Bob Loveless was one of the first knifemakers to start the modern era of American handmade and custom knifemaking. Bob Loveless started making knives because he went to buy a knife from Abercrombie and Fitch to purchase a Randall knife. After learning the wait period was so long, he decided to make his own knives instead. He came back to Abercrombie and Fitch with some of his knives, and they placed an order.

Bob Loveless’ designs are very functional, and his knives are designed to be used, to fit the hand well, and to perform real tasks. However, his knives are very well made as opposed to being rough around the edges or simply “user grade”. The high practicality and workmanship of his knives is what has driven prices so high, along with the historical impact of his knives.

Many of Bob Loveless’ designs are now legendary, such as his drop point hunter design, his chute knife (designed by Harry Archer), and his utility designs. He popularized the hollow ground drop point hunter with a tapered tang and bolted on scales. This is now very much a standard hunter design because of Bob Loveless. He also introduced ATS34 and 154CM to knifemakers, and these steels are still extremely popular today with handmade and production knives.

You can get Loveless designs in less expensive and collectable knives by buying a Loveless designed knife from another maker. Some, such as Kressler, are very high-end. The Loveless knives from Bob Dozier are high-end user grade knives with super high performance but user-grade finish. You can also get production Loveless designs from companies like Gerber and Lone Wolf. Here are some Lone Wolf Loveless folders.