YO!!!! i just bought a Walter Brend Model 2 Fighter - and I LOVE IT!!

A

anonymous

Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Messages
181
i'm tactical fixed blade freak, & i almost bought the chris reeve green beret till i saw this...

it's partially double edged d2 steel with black micarta scales. it's absolutely the most beautiful blade i've laid my hands on. anyone into high end combat knives should check this one out. the feel of the handle ergonomics is just amazing. this knife is as straight-ahead functional as it is aesthetic.

i'm looking forward to finding more knives like this one. if anyone has suggestions about fixed blade tacticals of this caliber, holler at me & i'll check 'em out.
 
Evidently, there are a LOT of people who agree with you. Myself being one of them. Walter is backlogged a good bit for a good reason. I actually owned one of those fighters for a little while, until somebody offered me a pretty good profit. Still wish I had that Brend though.
 
Originally posted by anonymous
i'm tactical fixed blade freak, & i almost bought the chris reeve green beret till i saw this...

it's partially double edged d2 steel with black micarta scales. it's absolutely the most beautiful blade i've laid my hands on. anyone into high end combat knives should check this one out. the feel of the handle ergonomics is just amazing. this knife is as straight-ahead functional as it is aesthetic.

i'm looking forward to finding more knives like this one. if anyone has suggestions about fixed blade tacticals of this caliber, holler at me & i'll check 'em out.
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Well, for a $1000+ I would think that it would do everything short of vacuuming your house and rebuilding a 327 Chevy engine. :p
 
Originally posted by BurkStar
My Brend Marauder did do everything, except it refused to do windows.
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Well....there you go. Even a Brend doesn't do windows. ;)
 
Originally posted by ichor
Well, for a $1000+ I would think that it would do everything short of vacuuming your house and rebuilding a 327 Chevy engine. :p
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well..

actually i'm waiting for someone to build a knife that a beautiful naked girl jumps out of - on command - but apparently the technology doesn't exist yet ;)
 
Well, off the top of my head, its not that easy to think up another maker of tactical fixed blades in Walter's league, but there are a few, including Hossom, Blackwood, i do like SOME of Strider's custom fixed blades, some i dont like at all, 2 relatively unknown makers who make a very well made fixed blade are David Depmsey and Geno Denning. Their F&F is increcible and prices are good. But, id say, for the lost part, only Blackwood and Hossom compete favorably with Brend, and are even harder to get too. :) Oops, almost forgot Trace Rinaldi! He also makes a great tactical fixed blade and is also a very tough knife to get.

Hossom Reprisal in S30V, micarta and mosaic pins...

Hossom%20Reprisal%20OV.jpg

Hossom%20Reprisal%20Hdl.jpg


Blackwood Ninja in silver G10 and S30V, Mosaic pins...

Ninja%20S%20G10%20Cord.jpg


Ninja with F-18 carbon fiber and Talonite blade...

Blackwood%20M%20Ninjas%20Text%20Inset.jpg


Rinaldi damascus TUK (Tactical Utility Knife) F-18 scuplted carbon fiber and mosaic pins. Very nice knife.

Rinaldi%20TUK%20OV.jpg

Rinaldi%20TUK%20Bld.jpg


Strider SLCC "Nightmare" grind. BG-42

NM%20OV.jpg
 
thanks for the pics mega..

that hossom reprisal looks mighy fine. i'll look into more of his work.
 
Hossom's knives just really catch my eye, I can't wait to handle them in person someday. They just look so purposeful, like they're just looking for something to cut. Brend's knives are very nice too, although they don't quite do it for me the way Hossom's do. Striders have yet to really impress me though, I'm just not a fan of angular, overbuilt knives. Just personal preference, I have no doubt that they're tough.
 
just checked out hossom's site..

actually, there was nothing on the site that appealed to me as much as the reprisal model that mega listed.
 
Originally posted by anonymous
i'm tactical fixed blade freak, & i almost bought the chris reeve green beret till i saw this...

it's partially double edged d2 steel with black micarta scales. it's absolutely the most beautiful blade i've laid my hands on. anyone into high end combat knives should check this one out. the feel of the handle ergonomics is just amazing. this knife is as straight-ahead functional as it is aesthetic.

i'm looking forward to finding more knives like this one. if anyone has suggestions about fixed blade tacticals of this caliber, holler at me & i'll check 'em out.
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Don't get me wrong, anonymous, whoever you are. I loooove your new Brend. However, when I consider that, for around the same money I could have this from Geno Denning

http://bladeart.com/artists/geno_denning/geno_denning.htm

*AND* a Jerry Hossom Massive Retribution

http://www.hossom.com/index_page0004.htm

I'm afraid the Brend will have to wait. But then, if you can look at the Hossom site and say that there's not much there to interest you, we are on a slightly different wave length. That's what makes knives and this forum so much fun. So many knives, so many designs, so many steels, so many tastes, so many opinions. What else would we have to talk about? Ain't it great?!:D
 
I remember that! It was profiled in Blade magazine last year, Strider, Hossom, Mayo, and Simonich all went together on a huge table at Blade, they called it the Badlands Booth. They had a contest to see who could make the baddest bowie, and that was Strider's entry. I think it was voted the winner by all of the participants too, and it's one of a kind, he doesn't plan to do another.

