Satu Savages
Satu Savages
by Gabe Long
Mike and Sue from Grayman Knives asked me to share some of the brief, yet rich, history of the Satu Savages, so buckle up and put in your mouth guards, here we go. Now to properly comprehend what the Satu Savages are you must remember one thing. It is a lifestyle. The Savage carries, uses, abuses, and loves Grayman Knives. Countless soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs and everyday people carry and depend on them every single day. It may seem like a lot of hype, but there is a legion of us, growing stronger every day. Our unofficial motto is “Without restraint, without fear”. Taking our knives to the limit is a badge of honor for the Savage. This is possible though the enormous strength and physical integrity of these knives. I personally have seen unbelievable feats accomplished with these overbuilt monsters. Don’t you worry you’ll see them too in future posts.
I grew up in a small Oklahoma town, and always carried a knife. They were normally a traditional or a belt sheath lock back. Pocket clips were not as a vanguard as they are now. An integral clip Spyderco Endura was the most high-tech folder I had ever seen, and far beyond my meager paychecks could afford.
So at 20 I joined the Navy and later that year I checked aboard my first Fast Attack Submarine. Needless to say my exposure to knives increased dramatically. I carried many different knives, but none of them satisfied me. I was a topside line-handler and needed a folder that could be carried securely, deployed very quickly and could cut through a 4 inch hawser line in a single swat. If a shipmate were to become tangled in the lines while we were mooring or unmooring they could lose a leg, hand, or their life. At the Marine Corp Exchange I found the Cold Steel Vaquero XL could fit the bill perfectly. I carried this knife until I left to boat to go to Shore Duty as physical security at a Navy Aircraft detachment in 2003.
As law enforcement I could not carry a 5 plus inch knife, “it could send the wrong message” I was told. An average folder was not going to do as a backup, so the Vaquero went into a hidden sleeve in my duty gear, and they were none the wiser.
My hitch in the Navy ended in 2008 and I went to the oil fields of Oklahoma and Texas. In the Patch I carried Cold Steel Safekeeper 2 punch dagger, it was too easy to lose a folder, hopping in and out of trucks all day. In 2010, I am back working for the DOD as a civilian carrying a Chris Reeve Sebenza. In 2015 my son shows me Instagram, I have to admit random pictures did not appeal to me until I searched out #knives. Suddenly I had the world at my command. I already owned a nice little collection of folders at this time consisting of Emerson, Spyderco, Zero Tolerance and even a Strider SMF. But I kept seeing this titanic knife, and the letters GAW below it in the photo.
At the time GAW was an expletive that was uttered by a red headed boy named Napoleon in a movie my sons watched. So I hit the “Follow” button and my love of Grayman Knives began. Soon I had befriended a Grayman owner, Ian, who let me testdrive his Ti/Ti Satu for a month. I was hooked! Funds afforded me a Grayman Dua right now or a Satu in 3 months. A week later I had a shiny, new Grayman Dua. After carrying this knife for a month straight I noticed they weren’t as common as a lot of knives I saw on Instagram. Mike Grayman’s focus on quality had lead to a dedicated user base of quiet professionals verses legions of fanboys. You won’t see wild custom anodizing jobs, laser etched skulls or hyper-exotic materials, coming out of the Grayman shop. I felt that the simple beauty and unparalleled utility of these knives needed a greater audience. So the Satu Savages page was born. All a Grayman knife owner/user now has to do was tag their Instagram photo with #satusavages and we repost it to the Satu Savages page along with a dose of our own colorful commentary. @SatuSavages has some awesomely talented, creative Grayman enthusiasts. Some of our contributors have some incredible Grayman collections and others may only have one knife. It doesn’t matter how much or how many as long as it is a Grayman, that’s what counts. Our Savages submit all of the outstanding photos and videos, and that’s what’s so awesome. Where do I begin with our incomparable Savages? Let’s start with one of our newest, most rabid Grayman Knives fan/user @JohnFaccas. John is, all about taking the knives and pushing them, hard. Here are a couple of his shots. I plan to profile him along with many other Savages in the weeks to come. Talk at ya next time Savages! – Gabe
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