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Chupacabra Knife Company is just a small, one-man operation located just outside of Tucson, in Marana AZ.
I started ChupKnifeCo as a hobby and originally bought and sold knives mostly to add to my personal collection, but somewhere around 2019 I became interested in the practice of modifying Old Hickory Butcher knives into sort of a rustic Kephart style blade - I have always thought that the Kephart was just a great all around knife and I really liked the idea of making them from a low cost butcher knife; sort of a salute to the way things were done a long time ago.
I started buying and modifying Old Hickory knives as a weekend pass time... originally I did everything in my carport and had a small work table that was my whole shop - I could only fit one thing on the little table at a time and I literally would have to put my little belt grinder on it to grind, then take it off and put the little drill press on there to drill, then take that off and put on the... well, you get the idea.
Over the last couple of years I have developed a method for making these knives and I think I have a pretty nice product... my biggest misgiving with the Old Hickory for a field knife was the handle, so I began replacing the handles with Micarta handles and have been fine tuning the shape and design over a lot of knives. I started selling the knives just to be able to make more, as I have found that grinding and making a knife is the best relaxation that I have ever found - it is my happy place and I just wanted to be able to keep that going.
As the number of knives I was making started to grow, I had to make some tough choices... I never wanted this to be a "job" so what I decided to set a limit on how many knives I make a year and to sell them at just enough to buy more materials and maintain equipment to keep my passion going. So, in 2020 I put some work into a small shed that I had planned on tearing down and made it a dedicated knife shop; I also decided that I would donate some money from each knife I sell to local Animal Rescue groups... now I am making knives and helping out some great causes.
I don't make anything doing this... I probably lose a couple of bucks most of the time, but I figure I can try to make it up in volume; an interesting business model for sure! I hope you enjoy the work and the "old timey" feeling of the knives and I hope that you decide to pick up a knife.. you will get a great companion in the field and know that you are helping out with a really great cause.
Sincerely,
Kino Davis
Guy in Charge
ChupaKnifeCo