PS, there may have been one other at the booth too, I don't have the article on hand so I can't check. If I forgot one, I'm sorry! I remember for sure that all of the knives I saw in that article were absolutely incredible, gorgeous pieces, all of those guys have amazing talent.
 
I find Strider's customs to often have a lot of art to them, some i really like, some i dont. His fit and finish is not, IMO, at the level of Blackwood, Hossom and especially Brend, but i find he often has very imaginative grinds that "do it" for me. Like his famous (infamous?) Nightmare grind, im not alone, he cant make them fast enough.

I agree too that i dont like every Hossom i see, but a few of them really appeal to me. The Reprisal is one, my newest Hossom, the "Combat Stiletto" is basically a Reprisal but much larger, here's a pic of it with a DE 5.5" blade of CPM 3V.

attachment.php
 
ichor - the knives you linked are nice pieces, but i favor designs that are a bit more utilitarian & less artsy. however, i can certainly appreciate the art involved.

mschwoeb - holy smokes, that's some wild blade treatment.. definitely a showpiece, still too artsy for my taste; but it does make attempts to pry open my mind beyond the realm of pure function.

Megalobyte - whoa, another nice hossom in your collection, eh? i see you too favor the more simple designs amongst his line.

fishface5 - now these are some knives i'd wanna get. simple powerful lines, rugged & functional, beautiful.

anyone live near solvang california? there's a joint called nordic knives.. they have a good selection of custom fighters. check out the harold corby (top row middle as of this posting), i almost got it instead of the brend. those who favor more art in a blade might like it:

http://www.nordicknives.com/knife_type/fighters.html
 
Originally posted by anonymous
ichor - the knives you linked are nice pieces, but i favor designs that are a bit more utilitarian & less artsy. however, i can certainly appreciate the art involved.....................

............anyone live near solvang california? there's a joint called nordic knives.. they have a good selection of custom fighters. check out the harold corby (top row middle as of this posting), i almost got it instead of the brend. those who favor more art in a blade might like it:

http://www.nordicknives.com/knife_type/fighters.html
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I think it's possible to have a blade with some "art" to them but still be as functional, or more functional, than "simple" designs.

Quote Jerry Hossom: "For tactical knives, like my Millennium Fighters and Combat Knives, the same fundamental shape keeps the point centered, inline with the handle and the direction of thrust, making the blade less likely to be deflected and achieving most of the qualities of a good dagger, but with a more useful cutting edge.

The full tang, with a single piece of steel running the length of the knife and tapered to reduce weight, provides enormous strength. And by adjusting the amount of taper and other variables, this also permits the knife to be accurately balanced almost anywhere the knifemaker wishes. Balance, balance, balance...the most subtle attribute of a good knife. When properly balanced even a very large knife will feel light, and move almost effortlessly."

I think Hossom would have a lot more to say about whether his knives are more "art" than function.

That Harold Corby (at Nordic Knives) is a very nice knife (And I like that plain old-fashioned leather sheath) but for that kind of money I think I'd select something other than 440C.

Knifes I prefer on this page (in addition to the Brend) is the Ray Cover, to the left of the Corby, and the Rob Patton, just below the Brend. Let's face it, this page has something for nearly everyone to like.

For pure function, and dollar for dollar value, I find this "Combat Special" forged by Greg Covington, very hard to beat at $275.

http://www.covingtonknives.com/combatspec.htm

My 2 cents. YMMV

;)
 
Originally posted by ichor
I think it's possible to have a blade with some "art" to them but still be as functional, or more functional, than "simple" designs.

Quote Jerry Hossom: "For tactical knives, like my Millennium Fighters and Combat Knives, the same fundamental shape keeps the point centered, inline with the handle and the direction of thrust, making the blade less likely to be deflected and achieving most of the qualities of a good dagger, but with a more useful cutting edge.

The full tang, with a single piece of steel running the length of the knife and tapered to reduce weight, provides enormous strength. And by adjusting the amount of taper and other variables, this also permits the knife to be accurately balanced almost anywhere the knifemaker wishes. Balance, balance, balance...the most subtle attribute of a good knife. When properly balanced even a very large knife will feel light, and move almost effortlessly."

I think Hossom would have a lot more to say about whether his knives are more "art" than function.

That Harold Corby (at Nordic Knives) is a very nice knife (And I like that plain old-fashioned leather sheath) but for that kind of money I think I'd select something other than 440C.

Knifes I prefer on this page (in addition to the Brend) is the Ray Cover, to the left of the Corby, and the Rob Patton, just below the Brend. Let's face it, this page has something for nearly everyone to like.

For pure function, and dollar for dollar value, I find this "Combat Special" forged by Greg Covington, very hard to beat at $275.

http://www.covingtonknives.com/combatspec.htm

My 2 cents. YMMV

;)
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nice feedback & insight from jerry h... i've noticed my brend blade does in fact appear subtly tapered from base to tip as well..

you're darn right about the corby's 440C shortcoming [er, softcoming?!].

i checked out the covington model, and believe it or not, it doesn't fire my light aesthetically..

i've handled the patton, and as much as i like the blade, the ergognomics of its carbon fiber scales are horrible.

ichor, have you ever handled a model 2 brend? holler back @ me when you have, i'm sure you'll report a drop in your funds of approximately $1300.00 ;)

heh..

keep the gems coming y'all.
 
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