907Knives ADAK, 2.3" 14C28N Fixed Blade, Birch Burl with Black G10 Liner, Buffalo Leather Sheath with UltiClip - Made in USA (ADAK-BIRCHBURL-LEATHER)

Alaskan handmade, named for an island at the end of the Aleutians. One of one, on wood Will harvested and stabilized himself.

The ADAK is a compact handmade fixed blade from 907Knives, built by Will Lower in a backyard shop outside Anchorage. This one runs birch burl over a black G10 liner, on a 14C28N blade right around 2.3 inches, and it ships in a buffalo leather sheath with an UltiClip.

Note from Lone Star Knife and Supply: Three leather builds came in this drop and this is the one with the most figure in the handle. Burl is never repeatable, so the grain on this piece is the only one like it.

Specifications

• Maker: Will Lower, 907Knives
• Model: ADAK
• Blade Length: Approximately 2.3"
• Overall Length: Approximately 5.5"
• Blade Steel: Sandvik 14C28N, cryo treated
• Handle Material: Birch burl with black G10 liner
• Sheath: Buffalo leather with UltiClip
• Features: Lanyard hole
• Country of Origin: Made in USA (Alaska), handmade

Alaskan Birch, Stabilized in His Own Shop

Burl is the part of the tree that grew wrong. A stress response produces a knot of swirling, interlocked grain instead of straight growth, and the figure that comes out is unique to that piece of wood.

Will harvests birch in Alaska and stabilizes it himself rather than buying it finished. His reason, in his own words, is that he is cheap. The result is that the wood on this handle came out of the same state the knife did.

The black G10 liner underneath is the line that separates the wood from the steel. On a light figured wood like birch it gives the handle a defined edge rather than letting it blur into the tang.

14C28N, Not AEB-L

Earlier ADAK drops ran AEB-L. This batch is Sandvik 14C28N, which is the closest thing to a sibling that steel has.

Both are fine grained stainless steels built around taking a very keen edge and coming back fast on a stone rather than chasing edge retention numbers. 14C28N adds nitrogen to the mix, which buys a little more corrosion resistance. Will cryo treats either one in liquid nitrogen a friend supplies him.

Buffalo Leather with an UltiClip

Leather is the quieter carry. It does not click against a button or announce itself when you sit down, and buffalo hide is thicker and more durable than the cowhide most sheaths use.

Will is the first to tell you he is not a leather worker and that he is still getting better at it. He is also the one who made this sheath, which is the point of buying from a one man shop.

The UltiClip is what makes it practical. It holds without a belt, so the sheath clips over a waistband or a pocket edge and a fixed blade carries about as easily as a folder.

Why It Is Called the ADAK

Adak is an island at the far end of the Aleutians. It is small, it is mountainous enough to run from coastline to a two thousand foot peak in no distance at all, and the sign at the airport reads birthplace of the wind.

Caribou live there and they are not native. They were brought in after World War II to feed the people stationed on the island. The base is long gone. The caribou stayed.

Will picked the name because a small island that packs that much punch suited a knife this size. Pronounced A-Dak.

How This Knife Came About

The ADAK exists because we asked for it. We wanted a small fixed blade in the same footprint as the TRM TAGALONG, which has been one of our best selling fixed blades, and we kept sending Will back to make it smaller.

What came back has a thicker handle than the TAGALONG. With a lanyard on it you get a full grip. Without one you get two fingers and your third wrapped around the end.

About 907Knives

Will Lower is retired Army, twenty years in. The service sent him to Alaska in 2013 and he found a way to stay. He still works in support of the Army as a civilian, and 907 is Alaska's own area code.

He started making knives a little over a year ago, after a long winter and a YouTube video he watched in an airport on the way to Las Vegas. His first knife was so dull he calls it the letter opener, and his son still has it. He has sold more than a hundred since.

He has been approached about having his designs made overseas and turned it down, in his words because it is all about the love of the game.

We Toured the Shop

Alaska is a long way from Texas, so the Great American Knife Tour™ did this one over video. Will walked us through all of it, a twelve by sixteen foot shop a friend built in his backyard after the metal shavings got him evicted from the garage.

He also tells the story behind the ADAK name and shows off petrified coral a friend harvests out of Alaskan salt water.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/aGeIwN9iT7c

Proudly carrying American