Living on the Edge

From sprinting after his friends through the woods of his native River Ridge, a big plastic Rambo knife in hand, to multiple deployments as an Army Ranger to Iraq and Afghanistan, to cooking in fast-paced New Orleans’ kitchens and sampling exotic, savory finds from street food vendors in dozens of off-the-beaten-path countries, Stephen Bateman took 33 years to find his own artistic voice.

When he did, that voice required two things: railroad spikes and lawnmower blades.

“If I found my creativity this late in life, anyone can,” says Bateman, now the owner and creative behind Down the River Forge, his performance-focused designer knife company earning props from Gear Patrol and a new generation of Southern hunter-chefs alike. “Creativity opens up your life in so many ways. Making knives is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but the thing is, the harder something is, the more rewarding it is to accomplish that, and the joy it brings you is so much greater than if it had been easy.”

Bateman’s Camp Chef knife, handmade with high carbon steel and Micarta composite handle.

After the military, Bateman went back to college at 27 to study kinesiology, and then earned a graduate degree in government and public policy. He traveled, mostly alone, Anthony Bourdain-style, tasting street food and wild cultures that don’t make most travel guides. He journeyed through 32 countries, exploring the world, and himself too, all while promising himself he’d one day leave the “rat race,” and start making knives.

That opportunity arrived in 2019, when he failed to get an internship in Washington, D.C., so he moved back home to Louisiana. While working in kitchens and machine shops, he met his wife Tasia, and they started a family.

“But I had no real skills, and no purpose,” Bateman recalls. “Until, I started messing around with grill forks, bottle openers and knives.”

Bateman bought a cheap anvil from a local freight company, borrowed his mother’s chiminea, salvaged some railroad spikes from an abandoned railyard and nabbed blades from a buddy’s broken-down lawnmower for material. When the pandemic hit, he bought a real forge, started ordering bar stock steel and began making knives full-time.

“I didn’t know what I was doing at all,” he recalls of those early attempts. “It’s a very process-oriented skill, sweating your ass off for a halfway decent shape at first.”

Now, Down the River Forge has a whole series of high-carbon steel blades for the kitchen and the field, from oyster shuckers and steak knives, to a giant cane cutter and a nifty little piece named the Prudhomme, after the iconic Cajun cook.

Tapping into his Army training and putting systems in place for learning, experimenting and producing high-quality knives, Bateman designs, cuts and sands the handles himself, often using walnut, maple or canvas micarta, accented with colorful metal pins. Some receive other creative flourishes such as bright turquoise inlays.

“I don’t look at anything the same way now, which is wild,” he says of his explorations. “I didn’t know I needed this creative outlet. But I needed this.”

Few places in the country boast a robust, world-renowned culinary culture as closely tied to the land, the water and the pastimes of its people like South Louisiana. For Bateman, the food in our pots and on our plates — and its journey getting there — lies at the sharpened heart of everything he does.

“Down the River Forge is a place, but it’s also a way of life, so the marketing side came natural and easy to me,” says the creative who goes on hunts and oyster boats to capture social media images. “I love this way of life, how our food and our culture is so connected with the outdoors.”

From a solid chunk of steel, some fire and a hammer, a functional piece of art is born. In the same way, Bateman has worked through life’s challenges to turn his latent talent into a useful tool.

“Knives have been the medium for me to connect with that world that I love, to be involved more with chefs and hunters and adventure-seekers, and to find real community there,” Bateman says. “It’s all about connecting. And it’s all because of knife-making that I’m more connected to my passions and my purpose now than I’ve ever been before.”

Q&A

When not working, what do you and your family love to do? We love a good road trip, hanging out at the local farmer’s market and eating tacos at Barracuda in New Orleans.

What was the first knife you ever had? It was a Swiss Army knife I got for Christmas as a child. Corkscrew, couple different blades, the toothpick and tweezers. That classic one, and I loved it, made me feel like MacGyver.

What was the most valuable thing you learned while in the Army that applies to you today? Self-discipline and leadership. Creating something completely by hand with no help during the process requires a great amount of self-discipline. The leadership piece ties in with developing solid working relationships with clients and truly understanding what we can accomplish together.

You’ve had a lot of great foreign food experiences. Share one that stands out. Traveling. I want to feel a little dangerous, a little unsure of what’s next. In Montenegro, there’s a small magical little village there called Njegusi. It’s one road, and people are outside of their homes on their porches — all raising pigs and making cheese there — and they welcome you in, and you see all their knives hanging on the wall, and they slice prosciutto right off the leg of the pig, and you buy it right then. Just amazing.