I don't recall exactly when I got this 5-6. It would have been in the early 1990s. Call it 1992, but it could have been plus or minus two years. I don't think Bo Randall was still living when I ordered, but I wish he had been.

I have always been a lover of knives. I was aware of Randall from knife magazines, etc. I wrote off to the shop and got a catalog in 1989, which I still have. As many of you will know, there weren't as many hand-made knives available then. Randalls were thought to be the ne plus ultra.

Delivery for a knife ordered in September, 1989 was for May, 1991. I didn't order this knife right away, but mulled it over for some months. You might say I even agonized over the choice, although that exaggerates a little, and finally ordered this knife. It came in about that same amount of time - 30ish months. The catalog price was $200; $175 for the knife and $25 for stag. I have a 1995 catalog as the next one I got, and the delivery time was up to five years by then.

I have used it, a little. Mostly, I carried it in the woods as a general purpose knife. It does have a nice piece of stag, although now I would prefer a little straighter piece of stag. I probably wouldn't order a 6" knife for a user any more, either.

I didn't get another for quite a while, when my wife got me a model 8 with a stag handle for Christmas. That one was in stock at A.G. Russell. The collection has grown since then.