Welcome to the Knife Junkie Podcast. Your weekly dose of knife
news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your
host, Bob The Knife Junkie DeMarco.
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast. I'm Bob DeMarco. On
this edition of the show, I'm welcoming back Ric Valdez of
Ocaso Knives. I first met Ric shortly after he started
Ocaso Knives following his many years in the E suite at Cold
Steel. His new company was to become a lifestyle brand,
making refined everyday carry knives for the discerning
modern gentleman and lady. For that matter,
Ocaso Knives has made its name on its classy and cultivated
image, on the know how, garnered from Rick's experience in the knife
industry and on the creative company it keeps boasting
regular collaborations with some of the knife world's most acclaimed makers
and designers. A lot has happened with Ocaso Knives since it
first opened its doors. We'll catch up with Ric and find out
what's new and exciting from the brand. But first be sure to like, comment,
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business. Ric, welcome back to the show. How you doing Bob?
I'm doing great. It's good to see you. It's good to see you too man.
This is awesome. And as always, it was great to see you
at the Ocaso booth at Blade show this year. How did that
go? It went good. It went good. I don't know if you
noticed but the first time you saw the Ocasa booth It
was a 10 by 10 booth. And then when you came by
just a few months ago at Blade Atlanta, it's It was a 10 by
20 booth, a little different. So things have
Changed things. Things are going great. But the show itself
was pretty good and it went well for, for Ocaso. You
had a regular. It looked like the kind of booth I wanted to get
behind the scenes and just sit down and drink a little whiskey and smoke
a cigar. It looked like a little men's lounge back there.
Exactly. It's, it's become a destination
for some where they know they can come and hang out, sit, sit on those
leather couches. There's leather chairs and at
times we'll, we'll have, you know, some, some nice high grade tequila to sip
on. Some people have brought by. Yes. Some whiskey
and, and some other, you know, type of drinks and
it's been great. And that's exactly what it is. That's what exactly it's meant to
be. And, and yeah, so yeah, definitely next time
when you do stop by, come on in and have a seat. I will. I'm
going to come around, going to come around the back and, and cool my heels
for a minute. You're with. So before we get in,
I want to ask you another question about blade show. How important is it for
a company of your size? I'm curious about this from
companies of all different sizes. How important is it to
go to a blade show and other shows like that? Well, for me it's extremely
important. This is the opportunity where I get to engage
with a lot of the end consumers and this is where I'm talking
to them and they're coming out to me and sharing their
experience and what they think. And it's been,
this is my third time and it's unbelievable
to me and I'm grateful to see that, that I have some people coming
back, coming back. I have some people coming to the booth carrying
Ocaso product, you know, and you know, they're getting it out there somewhere,
which, which is awesome. But it's important to me to see, you know,
and hang out with everybody else, with all the brands, with the
customers and, and to show that I'm still around
doing what I'm doing. And it, I'm also
getting recognized. It's, it's wonderful to hear that people are saying,
hey, I was looking for gentleman's night and people are recommending Okaso
knives. They're stopping by because they recognize it as
a gentleman's brand that I'm offering gentleman's products.
So it's, it's, it's really important for me. Absolutely, really important because of
the engaging with the end consumer, talking to the other brands
at this point, the Company's about two years, nine months old. And
I have these great relationship with all these other knife makers
and knife owners and building these relationships. I think I did touch
upon that point when I first started that that was happening, taking place. And
now here we are. I don't know when we did our first session two years
ago, but these relationships and these, these
connections have continued up to this point and it's just been wonderful.
So I'm going to say it one more time for a company like me. And
I believe if you do it the right way and you utilize
Blade show, that platform, you know how I think
it should be going out, hanging out more than just selling your product,
engaging with people. It's very important. Well, you weren't new
at all to Blade show, right? Well, well,
I, you know, when I was sitting, as you mentioned before, I did work for
another company sitting in the, in the, in the C suite. I didn't attend Blade
Show. I didn't do that at all. And so this is, this is the
first time with, with my company that I, I've gone to
Blade show and looking back at it now, you
know, my previous role, maybe I should have, you know, there was a lot to
learn, but yeah, I didn't. So I was nervous the first,
first show, you know, in my little 10 by 10 booth, I was really nervous
and it went well. And it continues to go so well. Well,
we, we sort of tipped our hat a little bit to the
Ocaso style. But let's talk about that. How
did, how did you come to a
gentleman's brand? Or I mean, if I know that this is
your branding, it is a gentleman's brand, but it's, it's
also just like kind of a cultivated brand. Like because,
you know, my wife sometimes carries a solstice in
her purse and it's like, it's refined and it's, it goes with
her. So it's not just, obviously it's not just men, but
gentlemen. The gentleman style brand as a sort of generic
term. How did that come about for you? Well, for me,
I struggled finding,
finding the right piece a lot of times to go with
the situation with the outfit. That outfit, you know, I'd
sit in front of my, my wallet caddy and I had had the wallet, had
the watch, I had the pen, I had other things, but I never really had
that elegant, cool looking gentleman style knife
and they existed out there. This category has been around for a lot,
lot and a long time. And
so I struggle with that. And so now I'M also finding that a lot
of other people, a lot of individuals, not just gentlemen, but like you said, there's
women out there too, that, that's trouble finding that
great looking premium material pocket knife or
everyday carry accessory. And so
I'm actually becoming more and more obsessed with trying to solve that problem
for myself and everyone else that's out there. And
I, I do love hearing that it, it is taking place in terms of
me solving the problem. I get emails, I get
DMed a lot, I get texts saying, you know, I, I
found the ultimate jalamas knife that I can wear in the boardroom. There's
lawyers that are wearing it, there's doctors, engineers, the business
professionals, the executives, the knife
aficionados, you know, the collectors that just have all kinds of
size and all range in terms of knives, but they were
just missing this particular piece or they had a piece similar to this,
but it wasn't of material.
