Gareth Bull is bringing the OffShoot mini scalpel to market after an incredible social media response to the original. The tiny fixed blade was an improvised design, made off-the-cuff from a piece of steel leftover from work on his latest folding knife – the Kalos. But the reaction has convinced Bull to make more and he says that the OffShoot will be available just ahead of the release of the Kalos.
Bull made the OffShoot, cut from a piece of Odin Heim Damasteel scrap, without much premeditation. In fact, he admits that he was hesitant to even share photos of the scalpel. Most of Bull’s work goes from hand sketch to computer rendering to G-10 mockup before making it to the prototype stage but the OffShoot skipped the process altogether. “Making [the OffShoot] was almost subconscious,” he says. “As a stock removalist I often explain my field of knife making as ‘grinding off the bits that don’t look like a knife.’ That is exactly what I did here, no design, not even so much as a line drawn with a sharpie.”
The OffShoot is truly diminutive, with a cutting edge of about an inch and an overall length of just 3-inches. But Bull, a big name in the international custom knife scene, says he has never seen such an overwhelming response to a product. “People from all walks of life commented or sent private messages. People saw a tool that would be very useful in their lives, from EDC, to glass blowing, to gardening and self defense.” Bull indulged in a bit of wordplay to arrive at the name, nodding to the bamboo shoot handle motif and use of leftover steel.
Continue reading on Knife News
Photo courtesy of Knife News
