Randall vs Buck

[eveled]

Here is a picture of my Buck 116 caping knife, next to my Randall model 10/4 fishing knife. I thought it was an interesting comparison.

 

[Texas Star]

Have a look at the Randall Models 1,5, and 14. Then look at the Fallkniven Models A-1 and S-1. Mainly at the blade shapes.

A coincidence?

Maybe the designers just realized that that blade shape is versatile and serves the intended needs well.

The so-called Latin machetes from the major makers also look a lot alike...and a lot like models once made by the old Collins company.

Then, there's the leopard and the jaguar and the Green Tree Python and the Emerald Tree Boa. Continents apart. Scientists call them cases of parallel development, animals that evolved to be similar, to meet similar conditions. Maybe that also happens in knife design?

 

[eveled]

Only so many design variations, especially when keeping it practicle.

I thought it interesting that Randall doesn't offer a caping knife, yet their fishing knife is a dead ringer for one.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I would have to say that those pictured blades are both non typical for their respective brands.
During the past 30 or so years Knife design has gone through some rather radical changes.
Both Randle and Buck belong to an older design set.
The primary 'radializer' was Bob Loveless.
Bob led the way into new steels, designs and handle construction.
If you held up that small Randle and asked me, who do you think made it?
I might say Blind Horse.
If you told me, you have just won the knife lottery. You can have any American custom knife available for sale.
I'll take a Loveless Parachute Knife, please.

 

[rburg]

You can take a picture of a shiny Yugo and a very dirty Ferrari. Making comparisons of wildly different products rarely leads to a valid comparison. Yes, I do own a couple of Randall Saltwater Fishermen. Its the absolute bottom of their product line, made with different materials than those that made the name what it is. I used to own a few Buck knives, the ones made in the USA. Now they mostly have a made in china stamp. No, I didn't put a capital C on that word.

Buck has learned they can make similar products to those produced by the big makers. If they somehow manage to get the quality control to the point where it looks good, they can sell them. But there won't ever be a secondary market for the products. Its a single sale design using fairly good consumer grade materials. I'm still looking for a Buck Woodsman, made in the US. I had one stolen out of a boat about 1979 and I'd like another.

 

[k22fan]

[...] I'm still looking for a Buck Woodsman, made in the US. I had one stolen out of a boat about 1979 and I'd like another.

Trot on down to any local store and buy a Woodsman. Buck's slip joints were made by Schrade then Camillius. Since Camillius went out of business in 2004 They've been a mix of Bucks own manufacture and imports from China but, along with the ubiquitous 110 and 112 rocker lock folders, the 100 series sheath knifes have always been made by Buck in the U.S.A.

 

[Rick Bowles]

The primary 'radializer' was Bob Loveless.

Bob Loveless made his first knife because he wanted a Randall knife but couldn't afford one. Most of today's knife designs can trace their roots to Randall's designs including Loveless.

 

[shouldazagged]

Bob Loveless made his first knife because he wanted a Randall knife but couldn't afford one. Most of today's knife designs can trace their roots to Randall's designs including Loveless.

I think Randall's designs and everyone else's are, as Texas Star suggested, evolutions based on finding what works.

The designs that last, are most emulated, and aren't just fads like the American tanto, come out of generations and centuries of trying to find the best tools for various jobs.

 

[BearBio]

"You can take a picture of a shiny Yugo and a very dirty Ferrari. Making comparisons of wildly different products rarely leads to a valid comparison."

I was eating breakfast in Kenai Saturday and saw something REALLY rare==a dirty Hummer!