Prem material. It didn't have that elegant look to it.
So that's what it was. It was ultimately. That's a great question because I solved
the problem that I had and that was wanting to create
a knife that I enjoyed carrying for a situation, for an
occasion that was matching to everything else. You know,
it's not, I, I shouldn't say it's as simple as that, but that's what it
is and that's what it is. So. And then I'm not just a category,
I'm an entire lifestyle brand. So everything that we make
has to stick to that script and it's working. And I
really, really enjoy what we've done up to this point. And I have
so many, so many, so many other ideas. Oh
great. So many other things that I want to do and
at. I'll get there, you know, I'll get
there. But I've pumped the brakes. I stalled a little because starting the
business, I've learned that it's not about speed, it's about direction.
And I know I came out the gate freaking just fast, man. I'm like,
holy smokes. And so I had to slow down, you know, I had to slow
down because it. A lot of a human being
didn't have all that bandwidth. Yeah. You know, to take on so many projects and
this and that and you just on and up. But anyway,
I have a lot more coming. How, how would you. Well, let
me tell you how I would define a gentleman's knife. And then I want to
hear what you think. To me, a couple of things that come across
and a couple. And one Way in particular, that Ocaso
knives bucks against one of these things I
really appreciate. But what I think of is I'll use the
Solstice as an example. Clean lines,
very, very clean lines is a big part of it.
Slender, easy to carry in light garments, you
know, like suit pants, that kind of thing. And, and, and
inherently beautiful to look at. Like, you can find those
qualities and slip joints, you can find them in modern folders and that kind of
thing. But one thing that Ocaso does that I really
appreciate, it does all of those things, but it makes also a
very, very robust folder. It's not just
even the super featherweight carbon fiber versions. They're
very, very robust. They're not just clean
and slender, but they'll go
the distance. Yeah, absolutely. And of
course, a lot of that comes from, you know, where, you know, cold steel in
my previous role. And then Andrew Demko, I mean, Andrew Demko is like, he's a
designer on, on the Solstice. And, and their motto is, you know,
performance. You know, it's got to be a knife that performs
and. Enough said. Right. So was there a way to
apply that to this type of knife? The slim knife?
Yeah, you know, Andrew wouldn't have wanted any other way.
It can't just be a good looking knife. It has to be a knife that
can perform. And it does. I mean, I've got Solstices sitting
in our warehouse at two and a half, three years old
now, and they're still, they're still running. And they're still. We, we run
them hard. We run them hard. And, you know, I'm sure
that, you know, there's other torture tests that we can do. Remember I left that?
Yeah, I left, I left that. But in terms of what a knife
can do, you know, sitting in the warehouse cutting boxes, prying
this and that, I mean, they, they work. They truly work. So
more than just answering. So how do you define a gentleman's knife
generically? I think you hit it on all the points. Lightweight,
I think lightweight, but also very. It's got to be cool
looking and good looking. And so that's why we've taken the
Solstice on the titanium scales. We've added color,
we've added engraving. And the reason for that, because, you know, you
can apply a knife to different occasions or different situations
to, you know, matching whatever outfit that you, that you have on.
So you hit it on, on every point. Another
thing too is I liked pens. You know, Andrew knew I was a very pen,
you know, big pen collector. So Very pen like and slim.
And a lot of people said, well, it looks like this knife looks like that
knife, you know. Well, you know what? You know, I've been carrying
a slim knife for a long time and this was actually the first one,
you know, cold steel. This was back, what, 2004.
And so Lynn, always out. Lynn Thompson always out fit me,
outfitted me with a lot of cold steel knives. But this, I believe, was the
first night that I bought right away when Len introduced it to the lineup.
Why? Because I was drawn to that sleek, slim style knife.
So I've always been into it. I mean, this is over 20
years old, so that's what I would add to.
Very, very slim and sleek and pen like. So
have you always been into, for lack of a better term,
gentlemanly stuff or have you always been a knife
guy or both? That's also another great question.
I've always been into gentleman stuff,
but because I've been in the knife industry, I've worked
that in, I've had to bring that in and then that's the right, that's
the reason why I built Ocaso the way I built it, because of my
lifestyle, which again, I believe there's a lot of, lot of
individuals out there that live this certain lifestyle too, from what
I'm hearing, from what I'm seeing. So, yeah,
absolutely. Oh, man, it just occurs to me and you know, I'm not,
I'm not a branding expert, I'm certainly not a marketer, but when
I was a kid in the 80s, I used to look at
GQ magazine because, you know, I thought when I grow up, I'm going to be
the most gentlemanly gentleman out there. Going to shave with a straight razor
every day and do all the things that Ocaso
knives in gq. Maybe that's the, maybe
that's the next advertising place. Absolutely. Coming
soon, gq, GQ and other places. You know, I,
I was, I had a subscription to GQ when I was, you know,
very young. Very young. And I kept those
magazines for the longest time. I don't know why, you know,
but absolutely.
It's just, it's been wonderful. What's, what's happened to
Castle up to this point and, and all
those. And Bob, I don't have to sit here and make
something for everyone out there. You know, know, if you don't like, you don't like
what I'm doing, that's fine. You know, there's plenty of other categories,
other brands, other knives are out there and it's all great too, right?
I'm just making what I enjoy and, and,
and having it relate to a lot of people out there in my situation,
into my world too. And it does, it does.
So how do you find,
just since we're on this topic, I want branding.
