t1mpani
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2002
- Messages
- 5,523
Ever since 1986 in that theater, I've wanted that knife. With all of my progression in knowledge of design, materials (the original was stainless of some sort) and everything else, that big Marbles/Puma inspired Bowie just always sang to me. There were several over the years that used the name, frequently crappy knives advertised in the back of gun magazines, but they seldom looked much like the original. And, truth be told, the original had some (to my mind) flaws in terms of the design---I don't like pommels or guards that burst out of the handle at right angles, the original guard is kind of overly thick and poorly shaped in my opinion, the hollow-saber grind that only goes up like 1/2" on the original (on a blade that's around 2" wide) really makes for extremely poor cutting/chopping/big knife performance and a fragile edge, and I've never cared for sharpened swedges as I feel they (especially on an inside curve) are all but useless even if you ARE in a fight, and definitely not hollow ground ones as they needlessly weaken the tip.
So, a good while back, I decided to hit up one of my favorite knife makers, Lamont Coombs, and annoy the holy hell out of him by getting him involved in my perfected Dundee knife. I wanted 3V for the steel , stacked micarta discs for the handle (tiny nod towards the old Marble's leather handles but I don't want this to ever shrink or rot), silicon bronze for the guard and pommel since it's just better in every way than brass (except to work with) and a half-height saber convex grind, leaving plenty of room for the extra-wide fuller. A few tweaks to the size and shape to make it more useable and just flow better. I sent him a drawing, complete with dimensions, and told him that plus or minus 0.001" would be plenty accurate.
Oh, and I wanted two of them, one to keep gorgeous and the other to actually murder saplings with, or a crocodile should one ever be attacking a mostly-naked blonde chick in front of me.
It took a long time---not because Lamont doesn't work hard, but because making two IDENTICAL knives out of such unforgiving, PITA materials takes a long time. I won't say how much it was---dreams aren't measured in dollars, anyway. I was just polishing a little tarnish off of the user's blade today and decided that it was time to post them. Lamont's picture taking abilities vastly exceed my own, so what I've included here are his originals.
I've had them for about a year now, or a little less. It's so unusual to receive something and have it be EXACTLY what you wanted. I've since taken the "ugly" one (inside joke, the one with the plainer sheath) and lugged it along on a hunting trip (if we'd gotten a shot, I WOULD have processed the animal with it), as well as numerous hiking trips, and loved carrying every ounce of it. With the swiveling, drop-loop sheaths it actually rides very nicely IWB, angled at 45 degrees at the five o'clock position and pointed at six...I can walk, climb, sit and it's never in my way, and with a jacket or untucked shirt you can't see any evidence of it; so no, I'm not terrorizing other outdoors lovers. I'm just finally carrying the knife that my eight year old self dreamed of those decades ago.
Original first, and then Lamont's effort. Big and heavy? Yes--but less so and more nimble than you think (the 440C version of this knife that's on the market right now is comparatively a joke, balance wise and everything else). Not the best design for a camp knife? No, but very capable and it brings much more joy to me than any more sensible full flat-ground drop point. I won't argue the merits of the movie on any kind of a critical basis--pretty much a fluff piece, but one of these days I'll watch it again, whilst doing exactly what my mother warned me against back then: playing with knives. I expect to enjoy myself thoroughly.
As always, my thanks to Lamont, one of the most talented knife makers I know (and I know a BUNCH), both for his hard work, and his patience with all my emails being typed in a phonetic-Aussie accent.
The original, and the perfected:
So, a good while back, I decided to hit up one of my favorite knife makers, Lamont Coombs, and annoy the holy hell out of him by getting him involved in my perfected Dundee knife. I wanted 3V for the steel , stacked micarta discs for the handle (tiny nod towards the old Marble's leather handles but I don't want this to ever shrink or rot), silicon bronze for the guard and pommel since it's just better in every way than brass (except to work with) and a half-height saber convex grind, leaving plenty of room for the extra-wide fuller. A few tweaks to the size and shape to make it more useable and just flow better. I sent him a drawing, complete with dimensions, and told him that plus or minus 0.001" would be plenty accurate.
Oh, and I wanted two of them, one to keep gorgeous and the other to actually murder saplings with, or a crocodile should one ever be attacking a mostly-naked blonde chick in front of me.It took a long time---not because Lamont doesn't work hard, but because making two IDENTICAL knives out of such unforgiving, PITA materials takes a long time. I won't say how much it was---dreams aren't measured in dollars, anyway. I was just polishing a little tarnish off of the user's blade today and decided that it was time to post them. Lamont's picture taking abilities vastly exceed my own, so what I've included here are his originals.
I've had them for about a year now, or a little less. It's so unusual to receive something and have it be EXACTLY what you wanted. I've since taken the "ugly" one (inside joke, the one with the plainer sheath) and lugged it along on a hunting trip (if we'd gotten a shot, I WOULD have processed the animal with it), as well as numerous hiking trips, and loved carrying every ounce of it. With the swiveling, drop-loop sheaths it actually rides very nicely IWB, angled at 45 degrees at the five o'clock position and pointed at six...I can walk, climb, sit and it's never in my way, and with a jacket or untucked shirt you can't see any evidence of it; so no, I'm not terrorizing other outdoors lovers. I'm just finally carrying the knife that my eight year old self dreamed of those decades ago.
Original first, and then Lamont's effort. Big and heavy? Yes--but less so and more nimble than you think (the 440C version of this knife that's on the market right now is comparatively a joke, balance wise and everything else). Not the best design for a camp knife? No, but very capable and it brings much more joy to me than any more sensible full flat-ground drop point. I won't argue the merits of the movie on any kind of a critical basis--pretty much a fluff piece, but one of these days I'll watch it again, whilst doing exactly what my mother warned me against back then: playing with knives. I expect to enjoy myself thoroughly.
As always, my thanks to Lamont, one of the most talented knife makers I know (and I know a BUNCH), both for his hard work, and his patience with all my emails being typed in a phonetic-Aussie accent.
The original, and the perfected:
Last edited:
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