Randall 16

Colt6731

Colt6731

Joined
Jan 8, 2002
Messages
1,277
My newest Randall addition arrived yesterday! #16 with some use. Now I just need to find a sheath. This was the first Randall I have aquired since 2000. I have been looking for a #16 for quite a while. I had a really cool company commader back in the early 90's who had one. He was former SF and we all thought he walked on water.
 
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When our son was commissioned into the USMC in 2002, I gave him a #16-1, the "Special Fighter". I'd been paying on it for several years and it came on time. He left it home while dealing with OCS and the following basic school for officers (forgot what they actually call that), but he did bring it along when he was assigned to 29 Palms with a Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) battalion.

Surprisingly, the NCOs there wouldn't let him bring it on field training exercises . . .it was too shiny! More surprises: Randall Knives had no interest in addressing that issue. E-mails and calls . . .no one there had any interest. Here was an active duty Marine in time of war with a real need, and they had no interest in making their signature combat knife relevant to the conflict at hand!

The story ends well though. A local gunsmith who has since passed away, took the knife and bead-blasted all exposed metal to a subdued non-reflective finish . . .and wouldn't let me pay him. The knife was carried every day in Iraq seeing action in Anbar province and Fallujah in 2004. Our son came back without a scratch, but the Randall shows signs of service. He says it opened a lot of MREs and works well as a map pointer.
 
TAH, if you have holster sources for a Model 16SP#1, i.e. A lefty or ambi sheath, leather and otherwise, pls contact me. Thanx in advance.
 
I carried a Kabar in the Marines. Went Ga Nat Guard much later in the late 90's in an Army Long Range Surveillance Unit. Used part of my bonus and got a model 16. It has been carried on numerous jumps and amphib type ops (all training), hunting camping etc. I purchased it with the Randall nylon (kydex insert) sheath mainly due to work around water and a jump safe scabbard. Picked up the pictured Byrd leather sheath at the Atlanta Blade show several years ago. paid $25 to 30 for sheath. Byrd is out of Orlando Florida-might check with them.
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Did you try calling the shop? I bought the nylon sheath separately after buying my model 16 with a wax sheath. I also ordered, through the shop, a leather sheath for my model 16, so I alternate between 3 different sheaths, depending what I am doing, camping, diving, or boating.

Regarding the "shiny" blade, while on active duty, I blued my Randall with ordinary gun bluing, worked great. When I became a civilian again I used crocus cloth to remove the bluing. Looked ok.
 
I'm a super fan of the #16 also,,, and enjoyed the thought on the shiny blade…. I think Randalls job is to build the knife, and for anyone wanting to"subdue" the shine there are many aftermarket easy ways to accomplish that. As an aside, I have used cold bluing to determine that some of my Randalls not marked as such are in fact Stainless steel.
 
I own a model 16 and when I ordered mine in 1964 it was featured in the Randall catalog as a diving knife and that is how I used mine.
 
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