Made in France 

Wildsteer artisanat

Our knives are fully made in France between Thiers, the cutlery capital for 6 centuries and Saint-Etienne, the design capital.
We are backed by strong manufacturing and artistic traditions combining innovation and technology.

We design all our models most often to meet with a specific requirement in terms of use. This was the case for the “Wildsteer” with the arrow extractor function, the WING-Tactic developed with and for the GIGN (national gendarmerie intervention group), etc.

Once the functions are defined, the draft drawing is quickly transformed into a prototype in order to validate the ergonomics, balance and eye-catching aspects. Then come the different field tests. No model of a knife is listed in the catalogue without being previously put to the test in the field, either by ourselves or professionals (1st parachute chasseur regiment, naval commando, etc).

The blades are then forged and laser cut, hardened then ground and polished at Thiers.

We perform in the Wildsteer workshop close to Saint-Etienne, the assembly and mounting of all the folding knife models (Wild79, WX, WS, W pocket, W'eStaing, etc). Each knife handle covered in leather is mounted in the workshop as are the paracord handles.

Finally, all the knives are sharpened individually and the cut is systematically inspected in compliance with a test protocol we have set up: a mountain climber’s cord of 10 mm should be effortlessly cut by simply pressing on the blade and at different areas of the cutting edge.

Forging technique

The Wildsteer knife and the WING-Tactic are part of the very select family of the one-piece forged knives.
The assembly: “blade/guard/handle/pommel” is made from a single piece after the steel is heated to over 1,200° and stamped in a high precision die.
This is one of the secrets of the Wildsteer process whereby complex shapes can be obtained during the fully mastered successive stamping.

This new forging technique allows for a controlled “flow” of the metal and fibres in the steel giving it exceptional mechanical strength and a resistant cutting edge.

Steels

For these forged models we use a stainless steel: X50CrMoV13 of French origin.

We also use SANDVIK® Swedish steels in grades 12C27 or 14C28 for the Baby Wild, Wild Tech4 and Wild Tech4XL models.

Some knife or machete models make use of X46Cr13 steel from France.

Finally, the Baby Wild also comes in XC90 carbon steel, with a high carbon content (0.90%) and the W Panther machete is made of XC75, also a carbon steel  (0.75%).

Forge Wildsteer

Materials

We use various materials for the handles of our knives, giving preference to French suppliers.

The leathers come from a tannery in the east of France.These combined tanned leathers (chromium at core and plant-based on both sides) are low maintenance, not sensitive to water and take on an attractive patina over time.

The paracords come directly from the USA whereas the climbing cords come from France.

The Nylon straps used for our sheaths (Tech Neck, TX Wild, TX Bowie etc) are woven and made close to Saint-Etienne.

The wood used for the handles of the Wild 79 folding knives come from Europe for the majority (boxwood, olive, juniper) and we use scraps of walnut from our partner and neighbour Verney-Carron for the Luc Alphand model.

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