Siegle SAR-4

[River-8]

All I can say is Wow!!!

Rather speaks for itself

4" blade, 8 7/8" OAL, about 1/4" 5160, w/black canvas micarta.

Oh; and scary-sharp...

Best,
8

 

[tknife]

That is sweet. Bill makes a helluva tough blade too. Was it to your specs?

 

[Bushman5]

droooool! very nice!

 

[tonym]

Very cool knife! I like the high Saber grind!

Let us know how she performs, allthough I have only heard great things of Mr. Siegle's knives.

Enjoy!

 

[Shotgun]

That's a hefty little guy. Cool.:thumbup:

 

[River-8]

... Was it to your specs?

Yup; but several SAR types had input, started out as a sketch on a white board
in the EOC after some field ops, and kinda grew from there.

I'll try to find a working drawing posted elsewhere.

There were a couple of proto-types, which wound up in the hands of fellow
SAR freaks !!

Oh, and; psst - there are MORE of them out there ...!

Now off to make some pants...

Cheers,
8

 

[norcalblacktail]

Very nice...interested in seeing some in hand shots.

 

[kgd]

I like the blade shape of that one a lot and the point looks very sharp. Maybe you could give us a little breakdown on some of the features designed for SAR. For example, the pommel area of this knife is very pronounced - is there a reason for it? Was the very deep finger notch a requested feature? It seems like it might limit grips but maybe that isn't a concern.....Just curious given that this knife was designed by a team of people for a set of applications.

Thanks,

ken

 

[kdstrick]

Wow... that thing is built like a TANK! :thumbup: Go beat the hell out of it and give us a full report.

 

[Dunner]

That knife is the shiz :thumbup:. Fits the hand perfectly. Fits the function/task perfectly. I need to get in touch with Bill

 

[pitdog]

That looks awesome, I'm not a fan of finger notches but I guess that feature was voted in !

 

[Dunner]

Bill made some without the pronounced index area. It definitely feels like home for me but a lot of us like this because we usually carry bigger knives and are used to choking up into the choil area (i.e. Busse, Swamp Rat).

 

[cjag]

Great looking beast. Last time I contacted Mr. Seigle he wasnt taking orders. May be time to check again.:thumbup:

 

[Bill Siegle]

Glad you guys like it River-8 was kind enough to share his designs with me and through a couple protos and a lot of patience othe the SAR guy's part we got a real workable design. I am a big knife guy but this one is stout enough to easily keep me confidant if it was all I had. Paired with a chopper of some sort , there isn't much you couldn't get done. The finger groove looks deep but in the hand I don't find it to limit different grips much. What I do find is that it gives you that very secure feel similar to what you get by wrapping a finger over the front guard on other knives. I am very happy with this design

 

[Mr. Clean]

$$$?:d

 

[rpn]

Reminds me of a mini-Ash

 

[Rockywolf]

I like it. Why the longish butt? I have long admired Bill's work, just don't own anything from him...yet.

 

[River-8]

Here's a shot of it laying on a scanner, so there should be no lens distortion:

... give us a little breakdown on some of the features designed for SAR.

Keep in mind I am NOT a knife expert; not sure I know the ricasso from the pommel ...

The overall design premise was to put a stout cutting edge securely in the hands of a SAR type.
Since about '01 and a Camp Tramp, through a Ratweiler and now a Heavy Heart, I've come to
appreciate a useable choil on a larger blade.
On smaller knives, like the Howling Rat, the useable choil makes less sense to me, seems to
add length without purpose... Mind you; I truly LOVE the Howling Rat!!
However *comma* while using the choil, I found the back of it served to enhance my grip,
rather like a sub-hilt(?)...

Through gentle field testing of the proto-types, the less-pronounced 'finger grove' provided
grip stability, and suggested beefing it up - the results are VERY satisfying!!

The jury may still be out on limiting grip options, but as yet I don't see that...

The big, flat butt is a feature I've found useful since my K-Bar(?) days; either pounding
with the knife, or on it. Extending it forward adds to grip-security, and finger protection.

Some SAR missions have had an element of stress associated with 'em, so a design consideration
was stoutness; as compressed time-lines often produce the need for immediate, aggressive action...
it pains me to admit that the niceties of elegant, refined technique have sometimes been abandoned
in favor of more robust activities; battering about with all-and-sundry (people and equipment) to
accomplish critical tasks...

I have no doubt this knife is up to those tasks :thumbup: !!

Nicely done Bill.

8

 

[Bill Siegle]

Here is a pic of the final design and one I did without the finger groove. I prefer the fingergroove one myself The large pommel area provides a nice "hook" to keep the knife secure in the hand(especially with large gloves on). It also provides a nice wide stiking suface for light hammering if needed. The last thing the wide pommel does is it gives a nice area to push on with your palm if you are drilling or pushing the blade straight into some material.

 

[kgd]

Great comments River-8, exactly the kind of experiential information I was hoping that you would provide.

The blade shape immediately appealed to me and I wanted some more info about the handle. No surprise that robustness is a major requirement for your work where you might be called upon to do everything from digging to prying as the need arises.

When I first saw your photo, the blade shape struck me on how similar it was to one of my Breeden knives, except for the handle on mine missing the attributes of the SAR4.