If you’ve been following along as of late, you’ve probably noticed a steady trickle of posts featuring stories of other local brands, makers, and dreamers, forging ahead against the wind, leaning in to the joys and challenges of USA Made right here in the Gallatin Valley. We feel it is our responsibility to tell these stories, to use our growing voice not just to share our Montana-grown, American-made Merino Wool gear story, but those doing similar things with the very same elbow grease we know well. Introducing @cudaway, a high-end culinary and hunt knife company, founded by Morgan Keenan in October 2020 - despite the business perils of the Covid era looming large. “I wanted to build a knife shop around my vision and build what I deemed the most ideal production chef knife,” said Keenan. “At Cudaway, we do things a little bit differently: Our knives are stock removal, meaning we hand-grind our steel. Most production companies are machining their blades and handles. We do everything by hand.” With blades sharpened to a razors edge, thinner than most production knife companies, Keenan is melding Japanese blade craft influence with good ol’ American-made pride. No plunge lines, no transitions, no interruptions in the steels. Just elegant “open canvas” design. “We have a ton of pride doing everything here in our Bozeman shop,” said Keenan. “And all of our materials come from right here in the USA.” An aside from our end: When we headed out to photograph Keenan, he was wearing a well-worn Powder Hoody he’s deemed essential to working the colder days in the shop, as much as for getting missions into the backcountry (as an avid hiker, runner, backcountry skier, and more). With that, you’ll notice some fuzziness on the garment - we didn’t mind to shoot it that way, or to even promote it that way. Powder Hoody owners across the country have come to love this patina of sorts, battle scars from a life pursuing adventure. Warmth isn’t sacrificed at all when this happens - it’s merely stories from the American backcountry locked into the garment itself. Own a Cudaway knife (or a powder hoody)? Tell everyone how awesome it is in the comments below. #DUCKWORTH