HIS JOURNEY FROM FARM BOY TO GEAR INNOVATOR AND GLOBAL WARRIOR

By Sean Curtis

LEFT: Popular and respected in hunting, tactical and related circles, Kyle Lamb has a reputation for honesty, integrity, staunch patriotism and dedication to the quality and usefulness of every product that bears his company’s brand. (Photo: Kyle Lamb)

If you’ve been hiding in a cave (perhaps even a spider hole) over the last couple of decades, you might not have heard of Kyle Lamb. To the initiated, the retired Army sergeant major is a shining example of someone who learned a lot while serving in Special Forces and then ported that experience into a successful business.

Many people know about the firearms training Lamb offers through his company, Viking Tactics (VTAC), but the organization is also well-known for quality gear, such as the VTAC Sling. There have been numerous other products that resulted from collaborations between VTAC and other companies as well.

American Outdoor Guide sat down with Lamb to learn how he applied his experience into developing the quality goods associated with his brand.

Humble Beginnings

While it might be tempting to sift through lessons learned by Kyle Lamb at the Battle of Mogadishu, that would be starting the story from the middle. The real heart of Lamb’s creativity comes from growing up on a farm in South Dakota.

As a young man, Lamb loved the outdoors. He remarked that he spent most of his time enjoying outdoor activities. He said he always wanted to be out hunting deer, rabbits or even squirrels. In the winter, when it got dark earlier in the day, Lamb (who’s now an author himself) would read Louis L’Amour books with his father. He said both his parents were always supportive of him doing nearly anything that involved guns, knives, horses or the outdoors in general.

Regarding knives specifically, Lamb said his father taught him how to make them at a young age. He realized that nearly any piece of scrap iron laying around could be converted into at least a crude knife. He learned how to create blades with hand tools, and although they were never tempered or quenched, they were serviceable cutting instruments. His father then showed him how to create wooden handles for his knives and affix them with rivets. He said his family also worked with leather a lot, so rivets were a well-known commodity.

An avid outdoorsman since he was a child in South Dakota, Kyle Lamb is comfortable living off the land.

(Photo: Steve Bell)

“FROM AN EARLY AGE, LAMB LEARNED THE VALUE OF SOLVING HIS OWN PROBLEMS WITH CREATIVE SOLUTIONS AND THEN TESTING AND EVOLVING THOSE APPROACHES TO MAKE THEM EVEN BETTER.”

Much of Lamb’s perspective was passed on from his father, who was born just after the turn of the 20 th century. The man had witnessed the advent of cars and television and had lived through the Great Depression. Lamb explained that his family never took things to someone else to be fixed, because his dad fixed them. This determined self-reliance was normalized for Lamb at an early age.