Like, you know, it's pretty important that you
get out there and that you get yourself and your company known
for a certain thing in your experience
through, you know, across all your knife world experience. How important
is branding to selling something as elemental as a knife?
Look, I get asked this question a lot and I will
answer like this. I'm not making a knife. I'm building a brand.
Okay? That's what it is. Because when you're building a brand,
there's a story behind it, all right? And then when
there's a story in the brand that you truly believe in, that
I believe in, it will be felt, it will be seen, it
will be hurt. And then guess what? It's going to be supported.
And that's what's happening with Locomo is being supported by all these
wonderful people out there, all these customers, all these repeat customers.
And, and I, I gotta continue to do my best to
help them and, you know, to continue to produce,
you know, products or items, you know, for the pocket,
you know, for the suit jacket, for the desk and for the home.
Because, because I'm enjoying it, you know. And yeah,
branding is important. And there's this thing that I read a while ago that,
you know, when I'm out there, and here's another reason why Blade show or other
trade shows of that platform is important. Because
I want to engage with these people. I want them to see who, who
I am because my smile is my logo, right?
And you know, the way I make them feel,
you know, after they interact with me is my brand and my
trademark, you know, so all that, it
goes a long way. You know, that personality, it's just, it's. I
want them to see it's genuine. I'm not out there. I'm doing what I love.
You know, I mentioned this before. I'm doing what I love with the one I
love and that's my wife. My wife Tisa.
That's pretty amazing what you said. Just in terms of how you make
people feel is your brand. And man, that,
that's, that's important. That's everyone's personal brand. You know, you've
heard that expression, everyone's got a personal brand, whether you like it
or not. And, and ultimately, yes, it's how you, how you
leave people feeling
afterward. And you ad blade show definitely are working
the scene and you're, you're not just planted
behind the, behind your counter, you're walking
around, you're engaging. That's something that I think is so important,
especially for knife makers who are maybe newer and
starting out going to blade show, because it's such a solitary
activity, making the knives, especially if you're, you know, making it by
hand in a shop. But you do have to get out there and press the
flesh and, and be a part of the community you're trying to sell to.
That is right. Absolutely. You gotta be part of the community. And to
be accepted by the community, you know, validates a lot of things.
Um, and so, and I love doing that. You know, I love
just, you know, a lot of times, okay, if there's, if there's no one walking
up and down the aisle, okay, here's my opportunity to maybe sit down. Okay. But
then some companies, I sit right back up, whether they walk by the booth or
not. But I, I'm, I'm ready. I'm ready to talk to anybody and
everybody. Um, and a lot of times it's back to back, back to back, back
to back. And I love that. And, and, and, and here's another thing
too. When you go to blade shows, other trade shows, there's so much that
take away from that. Right. And it's either gaining
some more course customers, but also some
more support. Some more collaborations. Yeah, because I'm pulling into
collaborations and working with other companies. You've seen the
partnership with, with Andrew Demko. I was
designing with Andrew and there's, I've always been talking to him. You got to
become a partner. Let's, let's take this to the next level. Let's have you be
part of this. And then that was the huge announcement at Bleed Atlanta,
Right. Where he's now a partner. And we have a
Ocaso dental knife being produced by him out of
Pennsylvania coming in a few months. We're really excited about
that. I formed a great relationship with
Connor Tour. Oh, another, another SoCal
guy that's just three and a half, four hours down down the highway.
I've gone down to see him a couple times and there's something in the works.
There's. And you know, we'll be announcing something here very
soon. But he's a great guy. He's very young. He's
really just intelligent, smart. What he's done in terms of his
brand, I think it's great. And then the
big idea design guys I love working with them. You know,
there's a little collaboration on a pen that I have
and then just on and on. I mean, there's other things in the works that
again, you have to really watch what you take
on. Right. Because you always want to make sure that
things don't get a little out of hand because then
things start unraveling. And one thing that, what I don't want to unravel
is continue to run this company where
I can continue to service the customer the best that I can.
I try to, you know, answer the emails as quickly as possible,
answer all the phones. People are blown away that they'll, you know, they're calling
on a Saturday afternoon and I'm picking up and I'm, I'm helping them
with their, with their question of the request that I'm, I'm replying to
their emails on a Sunday night, on a Friday night, just this. So
anyway, it's just you have to be careful because there's all sides of the business
that needs attending to. So
collaboration in any creative field is totally
essential. I know it is. In, in my field.
What's it like working with so many collaborators? I mean,
you have Andrew Demko, Mike Wallace, Kurt
Wes Crawford, David Seaton, and then everyone you just named
Connor Tor. You're getting more involved with Andrew
Demko. What's that like? Having so many different
creative balls in. The air like that? Tra. It's hard.
It's hard. And, you know, I do feel bad because there's others,
you know, on hold right now because there is so much.
And I remember when I first started the company and I did
touch upon this before, that it's, it's not about speed, it's about
direction and focusing on making
sure everything is right. You're going down the right
path. And one thing that I mentioned when I first started is
bite off more than you can chew and chew like hell. And that was the
Len Thompson thing. And I think he was able to do that. He's
very successful. So when he sold the company
and then I started my company, I was still riding off a
high off of cold steel and what I did close to 20 years over there.
So I think that's why I started the company the way I did.
But, you know, he had, he had
resources, he had people, he had teams and, and, and
all this other stuff. And I didn't. Right. It wasn't fair
for me to say. So I realize now, and I take that back,
that no, for me,
I, I couldn't bite off more than I can chew. And true like hell. Okay.
Because then you're not giving everything the attention that it needs, Everyone the attention
that it needs. And so it's hard.
