I guess as most of us age we have more money to buy shit we really don't need, lol.
Finding myself in this position lately I find myself looking at Randalls web site and ordered his catalog.
Are his knives that good? Or is it simply they are so expensive people perceive they are better?

No, they're not the best, they're not even top tier IMO. However, he (Bo Randall, now deceased) was among the first "custom" knife makers, and produced many designs, original or not, that became industry standards. In short, nostalgia and demand by the less informed are what allow them to charge their prices, not being the best available.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
No, they're not the best, they're not even top tier IMO. However, he (Bo Randall, now deceased) was among the first "custom" knife makers, and produced many designs, original or not, that became industry standards. In short, nostalgia and demand by the less informed are what allow them to charge their prices, not being the best available.

What Gato said.
Randall knives are NOT anywhere near the top of the heap as far as knives go. But, Bo Randall did a great job of marketing his knives, where they now have a huge following of customers who THINK Randall knives are the best. Their reality just happens to be untrue. I personally looked at dozens of Randall knives, and found blade tips that were not in the center of the blade, and finish in general is third rate with scratches in the blades.
I have two friends up here who have Randall knives, and when they actually saw the difference beetween their knives, and knives that I made, wanted theirs to look like mine. So, I reworked theirs into first rate knives, which they are both happy with. But, it took me about 5 hours of hand sanding and buffing to get them right.
From the factory, Randall knives are second rate overall, maybe third rate.
But, Randall has a cult like following who BELIEVE their Randall's are the best.
And, they are WAY over priced for what you get.

Don

Hi Snowwolfe,

Randalls are great knives when it comes to holding and or appreciating in value.

Quality? Well they are ok but certainly nothing special. I can make a better quality knife than Randall does but it probably wont appreciate in price like a "real" Randall.

I have always felt that they were a factory made knife posing as a custom. Buy them and enjoy them but be assured that you are paying for "brand equity" rather than flawless grinds and finish.

However, take a few to a knife show and see if anyone is interested. You can probably sell a truckload of them for $100 over catalog price.
Not many brands or makers can make that claim.

Good luck with your decision.
Let me know if you need a nice Model 1 Special Fighter 7 inch SS.

Scott.

Thanks for the responses and the information.
What about Gene Ingrams knives?
I am considering spending about $300 for a nice knife and may buy more than one. Please post web sites of makers if you can in your respsonses.
I appreciate it.

quote:

No, they're not the best, they're not even top tier IMO

I'm not disputing this at all, but I would like to know, which are the top tier knives?

By the way, I was just doing the same thing (looking at his website and ordered his catalog). If you ordered today, you can expect delivery in the fouth quarter of 2012.

That's right. A 5 year wait if you order from the factory. If you want it now, check EBAY.

quote:

Originally posted by GA DEER HUNTER:
By the way, I was just doing the same thing (looking at his website and ordered his catalog). If you ordered today, you can expect delivery in the fouth quarter of 2012.

That's right. A 5 year wait if you order from the factory. If you want it now, check EBAY.

Is that 5 year wait for an Ingram, or a Randall?

Don

There is a trio of custom Mississippi knife makers who make very similar knives with their individual differences, of course. They are David Winston, Charles May, and Gene Ingram. I've heard (stress HEARD, which doesn't make it true) that Winston got Ingram (and maybe May, not sure about that either) started in knife making. At this point, Ingram has more of a following than the other two. They all three make excellent knives. I have a set of Winston's he made for me in S30V (unusual for him) and I am very pleased with them. He had Gene Ingram do the heat treating for him, since he said that Gene was more familiar with S30V.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3. Ingram may have more appreciation potential.....MAYBE. His prices are a bit higher than the other two the last time I checked.

quote:

Is that 5 year wait for an Ingram, or a Randall?

A Randall. From the Randall Website FAQ:


Are your knives available for immediate shipment?
Unfortunately, we do not have knives available from stock. Demand is generally so great for all models that we normally have a backlog of many months. Currently, we are scheduling knife deliveries for fourth quarter 2012. Randall order limit is one knife every three months per household. Effective November 1, 2007, the limit on extra features that may be ordered on a knife has been set to five chargeable features

Thanks for the tips. I am in the final stages of ordering a couple of knives from Gene. I read a lot of great comments about his work.

quote:

Originally posted by GA DEER HUNTER:

quote:

Is that 5 year wait for an Ingram, or a Randall?

