A new west code

A new west code

Let Our People Go Skiing

Let Our People Go Skiing

Last time, we followed custom knife maker Arik Miller from the forge to the Snake River. This time, we're back on the factory floor and back in the Tetons.

Let our people go skiing is one of six lines in the Code of the New West. It exists because of our factory location where the mountains meet the sky in Teton Valley, ID. Just over Teton pass to the east lies Jackson Hole, a world epicenter of mountain sport. 

A place like this doesn't keep office hours. Two feet of snow lands overnight. The river comes up. The elk start moving. Inflexible working hours would cost our makers the reason they live in this valley. Letting our people go skiing provides the balance that allows them to also stay sharp on the factory floor.

We work hard because we're chasing the finest knives in the world, and that takes focus, patience, and precision at the bench. We play hard because we live in one of the great playgrounds on Earth. Each hand washes the other. The work remains consistent. Conditions don’t. 

Matt Poluga has been making knives at New West since 2019, longer than any maker on our current production floor. He's one of our master knife makers: he can take any knife in our production line from start to finish.

That's a big deal in our shop. There's no assembly line here. One maker carries each knife through the whole process, from hand-finishing the handle to perfecting the grind. Matt has earned that trust on every knife we make.

Whenever he can, Matt heads for the mountains; biking, snowboarding, climbing and even paragliding. For him, the bench and the backcountry aren't rivals. The freedom to go when the getting is good is part of why he's stayed seven seasons, and part of why he comes back sharp. "One thing I love about working here at New West KnifeWorks," Matt says, "is it affords me the ability to get out and play and do the things I'm really passionate about."

Watch Matt Shred Igneous Rocks

Matt Poluga getting absolutely pitted during the first snowboard descent of Igneous Rocks. Igneous Rocks is considered one of the rowdiest lines off Cody peak, located just outside the boundary of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Every New West knife carries a little of this place. The steel is American, the hands are local, and the mountains are right outside the door. Our knives are put through their paces by the chefs, hunters, and anglers of Jackson Hole, and by our own makers.

NEW RELEASE

NEW RELEASE

Latest Elk Antler Chef Knives

Latest Elk Antler Chef Knives

You can see it in our newest drop, the Elk 9" Chef and the Elk Superbread: elk antler, shed in the tetons, set into the handle of a kitchen knife. It's the same kind of antler work you'll see Matt finishing at his bench in the video above.

That's why the balance matters. A maker who spends the morning breaking a sweat comes back to the bench clear-headed and steady-handed. Letting our people go skiing isn't a break from making the finest knives in the world. It's part of how we make them.

Stay tuned for the next maker in the series.

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