Linemen and electricians share the same trade roots, but they’ll never let you forget the difference.
The guys on the poles develop broad backs from climbing and hauling heavy cable all day. The guys pulling wire through conduit and crawling through rafters get called “narrow backs.” What started as a jab between crews has become a term of endearment.
The Narrowback is the knife those inside guys earned: a compact hawkbill built for indoor electrical and utility work.
Built by Someone Who’s Done the Work
I spent 10 years as a lineman before founding Montana Knife Company. That decade on the poles inspired the Great Falls Skinner, a knife designed for outdoor line work where it clips into hot sticks and hooks on the job.
The Narrowback carries that story indoors. It’s smaller, thinner, and lighter than the Great Falls Skinner, purpose-built to ride on a tool belt through a full shift of residential wiring and utility work.
Electricians spend their days skinning wire, slicing zip ties, opening boxes, and cutting plastic. Most grab a cheap hawkbill from the hardware store and toss it when the edge goes. We built the Narrowback for the guys who want a blade worth keeping.
A Hawkbill That Slides Around Wire
Most hawkbills on the market run straight and then hook hard at the tip. We moved away from that extreme curve. The Narrowback has a more gradual sweep, and a blade this sharp slides around wire without needing that aggressive hook.
The tip curves down and the edge sweeps up to meet it, so the point never leads the cut. For pull cuts through boxes and pallets, that geometry is safer than a drop point or clip point where the tip sticks straight out.
General contractors, warehouse crews, and anyone who opens boxes for a living will put this blade to work fast.
An Edge That Outlasts Your Shift
Stripping wire, slicing zip ties, and breaking down boxes eat away at a cheap edge in a single shift. MagnaCut holds up.
As a cryogenically heat-treated stainless steel, MagnaCut delivers the right blend of toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance. Even novice knife owners can resharpen it.
Learn more about MagnaCut stainless steel from its creator, Larrin Thomas.
A Handle That Won’t Wear Out Your Hands
A working knife lives in your hand all day, so we kept the handle neutral. The Narrowback has a flat G10 slab handle, rounded smooth, with no heavy contouring or sharp corners that wear into your palm over a full shift.
The full guard stops your hand from running onto the blade when you’re bearing down. Up top, a jimped thumb ramp gives your thumb a defined place to lock in, cut after cut, with bare hands or gloves.
Most working knives address that lock-in by building a guard up from an overmolded plastic grip. We put the solution on the steel instead.
Stop Losing Knives on the Job Site
Each Narrowback ships with a custom USA-made MKC Kydex sheath featuring a built-in retention screw to adjust blade tension.
The oversized lanyard hole is there for a reason. Tether the knife to your belt or your kit, and stop donating blades to the job site.
A Promise to Every Electrician: MKC Generations® Free Sharpening
MKC Generations® is our promise to restore your knife to its original, unmatched working condition.
MKC will clean, sharpen, repair, reshape, and rewrap your blades and handles when necessary, all free of charge. While we perform all necessary sharpening and maintenance, our aim isn’t to return your knife to its brand-new appearance. The marks and wear tell the story of your work, and we respect that.
For the Guys Who Keep the Lights On
The Narrowback isn’t chasing a mass market. It’s a purpose-built tool for a specific trade, rooted in a decade of experience I carried off the poles and into Montana Knife Company.
If you’ve spent your career pulling wire, crawling through attics, and keeping the lights on, this one’s for you.
by Josh Smith, Master Bladesmith and Founder of Montana Knife Company
