along the way, I went from knife skeptic to obsessive collector.

Much change has occurred over those two years, including moving out of the garage, but perhaps the largest change is my perspective on knives. Once a doubter and outsider, I find myself picking out a new knife from my collection each and every morning to carry with me throughout the day. Some days I even bring several. I have been completely converted, and I have found myself spending entirely too much money on what my mom calls pocket jewelry. Part of it is my internal love of collecting, and part of it is the undeniable utility of having a blade in your pocket at all times.

Either way, there is no denying it, I am a fully fledged knife guy now.