- Joined
- Apr 5, 2002
- Messages
- 777
Bill sent them over a few days back, and my wife got them on Wednesday, and she brought them over to CT where I was staying with family.
She kept urging me to open them, because she was just as excited as I was.
Just a little description: These 2, righty/lefty, matching dog-bone style Hell's Belles. Bill told me that these are the ONLY matching pair that he's ever made, designed specifically for the right and left hands, in order to incorporate my FMA-sinawali work with my Keating/Bowie work. Bill also included his trademark sheaths, which he and his wife had made.
In a few short words: These are masterworks. I am in complete awe of his craftmanship, as the knives "speak" to me, in terms of how it works with my backcut flows/snap cuts, etc. The sheathes are beautiful because they had tanned the leather in such a way that they look like old filipino barong sheathes. They look like they're made of redwood, when in fact they are made of leather.
Now, on to the blades: these blades were custom made for my build (5'9", 180lbs., athletic), so they are actually slightly HEAVIER than the Ontario Hell's Belles.
But the BALANCE of the knives is simply...baffling. The knives move so well in my hands that they actually ANTICIPATE the next movement with little to no effort on my part. If I finish one movement, the knife "moves" into the next movement, and initiates the third. With NO EFFORT.
Bill, being a practitioner of Keating's bowie methods (and has since developed his own) is highly aware of the movements that bowie knife practitioners practice and utilize. This may explain the "anticipation" that these knive seem to posses of it's masters intentions.
Of course, it's hair-popping sharp. The sharpest knives I've ever received, including spydies and cold steels. Bill warned me to be extremely careful training with them because they're designed to cut "clean through", and one mistake could be costly to my healthcare provider.
The other interesting thing I noticed: these knives act HEAVIER in movement. They're quite light when still...but when I throw a snapcut to someone's imaginary chin, you can FEEL the thud, the entire blade just sinking into its target.
I treat these custom blades like samurai swords or medieval swords: I'm not going to be clearing brush or chopping wood with these babies. When I asked Bill if these knives "could" do such chores, he said that they most certainly could.
There are other subtleties and details to these knives that make them extremely unique as edged-weapons. Bill has asked me not to go into detail with them on a public forum, as he said he made them specifically for my martial background. Nothing dark-ops or anything like that, but he prefers that they be unique to me, as he has no intentions of repeating them for anyone else.
In summary, the wait was well worth it. I am extremely proud to own such wonderful masterworks.
Cheers,
4 Ranges
She kept urging me to open them, because she was just as excited as I was.
Just a little description: These 2, righty/lefty, matching dog-bone style Hell's Belles. Bill told me that these are the ONLY matching pair that he's ever made, designed specifically for the right and left hands, in order to incorporate my FMA-sinawali work with my Keating/Bowie work. Bill also included his trademark sheaths, which he and his wife had made.
In a few short words: These are masterworks. I am in complete awe of his craftmanship, as the knives "speak" to me, in terms of how it works with my backcut flows/snap cuts, etc. The sheathes are beautiful because they had tanned the leather in such a way that they look like old filipino barong sheathes. They look like they're made of redwood, when in fact they are made of leather.
Now, on to the blades: these blades were custom made for my build (5'9", 180lbs., athletic), so they are actually slightly HEAVIER than the Ontario Hell's Belles.
But the BALANCE of the knives is simply...baffling. The knives move so well in my hands that they actually ANTICIPATE the next movement with little to no effort on my part. If I finish one movement, the knife "moves" into the next movement, and initiates the third. With NO EFFORT.
Bill, being a practitioner of Keating's bowie methods (and has since developed his own) is highly aware of the movements that bowie knife practitioners practice and utilize. This may explain the "anticipation" that these knive seem to posses of it's masters intentions.
Of course, it's hair-popping sharp. The sharpest knives I've ever received, including spydies and cold steels. Bill warned me to be extremely careful training with them because they're designed to cut "clean through", and one mistake could be costly to my healthcare provider.
The other interesting thing I noticed: these knives act HEAVIER in movement. They're quite light when still...but when I throw a snapcut to someone's imaginary chin, you can FEEL the thud, the entire blade just sinking into its target.
I treat these custom blades like samurai swords or medieval swords: I'm not going to be clearing brush or chopping wood with these babies. When I asked Bill if these knives "could" do such chores, he said that they most certainly could.
There are other subtleties and details to these knives that make them extremely unique as edged-weapons. Bill has asked me not to go into detail with them on a public forum, as he said he made them specifically for my martial background. Nothing dark-ops or anything like that, but he prefers that they be unique to me, as he has no intentions of repeating them for anyone else.
In summary, the wait was well worth it. I am extremely proud to own such wonderful masterworks.
Cheers,
4 Ranges
If not I'll take a shot.