Skyhawk Bolo

[Bill Siegle]

Here is a proto I’m going to play with a little bit more I think. I’ve named it the Skyhawk Bolo. I was searching for pics of a Vietnam era knife and came across a pic of a Bolo that an A-4 Skyhawk pilot carried with him. I was immediately struck with the shape of the blade! It appeared more knife like and general purpose than many Bolos. I grabbed some steel and went to work! I used 1/4in 5160 and natural canvas Micarta. The blade has a bit of distal taper to the blade that helps make it quick to move. It weighs in at 19oz and I could easily see it being useful in almost any environment I could imagine myself in. The blade is 10 3/8in tip to scales and it’s 15 5/16in overall. Initial test cuts in the shop have me smiling with this design so far! I’ve included a pic of the original Bolo.

 

[stabman]

That looks great!
At that weight and length should be easy to carry around, and useful for getting stuff done.

 

[caine]

Reminds me of the jEST

 

[rio]

Awesome Bill as always that is a beast , very nicely done.

 

[Bill Siegle]

Reminds me of the jEST

The original has definitely got the JEST look. I would not be surprised to hear the original blade was picked up in the Philipines.

 

[jfk1110]

Great job... Looks like a fun blade....

 

[Retired UPS Driver]

Bill, your proto Skyhawk Bolo looks amazing and perfect. I have no idea how you could improve it.

Can’t wait till you decide to put it into production. I’ll give you an immediate “I’ll take it”.