AL MAR Knives

Al Mar was born in the USA to Chinese immigrant parents. He served in a Special Forces reserve unit and volunteered for service in a Special Forces Green Beret unit in Vietnam. After his service in Vietnam, Al completed his college education with a master's degree in industrial design from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Thereafter, he worked at Gerber® Legendary Blades under Pete Gerber, where his last position was "Head of Knife Design."

In 1979, Al AL MAR® Knives was founded. His goal was to combine mass production methods with the quality of custom knives. Due to his extensive experience as a Judo and Kendo practitioner and his past as a Green Beret, most of his knives were initially designed for police and military use. Al's S.E.R.E. knife (Survive-Escape-Resist-Evade) was the first knife approved by Colonel Nick Rowe for the S.E.R.E. Instructor School at Camp McCall, North Carolina. As the company grew, he evolved his designs into high-quality hunting and fishing knives, kitchen knives, and gentlemen's gift knives.

Al Mar was a lifetime member of the Special Forces Association, a member of the Special Operations Association, and a reserve deputy sheriff. He was inducted into both the Fighting Knives Magazine and Blade Magazine Hall of Fame. Today, the company continues its mission to manufacture knives with high-quality design and innovation.