I know there has to be some folks with Randall knives in here. 2013 is Randall knives 75th. anniversary
so lets see your Randall. After all S&W and Randall go together like peas and carrots!
Here is an engraved matched pair, model #1-8" and model #2-8", with pink ivory handles.

A beautiful pair of Randall's, Are they Leschorn, or Davidson embellished?


Pink Ivory?

Pink ivory is not ivory. It is a South African wood, restricted by the Zulu tribe to spear shafts for their kings alone. It is rare and valuable.

It does not seem to be very highly figured, as you can see. Personally, I'd rather have rosewood or cocobolo or nice walnut. Or, black Micarta. I've specified Micarta on the several Randalls that I've ordered, but have bought a couple with leather handles, too, because they were there to be bought at the moment. It beat waiting years for an order to be filled.

I also have a Fallkniven NL- 2 and an old Western knife with leather. If kept polished, it holds up well. but theoretically may acquire odors if blood or fish slime gets into the pores. In moist jungles, it can mildew and rot. Ivory cracks. Polished stag is better.

I have four. Here is my most recent. It is a 2-8 also. Black micarta, commando shaped handle. Nickel hilt and butt cap. Thinned and rounded butt cap. Black and aluminum spacers. My name etched on other side of blade.

Attached Images

2-8.jpg (70.3 KB, 76 views)

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Those were engraved by master firearms engraver Jere Davidson. Here is a nice piece by my late friend Tom Leschorn.

Here is a Model 14 with sawteeth. Green micarta handle in the border patrol style. Nickel hilt.

Terrible pic.

Attached Images

14.jpg (80.6 KB, 78 views)

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Question.............

I agree that Randall Knives are pieces of art. What I really am curious about is does anybody ever use them. Every one I have ever seen looks like it was made yesterday and kept in a museum. What I'd really like to see is a bunch of Randall's with scratches, marks, dings, etc.

24 inches of Randall. From l-r: 1-8, 5-8, 12 "Bear" Bowie. I no longer own the Bear but still have the other two. The 1-8 was my first Randall and the 5-8 my second.

Attached Images

24 inches 1.jpg (59.9 KB, 90 views)

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I used some of mine, but good care minimizes those marks.

Yes.

Model 23 with buffalo horn, along with an OM Ruger in 45 Colt. Porcupine got the leather handle in the norther Rockies one fall.


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Model 23 pre-porcupine!


Randall #1 and Colt 45 auto

OK Chief,

Here is one from the 1950s that has been my companion for Years now. Years ago Randall made a "Kit knife". Acutually you put it together from their "kit". My Grandfather "made" this one.

Randall discontinued making the "kits" because far too many people were doing lousy jobs of assembling the "kits" and Bo Randall did not want his name on such junk.

I have used it for decades. Sheath shows more wear than knife.

Beaver mittens seldom used in South Texas, but on occassion they have served this writer too.

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	Randall Kit Knife 004.jpg (24.9 KB, 91 views)
	Randall Kit Knife 003.jpg (45.3 KB, 71 views)
	Randall Kit Knife 002.jpg (46.1 KB, 61 views)
	Randall Kit Knife 001.jpg (51.5 KB, 56 views)

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Bill
Dis B. Leaf

i have several and used maybe half of them...very finely made,as you know

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

If you do a search, there's a lengthy thread somewhere here on the forums on Randalls that see use.

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SWHF #448

...comes from gay elephants...

Very interesting factoid. I never heard that term before. See you really do learn something everyday.

Don't think they have the "status" of the Randall knives, but I do have 3 Marbles Carbon Steel knives. Two are sheath knives that are about 20-25 years old and both have accompanied my son & I on camping and hunting trips. The other is a Marbles Sambar Stag Large Stockman pocket knife (only 25 made) that is with me every day. They are razor sharp and are stained from use, but you can shave with them.

I also have my Dads old WWll Navy sheath knife in the original gray sheath that is also carbon steel and razor sharp. They are not as prized or pretty as the Randall's are, but I'd put them up against the Randall's as far as sharpness and edge holding ability goes.

I always wanted a Randall but never bought one because I figured I'd be "afraid" to actually use it. They are beautifully made and just gorgeous to stare at!

Have used Randall Made knives for many years. All of mine are users. Model 1, Model 8, and Model 7. I have retired the Model #1. but would bring it out of retirement if things got tough.

I have one of the kit knives. Mine has elephant ivory. Its why I have it. Seems the prior owner had it in his humidity controlled safe. Too dry and it shrunk and cracked. I brought it home and scrubbed the crack as best I could. Just detergent (Ivory liquid, of course) and then moved it to my dungeon. In the old house, the basement was damp to say the least. So I asked my wife to buy some baby oil. Then we both forgot.

About a year later I was going through some gunshow stuff and found the knife. It has swollen shut! The crack that you could stick a business card in was tight as all get out. You could see where it had been because of my lousy job of getting the dirt out. Had I known it would swell and close, I'd have spent hours on it. Doesn't matter, its a very nice knife still.

The ones I have that receive the most usage are the individual steak knives. I think they're model 6-4. I just bought another when I found it. I take 2 with me on vacations, in case of emergencies. Like a grilled steak appearing at an informal picnic. It happens more than you'd think. Nothing better than dining with silverware and a Randall steak knife and watching someone trying to eat off a paper plate with a cheap plastic knife and fork. No, I don't share.

