Many people look at the Riv as a mini-Biblio. However, we did not just shrink a Biblio to do the Riv. We started over and completely redesigned a new knife in the lines of the Biblio, but with its own feel and expression. This was also the way we designed the Biblio, from the lines and concept of the GM1. Of course it would be easier to just scale a knife model up or down to any size you think would sell well, but we don’t work that way!
Why a compact knife?
Our designers, Jens Anso and Jesper Voxnaes, grew up spending time out in nature, working the forest and doing chores around the house. They were taught that when you work or hike, you carry a fixed-blade and a small folder. The fixed blade will perform most of the cutting tasks, but the folder should be kept razor sharp for finer tasks and be your back-up, if the fixed-blade is lost or dulls. These days most good quality folders can handle most of the jobs of a mid-sized fixed-blade, but it is still great to have a sharp back-up. And with the “Riv” you get a compact folder that will handle most daily cutting jobs, and will surprise you once you get it in hand. A tool, not a gimmick!
What’s in a name?
We’ve got a thing for naming our knives after special places that have endeared themselves to us over the years. The Biblio’s namesake was a favorite watering hole of the GiantMouse team in Brooklyn, where the idea for our new knife brand was formed. The Grand is named for our favorite hotel and bar in Nuremberg. The Clyde is named after the Clyde Commons bar in Portland, which was part of the ACE Hotel, for which our ACE line of knives is named. Well, in 2020, GiantMouse moved its headquarters from the San Francisco Bay Area to East Lansing, MI. So we felt it only fitting that we should commemorate this event by naming our latest model after an equally meaningful local establishment. Turns out “The Riv” is an historic local dive bar in East Lansing that was frequented regularly by GiantMouse CEO Jim Wirth while he attended Michigan State University in the second half of the 1980s. The bar is still a local landmark today, and as soon as the Danish contingent of the GiantMouse team can travel again, you can be sure to find us hanging there on the corner of Albert and M.A.C. Ave. If we’re not there? - check next door at Pinball Pete’s.
Manufactured by Reate Knives
