My name is Colton Bridger Arias, founder and owner of Bridger Forge.
Here at Bridger Forge, I am dedicated to providing you with top-quality blades that you can depend on. I make custom, hand-forged knives, swords, and cutlery. I use the highest quality materials, including in-house stabilized woods, military-grade synthetics, and high-carbon steels to make completely functional works of art. I forge my own signature pattern-welded steel and San Mai blades here in Ceresco, Nebraska. I take pride in heat-treating all of my blades in-house to rigorously proven standards and testing each blade myself to ensure performance. This allows the blades to exceed the abilities of a store-bought knife.
Youngest 2x Forged in fire champion
(Rock-throwing crossbow, young guns championship)
In 2019, I competed and won the popular History Channel competition, ‘Forged in Fire’, becoming the youngest person to ever do it having only barely turned 18. In my episode, the ‘Rock Throwing Crossbow’ episode, we were first challenged to make competition choppers from a piston shaft of the show’s fabled power hammer, “Big Blu”. After my blade prevailed past the first two rounds, I was sent home to create a crossbow…that shoots rocks! I had previous experience making crossbows and other projectile weapons when I was younger, so the challenge was right up my alley. After securing victory in the first episode, two years later, I was invited back to compete in the young guns championship. This was a competition between four of the youngest smiths to ever win the show. In this episode, I made a chopper from a trampoline and a Damascus steel german longsword, which allowed me to win for a second time! After winning these two competitions, I have continued to make and sell blades to customers all over the world, making the world a bit sharper one blade at a time!
More ABOUT ME
I STARTED BLADESMITHING AT THE AGE OF 11 IN MY SMALL SHOP IN CERESCO, NE. With a background in woodworking and construction, MY PASSION FOR BLADESMITHING GREW EXPONENTIALLY IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS AS MY SKILLS INCREASED. In 2014, after selling a few blades and getting great reviews, I decided to take my passion for bladesmithing a step further and start selling on a larger scale. DESPITE HAVING KNIFEMAKING AS MY PRIMARY JOB, I AM A FULL-TIME BUSINESS STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, LINCOLN. The name of my business, bridger forge, is not only a REFERENCE to my middle name, but to the legendary OUTDOORSMAN, pioneer, FRONTIERSMAN, and explorer, Jim bridger (after whom I was named). I aim to embody adventurous spirit, toughness, patriotism, and ambition in my brand and in every one of my knives.
