Les de Asis, Benchmade Founder, Passes Away
Benchmade has announced the passing of company founder and enduring knife world figure Les de Asis. De Asis left a legacy of innovation and quality behind him, embodied in one of the most iconic knife companies in the U.S.
De Asis&#;s road to the Benchmade of today was a long one. Things began in California in , when he created Bali-Song, a small shop dedicated to making and producing butterfly knives by hand. Even then, de Asis was establishing core Benchmade concepts such as working with other custom collaborators. In this case he partnered with Jody Samson, who eventually made the swords for the Conan the Barbarian movies, for the grinds on these Bali-Song-era balisongs. It was here that the 68 model bali was born, a storied knife with a style and purpose that Benchmade would later emulate in its own production balisong models.
Bali-Song grew into Pacific Cutlery, but de Asis was fored to shut its doors in Just year a later, however, he commenced a new venture, with a new vision for high quality production knives made to exacting standards with a human touch: and thus Benchmade was born. A move to Oregon in would eventually
Lester de Asis Obituary
Lester de Asis
Dec. 7, - Feb. 21,
Lester de Asis, 68, died peacefully surrounded by his family Feb. 21, following a stroke. Les will be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather, a visionary and humble leader and an inspiring advocate for the community. His love of family, kindness to all and passion for the knife and shooting sports industry will leave a lasting mark on the many people he impacted during his full, well lived life.
Les was born in Oakland Dec. 7, to Nora and Leon de Asis. He attended University of Arizona and USC. In , Les began building handmade custom Bali-Song knives in a small shop in California, where he incorporated the company Bali-Song®, Inc. Over the next seven years, the company expanded its product offerings, and evolved its name to Pacific Cutlery Corp. In , Les and his family moved from California to a facility in Clackamas, Ore., and began producing knives there under the name Benchmade Knife Company, Inc. To respond to growing customer demand, in , Benchmade moved from the 15, sq. ft. shop in Clackamas to its current location in Oregon City, which covers approximately , sq. ft. today.
Over the course of Ben
Benchmade Knife Company
Benchmade was originally founded in as Bali-Song when Les de Asis began making knives out of a second-story shop in California. Using second-hand equipment, Les de Asis began making custom Bali-Songs with Jody Samson, producing their first Bali-Song, the Model Over the following years, Bali-Song expanded its product line to include folding and fixed-blade knives, changing their name to Pacific Cutlery Corp. Unfortunately, with the expansion of the product line, Les was unable to control the quality of his knives, and Pacific Cutlery closed its doors.
In , Les returned to knife-making with a strong commitment to producing high-quality, American-made knives, naming his new company “Benchmade” to represent both precision parts and hand assembly. This marriage of manufactured and custom knives still defines Benchmade today.
In , Les de Asis reentered the world of knife crafting with a firm dedication to manufacturing top-tier, American-made knives. Naming his new company Benchmade, chose to symbolize the union of precision manufactured parts with hand assembly. This union remains the defining characteristic of Benchmade to this day.
Benchmade Knives: Quality you can count on for serious outdoor adventure.
Editor’s note:This feature was supported by our friends at Benchmade.
For Benchmade, making quality knives is a story that starts with family.Benchmade-founder and skilled craftsman Les de Asis was given a Bali-Song knife by his uncle as a kid growing up near Los Angeles, a knife that is ingrained in Philippine culture. He loved the way the knife felt and the way he could open and close it with one hand.
But the product wasn’t being made in America, due to the stigma surrounding traditional butterfly knives. So in the late s, Les—who attended USC—went to work with a machine shop to create the best product possible right here in the U.S. It worked.
Benchmade founder Les Asis
Looking to sell his new knife, Les took his Bali-Song into a local outdoor shop and the shop owner asked for more. Thus Bali-Song Inc. was born, a pre-cursor to Benchmade, which now makes some of the most quality knives in the world.
After Bali-Song became Pacific Cutlery Corp., market instability and the frustrations of importing parts took its toll on the fledgling company, which folded. But Les, who was born
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