Gary Paul Johnston knows what it’s like to put your life on the line daily, he did it as a commander with the Shaker Heights Police Department. He tells the story of the creation of his 1* logo like this: “Back in 1986, my SWAT unit was fortunate during actual raids, but we seemed to average at least one minor injury per practice session. I decided to create something to remind everyone to be more careful. The idea for the 1* logo came from a joke I heard as a kid.” The design of the logo is in a shield shape similar to the U.S. Army’s Big Red 1. Gary has granted CRK&T the exclusive right to use his “1*” logo on special models of its knives.