John Rusk

John Rusk of EMP EDC
1.What first drew you into knife design, and what made you decide to create knives of your own?

Having been an avid knife collector for many years, I often wondered what it would be like to create a knife of my own. In 2020, the pandemic left me unemployed, so I decided to try my hand at something new. I had no previous experience in knife design or manufacturing, and the learning curve was steep. What I did know was whatever I created had to be special—the beginning of a unique design language and style that would carry through all my future work. The spear-point Nymble was the first knife I designed. At the time, its multi-deployment system was a fresh concept: a knife designed to deliver exceptional fidget factor while remaining an incredibly capable, well-built tool.

2.Through carrying and using different knives, what did you feel was missing—and what kind of experience did you want the Nymble to offer instead?

Multi-deployment knives were a new concept in 2020, and the first production run of the Nymble was a tremendous success. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews and generated considerable excitement throughout the knife community. The design achieved exactly what we intended: a balance of practical utility and enthusiast appeal. The Nymble was a stylish, premium tool with outstanding fidget factor. 

3.The name “Nymble” reflects the knife's agile, multi-deployment character. How did that idea shape the design, and how did you keep the different opening methods feeling natural rather than added just for novelty?

Balancing the Nymble’s multiple deployment methods was one of the greatest challenges. The real magic came from the placement of the detent. Positioning it high and as close to the center as possible gave the knife the most consistent feel across every deployment method. That and good jimping made all the difference.  Once we had it dialed in, we began iterating on the design by introducing new blade shapes and sizes throughout the Nymble lineup.

4.When adapting the Nymble for this collaboration, which elements did you consider essential to its identity and therefore needed to remain unchanged?

When adapting the Nymble for this collaboration, it was important that the finished knife clearly represent both brands. Its basic shape and profile needed to remain recognizable in the open position, and it had to retain my trademark dual-milled oval opening hole—a feature for which EMPEDC has become well known. The honeycomb texture also needed to extend to the edges of the scales’ flat center section, just as it does on the original Nymble T. Other elements, including the front and rear flipper tabs, were modified to accommodate the Vanchor Lock. The lock-related engineering adjustments were completed by a talented designer at Vosteed. The collaboration model is larger than the original Nymble T but smaller than the XT or XL variants, giving it a distinct place within the Nymble lineup.

5.The collaboration introduces a new handle texture and color treatment, along with Vosteed's Vanchor Lock. How did these changes influence the way the Nymble looks, feels, and operates?

The honeycomb pattern is a signature texture of the Nymble T series, but it is not something we release often. I had not previously seen Vosteed use a honeycomb texture, so I felt it would be an ideal way to introduce the collaboration while giving it a distinctive EMPEDC design element. For the colorways, we requested that our traditional black-and-bronze combination be included among the offerings. Vosteed was then given creative freedom to select the remaining color combinations.

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