Make sure you've got a safety circle cleared when that big blade flips out! It's a truly creative mind that can take a simple technical concept and make it truly their own through interpretation, and Darrel has genuinely succeeded. There's no mistaking either Mike's concept, or DDR's face in the design.
I know that Mike considers it a huge compliment to have Darrel think highly enough of his pivot/stud/guard arrangement to use it in his own knives. When I told him that DDR wanted to talk to him about a collaboration, the giddiness in his voice was unmistakeable. Mike considers himself almost a hobbyist, and that a knifemaking "celebrity" had become enamored with his work was wonderfully validating.
An issue of Tactical Knives about 5 years ago opened my eyes to custom knives, and in that issue was a feature on Darrel Ralph as well as a "hot item" photo of a knife by an English maker named Mike Lamprey. They were two of the first custom orders I ever placed, and to this day, both the knives and the makers remain among my very favorites. That I would have progressed to the point where I could facilitate the two of them talking and collaborating is still almost unbelievable to me, and it's an incredible thrill to see the product of that collaboration.
That there's more coming down the road makes ME sort of giddy!
PS - Can I have my knife back now, Darrel?