A Randall. From the Randall Website FAQ:


Are your knives available for immediate shipment?
Unfortunately, we do not have knives available from stock. Demand is generally so great for all models that we normally have a backlog of many months. Currently, we are scheduling knife deliveries for fourth quarter 2012. Randall order limit is one knife every three months per household. Effective November 1, 2007, the limit on extra features that may be ordered on a knife has been set to five chargeable features

Thanks.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
There is a trio of custom Mississippi knife makers who make very similar knives with their individual differences, of course. They are David Winston, Charles May, and Gene Ingram. I've heard (stress HEARD, which doesn't make it true) that Winston got Ingram (and maybe May, not sure about that either) started in knife making. At this point, Ingram has more of a following than the other two. They all three make excellent knives. I have a set of Winston's he made for me in S30V (unusual for him) and I am very pleased with them. He had Gene Ingram do the heat treating for him, since he said that Gene was more familiar with S30V.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3. Ingram may have more appreciation potential.....MAYBE. His prices are a bit higher than the other two the last time I checked.

I personally wouldn't hesitate buying a knife from any one of those three guys. And, S30V is about as good as it gets for edge holding.
However, I would want a knife made to a design that supports the use of the knife. Translated into better words, if I want a hunting knife, I want a guard on it, or a positive way of preventing the hand from slipping forward out over the blade when the knife is in use. Have heard of too many accidents as a result of not having a guard.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
There is a trio of custom Mississippi knife makers who make very similar knives with their individual differences, of course. They are David Winston, Charles May, and Gene Ingram. I've heard (stress HEARD, which doesn't make it true) that Winston got Ingram (and maybe May, not sure about that either) started in knife making. At this point, Ingram has more of a following than the other two. They all three make excellent knives. I have a set of Winston's he made for me in S30V (unusual for him) and I am very pleased with them. He had Gene Ingram do the heat treating for him, since he said that Gene was more familiar with S30V.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the 3. Ingram may have more appreciation potential.....MAYBE. His prices are a bit higher than the other two the last time I checked.

Thanks for the information but I could give a hoot about appreciation on a knife. I am buying them to be used and to be passed onto my son.

Hype!

DMB:

Well, I tend to agree with you a bit about the guard, but in fact, a guard should really be used mostly for fighting type knives that are sometimes used to "Stick" an opponent where you might hit something or to protect the hand against his blade. I like a grip design with the choil protruding just a bit and with a "hole", not finger grooves, for the index finger of the hand, but find a guard to be unnecesaary for experienced users on hunting knives. I don't jab what I'm cleaning, or skinning, or cutting up for that matter. How many guards are there on butcher knives?

As an added thought to Snowwolfe, I had David Winston NOT use the little cut out at the end of the blade that he normally has on his knives. He said "Well, I may not be able to sharpen it as well all the way down." I said, I'm not concerned about the last 1/8 inch of blade being razor sharp but I don't like the little cut hanging on hide or tissue. Without looking, I'm not sure Ingram does that (CRS syndrome) but a lot of makers do and if he does, you should consider having the same done on your knife. It serves no purpose and can be an annoyance while using it IMO.

Gato,

At 10,000 ft elevation, with snow on the ground, and doing a Deer or Elk, the hands get slippery, and have been know to slip from the handle up over the blade doing max damage to the tendons of the fingers. Then, a long horseback ride back to the hospital is called for with the hand wrapped tightly to keep it from bleeding all over the place.

Don

BMB,
This is why we wear the rubber grip kevlar gloves sold by Cabelas. Best $12 I ever spent.
Gatogordo. Thanks for the tips. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Snowwolfe, I have a bunch of Gene's knives and have bought 12 or so from David Winston. I guess that's a bunch from himn too....Both awesome quality.

Gene has done a memorial knife for an annual hunt we do several times, and David did this past years for us. Just great stuff.

Gene doesn't like to get very far from his standard blade shapes which I suppose makes a lot of sense, it's the only reason he's ONLY done about 35 knives for me

I can't recommend these guys highly enough!

