On Randall knives

As someone who has only recently become interested in knives, Randall's history is somewhat meaningless to me. I don't know their whole story. This is the story I see. A 5 year wait for a knife with a higher cost and lower quality steel. Yes it's handmade, but it's not handmade by the person who emails you and drops it off at the post office.

This probably won't be a popular opinion, but I'd rather that bladeHQ exclusive Bugout in 20CV shipped overnight for slightly more than half the cost of a Randall. Or many of the customs I see for sale from knifemakers here.
 
dryflytrout said:
As someone who has only recently become interested in knives, Randall's history is somewhat meaningless to me. I don't know their whole story. This is the story I see. A 5 year wait for a knife with a higher cost and lower quality steel. Yes it's handmade, but it's not handmade by the person who emails you and drops it off at the post office.

This probably won't be a popular opinion, but I'd rather that bladeHQ exclusive Bugout in 20CV shipped overnight for slightly more than half the cost of a Randall. Or many of the customs I see for sale from knifemakers here.
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Have you ever handled a Randall knife? They don't make folders. What I say is "different strokes for different folks".... The more the merrier!

Randall knives history is interesting. You should look into their history.
 
Garbage. I bought a brand new Model 14 from that alleged "Captain" in Florida who is an authorized dealer.
The edge was butter knife dull.
The tip was blunt.
The blade looked like it was polished with a Brillo pad.
The blade stock was barely over an 1/8th of an inch thick.
The blade length was short by a 1/4 inch.
The Randall stamp on the blade was a black smear.
There were holes in the micarta where it met the exposed tang.
The brown wrapping paper was for a Model 1 knife.
I never received a bill of sale for the knife.
The knife was shipped loosely wrapped in old newspaper.
Immediately after receiving it I called the Randall shop, and spoke with Michael Randall himself about the above issues. He asked where I got the knife from. I told him the Captain, and all he would say was "send it back" over, and over. When I asked as to why the shop would send out a knife with all these obvious flaws he just kept screaming "SEND IT BACK" over and over. He never gave me any answers to my questions, except that the holes in the micarta were from air bubbles in the epoxy to glue the handle on, and then got so mad, and loud that I hung up on him, and vowed to never ever buy a Randall Knife again. I also did some research on that alleged "Captain" in Florida, and found out that he sells factory seconds for "shop price". I'm sure that is what I bought. The knife was eventually sold for what I paid, and I was glad to get rid of it. It was an embarrassing example of a knife, and I will never own another Randall, or recommend them. They suck.
 
One knife does not make a company.... If it was so bad, why would anyone pay you what you paid for it?

My Randall's were purchased years ago. I do like the classic Randall look. I have been buying Blackjack classics as a substitute for my Randall cravings. I have been pleased with them. They are all in A-2.
 
22-rimfire said:
One knife does not make a company.... If it was so bad, why would anyone pay you what you paid for it?

My Randall's were purchased years ago. I do like the classic Randall look. I have been buying Blackjack classics as a substitute for my Randall cravings. I have been pleased with them. They are all in A-2.
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True, but when an example is as bad as the one I had, and I call the shop for answers, and I only get a shitty useless response from the owner of the company I'm done. I paid $410 for it brand new. A collector wanted it, so I said give me what I paid. He said fine peeled off the cash, and walked away with the knife.
 
dryflytrout said:
Yes it's handmade, but it's not handmade by the person who emails you and drops it off at the post office.
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I don't know, which is better or worse? A team of 5 or 6 guys making a knife by hammer and tong, free hand grinding it, etc.... or a knife by one man that gets a lot of its handwork done by cnc, then chucked into a blade grinding jig for the final grind etc....? People like to go on about handmade, etc...., but there are a lot more mechanical hands in the picture now with most big time knife makers.

Even back in the old days makers had partners, shop boys, students, etc.... that were hardly spoken about to keep the mystique going.

In the end, just buy what you like.
 
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I've been to the shop. It was a light rainy day. There is no big sign and you turn into a drive that goes through an orange grove. A fox ran across the drive. The shop is a low building that was built piece meal. Windows open and the grinders could be heard. There was about 8 cars in the lot, mostly American metal with some muscle. From the front anteroom you could see a man putting the final edge on a knife using a large benchstone. I saw more Scagels in their museum than in the rest of my life. That was an education :)

Randalls truly are handmade in a shop, not parts from subcontractors assembeled in an industrial park. Randalls are made by cutlers. I don't own any because I have no use for their patterns, but I'd love to buy a Triathalete ;)
 
Scottyj, Not sure why you are so upset at the Randle Factory? They told you to send it back, and then you find out that the man who sold you the knife at best "Misrepresented" what you were buying. What else could they do but tell you to send the knife back, and did they say they would replace it? If they did say they would replace the knife you got, it sounds to me they were doing the right thing. John
 
