I remember reading Rick Bowles' post and thinking about his first exposure to Randall Knives as something special.
I think most of us have known characters like Billy Redburn and having been influenced and changed by them.
My first Randall purchase was a Model 16 on New Year's Eve, 2003.
I had handled and seen a Model 1 after Navy Boot Camp in 1965, but could not afford one then.
The Model 16 lived with me for 15 years, and moved on to a collector that just had to have it.

This is the first one I ever ordered, back in the early 1960's - I remember that I had to pay more than $30 for it, and had to wait nearly a year to get it!

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.

Hey Scott,

Thanks!!!! I’m sure there will be some great stories. Some already!!

Thanks All,
Tony

I got my first Randall in the early 1980's. I was a LEO and a newly minted member of the department's Special Weapons and Tactics unit.

I had seen Randall's at the Bay Area Knife Collector's Association (BAKCA) shows in Northern California.

I ordered a Model 14 with sawteeth directly from the Randall shop. It served me well for may years and it has since been handed down to my son.