For a production knife that rivals the quality of the best, but are pricey--William Henry's are nice. They (William Henry) went through a period some time back, like '02 where their quality wasn't that great, but that's long gone now, they make some fine stuff. Lone Wolf makes some 'semi-customs' that are nice, reasonable $, I've got a couple of loveless designs from them with burled walnut that are just awesome. I also have a couple with micarta handles that are sweet too. Top quality for sure.

Sorry for the ramble, but as to Gene or David, great stuff, great guys.

I recently purchased a Martin knife from a friend who owns Randalls, Martins, and other quality knives. The Martins have quality steel (S30V), are very well made, and they will make them to your preference. They start around $320 and are tuff knives with collector potential. You might take a look. jbok http://www.martinknives.com/index.html

This is gonna get expensive really quick! I just ordered a knife from Lee Perkins and am working out the details to order three from Gene Ingram and one from Charlie May!
Damn, I hate these forums!

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
This is gonna get expensive really quick! I just ordered a knife from Lee Perkins and am working out the details to order three from Gene Ingram and one from Charlie May!
Damn, I hate these forums!

You won't be disappointed with those knives at all.

Don

To me the ultimate hunting knife is a vintage "Pumaster Steel" Puma White Hunter. It is my favorite. A close second is a Cold Steel "Master Hunter" with a Carbon V blade.
jnc91

I like this guys drop point hunter model. reasonably priced and tough.

http://www.norfleetcustomknives.com/knife_gallery.htm

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
BMB,
This is why we wear the rubber grip kevlar gloves sold by Cabelas. Best $12 I ever spent.
Gatogordo. Thanks for the tips. Makes a lot of sense to me.

Seems a bit silly to me to buy a knife you then have to protect yourself from.....far to many truly good knives out there that will do the job and leave your fingers intact, cold, wet, muddy, greasy, etc.

Randall knives have transcended their purpose...

They are nice but by another name half the price.

I have purchased 2 of them as gifts and they were received well.

most randall knives dont get much use not that they could not take abuse.

they are not my cup of tea but are nice.

I would rather have one of my own creations...

I'll keep my Randall and keep using it. Had it a long time and hope to keep it until I'm done.

To be quite honest here, Randall knives do get the job done, no question about it. They use good steel, heat treated properly, and have good stag handles.


Don

I have owned several Randalls and they are nice knives, but are worth more as a "collector" knife than a using knife, IMO. I have one large bowie left that is documented to have been made by Bo Randall before his death.
I like to use factory knives, that way if I happen to lose it, or it gets "liberated" then I am not out several hundred dollars and possibly a multi year wait to get it replaced.
When push comes to shove I can't tell that much difference between a hand made knife and a good factory knife for practical purposes. For fit, finish and appearence, you can't beat a hand made, but for utilitarian purposes I personally can't tell that much difference.

Congomike is spot on with his assessment.

Back in the early Mid-sixties two pieces of equipment every Grunt in 'nam wanted were a Swenson modified 45ACP and a Randall Knife. Supposedly somebody cut their way out of a crashed Chopper with a Randall and the story spread after that. Is it true? Hells bells if I know. But the reputation spread like wildfire.

I never figured out why you'd have to cut your way out in the first place. Very seldom we ever flew with the doors on. I never did.

They were great for cutting open Flak Jackets in case of emergencies. And I seen a Combat Medic use one for surgery. They also opened Ration Cans Lickety Split.

Actually the Marine Combat Knives of the day were just as good I thought. And they were free. I still got mine.

Best wishes, Bill

they are well-made, steeped in history, and REALLY hold their value on the secondary market

quote:

Randall knives are NOT anywhere near the top of the heap as far as knives go. But, Bo Randall did a great job of marketing his knives, where they now have a huge following of customers who THINK Randall knives are the best. Their reality just happens to be untrue. I personally looked at dozens of Randall knives, and found blade tips that were not in the center of the blade, and finish in general is third rate with scratches in the blades.

Back in the 60's and the 70's, if you wanted a decent knife, you had to purchase a custom knife.. Randall was one of the few.

Factory knives were thin, metal was often poor and would not take an edge, handles were short, scabbards almost cardboard. The Kabar was about as good as you could get.

