A Gibsons craftsman is taking the competitive knife-making world by storm, winning top awards at the recent Blade Show Atlanta, the world’s largest knife show.
Rhidian Gatrill won Best Slipjoint for his “Lockback Rhiddler” and Best Miniature for his “Mini Barlow with Scrimshaw,” at the prestigious event, which is produced by Blade Magazine.
“Even when I was a kid, I was making stuff and I have kind of an art background,” says Gatrill, who studied at Vancouver-based Emily Carr University of Art & Design and works as a graphic designer and illustrator. “I had been tinkering in Vancouver, then moved here and got noticed, I guess, mostly through Instagram and then it just got bigger and bigger with more followers and I got better and better. And then I decided to do a couple of shows in the past couple of years and turns out I’m pretty good.”
“Pretty good,” is something of an understatement. Spread across his family’s kitchen table, Gatrill’s collection of knives and awards is impressive. Besides his recent accolades, in 2023, Gatrill won three first-place awards, as well as the coveted “Best in Show” for his entry into the Handmade Knife Competition at the Oregon Knife Collectors Association Knife Show, and Best Custom Folder at the Blade Show West.
Vancouver. I wonder if Del knows him.
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