Custom Shane Sibert #1 of 2 'Abyss' dive knife

extremesurvival

extremesurvival

Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
198
Ever since I was a kid I've been into knives. Especially survival style knives and even more especially those seen in movies.

After 'Commando' and 'Predator' I was a full fledge knife junkie.

In the summer of 1989 I saw 'The Abyss' in the theater and instantly took a liking to the dive knife used by Michael Biehn as Lieutenant Coffey.
Although the knife gets very little screen time and is never fully shown in it's entirety it was enough to peak my interest and set me on a quest that would last for 20 years.

Over the years I tried to find the maker of the original knife with no luck but my luck changed in 2005 when someone answered my question. Well now I knew who made the knife but he was retired and had only made a handful of the knives for some Navy SEAL's.

I was out of luck until 2009 when I contacted Shane Sibert. I asked him if he'd be interested in making me a replica of the knife. It turns out he's a huge fan of the knife and the movie as well.

Luckily Shane had an old magazine article with a great picture of the knife so we could base the replica on that as well as the screen captures I provided.

Luck again came to be on our side as Shane eventually contacted the original maker of 'The Abyss' knife (George Lainhart) and got his full blessing and endorsement to do my replica.

Shane was not only able to re-create this knife, but do it better than the original. This is no movie prop mind you, this is thing is built like a tank. It's 1/4" thick Crucible S30V steel and weighs over 18 ounces.
The fit and finish far exceeds that of the original.

Anyway, enough rambling, here it is after 21 years, 'The Abyss' Lt. Coffey knife by Shane Sibert. 1 of only 2 ever made. Shane kept the other one.

I even had commemorative patches made up for the occasion.

Thanks for looking.

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Screencaps-
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cool story man, neat knife too. Movies have contributed greatly to the world of custom knives, and one might successfully argue that the current custom knife world owes a lot to 'the movie knife'.
 
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I remember that scene in the movie!!! Wow, what a cool story and such a special exclusive item you have there. Thank you very much for sharing it with us
 
COOL! Is it going to be used as a dive knife? I would be interested to see the sheath.

Peter
 
I knew the original maker back in the day. My buddy had a knife made to his specifications. He then got a job as one of the technical guys on the movie and introduced the maker to the director. IIRC there were somewhere less than 12 knives made. Some were looking good but not functional and others were effects knives like the one used to "cut" Coffey's arm.
 
Hard H2O said:
Is there a reason the grind doesn't go the full length of the blade?
Click to expand...

Yes there is. It was so if the knife was ever taken and used against it's owner, the SEAL would have a chance of grabbing the blade and getting it back. I know it sounds like I am messing with you but it was actually a requested feature when the blade was being designed. I have seen versions that had full edges too but only in print. I have handled original Lainharts and Shanes versions. Way cool blades that are great tools. Funny how sometimes Hollywood gets a prop right with putting a real SEAL blade in an actors hand. I liked Shanes version so much I ordered one of his LS2 knives which is a further evolution on this design. Great history from two great makers!
 
Great project that produced an awesome blade. This sure was up Shanes alley. What kind of sheath design did you go with?
 
Bill Siegle said:
Yes there is. It was so if the knife was ever taken and used against it's owner, the SEAL would have a chance of grabbing the blade and getting it back.
Click to expand...

That is very interesting. If it is there so that a SEAL could recover the blade then couldn't it also serve the same purpose for someone to initially take the blade from the SEAL? I guess the SEAL would know he could grab the blade and the attacker would probably not know about the unground portion and probably wouldn't grabe the blade there.
 
Great knife, like Bill I have talked with Shane at length about this knife and his LS2 and checked them out at his shop. These are wonderful survival knives and Shane is a real modern day craftsman who make hard core knives. In a survivial situation or most any situation I would be very happy to have one of his blades! Congrats.

Eric
 
Thanks guys. I'm very proud of the knife and I can't thank Shane enough for taking on this project.

Oh, I have a kydex sheath for it with dive strap leg tie-downs on it.

I'm planning on making a leather sheath for it as well.
 
At one time I had an original George Lainhart Abyss. I spoke in great length about the design with George. When I received it, I thought the point was broken. I later found out that he made the points rounded for heavy use. I spoke with a very real NSW member who was present when one of these knives broke at the hilt while in use. I guess the issue was resolved by the entire knife undergoing heat treating after the guards were tig welded on.

According to George, he only made a few of the Abyss versions.

He also made a custom machete for the SEAL's that were stationed in Alaska. The Machete would be the same Special Ops Machete that was once made by Camilus Cutlery, but sold through United Cutlery. The custom version had micarta handles and ATS-34 blades.

Having had owned and used the original I like how the Sibert version is a little beefier were the handle meets the gaurd, and also how the guard is much shorter than the original that I had. IMO that is a good thing. The original was very long, but I guess that's how the SEAL's wanted it.

Bill is right in that the blade is designed "so if the knife was ever taken and used against it's owner, the SEAL would have a chance of grabbing the blade and getting it back.".....When I asked George about the blade design I was expecting a high speed answer, but he said exactly the above.
 
Hey guys, just a little update on my Sibert 'Abyss' knife.
Shane has written an article about it in this months issue of 'Blade' magazine!
In it he talks about the knife, refers to me as 'the customer' and even mentions the custom patches I had made up to commemorate the knife!
He also mentions that there are only 2 in existence.
This is amazing. It was 22 years ago that I first saw the knife in the film 'The Abyss' and 21 years since I first saw the knife in a magazine.
Here I am more then 2 decades later looking at pictures of my replica in 'Blade' magazine!
What a trip.
 
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