Comtech Crosada

N

nopenope47

Joined
Sep 25, 2022
Messages
4
Hey I just made this account at the advice of a few people on r/knives. I found a comtech crosada by James Keating recently. I know I'm not a gold member so I'm not asking for an appraisal or anything at the moment. If it is something worth getting appraised or potentially has value I will gladly pick up gold to get advice from all the experts here. I mainly just wanted to share it at the moment. I found it at a yard sale covered in rust and a combination of grease and dirt. I cleaned it up with just a non abrasive kitchen sponge and soapy water and then a vinegar dilution. Eventually a maker's mark showed up and I looked the knife up being blown away by what and who I found. Idk how many people here have seen James Keating's YouTube channel but it's kind half awesome half hilarious.

Here are some bad pictures of the knife.
https://imgur.com/a/bbAGWXy
 
Very nice yard sale find. i remember those from probably 25-30 years ago. There was a brass blade catching gizmo that slid through that hole in the tang for your knife dueling fun. Not a practical knife for me, but very cool and historical within the knife community for sure.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums .

That's a heck of a find.

Based on the blade markings, yours is a "James Keating design" made by Dozier Knives. At the very end of the top edge you can see the remains of the Dozier Knives mark. The Crossada was made by a few different custom knife makers with James Keating's name marked on the blade giving credit to him as the original designer.

In "excellent" condition those sell for a lot. Unfortunately yours is not in "excellent" condition.

I don't want to talk you out of purchasing a Gold membership, but if you go to Arizona Customs and look up "Keating (Comtech), James" under "Knives by Maker", you will see several Crossada's and what they have sold for over the past several years. But make note of "condition", because that counts for a lot.

I don't see any reason to have it professionally appraised.

Any chance you would say how much you paid for it? I'm just curious. And it makes "found at a yard sale" more interesting.
 
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tknife said:
Very nice yard sale find. i remember those from probably 25-30 years ago. There was a brass blade catching gizmo that slid through that hole in the tang for your knife dueling fun. Not a practical knife for me, but very cool and historical within the knife community for sure.
Click to expand...
Yea I actually emailed with Keating. He said they are called quillions, I guess for extra blade catching. This is a Dozier made (I guess that's a guy who worked with comtech) model in A2 steel.
 
killgar said:
Welcome to Bladeforums .

That's a heck of a find.

Based on the blade markings, yours is a "James Keating design" made by Dozier Knives. At the very end of the top edge you can see the remains of the Dozier Knives mark. The Crossada was made by a few different custom knife makers with James Keating's name marked on the blade giving credit to him as the original designer.

In "excellent" condition those sell for a lot. Unfortunately yours is not in "excellent" condition.

I don't want to talk you out of purchasing a Gold membership, but if you go to Arizona Customs and look up "Keating (Comtech), James" under "Knives by Maker", you will see several Crossada's and what they have sold for over the past several years. But make note of "condition", because that counts for a lot.

I don't see any reason to have it professionally appraised.

Any chance you would say how much you paid for it? I'm just curious. And it makes "found at a yard sale" more interesting.
Click to expand...
I paid 40* bucks for it. It was next to a bucket of rusty sockets and it just looked like it was pulled out of the mud. Cleaned up super well and then saw it was an expensive blade and stopped cleaning it immediately. The edge is actually still very well alligned and super sharp so I'm currently really impressed with this blade material. I talked to Keating about it and he said I should keep it and practice sumkete or sell it to someone for a nice profit and let them worry about "restoration".
 
nopenope47 said:
I paid 40* bucks for it. It was next to a bucket of rusty sockets and it just looked like it was pulled out of the mud. Cleaned up super well and then saw it was an expensive blade and stopped cleaning it immediately. The edge is actually still very well alligned and super sharp so I'm currently really impressed with this blade material. I talked to Keating about it and he said I should keep it and practice sumkete or sell it to someone for a nice profit and let them worry about "restoration".
Click to expand...

Ha, even in used shape you did great on it. Dozier was the first maker to build them, circa 1995ish, I think he wandered off from it simply because it was a big time consuming knife to make, then it went to other makers, and other variations emerged.

The July 1995 issue of Fighting Knives Magazine has a long 5-6 page article on its introduction and its development, if you keep it, it might be worth finding -

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/fighting-knives-magazine-lot-20-1757984097 - You can see the cover here, 4th pic.

Also, maybe ask Dozier what it would cost to clean it up, he might be willing, and the value added would be better than the money spent.
 
killgar said:
Welcome to Bladeforums .

That's a heck of a find.

Based on the blade markings, yours is a "James Keating design" made by Dozier Knives. At the very end of the top edge you can see the remains of the Dozier Knives mark. The Crossada was made by a few different custom knife makers with James Keating's name marked on the blade giving credit to him as the original designer.

In "excellent" condition those sell for a lot. Unfortunately yours is not in "excellent" condition.

I don't want to talk you out of purchasing a Gold membership, but if you go to Arizona Customs and look up "Keating (Comtech), James" under "Knives by Maker", you will see several Crossada's and what they have sold for over the past several years. But make note of "condition", because that counts for a lot.

I don't see any reason to have it professionally appraised.

Any chance you would say how much you paid for it? I'm just curious. And it makes "found at a yard sale" more interesti
Click to expand...

tltt said:
Ha, even in used shape you did great on it. Dozier was the first maker to build them, circa 1995ish, I think he wandered off from it simply because it was a big time consuming knife to make, then it went to other makers, and other variations emerged.

The July 1995 issue of Fighting Knives Magazine has a long 5-6 page article on its introduction and its development, if you keep it, it might be worth finding -

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/fighting-knives-magazine-lot-20-1757984097 - You can see the cover here, 4th pic.

Also, maybe ask Dozier what it would cost to clean it up, he might be willing, and the value added would be better than the money spent.
Click to expand...
I emailed Dozier and asked if they could work on it. I'll update with their response. Thanks for the advice.
 
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