Blade Blasphemy: Are Randall Knives Users?

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VorpelSword

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Are Randall knives EDC users? Will they stand up to daily field use? Tough enough for a professional guide or his helper who does all the field dressing?

Will a Randall #1 fighter be durable enough for a deployed warfighter?

Are they as tough as any of the newer generation of premium knives made from S35VN or one of the other premium high alloy steels?
 
I believe innovation stopped some time a for Randall. If you would be satisfied with a Buck, Marble, Kabar etc from 50 years ago you would be satisfied with a Randall. An Esee is far better for knife stuff, based on handling and very lightly using a Randall.
 
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A sharp piece of metal has been sufficient in warfare for over 10,000 years. The pocket knife I use daily is a design well over 200 years old. There's absolutely no reason the design and materials used by Randall are deficient for daily hard use. I carry one of mine fairly often, although my experience has been that I do not need, nor did I use, a blade over 4" in the field (or in 33 years in the military) as much as I would a smaller blade. Randall knives were designed to be used. they would never have gained their reputation if they did not do that well.

It constantly amuses me to see knives from famous makers collected (although I am one of those who collects them). I laugh at myself too. It amuses me to think that a tool is "collectable" because it's such a great tool; but it's not going to get used as the maker intended.

Buy a Randall. Use it. It will outlast you and you will be better for having used it.
 
Stone, sharp or not, as been used well over 100,000 years. Metals for approximately 10,000.
"The Bronze Age is a historic period, approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC"

You are exremely far from any truth ...
BTW in Americas it was many Centuries LATER !!
 
The only reason Randalls are collectable now is because they built a reputation as well made and long-lasting knives. I'd wager my Carothers DEK1 is a better performing knife than anything Randall makes, but the Randall is still gonna be a solid working blade just like they always have been.
 
Randall made knives aren’t wall hangers by any means, so they should hold up nicely if put to work. However, 440B won’t hold up nearly as well as S35VN, but it is plenty capable for most cutting tasks.
 
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IMO nowadays you are paying for the Randall name and their legendary designs. There are hundreds of other fixed blades that have better steel, better coatings, and better sheaths for less money. Plenty of those are made in the USA too.

I think you could use any Randall and be ok, but other knives will do it better and for less money. Plus the Randall will need to be sharpened more often.
 
Eisman: I thank you for and respect your 35 years of service.

I sent our son off to Iraq in 2004 with both a Randall #16-1 "Special Fighter' and a Chris Reeve "Green Beret". During their [Pre-deployment work=up at 29 Palms, "THEY" wouldn't let him bring the Randall into the field because it was too shiny for the desert. I contacted Randall Made several times by -mail and over the phone about coating the blade or dulling the finish. I was looking for an OEM modification or even just a maker approved third party fix. They had no interest in any of that.

That is when I went out and bought the CRK at a premium retail price.

Got the Randall back and took it to a local gunsmith who carefully bead blasted the metal parts down to an even dull grey finish. He refused my money.

At different times, both knives were carried for weeks at a time outside the wire. The "after-action debrief "was that the CRK seemed to be a more rugged tool than the seemingly more delicate Randall; both of them then at a comparable price point. Regarding the CRK: "I think I could dig a quick fighting position with it.". There is plenty he won't talk about, so he may have.
I be,ieve innovation stopped some time a fo for Randall. If you would be satisfied with a Buck, Marble, Kabar etc from 50 years agomyou would be satisfied with a Randall. An Esee is far better for knife stuff, based on handling and very lightly using a Randall.

That is my current opinion too.

Historically, the Randall repudiation is based in real world events., But, just as the M-1 Garand was the world's best battle rifle in 1945 as described by Gen. Patton, so the Randall #1 was a world class combat knife. Both have been superseded by weapons of modern design produced with superior materials.

Randall Made is resting on past glories, not innovating for the present or future.
 
Haven't any of you guys ever bought an antique car?
Sure: the newer stuff is vastly superior... but the old iron can still do the job!


I own and use several vintage and/or antique cameras. However, I would not send a warfighter off into harm's way with one. There are other imaging instruments I;d send, but not my Leica M-3 of my Speed Graphic. Both were models that have been used in combat theaters, but today there are much better cameras for that.

Same with EDC cutlery for the warfighter in an active combat zone.

Randall Made is no longer "there" for the tip-of-the-spear..
 
comparing randalls to old cameras and cars is silly. randalls don't have moving parts and suspensions, changeable lenses and delicate pieces etc.

they worked very well at cutting stuff knives cut back in the olden days and......amazingly enough that same stuff they still work incredibly well at cutting it today. hasn't changed at all.
 
Whether O-1, or 440B, Randall knives are just as good as any other knife at knife jobs. That would be cutting stuff, or poking holes in stuff that didn't come from the factory with enough holes(this includes enemy combatants). While they weren't necessarily designed for digging, heavy chopping, or hammering into a wall or tree to use as a step, they have been used for all of these things. And they're easier to resharpen in the field than many of the newer alloys. It's a fact, lamentably, that the majority of Randall Made knives these days go to collectors. This doesn't mean that they're no longer viable combat blades. It just means that there are newer alloys that might do some things better. This is where cutting technique becomes more important than brute strength.

There really is nothing new in knife design, everything has been done before. In some cases, a design was too far ahead of its time, and had to wait for technology to catch up to fulfill its potential. But, no matter whose name is on it, or what alloy is used, a knife is just a tool for cutting stuff. Everything else is gravy. Whether one wants to actually use it for its intended purpose, or not, is a very personal decision, and there are merits to both viewpoints. But, if you choose to use a Randall, you'll find it's just a good quality cutting tool with an old-school vibe. Hell, my boots cost me almost as much as a Randall Model 1, and I wear them every day.

If my commander would not let me carry a Randall because it was too shiny, some Birchwood-Casey cold-blue paste is an easy way to take care of that, and a blued Randall looks nice! For a 440B blade, I'd use a black sharpie. EASY to touch up in the field....
 
Warning with points issued for insults.
You are incredibly dense if you believe bronze was the first metal used. Mankind was smelting metals long before bronze alloys were invented and tools made from beaten metals were used prior to smelting.
Sure you was there :^D
Or just read some woketardists brave new history ???
 
I’m thinking that an appropriate Randall model in the hands of a soldier that knows/cares about knives is a better combination than what 99% of our service people currently use. If anyone is feeling gloomy now that they don’t own a “tip of the spear” knife, shoot me a message and I’ll make you an offer on that old piece of junk. ;)
 
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