Where It Started
JT Outfitters didn't start as a business plan — it started as a passion. A lifelong love of knives, hunting, and shooting sports led to a collection built up over many years: folders picked up at shows, gifts from fellow enthusiasts, and pieces sought out simply because they were beautifully made. Somewhere along the way, that personal collection became a fast-growing majority of a house full of gear.
From Collection to Calling
Eventually, the obvious question came up: why not share that passion with other people who feel the same way about quality outdoor gear? Rather than let decades of knowledge sit in a drawer, the decision was made to turn it into something real — a proper business, built with family. Together with his sons-in-law, the collection became a company: JT Outfitters, trading under Jaco Traders.
A Family Business, Built on Real Knowledge
We're not a faceless import warehouse. We're a small, hands-on family team who genuinely use and appreciate the products we sell — from the field to the workbench. That means when you ask us a question about a lock mechanism, a steel, or which gear suits your next trip into the bush, you're getting an answer from people who actually use these products themselves, not a script.
What We Carry
We're an official authorised dealer for WE Knife Co., CIVIVI and SENCUT — premium folders and fixed blades in the steels and designs that collectors and everyday carriers actually want. Alongside them we stock Honey Badger, whose Cross-Bolt folders are honest working knives that mostly land under R1,000.
We also import the names most people already know. Spyderco — the company that gave the modern folder its opening hole, its pocket clip and its serrated edge — from the affordable Tenacious up to the Salt Series in CPM MagnaCut. Cold Steel, whose Tri-Ad lock is still the benchmark for lock strength. CRKT, who turn custom designs from makers like Kit Carson and Ken Onion into knives ordinary people can afford. And Kershaw, who put assisted opening into everyday hands.
For traditional patterns we carry Browning and Winchester — bowies, stag lockbacks and wood-handled hunting folders — alongside hand-inlaid Santa Fe Stoneworks pieces, where no two knives come out the same.
We're also an authorised dealer for KUGA, a proudly South African brand building vacuum-insulated drinkware and rotomoulded cooler boxes for local conditions. Flasks that still hold ice after a day in the sun, and coolers built for the back of a bakkie rather than a showroom floor.
On the lighting wall we carry Ledlenser, built in Solingen and covered by a seven-year warranty once you register the light, and Nebo, whose rechargeable torches, spotlights and headlamps punch well above their price. CAT covers multi-tools and worklights.
Because a good knife is only good while it's sharp, we stock DMT diamond abrasives, Lansky field sharpeners and Smith's electric sharpeners — and we'll tell you honestly which one suits the steel you own. And for the range and the hunt, Walker's hearing protection, in passive, electronic and Bluetooth versions.
Every product we sell is 100% genuine, backed by warranty, and imported or sourced properly into South Africa with duties paid.
Why It Matters to You
Because we started as collectors and users, not just retailers, we choose our range with a collector's eye and a user's practicality. If something doesn't earn its place in the veld or on the belt, we don't stock it.
Our Showroom Is Open
Our showroom at 90 Monument Road, Nimrod Park, Kempton Park is open Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:00. The full range is out on the wall under proper lighting, so you can open a knife, feel the detent, check the grind — and we'll switch a torch on and throw a beam down the passage so you can judge the output for yourself.
See inside the showroom or get directions and contact details.
Thank you for supporting a South African family business built on a genuine love for the outdoors. We look forward to helping you find the right gear.
Veld Born SA.