Hi Paladin.
Glad to hear you got the knife and liked it.
This knife is indeed an imposing knife. Which lead me to make my comments to DrJ in the Crawford thread.
The intial design was done by Col. Rex Applegate, the fixed blade version had been approved by the US Military to become a issue knife. As the Case V-42 and the Wilkinson Faribain/Sykes dagger proved to excell at what they were designed for. However, they did not serve the general needs of the soldier who carried them. Their tips broke to often. Enter Col Applegate, with his design.
TJ Yancey made some custom versions of this knife. Al Mar then made it and now Boker makes it.
The folder showed up at the Guild Show in 1994. That was the first time I talked with Butch face to face. I was so impressed with this Tactical Folder (remember at that time there were only a few makers regularly making tacitcal folders), I ordered 20 of the knives then and there.
The makers who worked on this knife are Butch Vallotton and Bill Harsey.
The knife has been sold out for years.
There was no special packaging, there was no lanyard there was a basic black nylon sheath.
The blade steel is ATS-34, Titanium frame and grooved black micarta scales, ambidextrous thumb stud and double edge. As Paladin has said, the knife is designed so you can dispose of a problem without opening the knife. Especially, if you understand how to use and apply a Kubotan!
Personally, I think this the best pure figthing folder made.
Note, this knife is illegal to carry in probably every state in the US. As it's blade length and double edge will get you in trouble with most LEO's.
You have to remember this knife was designed by a guy who had seen years of combat and had personally killed people with a knife. His ideas were not based on chairborne fantasies.
He had been there, done that, and had all the T-Shirts.
So, it was not designed to be in a PC world who view self defense as just that. Self Defense was described to me in two ways.
First, my first Karate Instructor was asked during an interview "what is the difference between self defense and Karate.
He replied, a man is walking his girl friend home. He is approached by three men who threaten he and his girlfriend.
Self Defense...he runs away.
Karate..he puts all three men in the hospital.
Second definition: Joe White, Sniper School instructor with the 101st Airborne (highly decorated SF Vietnam Vet and sniper).
At 0530 one morning, waiting for the sun to come up. We watched a Battalion run by for morning PT. Joe turned to me and said, do you know why the Army runs so much now? I replied "for physical fitness".
He smiled and said, "No, they are practicing man's oldest form of self defense...running".
He then said, "they run, because they no longer know how to shoot"!
Paladin, if you have any other questions, you may want to contact Butch Vallotton directly.
Guys, if you see one of these around, you might want to pick it up and put it in your collection.
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Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
