Doc Shiffer
Gulf Coast Knife Makers Association · USA
Steve Shiffer joined the Navy in 1987 as a Corpsman and served the majority of his enlistment with the Marines at 2nd Division. He did a deployment to Africa and Operation Desert Storm, then went to Paramedic school when he got out. He has been a paramedic since 1994, a tactical medic for three sheriff’s departments, a contractor in Afghanistan, and a US Army Medical Skills instructor.
He started making knives in 2000. The two careers are not as unrelated as they sound — both require you to think clearly under pressure and build things that will not fail when it matters. His Recon is the knife that put him on the map: a hard-use framelock with real ergonomics, American steel, and titanium treated like the material it actually is rather than a canvas for anodizing tricks.
This one is the trick. Flamed titanium is a different animal — heat-applied color that lives in the metal itself, not on it. No two pieces land the same way.
“I have been lucky enough to have some good makers share their knowledge with me.”