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Dick Burg

As the authorized Scrimshander for Randall Made Knives for 33 years I work on ivory every day.
While ivory is, without a doubt, the premier handle material I must agree with Tex...
nothing beats highly figured exotic wood. Here are a few I've had made.

I figured that was you Mr. Bowles! The Randall Forum gang may get angry if you spend too much time around here.

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There's the problem, Chief. While Randalls are fine pieces, they're prohibitively expensive, (at least for me), especially for mundane, day to day camping chores. When you come down to it, knives are disposable assets. They're lost, stolen, broken, loaned and never returned, or just worn out from hard use. My old Ka-Bar might not measure up in terms of quality, but it's lasted me a long time and if it needs replacing, I don't need a second mortgage to get another.

I love my Randalls. As far as USING them, all shown here are in unused condition, except for the Model 14 at 5 0'clock.

That knife I have carried when serving in the military and needed a dependable, unbreakable tool and weapon.

We used to do some horse-trading with the locals, and one Colombian officer offered to trade his hat for the Randall!!

No sale!


Tim

Anyone own a Registered Magnum for daily CCW? That's how I'd feel about using a museum quality Randall.

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I'm with the banned ...

Awesome Randalls

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

Well most of the reason that they are priced so high is that the Company is more than likely aware that they are more of collector items than used tools. Not to say they make them for "custom framing", but I think since there is always a long back log of orders they can get what they get without having customers gripping about the prices. After all, it's a piece of Steel and a handle of some sort. For the same price (or less) you can have Elephant Ivory custom fit to your Colt SAA.

I'll go out on a limb here, but I would bet that 90%+ of their products made in the last 20 years are still new in the box and never saw a sharpening stone. I suppose there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as people collect all kinds of expensive art works. AND....... they ARE pieces of artwork!

Donn,

While I agree with you that Randall knives are pricey, Warren Buffett once said "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."

The difference between a Randall and your "disposable asset" is value. Randall's are made to be used and warranted for life when used for the purpose for which they are intended. A Randall can be used hard, scratched or dented then, for about $35.00, returned to the shop for refinishing. In six weeks or so you'll have your knife back looking like new. Unlike firearms, the Randall shop refinishing does nothing to diminish the intrinsic or collector value. Lastly but certainly not least, your Randall Made knife is a tool that has proven to appreciate in value. Virtually every Randall knife is worth more today then when it was made. Some are worth considerably more as in the case of the Randall 50th. Anniversary Commemorative. In 1988 this knife would have set you back $375.00. The Commemorative shown below sold two weeks ago for $3,500.00.

Keep in mind that people used to buy R.W. Loveless knives to use. German maker Dietmar Kressler told me that his customers have used his knives and some even told him that they prefer 154CM steel to Damascus, as the Damascus has spots that sharpen unevenly, due to the overlapping layers of steel.

Both Loveless and Kressler knives are now so expensive that few must still use them. They make Randall knives seem lke cheapies. When knives sell for well over a thousand dollars, I personally can't afford them, let alone to use.

BTW, I have an issue of the German edition of a famous magazine that featured Kressler knives. The color photography is exceptional and I can't imagine the US edition of that title doing an article on hunting knives. They also ran one on a couple of custom gunsmiths.

I'd still use a Randall knife, unless it was so fancy that it was bought as an investment. For what it's worth, based on the knives that I've seen, I think Randall does a better job of polishing his stainless blades. Maybe it's just the way the respective steels take the same level of polish.

It's interesting that some Fallkniven knives cost about what some Randalls do, and people buy most of that brand to use. Actually, the leather handles on the Fallkniven NL line remind me of Randall handles.

Just own this one. Bought from a member on here.
Museum Grade Ivory handle. Was checked out by one of
Bo's grandsons before the sale to make sure everything
was AOK.
This is a #1-7
Been looking for a sale or trade on a S&W revolver, if interested PM me.




Thanks to Sal for the pix.

Chuck

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I received a Ruger Standard .22 as my High School graduation present. It cost $42.50 at that time. My friend received a $40+ Randall 3-6 for his graduation present and I could not believe that his knife cost as much as my gun.

Many guns and knives later, I now know that there is no upper limit for what can be spent on guns or knives.

I use 6 different Randall Knives depending on the task at hand.

Some of the most collectable Randall Knives are those that were made in very limited numbers or ones that have options that are no longer available.

One of the easiest ways to obtain a very collectable Randall is to select the model that you like and have it scrimshawed by the OP. I have had 5 scrimshawed Randalls and each was a work of art on a work of art.

Mark

Boys and girls we have a winner!
Mark obviously has a wonderful collection of Randall Made Knives. Moreover there are a large number of historically significant knives. I encourage Mark to show some of these individually and talk about them. There are quite a few you may never see again.

PS. While talking about price versus value I used the Randall Commemorative as a top shelf example. Notice there FOUR in Mark's collection along with several that make a Commemorative look plum reasonable.

Here's a less common one that I call my Model 1 equivalent:



Model 14 CDT (Cut-down tang) with green canvas micarta Commando handle, brass double hilt, butt plate, and thong hole. Sorry for the Colt....

Rick