Randall 440 steel

W

willis

Joined
Apr 14, 2002
Messages
740
I have always preferred steels like 0-1 and 1095 but am impressed with the performance of my model 14 and model 8 with stainless blades.The 14 was handed to an idiot who said "i am somewhat of an expert with a bowie knife" as he flipped it and tried to catch it by the tip.He screamed and dropped the knife on the concrete resulting in a couple of dings in the edge which took about 5 minutes with the india stone to fix.I dropped my trout and bird while trying to sheath it one handed without cutting the keeper strap and it hit the concrete tip first resulting in a slightly flattend tip.I was showing it to Ethan Becker in his shop and a few minutes with his 8" Norton fine india benchstone and itwas all pointy again.

I hacked through a 5" diameter poplar limb with the 14 and it shaved arm hair just as easily as before.I used the model 8 to whittle on a seasoned hickory branch this morning and it stayed right with my 0-1 model 26.Easy to sharpen with common stones,good edge retention,and very stain resistant since the 14 has been stored in the sheath for 27 years with no ill effects.

I just shake my head when I hear folks talking about the outdated steels RMK's use.

Here is the Model 8
 
Agreed. My 33-year-old 8-4 in O-1 may have picked up a patina and a couple unfortunate small pits, but its ease of use and performance still make it one of my favorites. I think the collector's market sometimes distracts people from what good 'users' Randall knives are.
 
And here is a pic of the poplar that I hacked through with the stainless mod 14.The pathfinder beside it has the O-1 blade and I have had for 15 years.The pic was taken at Ethan Beckers shop and one of the events at that gathering was a chopping contest and if I remember correctly a Becker Machaxe was used by the winner.The 14 is not a purpose built chopper like the ones most of the contestants used but aquitted itself well and suprised a few folks when it shaved arm hair just as cleanly as it did before hacking through that log.Ethan later showed me his 0-1 model 1and stainless guardian? the Randall boot knife made for undercover police cannot remember the model #.
 
The Guardian is the model 24.
I love the model 14 and still think, even in today's "tactical" market, it's one of the best field knives there is.
 
TAS said:
The Guardian is the model 24.
I love the model 14 and still think, even in today's "tactical" market, it's one of the best field knives there is.
Click to expand...

JEALOUS of my Randall....some scratches













 
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