Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American award-winning custom knifemaker based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA who invented the "SpeedSafe" assisted opening mechanism for Kershaw Knives. Ken Onion is the Premier Knife Designer for Kershaw Knives.

Designs

While serving 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 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 as the 45th and youngest living member.

Celebrity knives

A recent article in Blade Magazine asserts that some celebrities, such as Steven Seagal, Steven Tyler, Nicolas Cage, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson, Wayne Newton, Stephen Lefebvre, Wayne LaPierre and Ziggy Marley own custom knives made by Onion.

See also

References

1. Cascio, Pat(2007). 'Kershaw's Latest Tactical Folders', Knives Illustrated, February 2007
2. Cascio, Pat(2007). "Ken Onion Knives Stolen", Knives Illustrated, February 2007
3. Gardner, Jim(2004)"Sweet Onions", Guns Magazine, June 2004
4. Ewing,Dexter. (2007). "Rock-Star Knifemakers Conclusion", Blade Magazine, February 2007
5. Cascio,Pat. (2003). "Steven Seagal's Knife", Tactical Knives Magazine, November 2003

External links

• US Patent and Trademark Office
• Official Ken Onion website
• Brief Ken Onion Story