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Filson Just Casually Dropped Another Stunning Handcrafted Heirloom Knife

The brand’s exemplary (and elusive) collaboration with a renowned Seattle bladesmith continues with this curly maple-handled beauty.

Close-up of a Filson knife blade with a black textured handle and the text "3 of 30" on the blade.Filson
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By Steve Mazzucchi

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Oops, they did it again.

That’s right, Filson teamed back up with renowned bladesmith Robb Gray for another gorgeous, extremely limited edition knife. 

Fixed-blade knife with a polished steel blade and dark textured handle with a leather lanyard.
As potent as it is, the knife’s 4-inch CPM 154 blade is arguably outdone by the hand-dyed curly maple handle.
Filson

This one is actually three times less exclusive than last December’s Engraved Packer Knife, but considering that one was limited to 10 pieces, that’s really not saying much.

Anyhoo, let’s take a closer look at the lovely forbidden fruit that is the Filson x Graycloud Camper Knife.

Touch of Gray

Let’s start with the business end, because as much as this knife looks like something you should probably just mount and place on your mantle, it is mighty capable of actual work.

That’s thanks in large part to Crucible’s CPM-154 blade steel, which is prized for its quality, toughness and edge retention.

Close-up of a Graycloud CPM154 348B knife blade with a textured dark handle and scalloped spine.
When you work with high-quality steel, you proudly slap its ID on the offside of the blade, as they have done here. Graycloud, meanwhile, is the semi-eponymous moniker of Robb Gray’s own brand.
Filson

Taking a beautifully contoured drop-point shape, complete with control-boosting rope-cut spine jimping, the 4-inch blade is balanced to offer an optimal blend of tip strength, precision and slicing action.

In a shock to no one, it’s a full-tang number, too, ensuring a laudable level of durability all the way from above your fireplace to building an actual fire deep in the backcountry.

Knife with a dark wooden handle, thin metal blade, and attached brown leather strap.
The easiest way to tell for sure that a knife is full tang is to look at it from the top down, as we are doing here.
Filson

That said, the real majesty of this knife resides in the handle scales, which are made from curly maple that is custom-dyed and shaped by hand for optimal ergonomics, then secured with Corby bolts to the lower half of the blade.

As just 30 of these knives were made and they are priced in the four figures, you had better believe they come with individual numbers as well as an oiled latigo leather sheath, certificate of provenance and presentation box.

Brown leather sheath with white stitching and a black handle knife partially inserted, featuring a leather strap loop.
An equally attractive sheath makes this knife easy to mount to your belt … or headband if you’re a real wild man.
Filson

Also, the curly maple is sourced from local luthiers’ offcuts. TIL a luthier is an artisan who makes and/or repairs stringed instruments, such as violins, guitars and lutes. (Yes, freakin’ lutes.)

If you already knew that, congratulations. It sadly does not get you any closer than me to procuring one of these gone-in-60-seconds bits of sharp-edged gorgeousness.

Black wooden knife handle with a leather strap in a brown leather sheath stamped "C.G. HILSON CO. SEATTLE SINCE 1897.
No joke: the quality here is such that, should you score one on the secondary market, you can be sure that with proper care it can be passed down and keep going strong for well over a century, not unlike Filson itself.
Filson

May I suggest, as an alternative, checking out New West Knife Works, which offers a nice range of lovingly made fixed blades ranging in price from $295 to $4,500?

Heck, the latter almost makes Filson’s $1,299 drop look like a steal.

Availability and pricing

Limited to just 30 pieces and priced at $1,299, the Filson x Graycloud Camper Knife sold out in a flash.

You can sign up on the product page for VIP texts to get the jump on exclusive new releases and more.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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