A little DDR History

Bastid

Bastid

Goat herding fool and resident vermin breeder.
Super Mod
Joined
Feb 27, 2001
Messages
26,713
I was fortunate to meet Darrel at a small show in the mid 90's and we hit it off as friends pretty quickly. Some of his first advice was for me to pick up the Knives Points of Interest Books and I followed that and still enjoy those books almost 20 years later.

Thought some of you folks would like to see some of Darrel's old work that does not show up very often as well as a balisong that was finished earlier this year.

From the top.

This is a small auto with a carved blacklip inlay, damascus frame and heat colored Damascus blade (back in the day when Darrel had the time to forge his own). He topped it off with a gold lever and backstrap. Check out that blade. :cool:

That second from the top fixed blade has a little story. When these forums were younger there was a member who ran into some bad luck. A few of us did some things to help out a little and Darrel put this knife in the kitty for auction. S440V blade and micarta handle.

The Balisong with mamoth ivory is much more modern DDR delivered this beauty to me this year at Blade.

That next one might just be the rarest. I pestered my buddy for quite a while on this one :D.

It is a small Apogee. The extra cool part is that it is a double action small Apogee.

That knife on the bottom is a production collaboration between Darrel and Camillus named the EDC. One of the first runs.

Now I gotta find the 2BK. (2 Bastid Knife - Darrel Ralph and Rob Simonich collaboration in Talonite on an anodized EDC frame.)

ddr.jpg
 
Oh wow. I didn't know that was you, Bastid. I'm pretty sure you and I spoke when I was giving a hand at his main booth. I recall this butterfly knife vividly. Also, thanks for sharing that background on the man. The Apogee I haven't seen in person, let alone in many pictures. That is a rare knife.

Is the EDC you mentioned an older one, or one of the first ones he plans to bring back into production? The few times he has mentioned it, he's said it's in the works.
 
Well now I am kicking myself. We will have to get together next year.

Gus
 
Seriously great thread. Also, that's a GORGEOUS bali. I really like that. Also, well, all of them. Very cool, thanks for sharing.
 
If others have some older knives of Darrel's, feel free to chime in. I'll see if I can dig up a picture of something he made in tribute to Hugh Bartrug who was an early mentor as well as a pioneer with damascus patterns. Darrel has always shown a tremendous amount of creativity to go along with remarkable talent.
 
Very nice collection. I wish I still had my Apogees and EDC's. I must admit, I am a bit green here. While I really like Darrel's new designs, there was just something about these designs. Could just be nostalgia talking. Thanks for sharing.
 
Great Pics, I really enjoyed seeing some of Darell's earlier work. And what a beauty of a Bali:thumbup:
 
Gus,

I thought that I had the only Small Apogee with the Illusion release. Well I do know that mine is one of the first. It's one of the Millennium series of 5 that was made to help support this place. It has some of Darrell's Unfolded Damascus for the blade.

It gets carried regularly and always brings a smile to my face when it clicks open.
 
pyrguy said:
Gus,

I thought that I had the only Small Apogee with the Illusion release. Well I do know that mine is one of the first. It's one of the Millennium series of 5 that was made to help support this place. It has some of Darrell's Unfolded Damascus for the blade.

It gets carried regularly and always brings a smile to my face when it clicks open.
Click to expand...
Pictures, please! :D
 
They are on a computer that died. I might have them on an external drive that is packed away. I'll have a look to see what I can find.
 
Here is a custom build DR made for my wife back in the late 90s. It is also his own carbon damascus:

WP_DR_Wharncliffe.jpg


That blade is "wafer thin" and takes a razor edge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top