Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,027
Almost a decade ago now I wrote an email to Morgan Taylor,who was the President of Taylor Brands at the time. I questioned his logic behind the knife designs he was producing at the time, the logic in his steel choices for them, and his logic in country of origin. Considering how poorly most of the new ones performed compared to the old Schrades I had carried and used thoughout much of my earliest wilderness studies in the 80s. His response the next morning was to call me out on it, and give me the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge and ability or shut me up (no he didn't word it that way). Having been a knife fan all my life, having designed a few for hand made knife makers over the years, and having modified a LOT of knives to suit my needs over the years, I had already drawn out a few knives that I felt would be better suited, design wise and steel wise, to bear the moniker "Extreme Survival" that they were using for a specific section of their knives. So when he responded the next morning calling me out on my thoughts, and asking how I would like to design a few knives for him I immediately sent one of the drawings to him. This drawing pictured with the knife that came from it.
It went into production almost 9 years ago, and this is the thread on that.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finally-got-the-production-model.684806/
Soon Len McDougall, also being an old school Schrade fan himself, wanted to check it out. He put it through some extreme tests and then wrote it up in Tactical Knives magazine.
Today, nine years later, I have a centerfold of my designs in the Schrade catalog, pictured here with a Golden Spike just like the one I carried through countless miles of wilderness studies.
And one of them has even made the cover of Knives Illustrated.
But the quiet celebration this weekend is about the very first one. Because although they currently have it incorrectly listed as being 1095 "stainless" steel and the 1095 is obviously not stainless (yes I have written them emails about that), that knife is currently the #1 Best Selling Knife in fixed blade hunting knives on a very large venue most of us are familiar with.
And in honor of that, my constant companion and I took a quiet moment to process it all and the long winding road through chaos and insanity that lead there. And then to raise a glass in thanks for life and the unknowable mysteries within it, and for the friends who make our world a better place and help us with our challenges and struggles through this series of events we call life.
Cheers!!
.
It went into production almost 9 years ago, and this is the thread on that.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/finally-got-the-production-model.684806/
Soon Len McDougall, also being an old school Schrade fan himself, wanted to check it out. He put it through some extreme tests and then wrote it up in Tactical Knives magazine.
Today, nine years later, I have a centerfold of my designs in the Schrade catalog, pictured here with a Golden Spike just like the one I carried through countless miles of wilderness studies.
And one of them has even made the cover of Knives Illustrated.
But the quiet celebration this weekend is about the very first one. Because although they currently have it incorrectly listed as being 1095 "stainless" steel and the 1095 is obviously not stainless (yes I have written them emails about that), that knife is currently the #1 Best Selling Knife in fixed blade hunting knives on a very large venue most of us are familiar with.
And in honor of that, my constant companion and I took a quiet moment to process it all and the long winding road through chaos and insanity that lead there. And then to raise a glass in thanks for life and the unknowable mysteries within it, and for the friends who make our world a better place and help us with our challenges and struggles through this series of events we call life.
Cheers!!
.
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