About Me

Hi,

   My name is Zoltan Gero and I'm a Hungarian knife-maker, designer and professional soldier, owner of GZ Custom Blades.

Background

I spent my early years up to my late twenties practicing martial arts, Muay Thai and teaching Krav Maga. These years fueled with my passion to blades/edged tools gave me a solid understanding of edged weapons from many different perspective and contexts. This, mixed with my operational experience being a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) for 7 years, supporting US and Hungarian Special Forces in Afghanistan gave me a deeper understanding of the end user "needs". Overall, i spent more than 1.5 year in Afghanistan as well as years and years on the various training grounds of NATO and Partner countries. Picture by OR9 PAPAI "Joci" Jozsef during our deployment in 2014

Photo by Pápai "Joci" József

Creation

  Here at GZ Custom Blades every single custom knife is created, grinded, heat treated, finished, sharpened by me. However, the rest of the production lineup is the outcome of an amazing teamwork involving 4 different Hungarian craftsman living and working in different parts of the country. We only use in our production exclusively European Union and USA sourced materials. Every single blade is proudly made in Hungary, European Union, Planet Earth. 

 

Design

   I primarily design my blades for the military, law enforcement and the prepared citizen, however due to the nature of my approach, 99% of my designs just make a good every day carry or outdoor companion as well.

   The main emphasis is always on good cutting and thrusting ability with superior geometry and ergonomics. The knife is a cutting tool/weapon on the first place and not a screwdriver,hammer or doorstop.  

 

 

'Til Your Last Cut..

Our steel selection

Lost with steel namings? Check our interactive steel guide and selector to find the best steel for your needs.

Steel Category
I need a knife that…
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What the ratings mean

Toughness

How well the edge and blade resist chipping and breaking under impact, twisting and batoning.

Edge retention

How long the edge keeps cutting before it needs sharpening.

Corrosion resistance

How well the blade resists rust from sweat, blood, humidity and salt water.

Ease of sharpening

How quickly you can bring the edge back on ordinary stones in the field.

Toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance figures are sourced from metallurgist Larrin Thomas's independently tested ratings at Knife Steel Nerds — "Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist" (unnotched Charpy toughness, CATRA edge retention, salt-spray corrosion testing). Ease of sharpening is GZ Custom Blades' own field estimate and isn't part of that dataset.

All steels side by side

Toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance run 0–10 and are Larrin Thomas's published, independently tested ratings (see source above), not GZ Custom Blades' own numbers. Ease of sharpening is GZ Custom Blades' own field estimate. * CPM MagnaMax, A8 Mod and Titanium Gr5 are not covered in Larrin's published ratings — their toughness/edge/corrosion figures are GZ Custom Blades' own estimates instead. Every steel is a trade-off: gaining in one column costs in another. Edge geometry, heat treatment and how you use the knife matter as much as the steel itself.

Not sure which steel fits your job? Ask the maker.
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