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Old 07-31-2005, 01:06 PM
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The "Captain" The "Captain" is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: South/central Florida
Posts: 742
All members,
A lot of folks know the Model #1 "All-purpose Fighter" from the Randall catalog. It is instantly recognizable as one of Bo Randall's earlier works of art as well as the "cover knife" for a majority of the Randall catalogs. Beside all of that, it is "still" the best selling fighter in the Randall line!! Not bad for a veteran of 63 years!! That's right: The "original" design dates back to 1942!
Without trying to declare myself any kind of expert on the history of Randall Made Knives, and with giving 100% full credit to the likes of Bob Gaddis and Pete Hamilton, I thought that a few lines should be dedicated to the "history" of these "models of the week". Anyone....Please feel free to "dig in" and play along!!
Bo Randall, along with A friend, Lt. James Zacharias came up with the design that would eventually become the Randall Model #1 "All-purpose" Fighting Knife in the summer of 1942. I am not sure of the original "exact" specifications for this knife, i.e. exact blade length, etc. but it was basically a Swedish tool steel fighter with a straight clip point, verses a "bowie" clip point and had a blade length of around 7 1/2", as best I can research, looking through all of my totally non-complete information. The original handle was of stag, without a crown. It had fancy spacers, double hilt (straight), and a wrist thong. Lt. Zacharias was attatched to an Army Battalion stationed in central Florida at a training facility.
From these beginnings, at the onset of W.W.II, the Model #1 began. I have emailed a photo of one of my "newer" Model #1's to "Crimson Tide", in an effort to "play along" with the rest of you. It is a beautiful example of just how far, and yet, just how similar this great piece of Randall history has come, without changing it's original idea!! Wow!! What a concept: Design something so right the "first" time that it needs basically nothing in the way of changes for decades! Anyway: You folks please feel free to "ammend" this entry or edit it if it's historical content or general descriptions are not in keeping true to the facts. It is, as best I can recall, accurate. Best, Captain Chris Stanaback
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Captain Chris' Model #1-7 __.jpg (45.7 KB, 342 views)

Last edited by crimsontide; 08-04-2005 at 04:47 PM.
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