Randall 5-5

R

rfo1

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Sep 5, 2011
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I thought I'd share information and a few pictures of a Randall that I recently purchased. This one is pretty special to me and has a bit of provenance.I was told it belonged to the late Luigi Peppini, noted author and knife enthusiast. I recently purchased the knife from a dealer on the West Coast. I was told the ivory handle was installed at the time of build, that it has not been rehandled.The excellent photos were taken by the dealer,you may recognize them, I am not that skilled. I am very new to collecting Randall knives and would be curious if anyone could pinpoint the approximate age of this knife.Feel free to post comments.
By the way, this looks to be a great forum, I just joined yesterday.
Rick Owens rfo1 (Canada)

Model5-5.jpg


Model52.jpg
 
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Beautiful knife. Looks like it's of fairly recent manufacture; judging from the pouch, I'd say within the last couple of years or so.
 
Thanks Samael. I guess there's no way of knowing if the sheath is original to the knife. I know it is stamped Model 5 on the reverse. My understanding is the gentleman had a large collection, perhaps the knife and sheath got separated at some point. The dealer included the zippered pouch at time of purchase, I don't think it is original to the knife. I was thinking the knife is of older vintage, perhaps late 90s or early 2000s.
Rick Owens rfo1
 
Interestingly, that "5" stamped on the sheath isn't the model number, it's the blade length. Sheaths for model 1s and model 5s don't have a model number stamped on them, since they're interchangeable.

I'm not sure when the shop started using metal spacers, but if I remember correctly, it was in the late 1980s. The knife is no older than that in any case.
 
Thank you, I assumed the 5 referred to the Model # not the blade length.I learn something new about Randalls every day.
Rick
 
rfo1 said:
Thank you, I assumed the 5 referred to the Model # not the blade length.I learn something new about Randalls every day.
Rick
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Beautiful knife.
If you don't have one yet I highly recommend getting one of Sheldon's books. It is very informative and has some of the best photos you'll see.
 
The #5 is one of the best Randalls, in terms of being a utilitarian blade. My favorite blade lengths are 5 and 6 inches. I own four #5-5" knives, and have photos of two of them:

rmk-5-5-stag-1.jpg


rmk-5-5-stag-plain-1.jpg
 
That's nice Ken, I really like the bottom one!

To the OP, nicely done! I've found Miles to be an easy guy to deal with - you always know what you're going to get.

I'm running low on #5-5's, but agree it's one of the better all around sizes; here's an older one I kept, a basic late 60's model in near new condition...

Shel

QP4.jpg
 
There must be something wrong with me. While any of the beauties posted here would be a dream to own, it's the leather handled "basic" late '60s model that has me drooling.
 
No, you're just going through your "leather handle phase." Wait a while and it will be something else.
 
Samael said:
Good. It should.
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Yes, it can be quite addicting, as this photo from June of 2008 shows. Almost all these knives have found themselves new homes since the photo was taken...

Leather collection.jpg

I've still got the early Jack Crider Special in its JRB sheath with original sales receipt from Jack, and the unusual #25-5 with the Crowsbeak pommel; the rest are long gone...
 
Ok Shel, right side 5th from the top?
 
Oh, he just knocked that one out in his garage. That Shel - always a kidder.

(Looks like a 4-8 to me. Yes, they used to make things with odd blade lengths.)
 
Thanks Samael. That was my guess but every time I've guessed in the past I was wrong. I just opened my book to a random page and happened to be on 236. There is a great shot of a couple there.
 
Ah, so it's RKS4 then. I couldn't really tell from Sheldon's photo. I was mostly right.
 
Yes, yes you were. A few years later, the collection looked like this - the award winning collection we used to display; this quick photo of most of the models and variations was taken after a show, before everything was put back in the safe. Most of these are gone now too. Maybe some day I'll take another group photo, but it would have quite a few holes now...

Collection 10-07.jpg
 
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