It's hard. But you know, you just got to focus, you got to manage, you
got to prioritize and stay into it and be honest,
you know, be honest with, with some of these people, we got to
hold off or we gotta wait or this and that. So. But
it's, it's hard, but it's, it's, it's manageable if you stay focused. And you
know that you don't, you don't take on too many things on your plate. Yeah.
Well, you just alluded to new something
happening with Andrew Demko. Can you tell us at
all anything about that? Yeah, absolutely. I feel bad because I
don't have the actual prototype here. The prototype was sent off because I'm
working on other things with the knife and
this particular part of the project needed the sample. So I don't have
the sample. But it's an American made folding knife.
Magnacut high grade titanium scales. With the
shark lock. With the shark lock and no, no fin on it.
So it's going to have some of his elements and definitely the old castle elements
in the branding on it. You know, the diamond pivot, the wraparound deep carry pocket
clip. And it was pretty, pretty sweet. I
mean the prototype I had at Blade
show was the first time I had held it
in my hand and seen it in person. And he. And it
was handmade by Andrew. Wow, that's incredible. And he did such
a great job and showing off to everybody. Everyone liked it and loved it,
so. But what's in the works right now is the actual. I think
he's already cut out the titanium scales. The parts
are being finalized right now. But that's what it is.
It's, it's, it's an actual knife category. It's
the first of many. So a shark lock without the,
the fin, that's the disengaging. Right,
Interesting. So now I'm thinking of it like very low
profile with Jimping, maybe that you engage it. I don't
know. We'll find out, I guess, huh? Yeah, it's out there. I mean, if
you, if you Google Blade Show, Demko
Ocaso partnership, I'm sure it'll come up because there was a lot of
individuals that did filming, that did
interviews. It's out there, so you'll see it. Okay,
so I feel bad again. I don't have it. Oh, man. No, no, it's being
used right now. That's exciting. And it will, it'll garner even
more interest. So let's, let's take a look at some
of your knives. I know you've got some in front of you and I know
you have something very exciting that's brand new out. Let's start with
that. All right. You were talking about the Lucent. Yeah.
Okay, so the Lucent, which is our automatic
knife,
it's a Solstice inspired body frame.
And let's see. So here it is, a high
grade aluminum scale. And it's got that
wraparound deep carry pocket clip. And then it's
got the diamond icons, which is not a pivot, but it's in there. Right, right.
You see that? Yeah. And
it's a harpoon because everyone loves the
harpoon on the Solstice M390.
And this, the OEM is best tech.
Yeah. Sweet. I love best tech knives. They do such a
great job. Of course we have the, we have The Cali legal
1.9 inches. One point. That's a, that,
that's a cute. The Cali legal one is sweet.
So like a sweet little knife. Kind of ridiculous knife
laws you got out there, but you know, hey, that, that's the water you're
swimming in. Hold up that the large Lucent for a
second. Let's take a look at that blade. Wow,
that is really cool. Now I've seen a, I've seen,
I saw this on Melissa backwoods. I saw
she had one of these. She did. And she also had the black
versions as well. So the, the
Lucent Silver has dropped a few
left on the site. And, and
the black versions are going to be available about two to three weeks.
They're on the way. Ashley, the black versions that she, that you saw in
her videos. Right. So what is, what has the reception been from
your regular fans about this? They like it.
It's just amazing to see. I've been waiting
for this for a long time. Boom. I mean the, the launch,
I, I fight. You know, I'm not one that.
This is the first time where I announce, okay, it's coming, it's coming on this
day at this time. I know that exists out there. A
drop, right. And a lot of people are successful. You know,
my experience is you bring the shipment in and you fill your wagon up and
then you sell. But you know, we decided to try it. Say, hey,
okay, these are coming in gonna be on this day and around this
time. And we loaded up so I was put on a Schedule, right. It's like
when, okay, let's put these on now. But no, we did it this way and
it was, it was great. It was neat. It's like, okay, now I see why,
why everyone does this. It takes this approach because it's pretty darn neat.
So it went really well. And, and I,
I don't know what it did, but in terms of having an
OTF in the lineup now, I mean, there's
our followers shot up, our catalog request went up,
Everything just went up. I think this is a,
a nice category for me to have, but then also have it
relate to it being, you know, a gentleman. A more slimmer,
sleek, slim style knife. Yeah. Because kind
of classically we think of automatic knives.
We think of out the
side Italian stilettos that hoodlums in the
50s carried. Or we think of very tactical, you know,
microtech kind of knives that are awesome, don't get me wrong, I
love them, but they are not necessarily right for the boardroom.
But this scratches that it, that is right. You
know, I just like, I wonder said, oh shit, I'm going to come out with
a little gentleman style otf. And here it is.
And you know, this particular diamond pattern milling
on, on the, on the handle is just, just the start. I wanted it
to match my favorite pen. This is my Mont Blanc. Kind of matches this,
but little bit of a departure, but I
still like it. But I have other designs already in the works right now
because I want to keep going on this, on this category. Well,
other out the front or other automatic knives? Oh, yeah. Oh
yeah, absolutely. Have you always been a automatic kind of
guy? So you just said like the little stiletto, the Italian stiletto.
Right. So that's another one that I've had, I think. Oh, it's right here.
Look at this guy right here. Oh, I
think I've had this. I got this when I was 12 or 13 years old.
That's awesome. This is really, really old. I don't, I don't want to
say how old it is because I might date myself. So old I am. But
I mean. Yeah, here you go. Exactly what you swing
guard stiletto from the old days and now your new thing. How cool is that?
