1990s CS deja vu

[mc5aw]

Back in the days of Special Projects catalogues, 2nds sales, and Lynn Thompson videos, Cold Steel offered a fixed blade model called the Bush Ranger. It was a full sized Bowie field knife that was fast, light, and eminently practical due to its modest weight and width. I owned the Carbon V model, and somewhere along the way regrettably sold it off, never finding another in new condition to replace the original. It is featured on page 17 of the vintage CS catalogue:

https://www.coldsteel.com/content/catalogs/1996-97catalog.pdf

I had forgotten about the Bush Ranger until this afternoon when I received a new knife in the mail ... the Sandbox Bowie from AG Russell. Upon handling the Sandbox Bowie, I was immediately struck by its similarities to the mid-1990s Bush Ranger ... I had expected something heavier (more akin to a Western W49) and was surprised to note the tapered Coke bottle grip, similar blade width/weight, clip point profile. I can't say how much (if any) inspiration AGR took from the Bush Ranger, but the Sandbox Bowie is a fine addition that brought me back three decades.

A. G. Russell Sandbox Series

The war in the Middle East had hardly begun when I started to design a large combat/bowie knife that would be suitable for that area of the world. I have never, in my 48 years in this business, had so much trouble bringing a project to a conclusion.

agrussell.com

Anyway, just reminiscing a bit.

 

[oldmanwilly]

Well, if you're on the hunt for a replacement Bush Ranger, you may be in luck:

Thread 'MAKE OFFERS* Gerber, cold steel, tpk, hfb, cold steel, EK, Esee, tops, RMJ, adv, etc'

Dec 21, 2025

Please add $10 for shipping. All knives come with sheath.

Gerber mk 2 navy commemorative knife w/wooden display $old

Cold steel bush ranger carbon V USA $old

Junglee Bowie seki Japan $150

Cold steel pentagon seki Japan $200

Cold steel black bear seki Japan $200

SOG seal pup seki Japan $80

Kershaw 1005 survival knife w/kit in handle $150

John Ek fighter $old

John Ek dagger $125

Bianchi nighthawk Solingen Germany has some spotting on backside of blade and sharpening pouch is missing rivet $old

Esee 5 w/leather sheath $100

Rat Tanto tank, thicker than Esee 5 $100

Tops Tidal Force...

• Mitch Will
• Replies: 7
• Forum: For Sale: Fixed Blades (Individual)

I didn't discover the LT Special Projects until a year or two before the sale to GSM, so I think I missed out on the glory days. It would be nice to have the good deals on fun, whacky stuff return.

 

[The Whip]

I can't say how much (if any) inspiration AGR took from the Bush Ranger, but the Sandbox Bowie is a fine addition that brought me back three decades.

It doesn't surprise me that the Sandbox Bowie reminds you of the Bush Ranger, as they share more than similar dimensions. You could say that they share a common lineage. A.G. Russell not only used original Carbon V steel for the blade, but he had Dan Maragni oversee its heat treatment to maximize the steel's performance, just as Dan did for the Bush Ranger and other Cold Steel Carbon V knives.

The knife company that A.G. pointedly and stubbornly refused to name in his description of the advent of DM-1 steel was Cold Steel. For some reason, A.G. Russell took offense at the way Lynn Thompson used performance testing to promote Cold Steel's knives, and apparently A.G. held a lifelong prejudice against the man and his company. But A.G. wasn't above using Lynn's steel, his metallurgist, and his demanding testing standards when it came to hawking his own knives. The hypocrisy of the Sandbox Bowie "endurance testing" video was not lost on those of us who had read some of the disparaging things that A.G. Russell wrote about Lynn Thompson and his knives back in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nevertheless, I always thought the Sandbox series was a nice looking, practical set of knives. Since the Bush Ranger was long out of production by the time the Sandbox Bowie came about, I could see how the Russell model would be a likely successor. Lightweight bowies in that size range are uncommon.


-Steve

P.S. - If you can't find a Bush Ranger, the Marauder is a pretty close substitute. It's slightly heavier and not quite as well-balanced, but it fills a similar niche. In some ways, I like it better.

 

[mc5aw]

It doesn't surprise me that the Sandbox Bowie reminds you of the Bush Ranger, as they share more than similar dimensions. You could say that they share a common lineage. A.G. Russell not only used original Carbon V steel for the blade, but he had Dan Maragni oversee its heat treatment to maximize the steel's performance, just as Dan did for the Bush Ranger and other Cold Steel Carbon V knives.

The knife company that A.G. pointedly and stubbornly refused to name in his description of the advent of DM-1 steel was Cold Steel. For some reason, A.G. Russell took offense at the way Lynn Thompson used performance testing to promote Cold Steel's knives, and apparently A.G. held a lifelong prejudice against the man and his company. But A.G. wasn't above using Lynn's steel, his metallurgist, and his demanding testing standards when it came to hawking his own knives. The hypocrisy of the Sandbox Bowie "endurance testing" video was not lost on those of us who had read some of the disparaging things that A.G. Russell wrote about Lynn Thompson and his knives back in the 1980s and 1990s.

Nevertheless, I always thought the Sandbox series was a nice looking, practical set of knives. Since the Bush Ranger was long out of production by the time the Sandbox Bowie came about, I could see how the Russell model would be a likely successor. Lightweight bowies in that size range are uncommon.


-Steve

P.S. - If you can't find a Bush Ranger, the Marauder is a pretty close substitute. It's slightly heavier and not quite as well-balanced, but it fills a similar niche. In some ways, I like it better.

Steve ... Thank you for this information. I'm glad I wasn't imagining the similarities between the two knives. So much has been said about LT over the years, positive and negative, but there is no denying the impact he had on the knife industry. BTW ... the first time I saw the Sandbox dagger and AK magazine, I immediately thought about LT.