Gilbert "Gil" W. Hibben of LaGrange, Kentucky makes knives. Rather well too as he has been able to build his life around knives and the profession of making them. Mr. Hibben has already made his mark in the world of handmade knives and will probably make some more. He has pioneered; he has taught; he has influenced; and, for a long time, he has had the recognition and respect of custom knife fanciers. Mr. Hibben is recognized throughout the world, his knives a symbol of excellent craftsmanship.

The Kenpo knife is one of the first knives he made famous, creating it for his black belt thesis for Mr. Ed Parker and creating a form to go along with it.

But Mr. Hibben also has a musical edge to him, singing tenor for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as the award winning Thoroughbred Barbershop Chorus. With musical talents not limited to singing, Mr. Hibben plays guitar and is extremely talented at the near-lost art of playing "rhythm bones" - learned from his father as a child. Whether he uses teaspoons or uses his own hand-crafted "bones," Mr. Hibben can complement almost any musical act.

Mr. Hibben is currently a 5th Deg. Black Belt in American Kenpo and holds a black belt in judo as well.

Mr. Hibben has spent the greatest part of his life making knives, beginning as a hobby after his 1956 discharge from the Navy. He made his first knife in 1950, but he doesn't count it as the beginning of his knife-making career. That career began when he wanted a big knife like the one carried by Jim Bowie and was unable to afford to buy one. Looking back at the creation, Mr. Hibben figures that he labored at least sixty hours with a stone grinder, file and drill in making that first knife.

His early knives were given away with his father, his brother and a number of friends as the recipients. Then someone wanted to buy a knife and he sold his first bowie for $45. When someone paid him for his work, he was hooked. He began to realize that people would actually buy them.

During the next several years as a part time knifemaker, Mr. Hibben was selling knives to local hunters and sportsmen. Knifemaking began to occupy more and more of his time and thoughts so that, in 1964, he became a full-time maker working in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1965, when one of his knives was pictured on the cover of Guns and Ammo magazine, and Mr. Hibben was transformed from a local knife-maker into a nationally known craftsman.

He spent five years spent in Manti, south of Salt Lake City, and those years were significant ones in Hibben's knife-making career. He had the pleasure of working and learning with, teaching and influencing a number of knife-makers whose names were relatively unknown at the time but could now be featured in a "Who's Who" of the knifemaking world. The area Small Business Association had helped set up a knifemakers' apprentice course, with Mr. Hibben as the instructor at the Utah School of Knifemaking and he is the only knifemaker to have been officially recognized by the government as a teacher of the craft. Another highlight of his Utah years was his designing, in 1968, all of Browning's original line of knives.

While living in Seattle after his discharge, Mr. Hibben worked as a machinist for Boeing Aircraft and learned of some excellent metals. He began making knives using an industrial-use steel known as 01. It was 1964 when he learned of a new "super steel" called 440C. He feels confident that he was the first custom knifemaker to use 440C and, to the best of his knowledge, Hibben was the first to mirror polish custom blades. One thing that Mr. Hibben is proud of is having been able to help beginning knife-makers and whereever he goes, knife-makers spring up around him.

Mr. Hibben was and is a prolific knifemaker. He made about 300 knives for use by our servicemen during the Vietnam conflict and feels that his first hand knowledge of the martial arts helps him in making knives that are functional. Just as his martial arts experience has benifited his knife-making abilities, Mr. Hibben feels that his five year experience serving in Alaska as a guide to big game hunters helped him to understand just what is required in knives used in the wilderness.

Mr. Hibben also designed and created the knife used in the movie Rambo III. Since meeting a few years ago, Sylvester Stallone has purchased over twenty Hibben knives for his collection. Hibben's association with United Cutlery has resulted in many thousands of knives, factory made to his design and specifications, being sold throughout the world. He has also had the opportunity of making knives for personalities such as John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Steve McQueen, Sylvester Stallone and Steven Segal or world leaders such as Israel's former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and former Vice-President Dan Quayle.

Hibben's handmade knives cover a wide variety, from small skinners to large and heavy swords - some with blades a yard in length. He has made folders, throwing knives, tomahawks, and a large number of fantasy knives. For us, he has made the Kenpo knife and the Kenpo II knife. Production time can range from a week to six or more months, depending on the design. Prices of his handmade pieces range from $300 to over $10,000, depending upon the knife. More recently, he has preferred to make art knives and is earning attention for some of his elaborate work.

For Kenpo, he holds an annual Labor Day camp that brings Kenpoists from around the world to train with the likes of Mr. Richard "Huk" Planas (who is a co-honoree of the dubbed Birthday Bash on this weekend), Mr. Sean Kelley, Mr. Martin Wheeler, Mr. Rainer Schulte, and many others.