But I got this in Mexico. He gives. You know,
I was born in Texas and you can go across the border to go shopping
and do, do things like that. And as a little kid, you
know, I bought this because you can just walk up, buy it. My mom
caught it that I had it and she kept it for years and years and
years. And I didn't get it back until I, I was older, I think a
teenager. But I still have it in my life.
Look at that. Two important pieces. Oh yeah, and they look similar
too. Yeah, they do. Beautiful.
I, I, I, I want to backtrack. I want to talk another minute about
the project with Andrew Demko. And you know,
you mentioned that these lucents are made by Bestech, one of my favorite
OEMs, period. I also like the stuff that they offer
under their own shingle. I like bestech a lot. But
so you oem your, some of your knives
overseas or most of your knives overseas and now you're starting
to manufacture here with this knife.
What kind of differences do you see? I mean, I know there must be
many in vats, but what
impression has having knives in the
works in the States had on you?
I guess the, the biggest thing for me is communication. I mean, Andrew and I
will, will talk two, three times a day going back and forth and
resolve an issue or go over a topic or discuss something
in relation to the project right away. But for the
most part, would you, when you're working with a factory
overseas, they've all been good. And it's been like this, you know,
it's, it's a day delay, right, where you send an
email, you gotta wait till the next day. But a lot
of times for me to shorten it, I'll stay up till freaking midnight, send an
email, start talking to them because it's their morning there. But that's,
that's been the biggest difference. Other than that the process is all the same,
right. You know, you gotta go through the steps in terms of designs, the lead
times and this, this and this and that. Some people will
carry material and have all the material in place.
So lead time on, on delivery can be shorter versus
someone that doesn't have that model in place. You know, some of the bigger
factories will have all that. Okay, well, we got that steel, we got that material,
we got that. So, so minor
differences, Minor differences. But yeah, it's not keeping all your eggs
in one basket. I got Taiwan, I've got Italy.
The OEM that are brought on board is best tech there is a project with
Reate. You know, they kind of got put on hold. So you know,
we're just, we were right there ready to pull the triggers. And that
designer is actually Mac Kelsey from Big Idea Design. Oh,
nice. So Matt Kelsey is the, the designer on
the lookout. Their fixed, their first fixed blade knife that came out. So I
have a project that's right there, you know, getting ready to go
start moving forward again. You know, just, just had to get past the
tariff situation first. But things are going to start moving forward
again. But yeah, it's been
great working with everybody. Everyone's been really professional. Everyone knows what they're
doing. And I'm gauging with these factories
because of the experience. So I think I might be
able to share that. Okay. There is a big difference. If I was working with
someone that maybe didn't have a lot of experience, which I don't know, I did
some research first. Okay, that's, that's Vet Best
tech. That's Vet Re. But they already had a huge name,
so. And then they're working in line with some of the giants out there in
terms of service and communication. Yeah, well, I mean
that's, that's also gotta be kind of exciting figuring out
new OEMs, new companies that you're working with. And
so some, some you produce in Italy. What, what's that about?
So Italy is the Damascus
Solstice,
which I guess here's an update. So there's a.
In our lineup is the Damascus fat carbon
frame lock, but it's being upgraded and changed
and we're moving over to
Damasteel. So this is Damasteel
and it's going to be fat carbon liner lock on both
sides. So the one that's in the lineup currently is
a frame lot, but now we're going with the Damasteel. And this is
the Bifrost pattern. So you'll see these probably November,
December of this year. So this is Italy right here. This is the
Symphony knife. Hey, it's Symphony knife. Wait, I'm
confused. You said the liner lock on both sides.
What does that mean? So I went from a frame lock because the
currently what you have, if you look at the website, the Damascus
Solstice, it's a, it's a titanium frame lock.
But what we want to do, making this upgrade to a different steel,
we went with a liner liner lock. I got you. I got you too. We,
we want the beauty because that carbon is so cool looking
and on the current model it's. It looks fat carbon on one side
and frame lock. Nothing wrong because it's a high grade titanium. But this we want
a beauty on both sides. Yeah, beauty here, we want a beauty
here. We want it. Some nice damasteel bifrost with
some nice etching. Shine. Shine to it. Oh, that looks
nice. Yeah. Can see. Yeah. In person. This is great.
So we've Got that coming out of edit out of Italy. Italy, okay.
Does that, I mean, do you choose a company
they like the company in Italy because of the work they've done in the past
or because of their access to the
materials. I don't get why, why you would have some of the solstices
made somewhere and then some of them made elsewhere. Because
remember, I think they didn't mention some companies are better at
certain things. Fixed blade knives, liner lops, frame lops. Yes,
materials. You know, fat carbon, I think has built a great
relationship with a lot of factories in Italy now. And I really want
fat carbon that elegant looking on the Solstice. Okay,
so. So you got.
Yes, the Solstice being made in Taiwan, Bob. And then. Yes,
I've got some nice pieces coming out of Italy. And let me
say this too. In 2026, guess what? You're going to see a Solstice
version coming out of Japan. Oh, cool. Yeah.
So with Japanese freaking Damascus steel and
nice elegant. Well, I don't know if I want to
see too much more now, but now we've got some nice looking
classic Japanese solstice
category being built coming out of Japan. Very cool. So Solstice
is definitely your flagship.
What else do you have on the table in front of us that you could
show us? So of course we got the
wallet, right? Oh yeah, we got the wallet. But we've got
that slip joint that's coming out of Italy
and this is also in production right now. And this is going to
be N390 high grade titanium
with the diamond pivot. And what I've done with this one, Bob,
is it also comes with that wraparound deal deep carry
pocket clip. But in the packaging you can take that
clip off and slip on this cover. Nice.
