Al Mar Knives was founded in 1979 by Alfred "Al" Mar — a US Army Special Forces veteran, Green Beret, martial arts black belt in both judo and kendo, and industrial design graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Mar had previously led knife design at Gerber Legendary Blades before leaving to build something that matched his vision: production knives that rivaled custom quality in both design precision and material integrity. His SERE knife — developed in collaboration with Special Forces Colonel Nick Rowe — was the first knife accepted for the SERE Instructor School at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Al Mar was later inducted into both the Fighting Knives Magazine and Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame. Today, under the ownership of Edge Technologies Engineering LLC, Al Mar continues producing the SERE, Eagle, Falcon, Hawk, Ultra-Thin, and Stinger series — each carrying the design DNA of a founder who refused to compromise. Knifeworks is an authorized Al Mar Knives dealer.