🔪⚒️ Episode 18 — Clem’s Knives | From Code to Forge, Valley-Made Heirlooms 📻🌲
Chopping It Up with Keith Saarloos · Released September 20, 2025 · Santa Ynez Valley, California
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About this conversation
Clem Boyleston went from building high-tech solutions to hammering out purpose-built knives you’ll hand down to your kids. We talk Santa Barbara → Santa Ynez migrations, the smell of upturned dirt over the pass, and why the right blade is a tool, not a trophy. Clem breaks down performance vs. aesthetics, Damascus vs. san-mai (in plain English), chef knives that actually slice, ultralight backcountry blades, camp tomahawks, and why a great knife should fit your hand like it was born there.
We get into:
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How a Last of the Mohicans obsession became a life in steel
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Choosing steel, heat treat, and grinds for how you cook, hunt, or camp
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The tradeoffs big brands make vs. true custom work
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Everyday carry, indexing, serrations, and real-world safety
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Sharpening that brings dead blades back to life (yep, he offers it)
Where to find him & gift one before the holidays:
• Los Olivos Outfitters (local makers display)
• Alice Hall shop pop-ups & summer BBQs
• Homespun Show — Dec 6, Santa Barbara Community Arts Workshop
• Online: clemsknives.com and @clemsknives
Hit play to meet the guy quietly forging world-class tools right here in the Valley—and maybe the last kitchen or field knife you’ll ever need.
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Saarloos + Sons archive host Keith Saarloos. Context photograph; not a portrait of the guest or a photograph of this recording.