Okay, so now this becomes a
slip joint that can live at the bottom of the pocket
or fit perfectly in the Ocaso wallet. Just like that.
That is sweet. So that, that's the Ocaso wallet with your slip
joint. What's the slip joint name? That's the slip joint. And
this is the big idea design collaboration pen.
Nice. So it's got the
Ocaso logo on
there right here and it's their pen. And it
just happened to be, you know, I was using this pen
because it fits perfectly into that wallet.
And so when they saw that, they said, let's do something.
So that's, that's one thing that I have
on the desk. I do have another thing I can show you. Yeah, let's see.
So this would be Coming out of this is
one of the talks, one of the projects maybe coming out of the factory with
tour knives. You know, we had our desk knife. Yes, right.
And everyone enjoyed it. But
there will be finally a fixed blade version
of it. Oh, that's great. And we know tour knives
is they, they make folders and fixed blades, but they make a lot of
great fixed blades. Yeah, they're. They do a really good job.
So I said, well, hey, you know, I really want to get this project back
on board. You know, can you guys do something with this? They said, yeah,
we have another design that we went back and forth
that, that we finalized on that would be
in the works. So there's two models. I don't know how many skews out of
that. That's still to be determined. But that's what I have.
And, and this is just such a great lightweight. Yeah. And I'm going
to be telling everybody that. Now this is something that you could wear in your
suit jacket. You know, hey, gentlemen or hey, individual or hey,
professionals. You know, it's, it's okay to carry a fixed blade now. Yeah, now in
the office. Yes. Yes, it is. I've been, I've been
acclimatizing my office for about 15 years to
fix blade carry and I'm almost there. But. But
yeah, I mean that's a huge trend right now. And
maybe trend isn't even giving it proper due because
trends always kind of go, this one seems like one to
stay. It's like people have figured out, yes, we can carry fixed blades without
having a Crocodile Dundee knife on the belt. It can, it can
be in our front pocket like we're already used to with,
with modern folders. But you can have fixed blades. And
I love to see that Ocaso is, is
occupying that space because it's fertile ground.
And it also seems like right up your alley. And
that's a mistake I made when I think when we talked last is that, that
I wanted to just kind of be in the pocket on the desk at the
home. And I said, I don't know if I'll be making any fixed blades.
And so here. What was I thinking saying that? Right. And
we're able to do it, you know, a nice gentleman. This can be
very good looking. I don't know what materials exactly, but if this thing just
looks sweet, you know, cool looking and it's,
you know. Yeah. So you gotta watch what you say, you know, just
be careful, don't. But here I coming out with fixed lane, pal. I
love it. Actually hold, hold that Tor prototype up
next to the desk knives and remind people of
the desk knives and, and that whole design.
So the desk knife came. It's a, it's a,
it's a piece. It's a very cool,
elegant piece that sits on your desk
shelf table. Because a lot of people say, oh, I don't have a desk. I
know you have a table. Why it's messy. Well, I know you have a shell,
so that sits there and looks cool. So I have an appreciation for
cool things sitting on the desk or the aired it. Right. You know,
I have a, I feel like I have a really cool descape here,
and this is one thing that sits on there, but it's two pieces that comes
apart held by magnets. And then once, once you
take it apart, it becomes the ideal thickness for a letter
opener, a package opener, a box cutter or
whatever. And it's, it's, it comes in two different
pieces. Then you can also just do some
snipping. You know, they're like, they can be scissors. Yeah. But that wasn't the
main thing. It was just a cool little piece that you could take apart if
you're lefty or righty. Enjoy cutting open your letters or your
boxes. And this is a Wes Crawford collaboration.
And it comes Wharncliffe and
another legend. Of the knife world. Yeah,
he's, he's been doing this for a long time and he's a great guy to
work with too. So that's, that's what that is. And a
lot of people say, I wish there was a fixed blade version of
it. Well, there is. Coming soon. Let's see that out of the sheath.
If you, if you wouldn't mind again. Well,
that's a beauty. I like the
sort of lattice pattern in the handle. It's really, really
cool. So just looking at this and
thinking about gentlemanly knives and I think, how, how do you feel
about natural materials, about bone, stag
wood, that kind of stuff? Nothing wrong with it.
You know, I, I see it lending itself
to more of an outdoor hunting, traditional
product piece. I do
have a, an old.
I think it's a, it's a stag handle Bowie that Lynn
Thompson gave me. And it, it looks great, right?
It looks really great. But they're, they're,
they're fine. I mean, when. What. Why Laskin? Why Bob? Oh, I'm,
I'm only asking because I love them and I love them on
modern knots. So this with
bone or stag or something. That's just selfish, purely
selfish self interest. Well, it could be. It
could, you know, you know, down the road. You know, I didn't think I was
going to do any camo on the solstice, but, you know, out comes this
grunge camo that's very popular right now, you know,
that I'm doing for a specific
group of retailers. Right. So these, these guys are outdoor
guys, gun guys. And I did some, some grunge camo.
Oh, cool. I'm not sure I know what grunge camo is.
Yeah, it's the. Supposedly it's a hit Cool. Camel looking
that's. That exists nowadays. That's out there on, on streetwear,
sportswear, gym wear. It's. It goes away
from the mossy oak, the traditional style
camel that's out there, it gets,
it's more hip, it's more cool. So I built, you know, a
lot of these for this trade show that's built with
these members. And so, I
mean, look, I mean, there's camel on it. We did
the topo, right? I mean, there's,
there's an outdoorsman or a weekend seeker, you know, in
every person out there. So we Way of Knife
sent me this and they say, what about this? And I didn't, I
didn't think it'd work, but this, the sample they sent me. And I work with
Way of Knife out of Michigan. Yeah,
a lot. They do a lot of the work, the anodizing. And this sat on
my desk for a while and it just, I grew to like it.
