Some things we do for money, some we do out of duty or obligation. Some things we do out of necessity. Very few of us, however, get to do what we like all the time.
Marc Zabroski appears to be one of those fortunate souls who spends his days indulging his passion. It just so happens that he has become so good at it that he might just be on the cusp of something life changing. I don’t think he knows it yet.
Marc makes knives. By hand. From scratch.
That observation might not appear to be anything that special. There are a lot of knife makers out there; but not many who forge, grind and harden their own blades, as well as designing their own range of unique knives; even making the leather-work that accompanies them, as Marc does.
Marc was not always a knife maker. He had sensible jobs in the real world but one day in 2014 he decided to chisel the handle off an old knife he owned and fashion his own replacement handle out of unseasoned birch.
Many of us might have done similar things from time to time. I have made a few knife handles myself - I buy blades from Brusletto and other sources on-line and, make handles of bone and buffalo horn spacers, brass forgings and old walnut from broken gunstocks.
With these materials and a bit of filing, sanding and polishing I have put together a few stalking knives over the years and one in particular I use often.
However, for Marc, this first foray into the simplest of creative tasks led him inexorably towards the light of custom knife-making.
Marc is a hunter and outdoorsman. He was motivated to try making knives, for purposes he recognised, that were better than what he saw available elsewhere. His creativity, his quest for perfection and his zeal for learning has been responsible for the current inventory of models he makes to order.
Every one not only looks right; beautifully shaped, fitted and finished, it feels right in the hand. The quality and variety of his knives and the exotic materials from which many of his handles are fashioned means that they will live in collections as prized possessions. However, like a best gunmaker creating exhibition-grade masterpieces, they are all fit for purpose and would serve in the field admirably.
he did not yet realise how much better his knives are...
I met Marc at the Game Fair in 2025. He had made some knives for a friend of mine, the M.D of a gun-making firm of repute; a man who appreciates quality. Marc and I got to chatting over an afternoon and I got a real sense of a man following his passion. That passion had become a business but he did not, I feel, yet realise how much better his knives are than anything else available at his price-point, or indeed, a few notches higher.
That is about to change. Before it does, I made sure to get a knife ordered for myself. A few years ago I cut some yew from an ancient tree in the garden, had it turned, polished and oiled. It has since sat in a drawer seasoning nicely. I asked Marc to make me his Gunsmoke model and to use my yew as the scales for the handle.
He agreed to humour me, and that knife is now underway, with a six-month expectation before delivery. Being in the gun trade, I’m accustomed to protracted waits for work to be returned so the time frame seemed entirely reasonable.
The problem with Marc’s model options is that just as you decide you like one particular style, another jumps up and you feel you need that too. I ordered a Gunsmoke but have a nagging urge to buy a Balmoral as well.
Then there is the Fin & Feather and the Cavalry. In fact, all his designs are stunning and eminently practical. I primarily want mine for deer stalking but, were I on Safari more frequently, or carrying an everyday knife as a forester, ‘keeper or ranger, the more robust looking Frontier model would definitely be on my list.
we are more than happy to put these hand-made beauties to work
Now, I know my friends and customers. They appreciate fine guns and the other fine things in life and I know for a fact that they will be equally as impressed as I am with Marc’s beautiful knives, each of which represents the passion, sweat and muscle he pounds into it.
Unlike most collectors, we are more than happy to put these hand-made beauties to work. For us, a more sensible choice of handle is wood: burl elm, desert ironwood or walnut, for example.
Our knives will lose their finish and pick up a few marks but they will silently sing with joy, as do we, when we put the blade to the gralloch, relishing the passion and the work that has brought us to this place. Our bespoke rifle, hand-woven tweeds, custom leather sling, belt and hand-forged knife all finding harmony in the moment. Not everyone appreciates these things . We do.
Now, I’m not a fortune teller but if I were, I would predict a future for Marc Zabroski beyond the wildest dreams of the young man who first sat-down at a bench a decade ago and fiddled away with some tools and an old knife, with a notion that he could make it somehow better.
Sometimes life finds you out and shows you where you should be and who you are. Marc is a knife-maker. He is a knife-maker of extraordinary talent and when the world discovers him fully, the waiting list for a custom order is going to be a lot longer than six months. You have been warned!
Published by Vintage Guns Ltd on
