This is as old as they get.. Had to be right after the first Mercury knves based on the logo etch.

It will be interesting to watch this one.....

Astro

That is unbelievable. Looks like one of the Mercury Astro's! I wonder why Randall signed the logo like this on these knives?

Interesting knife...
Name on the back of the sheath says SALVO.
Typical Italian name from south; mostly adopted in Sicily.
An Italo-American soldier maybe?
Salvo=Sal
Salvo means Saved...Saved by God.

Speak of the devil. The workmanship and build of this knife is surprisingly crude compared to other Randalls of this era.

This looks like it was made for NASA but somehow ended up into private hands. We all have learned in another thread of how RMK marked the NASA knives. No other Randall's have been marked that way. I commented that I had not noticed that logo on Carpenter's knife on the wall at the shop....well you can't see the logo side. The knife hangs showing the side with Carpenter's name. In the book written by Gaddis he talks of how no knives left the shop without a logo stamp. The NASA knives look to be engraved and makes me think that maybe the "CIA" knives mentioned in Cole's book might have some validity. For those who haven't read Cole's book he shows a drawing of a model one that turned up somewhere that is a spitting image of a Randall Model 1.
It does not have a trademark and is claimed to be a knife made by RMK for the CIA. Randall has denied making unmarked knives. This sort of makes me think....well maybe
some knives were made without logo's. Who knows?

Ronnie,

I believe the knife in the photos below to be an unmarked Randall. The only one I have ever seen. It came up on e-bay about 5 years ago described only as a "Pauguk" knife. There was no other marking on the blade or any indication that the Randall stamp had been removed. Unfortunately, I was out bid. The materials, construction, workmanship and even the etching font are undeniably "Randallesque". If you look up "PAUGUK, the origin is of the Chippewa Hiawatha legend: Pauguk is the personification of death. He is represented as existing without flesh or blood. He is a hunter, but he hunts only men, women, and children. His bones are covered by a thin transparent skin and his eye sockets as filled with balls of fire. Just to see him is a sure indication of imminent death. I put the knife somewhere in the early 50's.




Best,

Ronnie and Ron,

I do not know enough about the NASA knives nor the "CIA" knives to dispute whether or not these were any knives that left the shop w/o the Randall logo, I will however take Bob Gaddis' word of this since he heard it directly from Bo Randall himself. I would count these NASA knives stamping as having the Randall type etching as indeed having a RMK stamp.

As for the #2-5, it looks to me like it has been refinished in some way, notice how the depth of the grinds towards the hilt are way uneven? It appears to me also at the P of the etching there is a definite 1/16 differential in the polishing, and the solder has been hit (by a polishing wheel perhaps?) and has left an indelible imprint in the solder line. Also to note, I have never seen the RMK etching to run in a vertical line as our machines render this impossible. NOT saying that it hasn't happened somehow, I just don't see HOW.

Now, this being said, I have seen "Randallesque" blades outside the shop w/o the RMK trademark, and definitely being done by former employees, Dave Griffin's knives are a prime example of these. There are too many others out there that have the same capabilities of producing modern blades w/o the RMK logo, and yet are almost impossible to tell whether or not they came out of the shop this way. Almost. There are always these indelible differences I mentioned that Cap, Perry Miller, and a handful of others are aware of and can indeed point out the fakes.

I am not ignorant to the opinions of the "backdoor" Randall's out there, and we have taken every precaution to insure that these are not presently happening anymore.

Not looking to start an argument here, just adding to two of the best threads since Rhett's passing.

---DW---

I'd like to take a look under those handles.....

You also cannot dispell the possibility of this blade being a "kit"??
I agree: Some good threads lately. Nice to see something discussed that I have a lot of respect for...the Randall "PAST"!!
Best, Capt. Chris

No, this is not a kit knife. This is the type delivered to NASA with the intended use for survival training. The etched name "logo" is how they were all marked. They were also Rhodium plated. There was on order of 20, with possibly some others as private purchase or perhaps "gifts" to NASA officials. I don't know if this is one of the 20 or not. I have only seen one other such as this in private hands. My guess is the Grissom knife not from the LB7 is also one of these.