I added to the lineup and it's been, it's been doing really well.
So that's not, that's not a bad idea, Bob. And so when you ask me
about why so many factories. Well, look, you've got
Taiwan that can do the titanium, high grade. You got the
Italians that can do the, the fat carbon. You got the
Japanese that can do the nice classical. Okay, the wood.
Yeah, dark wood. Look, you know, is there a factory that
can do the jig or the bone? You know, to be
determined. You know, we'll see. Possibilities are
endless, Rick. Yeah, I mean, and I'm telling
you too, I have. Sometimes it hurts my, my brain that I have so many
ideas. It's like, oh, gosh. Well, okay, so what,
what are some of the. Let us in the door a little bit. What are
some of the, the high flying ideas that you're not
even close to yet? Just
many more designs, okay. Many more freaking
designs that, that I want to come out with.
I touched upon this when we first talked before. I mean, there's
I would love, because I like watches. I would love to add a nice
cool watch that matches the knives.
I love Pension. I love Mont Blanc. So maybe a
nice, you know, pen added to the
lineup. When I, when I
open up my first showroom, I want it to be a destination. I want it
to be a men's lounge. I want you to be able to come in
and of course, the main focus is going to be knives,
whatever, but there's going to be all these other little things that you can enjoy.
Maybe some apparel, maybe some bags.
You know, I have, I have. I don't know why,
you know, I have a shitload of bags that I don't even use, but I
just, I see a bag that I like, you know, leather bags, this
and that, and so things like that, Bob. But
that's just, that's just down the road, right? Yeah, well, that's, that's
a lucky position for someone like yourself to be in. Someone who owns
a great knife company but also has interest in
adjacent items. You know, knife guys
love watches on the whole, love pens on the whole. And then there
are all these other kind of, you know, things that guys like us get
into. You know, some people love leather and,
and those kind of things. So, I mean, it's a great position to, to have
put yourself in where you can fill out and create
all these things that are your interest. Because you also know that, that
most, that many knife people, knife collectors, are also interested in
these kind of things. Yeah. And again, it's all, it's all,
you know, it's all the very gentleman like type stuff. Right. You
know, if you will. And, and, and guess what happens too, is that,
that here I am creating this brand and talking to these maybe business
professionals that didn't know that you could carry a knife.
Right. Well, you can, you can carry an ocaso. You know, you have all
these other individuals that didn't know that this community
existed, but now they do. Right. And so, and
there's other companies already doing it. You know, they're making the watches and the pens
and they're reaching out to those communities, and I get it. And that's happening. But
yeah, an overlap of community is definitely taking place.
So it's, it's something down the road. All.
It's, it's on the list to do. But just down the road, what's, you know,
I'm up to two employees now, too, right. Before I had zero, just my wife
and I. So now there's two employees. So there's another sign
that there's growth there right. Going in the right direction.
And a lot of times, even with these guys, we're still
clamped, we're still backed up and we still can't keep up. I'm,
I'm impressed that you do keep up with just two people because,
you know, you're every, it seems like you guys are everywhere. So
I think you're, you've got good. I'm not going to
pretend to know the term, but I guess it's market penetration. Like you guys are
in there. You're a force already.
Who in the knife world, in the
knife game, who is kind of doing something similar?
Are there any other lifestyle brands that
are knifey or knife centric
that you can think of? I know there's a lot of knife brands
that have a category that's very similar to
what we're doing. But
I mean I like, I like William Henry. You know, they,
they're, I think really focus on these high end,
premium, great looking knives. Think,
you know, and a couple other ones too. So.
But I mean I try not at this point in time, I try to just
stay focused and you know, they say don't, don't, don't worry what everyone else is
doing. Yeah, just doing this. Just focus on what you're doing. But before getting
this started, it was, I really like Chris Reeve knives. I mean. Yeah, well,
you got him too, right? So. Yeah, I guess he's on the brain and
William Henry. So. Yeah. And, and,
and they both make really fine
knives for sure. But I can't think like I, and
I am someone who is obsessed with what everyone's doing because I, I don't, I'm
not, I don't have my own company. I don't have to keep my
vision limited. And I, But I'm still not. No one's coming to mind who
does what Ocaso does. And I guess I, I just wanted to get from
your perspective, see if what, you know, your
competition was in, in a more specific,
in the specific realm of gentleman
lifestyle. And I think that that's pretty,
that's a pretty great spot to be in because
I think it's needed. So Bob,
this makes this whole entire
show for me right now, what you just said. A lot of times
if, if, if I would have came out and answered that, well, I'm the only
one, you know, it doesn't come off right. Um, a lot of times,
you know, I will say to my wife, like, you know, I'm starting to see
a little bit more of this a Little bit more of that. And it, you
know, I think she's doing it to kind of keep me humble. She says, get
old yourself or be quiet. You know, but
for you to now say it. You know, I appreciate that because
sometimes in my, in my elevator pitch, I will say I'm one of the few
brands that really cater to a
gentleman's premium, elegant looking pocket knife.
Okay. So I also heard
just today from another huge influencer out
there, he said, I'm starting to see a lot more gentleman's item.
So when I hear that someone else is saying it. Okay, that's
great. And so.
Okay. And that's why I want to stick to this group and,
and keep going. And then just really just. Yeah, I'm not
gonna make everything for anybody out there.
So I just keep doing what I'm doing. And because I know
it's solving the problem that maybe a lot of people have out there,
you know, I'm gonna be grateful for that. Yeah.
