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#27113 - 10/07/07 08:00 AM Knife of the Week! RMK Model #1!!! ***
vklough46 Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 10/15/05
Posts: 1649
Loc: Boogie Wonderland

Every week we will have a different RMK model on which to focus. And hopefully, many knives shown and much knowledge gleaned.

Here we go!!!
Week one, Model 1

"By the first part of 1943, the Zacharias-Randall design had mutated into an early style of the All-Purpose Fighting Knife. This fighter, years later designated as Model 1, has been changed surprisingly little with the passage of time. Knives being made presently look much the same as their grandpappies of World
War II days. The name All-Purpose Fighting Knife was much too long for Bo's record book, so he shortened it to simply 'Fighter' and also used this name in correspondence with servicemen. The name stuck, and to this day his Model 1, with its distinctive semi-bowie blade, brass double hilt, leather washer handle, and aluminum butt cap is recognized the world over as 'The Randall Fighter'."
--from Randall Made Knives: The History of the Man and the Blades, by Robert L. Gaddis.

Lady and Gentleman, may we please see some Model 1's, and share some Randall knowledge.
Kevin


Edited by Chief (09/17/09 05:14 PM)

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#27114 - 10/07/07 10:04 AM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: vklough46]
vklough46 Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 10/15/05
Posts: 1649
Loc: Boogie Wonderland
Dubie's Model 1. Thanks for sharing.
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Genesis 27:3

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#27115 - 10/07/07 11:34 AM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: vklough46]
Sheldon_Wickersham Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 09/14/05
Posts: 868
Loc: Montana


To that end; Dubie states in in your other thread, that the knife above was ordered (or delivered) in 1982. At first I was gonna cry foul on that date, as the sheath is a 'loose-stitch' JRB, more typical of the mid 1980's and on...

But, the spacers are right - and it's been documented that M. Johnson had purchased a second 'loose' stitching machine in the early 1970's (I wrote 'in 1974' in our book, but now believe that it was more likely by mid 1973); a stitching machine that he used infrequently on larger sheaths throughout the remainder of the 1970's and early 1980's...

Maurice did, however, use the loose stitching machine almost exclusively on the smaller sheath patterns during this period; with his son Johnny Johnson later using this machine for the majority of his sheath production, from the mid 1980's into the very early 1990's...

I digress, back to Dubie's knife & sheath...if you look at Johnson sheaths from the 1980's, you'll quickly notice that the stone pockets made by father & son have a different appearance...Maurice's are usually flat and squared like the one shown on Dubie's sheath, while Johnny's are usually more 'rounded' on top, giving the stone pocket a bowed look, on most example's seen...(I'll post an example pic later)

IMO, Dubie's 'loose stitch' Johnson roughback sheath was made in the early to mid 1980's by Maurice Johnson when his primary stitching machine was on the fritz (a recurring problem by this time), and thus matches the date given...cool knife, unusual sheath...


Edited by Chief (09/17/09 05:15 PM)
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If all else fails, punt...

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#27116 - 10/07/07 11:39 AM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: Sheldon_Wickersham]
7033grip Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 10/10/05
Posts: 5148
Loc: Winter Haven, Florida
Shel, the owner of the knife had his name and 1982 etched onto the blade after he picked it up. If you blow up the autographed pics, you might be able to read it.

I agree about the sheath. I've seen another just like it, with what appears to be really white thread. It was also on an early 80's #1-7.

Dubie
_________________________
Dubie Baxter
RKS #5099

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#27117 - 10/07/07 11:41 AM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: 7033grip]
Sheldon_Wickersham Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 09/14/05
Posts: 868
Loc: Montana
That's awesome Dubie, thanks for sharing this one and getting the Model of the week thread kicked off in style
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If all else fails, punt...

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#27118 - 10/07/07 11:47 AM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: vklough46]
Chief Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 12/05/05
Posts: 5413
Loc: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
This is my the 1st model 1. This picture is 3 months before it went to iraq, I'll have comparison pictures a couple weeks before Christmas! D.J. said that a lot of the guys with "time" in wanted to see it & or buy it.

See Ya, Chief


Attachments
25970-Stag#1-3.JPG (1120 downloads)



Edited by Chief (10/07/07 11:48 AM)
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See Ya, Chief
RKCC CM-037
RKS #5154

If you put off following The LORD just remember......They don't serve breakfast in hell!

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#27119 - 10/07/07 12:12 PM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: Sheldon_Wickersham]
BoBlade Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 09/13/05
Posts: 1673
Loc: Kalifornia
Quote:

Kevin, thanks for the props, but IIRC, the original 'Model of the Week' thread idea over at knifeforums.com was Ron Mathews'...a good idea in theory, as there is much to learn 'if' the thread stays on track...






