Leonardo Contino Custom Knife

Leonardo lives in the Traful region of Patagonia near the Andes Mountains and, after learning metal working as a young man, he worked as a farmhand where he learned old knife making and leather working skills from local artisans. Applying his own ingenuity and creativity, he devoloped his own designs and new methods, including building his own tools, which allowed him to create unique and exquisite pieces. These knives are made with high quality stainless steel blades from Vogel, with the grips made from local hardwoods such as “itin” (Neltuma kuntzei) with a darker tone or “radal” (Lomatia hirsuta) with a lighter tone.  Accents are typically made from alpaca (a silver/zinc allow) and then in some cases, bronze, gold or silver upon request. All of the engravings and relief work are done one at a time by hand with pain staking detail, hand cut and polished to a beautiful finish. The gaucho style leather sheaths are also hand made with hand cut accents to match the knives. Each knife features a fly angler etched into the butt of the handle casting to a trout on the other end of the handle near the hilt.