So they get it. There's a lot of people that get it. And I'm glad
you get it. I'm glad you see it. So thank you for recognizing. Oh, yeah,
of course. You know, back in my more
metrosexual days, if you'll forgive the expression,
but back when I was a little cooler and younger and lived in New York.
City and you're still cool. Oh, thanks, man. I appreciate
it. Before I was a middle aged father,
I, you know, I always, always
loved knives, but I was kind of in a very different kind of
place. Place in my life and in a, in a different.
I guess what I'm trying to say is ocaso would have come in very handy
in the early 2000s for me because, you know, I was
going to. I had a cool job with a, you know, I had to dress
nice and everything like that and. But I still loved knives and I
thought it was cool that I was the person I was, but still liked knives,
you know, and so especially in the knife world, which
can tend to be not that much, but it can tend to be a little
macho in terms of like, you know, this is your high speed, low drag,
tactical, you know, fighting knife. And that's the kind of stuff I love,
believe me. But it's not always appropriate. But knives are
always appropriate. Yes, yes,
yes. I think that's awesome. That's, it's great to hear
that. And, but you're right, it's like now. And that's another thing
too. Once someone who wasn't into
knives and didn't carry A knife. Once they start carrying a knife, guess what?
They leave the house without the knife, and now they're freaking out. Right. It just
becomes this little part of your. Your wardrobe, part of your
routine of, like, putting on your watch and your pen and your wallet.
And that happens to me, too. Even if I go on a freaking walk,
I have to have a knife in my pocket because. Because if I don't, I
just. I feel weird. I feel off. It's just on us.
Just is. Yeah. It's like walking out the door without your pants.
So it's like. It's like the dream you have where you wake up or
you're on stage playing piano with no pants. You're like, I don't play
piano. Why am I not wearing. It's the same thing. Walking
out without a knife. All right, so you mentioned you. It's
you, your wife, two employees. But as you move forward,
like, if you could. If you could see in a crystal ball right
now, 20 years in the future, or however far you're going to take
Ocaso, how do you see it expanding?
So another thing that I've learned is to
kind of try to do things and set up things a little differently
from what I experienced in terms of running a company.
I've got to be able to create a business where I can step away
and the business continues to be successful. It continues to
run. Because if that doesn't take place, then all I'm doing is just creating
another job for myself. So in order for me
to do that, I have to pay attention to the people I bring on board
and make sure it's a team that I'm creating.
It's going to be a very focused team. I don't want
to say that. And a lot of people say. Say this, and there's nothing wrong
with it. Where we're all going to run this company like a family.
Well, no, we're going to run like a team. Because when you. When you have
that team approach, there's competitors, there's competition.
Nothing wrong with family. But then you feel like, okay, we're all safe. You
know, we're all comfortable. No, because sometimes business is
more. Actually, those. A lot of the business is war. Right.
So that's. That's what I want to do. So, first of all, I have that
mindset right now that as I continue to.
To grow and build this company, it's like I've got to fire
myself in certain positions so I can pull myself
in more strategic roles. Right. I've got to go out there, continue
to grow the brand and to create all these, these
opportunities, these collaborations, these partnerships so
I can continue to feed the brand so it grows. And I
think one reason why we're growing is because, yeah, I had a
Rolodex before, right. And so we're already global, so I'm already
on the international waters out there with some of
the connections that have. So I've got some big
distributors out there all over the world right now that have helped us out. Right.
There's still a lot of, you know, know, opportunities here that I want to engage
in here, but, you know, there's enough going on right now that's keeping us
busy. Yeah, well, I, I think that, so 20 years, you
know, I'm no longer, you know. Yes. I, I
see myself as a business operator, not an owner yet, but, you know,
down the road in a few years as an owner where I can step away
because the worst thing an owner can say is, like, I can't leave because
nothing gets done. Yeah. Yeah. Bad. That's freaking bad. You want to
be able that you can step away and they can, and that the continuation of
success is still taking place without you, and you have reliable people,
reliable team, reliable individuals that you can trust running the company.
I love that you said make a team and not a family
ever, Anywhere I've ever worked. Whenever they start using the F word, oh, we're a
family. I'm like, oh, what do you want from me that you're training me for?
You know, and, and you can't get rid of family. You can
fire employees, you know, so I love that you say team.
Yeah. So. Well, anyway, that's, that's my insight. I,
I, I can't wait to see the team you build. I think what you're doing
is awesome. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much for
coming on the podcast again and talking about it. I think this stuff is
awesome, and I'm really excited to, to check out the Lucent
and also to, to see that this, well, all the
projects you mentioned, but especially this Demko collaboration coming
out of pa it's, it's awesome what you're doing, and best
of luck to you over the next year. Thank you so much. It
was, it was great, you know, talking to you. It was great seeing a blade
show, too, man. You were just everywhere. And everywhere I
went, you were there, and, you know, you know so many
people, it's just like, there's Bob again. How you doing, Bob? You know, so, you
know, you're, the things that you say and coming from you, that means a
lot. And it goes a lot because you're in tune with the industry, the
market, with communities out there. So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Oh, my pleasure. All right, Rick, we'll talk soon. Take care, sir.
You too. Thank you.
There
he goes. Ladies and gentlemen, Ric Valdez of Ocaso Knives. And remember,
build a team for work. Leave the family at home.
I wish everyone would do that. Great sage advice from
the head of Ocaso Knives. Be sure to join us next
Sunday for another engaging interview with a luminary of the
knife world. For Jim working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob
DiMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an
answer. Thanks for listening to the Knife Junkie podcast. If you enjoyed
the show, please rate and review@reviewthepodcast.com.
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