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Randall Model #18 - one helluva knife
So back in January of 1963 America was in the middle of the Vietnam war, and old Bo Randall and his team were pumping out knives as fast as they could to supply the troops who wanted a real blade on their hip when Bo received a letter from one Capt. George W. Ingraham who flew rescue helicopters in 'Nam.
The good captain had an idea for a knife and wanted Randall to make it for him, he wanted a knife that he could use for getting out of a downed helicopter, and survive with until rescued, which may involve building shelter, signalling rescuers, catching food and dispatching enemy combatants, his suggestion was this:
take an existing blade from a model 14, in the back of the blade cut sawteeth to help cut through the helicopter body/plexiglass to free trapped personnel, make the brass guard bigger and drill holes in it to tie it to a stick so that it could be used as a spear (actually that idea may have been Bo's), and instead of the full tang handle Ingraham suggested placing a brass or stainless steel tube on the end so that medical and survival supplies could be placed inside and kept dry and secure.
Well Bo thought about it and decided that it could not be done he could not work out how to put the saw teeth on and did not think that a blade attached to a hollow handle would be strong enough for pounding through an aircraft body. He was going to send a letter saying sorry, but decided to wait a bit, Bo and Gary went down to their ranch that weekend and on the drive back started discussing the idea some more, the next day Gary went into the shop, grabbed a blade and started work, two days later he placed the prototype blade on his fathers desk.
Well they put that blade through a number of tests, chopped metal, hammered it into things, by all accounts gave it hell and it kept coming back asking for more, the blade would not budge a millimetre and the saw teeth chopped through metal like a hot knife through butter.
A couple of days later Capt. Ingraham received a box from the Randall shop with not only the blade he had asked for but a second one to hand around to see if anyone else was interested - all at no charge!
Twentyone years later a twelve year old big found a picture of that knife in a book, he could not get the image out of his head, and I am ashamed to admit absconded the book and still has it with him today...
I wanted the knife desperately but also know I could never get one, first the knife was made in America and I was in New Zealand, second by the time I would have been old enough to save up enough money to get to America I was sure the guy who made the knife would be dead. I put the idea out of my head but a bit would not go, I tired buying those cheap nasty hollow handle knifes that were popular back in the day - it fell part about three hours after I bought it.
Fast forward twenytsix years and we have the internet and Randall had passed on his company to his son (who actually made the first 18 anyway), it was a four year wait to get a Randall knife and so thirty years after first seeing that knife I now have one - a Model #18 5.5 in O1 carbon steel with a 5.5 inch blade which is a quarter on an inch thick and wickedly sharp - it also comes with the nicest leather sheath I have ever seen and a sawtooth back on its spear shaped blade.
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I have done a few things to make it mine: wrapped the stainless steel handle with fishing line and duct tape then wrapped that in paracord, took out the sharpening stone from the sheath and dropped in a micro leatherman and some tinder and a stoker in plastic bag, in the handle is a small compass, more tinder, a tube wrapped in more duct tape with fishing hooks, needles, safety pins, lead weights, thread, matches, swivels in it, the top is held down with a big brass threaded and O-ringed top - I have also son sealed the sheath and covered the blade with renaissance wax, which is why the photo of the blade looks marred - its not, just waxed.
Its not small or light - but is not massive, there is a 7.5 inch version (and stainless versions or both), but I think thats just too big to be carried by a normal guy (I know of one SAS guy who swapped his 5.5 inch version for a 7.5 inch one because it was a better chopper - but I figure those guys just are not normal!)
Mine is 410 grams and 635 grams in the sheath, its 26 cm from tip of the blade to the end of the handle and in the sheath its 30.5 cm long, the blade is 3 cm at its widest point, the actual cutting edge is just shy of 12 cm long. The brass guard is massive and has holes drilled in it so you could attach it to a pole to make a spear (although I would just sharpen the pole if I needed a spear). And the leather sheath is a work of art, and very stout to boot.
I put this through its paces, chopped an 8cm branch with a few swings and very little effort, battoned some fire wood (it takes a very heavy toll on the barton, which was tea tree, sliced meat and cord, carved some feather sticks and struck a fire steel off the back of the blade and it is still hair shaving sharp.
Its not perfect however, the big double guard makes it a tad awkward for some tasks, the tip which is double edged could easily pierce guts if you were skinning with it - which I hope to do at some point and see if I can avoid it, the saw teeth are VERY aggressive and while are OK at notching wood are not designed to cut it, I may actually duct tape them to make it a tad more user friendly, will see.
It caries well on a belt or tied to a pack strap - but it does look a tad, well, tactical. Which does make me a tad self conscious and so I tend to tuck it under the swannie, but thats the idea I suppose, have it with you when needed, on the other hand when I have pull it out of the sheath I feel like King Arthur with Excaliber in my hand...
So is it worth it, is it any good? - in a word maybe.
Its built as solid and as well as anything I have ever had the pleasure of owning, ands its hand made on a forge, heated and hammered into shape, before being finished by hand, I will no doubt be able to pass it onto my son one day, and him to his son I hope, but its a military style blade and there is no doubt that killing is one of the things its been made to do - so saying more people are killed by carving knives than anything else so that may be a moot point.
Its probably not a very good skinning knife, too thick although it will certainly butcher up an animal with ease.
But if you add the bits and pieces needed to customise it to you, and had it with you when something went wrong, then I have every confidence it it helping me get home again, and as such I will have it with me the next time I strap on my boots and grab my swannie, and after a thirty year wait I have to say its worth it.
Shelley