Shel,

Thanks for the credit. I think over at Knifeforums it pretty much kept on track and we went two full rounds or close to it (27 weeks plus dealer specials). I also "think" it was Gary (Escapement) that set up a link to all the threads on both series (here: http://users.adelphia.net/~jimingram/randallmodel.html Unfortunately Knifeforums changed the software and the links go nowhere now). Bottom line it was a lot of fun and learning for all. I hope we can keep it going here (Thanks, Kevin!).

Here's a circa 1943 fighter I was fortunate to have in my collection for a while which is pictured in Sheldon's book on page 17. At the time the photo was taken about 2 years ago the knife had no sheath. Subsequently I was able to find a period Southern Saddlery sheath that fit it perfectly (6 1/2"). It was like hitting the lotto

_________________________
Ron Mathews
RKS No. 4223


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#27120 - 10/07/07 12:56 PM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: BoBlade]
Swordsman Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 09/23/05
Posts: 629
Loc: USA Michigan
So much knowledge wasted with a few software changes.

I lost thousands of posts I had posted on turbocharged and supercharged engines on another board for the same reason.

Hopefully people will save the pics and the info on their
own hard drives so that it could be pulled together again
if a similar thing happened here.

Tom V.

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#27121 - 10/07/07 01:12 PM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: vklough46]
CooterBrown Offline
Just dropped in

Registered: 10/06/07
Posts: 6
This has already been in another post. Thanks for all the great information. There are couple of new pics. The Nambu pistol was brought back from the Philipines by my father, the 1942 canteen and the 1944 cup were bought for a couple of bucks apiece at the Army/Navy store when I was a kid. Used to use them for Boy Scout campouts.

The following text was copied from my previous post.

The knife was given to me by a neighbor of my parents over 25 years ago. I must have been around 16-17, and had grown up with these folks as neighbors and family friends.

The husband had recently passed, and the widow was over for dinner. Before we ate, she told me she had something she wanted to give me. She put a big knife in my hands and told me that her husband's brother had given it to him before he went to China to serve with the 14th Air force (he was not a flyer).

Caroline, who had been a BAM in the war, was a tough old gal, and she told me that Rod had "killed a Jap" with the knife. She said this in a way that I believed her, and I had talked to her husband a good deal about the war and I have little doubt that it is true. They were the type of people that did not say these sort of things lightly and I know where he served and some of what he went through.

She then went on to demonstrate the best way to use the thing, and that I'll leave to your imagination.

When she walked out of the room to go help my mother with dinner, I was standing there with the knife, a little spooked. My father, a WWII Pacific Vet, who had been in the room while she was giving me the knife and telling me the story, got an odd look and said, "That's his Randall. He showed me that knife. My god, she just gave you his Randall." He looked at me for a minute and then he left the room and I was standing there with something I didn't understand but that I knew was special.

I realize that this is a pretty incredible second hand story from someone none of you know, and I'd probably be sceptical too.

All I can say is that these were honorable people who both served. When the husband was still alive, I spent a good bit of time talking to him about the war. Fortunately I was always interested in it and he had some amazing stories. At the time, my father did not want to talk much about his service in the Pacific, so I talked to my neighbor.

Here's the amazing part.

Before the war he had been trained as a commercial artist and he had stacks of drawings and paintings that he had made during his time in China, as well as hundreds of photos and, believe it or not some color movies, which he screened for my family and me on several occaisions. He had insignia and flags from the squadron as well as a lot of other stuff that was like candy for a kid like me. It was like a museum.

What happened to all this stuff I have no idea. The widow subsequently moved to California to live with family, and they had been estranged from their only child for many years. She also has passed. I only hope that the stuff made its way into responsible hands as it was a veritable treasure trove of documentation, and the color movies are very rare. I'm sure I did not see all of the stuff but the photos and movies were amazing. My efforts to locate the family have not been successful.

That's the story behind the knife.


Attachments
25974-CopyofRandall1.jpg (902 downloads)



Edited by CooterBrown (10/07/07 01:18 PM)

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#27122 - 10/07/07 01:27 PM Re: Knife of the Week! [Re: vklough46]
Peter63 Offline
Knife Enthusiast

Registered: 02/23/06
Posts: 177
Here is my modest APFK collection, the #1 was and is one of my all-time favourite models.

_________________________
Peter
RKS #1270
RKCC #CMI-008

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