Randall Knives..Are the new as good as the old?

[fight4right]

I want to purchase a Randall model 2. Are the current production knives good? I have never owned a Randall before and would like to know a little before I decide to spend the money. I really don't care about the collector value. I just want a nice fixed blade.

Also would it be better to get the handle with the leather washer, stag, or micarta?

Thanks for the help.

 

[TOMBSTONE]

Buy a Randall made knife without reservation my friend,quality is top notch. I've owned/Purchased Randalls over the past 15 years,and I've always been happy with the quality in their knives.I have never noticed any decline in quality in any of the knives I've purchased.Randall craftsman take knife making very seriously and if a customer isn't happy with the finished product you can be certain they stand behind their product and will correct any problem with your knife,and they won't be happy until your satisfied.As far as handle options,that depends on personal preference and what the knife may encounter in use.The most durable handle material that is offered is of course micarta.I don't really care for leather stacked handles.Stag has a nice feel and is a long time great looking classic handle material.Stag is also very durable.I have seen alot of old hard used knives with stag looking as good as ever,sometimes in better shape then the blade.Thats my two cents,Ralph

[This message has been edited by TOMBSTONE (edited 12-20-2000).]

 

[Crayola]

Handles are all about preferences, as Tombstone said. If you intend to use this knife, micarta will be the most durable. If you like the leather look, go leather. Stag has been banned for export from India last I heard, so, if you are wanting a collector and can get stag that may be an interesting and prudent idea. Me? I'd take micarta!! I don't collect to resell, I collect to drool. I have a pic of a #2 with yellow micarta handle that makes me drool a lot!

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"Come What May..."

 

[UffDa]

I have owned a dozen or so Randalls since 1960 and IMHO the current knives are much nicer then the old ones. The grind lines are straight and the bevels are even.

The only Randall I have now is a #1 made in 1950. The grind lines are wavy and uneven and the choil is very badly done, but I love it.



[This message has been edited by UffDa (edited 12-20-2000).]

 

[Son of Triglav]

I have a Randall knife,standard model 14 "attack".It was purchased in 1997,directly from their website(btw it was delivered to me in two or three weeks ).The first thing I've noticed was how beautiful the knife was.Grind lines are remarkably straight for a knife which was made manually,finish(satiny) is very beautiful also.The knife is quite functional too.Despite the thickness of a blade,it cuts things surprinsigly well.For example it cuts bread,meat without any problems,almost as good as kitchen knives I would say.Ofcourse kitchen knives cut salami better. I have to say that for normal uses,I'm really impressed by the bevels of a Randall knives (I assume all their knife have the same bevel,or at least very similar).I have also done some wood( ) choping with it,needless to say that Randall 14 performs more than good at chopping. Now a couple of complaints. Out of the box , the knife was not really sharp as one would expect for 235 USD (without VAT added).I was also a bit bothered with cutting edges (secondary bevels),which weren't symmetrical, I mean they were not of the same width(depth) and were also uneven. I would expect more attention at sharpening for that price. And the second complaint(which I've discovered much later),is that the steel of the knife appears to be a bit too soft.Some time ago, I used a spine of the knife to hit a small rivet,in order to fasten it.At first I hesitated to do this.I did it out of curiosity I guess. I didn't use much force,I would even say I did it gently.But as a result of this,there were a couple of small indentations,marks on the spine's edge.
I hope this helps.

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