At the time, Randall made a durable knife, his designs were good, and his carbon steel knives took a good edge. The scabbards were durable, the handles substantial. A Randall was a better knife to rely on than the average factory knife. The stainless knives were from 440C, which was better than the factory 420 equivalents. However, his stainless knives would not take an edge as sharp as the carbon steel.

I used to go by Randall regularly in the 80's and 90's. The shop had knives for sale, basically knives that folks had ordered but did not pay for.

In the eighties, you could examine a bunch, and maybe one out of five was worth keeping. Grinds were off, I want an edge to be in the center, and I would find edges that wandered all over the place, lopsided grinds on the guards. However by the 90's, every knife was looking pretty good. I have not purchased a Randall since then, I understand they have changed their stainless steels to stuff like ATS-34 or the AUS steels, but they were way behind the market.

Behind the door you could see High School, College kids, maybe Randall got some to stay long enough that by the 90's they were making good knives.

Because people want Randall's like Bo use to make them, Randall designs have not changed much. There was a time when they were innovative, but now, they are "classic". The Randall #1 design is copied by all sorts of makers, so Bo Randall deserves a lot of credit for an excellent design, and one that has staying power.

It is my recollection that around the late 80's, factory knives really started improving. Today's high end factory knives are the best that have ever been. The steels are great, the stainless steels are the best ever, the variety, materials, and heat treatments are better than ever. There are lots of brands and lots of choices. Life is good.

I used to carry a Randall trout and bird, but the thing got scratched up, and if I loose it I am out $$$, so I carry something cheaper in the woods. Usually a Cold Steel blade.

I will stick with my forged Randalls too. I think most of the custom knives today are made by stock removal which is OK but I will still stick with my Randall and Corbet Sigman knives. Thanks...Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
To be quite honest here, Randall knives do get the job done, no question about it. They use good steel, heat treated properly, and have good stag handles.


Don

quote:

Originally posted by Pegleg:
I'll keep my Randall and keep using it. Had it a long time and hope to keep it until I'm done.

+1 . I like mine and I've got four more on order.

I am not a collector of knives, I am a user.

I have a few Randalls that I use.

One thing that seems to stand out about the Randall, is that when you handle one they feel alive.

They have great balance and "feel".
They also cut very well, stay sharp, and are easy to keep sharp.

And I do know a "little bit" about cutting meat, I used to be a butcher.

Randall are excelent knives ,nobody will discuss that ,and their number one design is beautifull ,but i prefer to leave them behind a glass and daily carry my cold steels or yarara .Juan

I have many Randall made knives. Two are used regularly and the others sit in a safe for my son and his children to use, look at or to sell if they desire.

I've read a lot of bull in this thread about the knives not being worth the price but from personal experience I can say that they are indeed worth the price that they bring. I'm speaking of those knives where the blade is made of the tool steel that Randall uses. They stay sharp and they're tough.

Somewhere in this section of the site there is a thread that has a few pictures of some of my Randall knives should you want to take a look.

You can find them on Ebay and some on-line stores and you'll pay a premium for immediate delivery.

You might not be happy with a particular design for personal reasons but you can't argue with the quality and sharpmess of one of their tool steel blades.

TH

quote:

Originally posted by Trouthunter:
Somewhere in this section of the site there is a thread that has a few pictures of some of my Randall knives should you want to take a look.

There are some pics of yours in this thread.

Very nice!

Randall knives seem pretty popular with collectors here in the UK, but it seems the older the Randall the more collectable they are..

I have to confess Randall are not my cup of tea and of the Randall knives I've seen, I've often ended up admiring the quality of the leather sheath rather than the knife it self!

The knives themselves do seem pretty bomb proof, but I simply don't like the style of their design/construction..

Personally as far as blade shape goes, I like a Loveless drop point design or a variation there of, and like DMB I prefer a handleof a design and material that offers good grip when its wet; no slick wooden handles or similar for me!

I currently use the Linder Knife below, and would love to get a custom knife of a similar basic shape, but with a number of small refinements and in a better steel...


Below is another Linder which is very similar but but slightly larger and it uses ATS 34 steel and that is streets ahead of the 440 steel in the one above...


My only problem is that it was a present and although I use it, if I lost it it would be irreplaceable, so the Linder with the 440 steel pictured above tends to get used the most..