Al Mar – The Legend of the Green Berets

Cultural blending can often produce astounding things. Born in the United States to a family of Chinese immigrants, the young Al Mar joined the Green Berets after having completed his university studies. Given his extraordinary physical capacities, he became a martial arts expert. He served in a Special Forces Reserve unit and in the late1950’s volunteered to serve in Vietnam with a special project using all Asian Special Forces solders. The project was run from Okinawa where the 1^st SFGA had a forward deployment battalion stationed and support assets. Al Mar was a non-commissioned officer. Posted to South-East Asia with the Special Forces he experienced was at first-hand.

Upon returning to civilian life, Al Mar earned a Masters Degree in Industrial Design from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His master’s thesis was building and launching a working 2-man submarine; upon graduating he went to work for an industrial design firm in Los Angeles in 1967.

Al Mar went on to become a packaging designer and eventually the head of knife design for Gerber Legendary Blades in 1968.  Gerber’s head designer had retired and Pete Gerber gave Al Mar the task of coming up with an aluminum handle for a kitchen knife. Gerber thought the project was very successful and offered Al Mar the position of design chief.

Legend recounts that he was give numerous secret missions by the CIA, FBI and other services, but the man never talked about it. Always the knife enthusiast, he sat down and designed a whole series of combat models. He had the prototypes made and did the rounds of Special Forces units, police forces, coast guard, border guards, the FBI and the CIA in order to consult the relevant specialists.

Such approaches would seem to confirm that he had contacts in the “top secret” services and since there is never smoke without fire, at any rate, he went to see the best Japanese manufacture, the Sakai Company in Seki, Japan in a 1,000-year-old sword making facility. The success was immediate, with professionals able to have nothing but confidence in this experienced man, decorated in combat.

With the founding of Al Mar Knives, Al Mar is considered the father of specialty custom / production cutlery and led the way for the trends within the cutlery industry for using custom quality and design in a mass-produced knife. Drawing on his experiences as a lifelong martial artist with black belt rankings in judo and kendo, and his services as a Green Beret, the majority of Al Mar Knives were initially designed for the military and law enforcement communities. However, as the company evolved the range was extended, in both straight and folding models, with all genres considered, from hunting to fishing, to outdoor activities, and even kitchen knives.

A red logo symbolizing a warrior like those used in Chinese calligraphy was struck on each blade so that there would be no ambiguity as to whom it was intended for. Al Mar Knives has collaborated with a number of knife makers, martial artists and military tacticians including Rex Applegate, Nick Rowe, Bob Taylor, Bill Harsey Jr. and ABS Master smith Kirk Rexroat.

Although he has now passed on to join his ancestors, Al Mar was a true legend in his lifetime. Al Mar died in 1992 from an aneurysm. The color guard provided for his memorial service was drawn from the reserve Special Forces Company then stationed at the Portland Air National Guard base. Al Mar had supported the unit for many years and was an honorary member of the company.

Today, Gary Fadden has purchased controlling interest in the company. In the late 1980s Al Mar was inducted into the Fighting Knives Magazine Hall of Fame. Then in 2009, he was induced in the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame.

The Official Al Mar Knives website: http://www.almarknives.com/