Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American custom
knifemaker based in
Kaneohe, Hawaii
Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an ancient ...
, United States who invented the "SpeedSafe"
assisted opening mechanism for
Kershaw Knives. Ken Onion was the Premier Knife Designer for
Kershaw Knives.
Designs
As a
US Marine, Onion devised a helicopter mechanism that was adopted for use by the military.
In 1989, Ken's wife, Noel, made arrangements through a friend for Onion to meet custom knife maker Stanley Fujisaka.
The two became friends and Onion learned his basic knifemaking skills from Stanley, building his first knife in 1991.
Five years later, in 1996, Doug Flagg, then with
Kershaw Knives met Onion while calling on an account for Kershaw and the two discussed an arrangement for the assisted-opening mechanism, which led to a contract.
This contract led to Kershaw expanding its factory and number of employees to accommodate the demand for these knives.
Onion has since moved on to design knives for
Columbia River Knife and Tool, and most recently a knife sharpener with Work Sharp.
Onion holds 36 design patents on different items including locks, mechanisms, and knife designs.
Most notable of these is the
Speed-safe mechanism used by Kershaw Knives. For these many designs and his work throughout the cutlery industry promoting the art of knife making, Onion was inducted into the
Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 2008
Blade Show in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
as the 45th and youngest living member.
In 2005, Onion collaborated with
Spyderco on the Spyker knife design. In 2010 Onion parted ways with Kershaw Knives to start his own production company and to collaborate with
Columbia River Knife and Tool on several designs.
Celebrity knives
An article in
Blade Magazine asserts that celebrities, such as
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...
,
Steven Tyler
Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...
,
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...
,
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...
,
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...
,
Wayne Newton
Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942), also known as Mr. Las Vegas, is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the United States from the mid-to-late 20th century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in ...
, Emily Ahern, Stephen Lefebvre,
Wayne LaPierre, Brett Morss, and
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 2002, with whom he released eight studio albums. After ...
collect custom knives made by Onion.
[Cascio, Pat. (2003). "Steven Seagal's Knife", ''Tactical Knives Magazine'', November 2003]
See also
References
External links
US Patent and Trademark OfficeOfficial Ken Onion websiteKen Onion on RusKnife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onion, Ken
1963 births
Living people
Knife makers
United States Marines
People from Wellington, Ohio