scottyj said:
Garbage. I bought a brand new Model 14 from that alleged "Captain" in Florida who is an authorized dealer.
The edge was butter knife dull.
The tip was blunt.
The blade looked like it was polished with a Brillo pad.
The blade stock was barely over an 1/8th of an inch thick.
The blade length was short by a 1/4 inch.
The Randall stamp on the blade was a black smear.
There were holes in the micarta where it met the exposed tang.
The brown wrapping paper was for a Model 1 knife.
I never received a bill of sale for the knife.
The knife was shipped loosely wrapped in old newspaper.
Immediately after receiving it I called the Randall shop, and spoke with Michael Randall himself about the above issues. He asked where I got the knife from. I told him the Captain, and all he would say was "send it back" over, and over. When I asked as to why the shop would send out a knife with all these obvious flaws he just kept screaming "SEND IT BACK" over and over. He never gave me any answers to my questions, except that the holes in the micarta were from air bubbles in the epoxy to glue the handle on, and then got so mad, and loud that I hung up on him, and vowed to never ever buy a Randall Knife again. I also did some research on that alleged "Captain" in Florida, and found out that he sells factory seconds for "shop price". I'm sure that is what I bought. The knife was eventually sold for what I paid, and I was glad to get rid of it. It was an embarrassing example of a knife, and I will never own another Randall, or recommend them. They suck.
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Some years ago I bought a Randall from the same “Captain”. The knife was supposed to be a “special edition” with lignum vitae wood for the handle. In a few months the handle cracked. I managed to fix it with epoxy and sawdust, a little tint, sanding and oil. Looks great, you can’t see the cracks (and they were rather significant). He had offered to fix it for a hundred bucks or so. I’ll never again buy anything from the so-called “Captain”, but my opinion of Randall was not affected by the bad experience with the seller.
 
I ended up with a #1-7 with leather handle in a black market bundle deal when I was in Europe on the Czech border ''74-'76 . A number of "perishables and other goods" changed hands but I held on the the Randall.
It was my nightstand blade for 45+ years before being taken in a home burglary about 4 years ago. I was pissed, I checked every pawnshop within 50 miles to no good. The dumb ba%#ard didn't even take the sheath.
Blackjack made a very nice repro of the 1-7.
KV
 
DrRollinstein said:
Why would I need to lock in a price? Not taking 5 years would considerably help with any price changes.


Speaking of which, does anyone know of some custom makers with a similar style to the Randall knives? I really dig the classic military knives.
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Blackjack made a number of very good Randall repros. The 1-7 and 1-5 in particular. O-1 or A-2 iirc.==KV
 
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I have Randall’s and like them as part of my collection, but I have the same models from Blackjack and the Blackjacks are much better from a performance standpoint.
 
I have a couple of Randall’s and use to have many more. They are solid useable knives with decent sheaths. I remember a really good day when I visited the shop and told them that I wanted to order a model 18 and they told me that they had just made a run of them and handed me one on the spot. The epoxy was still drying and they told me not to use it for a day or so.

But, for me there are better knives out there. The biggest problem I have with them is the handle. They are solid but too rounded or blocky to be really ergonomic. I ended up trading and selling most of the knives for more comfortable custom knives.

n2s
 
scottyj said:
Garbage. I bought a brand new Model 14 from that alleged "Captain" in Florida who is an authorized dealer.
The edge was butter knife dull.
The tip was blunt.
The blade looked like it was polished with a Brillo pad.
The blade stock was barely over an 1/8th of an inch thick.
The blade length was short by a 1/4 inch.
The Randall stamp on the blade was a black smear.
There were holes in the micarta where it met the exposed tang.
The brown wrapping paper was for a Model 1 knife.
I never received a bill of sale for the knife.
The knife was shipped loosely wrapped in old newspaper.
Immediately after receiving it I called the Randall shop, and spoke with Michael Randall himself about the above issues. He asked where I got the knife from. I told him the Captain, and all he would say was "send it back" over, and over. When I asked as to why the shop would send out a knife with all these obvious flaws he just kept screaming "SEND IT BACK" over and over. He never gave me any answers to my questions, except that the holes in the micarta were from air bubbles in the epoxy to glue the handle on, and then got so mad, and loud that I hung up on him, and vowed to never ever buy a Randall Knife again. I also did some research on that alleged "Captain" in Florida, and found out that he sells factory seconds for "shop price". I'm sure that is what I bought. The knife was eventually sold for what I paid, and I was glad to get rid of it. It was an embarrassing example of a knife, and I will never own another Randall, or recommend them. They suck.
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I've owned a number of Model 14's and 15's over the years. I actually carried a 15 in Viet Nam for few missions back in 68-69. I have never seen one that would fit your description of being "barely over and 1/8-inch thick." Are you sure you have an accurate measurement on that spine?
 
Scottyj,
The man simply said return it and your pissed. Sorry dude, I don’t get it.
Why didn’t you simply return it. Being from south Florida I’ve seen the fat man many times at gun shows, never saw him as anymore than a little fat man
 
John A. Larsen said:
Scottyj, Not sure why you are so upset at the Randle Factory? They told you to send it back, and then you find out that the man who sold you the knife at best "Misrepresented" what you were buying. What else could they do but tell you to send the knife back, and did they say they would replace it? If they did say they would replace the knife you got, it sounds to me they were doing the right thing. John
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I called the Randall factory because I wanted answers to the questions that I had. They built the knife, so I figured they could answer my questions. Especially when I spoke to Michael Randall himself. He was no help. All he offered to do was tell me to return it to the Captain. I did not want to send the knife back to that Captain in Florida, because I did not, and do not trust him. No bill of sale was sent with the knife, it was very half assed wrapped, and shipped, and I did not feel he would do right by me.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
I've owned a number of Model 14's and 15's over the years. I actually carried a 15 in Viet Nam for few missions back in68-69. I have never seen one that would fit your description of being "barely over and 1/8-inch thick." Are you sure you have an accurate measurement on that spine?
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Sadly my measurement was correct. Upon receiving the knife it just looked weird. like something was off. It just looked thin. So I measured it, and the blade tang was consistently closer to 1/8" thick than the advertised 1/4" thick. I also measured the length of the blade from tip to guard, and it was also 1/4" short. I got the impression that an "apprentice" built my knife, not an experienced builder.
 
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