Danny Bolton is a hunter, father, coffee connoisseur, off-roader, adventurer, and friend of MKC. He’s a man of many talents, and today, we’ll tell his story.
The Two Sides of Danny Bolton
Danny Bolton tells us he has two sides: the working man and the family man. Time spent with his daughter takes up a large part of his schedule, even if that’s doing mundane things like taking her to and from school. He also enjoys cooking dinner with and for his family.
Danny says he’s fortunate to have found a job that speaks to his skills and hobbies: teaching military servicemen how to drive off-road. Rather than leading by the nose, he prefers to teach his clients how to think critically about off-roading. If something happens to their vehicle, how are they going to fix it? How will they diagnose the issue? If they get stuck, how will they get unstuck, and what tools can they use to do so?
Danny started off-roading at a young age — before he had a driver’s license. While he got his start on a dirt bike, he says the transition to cars was pretty seamless. When he was a teenager, he and his cousin won an off-roading competition with a truck they’d built by hand.
The Importance of Family
Danny’s critical thinking style extends to how he raises his daughter. In his quest to raise her right, he emphasizes the need for her to make her own mistakes as well as learn from the mistakes other people make.
Danny thinks it’s important to make mistakes while you’re young since adults tend to be more understanding (and there are fewer consequences). He also thinks it’s important to analyze why people act the way they do, how that makes you feel, and why you might not want to act that way yourself in the future. “Who knows? You may be in that same situation later,” he remarks.
In work and in life, Danny affirms the importance of situational awareness: who’s around you, where you are, and the importance of paying attention. “It just helps to be proactive instead of reactive. I try to drill that into her as much as possible.”
Why MKC?
Danny was introduced to Montana Knife Company through mutual friends. He’s a close friend of Josh and a novice blade maker himself, and that experience gives him special insight into knife quality.
“Most custom knives that you see out there are not hunting knives,” he says. “They’re, like, too nice, [and you just] put them on the shelf.” Danny says that when Josh started making hunting knives, that “opened his eyes,” because Josh really knew his stuff.
“As far as knives go, they kind of speak for themselves. The geometry is there, and they’re very practical,” Danny says of MKC knives.
Danny also appreciates the family and American values MKC promotes. “Someone can have an amazing work ethic and poor family values,” he says. “[That’s] something that’s overlooked in our society.”
Danny says the Blackfoot is his go-to knife, but he’s also a big fan of the Stonewall Skinner. He wants to try the Stoned Goat, but hasn’t had the chance to yet.
Tapping Into His Wild Side
Danny realizes the importance of releasing your inner child and honoring your “primal” side. “I feel like society doesn’t like sharing this side of themselves,” he says. He believes that watching kids be themselves is the best way to bring out your inner child. He likens being out in nature, being uncomfortable, and “trying to sneak up on stuff” to being like a kid again.
“I’ve never really cared what people think of me,” he says. Releasing feelings of self-consciousness is an important step to releasing stress and connecting with your inner child. It’s also good for your mental state.
“It starts to wear on your mental health… it just happens and then you’re not feeling good about yourself,” he says. He champions getting out, eating healthy, and staying active, even if you’d rather stay inside and relax all day.
Danny emphasizes the importance of focusing on yourself and learning new things to maintain that primal connection. He says competition helps bring out his primal side, too, but winning isn’t everything. “I don’t need to [win] and make myself the best. I’d rather just enjoy it and do it for the lifestyle.”
by Josh Smith, Master Bladesmith and Founder of Montana Knife Company
