KNIVES ARE A LOT LIKE HANDGUNS

KNIVES ARE A LOT LIKE HANDGUNS

Knives are a lot like handguns, you should go with what fits your hand and will do what needs doing.

Maker, to me, whether in terms of knives or guns, is less important than fit and function.

Reliability comes into it but you can't really know much about that until you have done some testing. And that will teach you much.

Knives and guns. They have been my consuming passion for more than half a century. I have a pretty good idea how many guns I've owned but can't even begin to guess at the number of knives that I've owned except to say it has to be in the high hundreds if not more than a thousand.

I got my first knife as a small child and have seldom, if ever, since then, been without at least one in my pocket or on my pants belt.

Knives have helped me feed myself, make me more comfortable and, truth be told, I've turned away more threats, initiated by humans who wished to harm me, with a knife than I have a gun.

And, I've been stabbed by one of the bad guys.

So, you might say, in more ways than one, I've been around some blades in my time.

My favorite hunting knife is a Randall Model 11 called the "Alaskan Skinner" with a 5 inch drop point blade, single hilt and stag handle. Bo made it after being inspired by a design forwarded to him by Tommy Thompson a once well known Alaskan guide. In one 24 hour period, without needing to sharpen it, I boned out a memorable 4 X 4 mule deer buck and skinned a very nice mountain lion.

The knife that has gone with me in the night, when I couldn't carry a gun, and been used to disable a Mercedes, a pilot was involved in this situation, is a non catalog knife Bo Randall made that is sort of a cross between a Model 2, the "Fighting Stiletto" and the Model 14, "Attack" with a 5 and 3/4 inch double edged blade, double hilt and micarta handle.

The straight bladed knife that has seen the most time on my pant's belt is another non catalog Randall knife that was made for US Marine Combat Pilots. It has a 5 and 1/4 inch blade with saw teeth on the top edge, a double hilt and a micarta handle. This knife came to me via Bob Gaddis. Bob was also a friend of Bo and wrote the definitive book "RANDALL MADE KNIVES - THE HISTORY OF THE MAN AND THE BLADES" which he has inscribed to me as a "Fellow African Traveler." Bob and I have both spent some time in the bush west of Durban South African among the Zulu. My best memory of this knife was the day it boned out a pretty good 4 X 4 mule deer buck and cleaned two turkeys all to feed Thanksgiving Day dinner to a couple of ranch families in Montana.

My favorite sit and "fondle" knife is a Randall Model 3 called the "Hunter" with 6 inch blade, single hilt and stag handle. There are no straight lines on this knife. All of its lines, if extended far enough, are part of circle. It has to be held to be appreciated. This one doesn't get out much but last time it did it boned out a very nice 4 X 3 coues deer buck in the mountains just north and west of Nogales, Arizona.

My only remaining GW Stone knife came from his hand to mine along with a story. It is a Model A with a 6 inch blade, double hilt and micarta handle. He made it for a marine who, on a dark night in a "hot" zone, knife in hand, sensed movement behind him. He swung the knife in a horizontal back handed motion and nearly decapitated a North Vietnamese soldier. The blade buried and stuck in the spine. Almost immediately shots came out of the surrounding bush. He left the knife and rolled away to return fire. Never going back to that spot. The marine wrote to GW and ordered a replacement knife but was killed before it was completed. That's the knife that I now own. GW told me he wanted that knife to have a good home and I've been trying to hold up my end of that bargain for more than 30 years now.

As to folders, I carry a small Swiss Army knife in my pants pocket. It has a blade, file/screwdriver, tweezers and toothpick. And I'll never be without one of these little knives for it proved its worth one day when I was hiking down a steep slope carrying a boned out mule deer in my back pack. I lost my balance, stuck out my right hand, caught myself and then stood up with a handful of cactus spines in my right palm and fingers. I was mighty glad to have those tweezers. On my pant's belt, in a custom made pouch, my "always" knife is a Buck 532+ center lock with scalloped edges for both decoration and to better hold oil or a Buck 500 rear lock that is a memento from my time living in Fairbanks, Alaska.

A good knife is like a good friend.  Same with a good gun, long or short.  You gotta hold up your end of the deal.  If you do, they will be there when you need 'em. 

This is another one of those personal preference areas.  That's why so many different types of knives get sold each year.  Some folks opt for the least expensive models, use 'em and toss 'em type knives.  Others go for the high end stuff.  Most, I suspect, travel the middle road.   Whatever you decide works best for you, here is my best advice:

1) Buy what fits your hand and will do what you need done.

2) Opt for the shortest blade that will do what needs doing, they are almost always easier to carry and have less edge that needs to be maintained.

3) If you choose a straight bladed knife, a blade longer than somewhere around five inches, for me, depending on belt sheath placement and angle, makes it hard for me to sit in some vehicles, particularly with a seat belt on, and in some narrow shaped chairs, like in a restaurant, with arms on them.

4) If you opt for a folding knife, give some thought to a good sturdy belt carry pouch.  I've literally wore holes in my pants pocket by carrying a knife there and that's a sad way to lose a good knife. 
5) Don't carry your knife, or anything else, in the middle of your back.  If you fall flat on your back, whatever you are carrying may act as a fulcrum and break your back. 

6) I'm a believer in the keep your knife sharp school of thought.  However, there is more than one way to do it.  Depending on what you are doing, you may want to go with a more flat sharp edge or a more steep angled sharp edge.  Think razor and ax.  This is a good analogy because, mostly, we put flatter edges on thinner blades and steeper edges on thicker blades.  One is more flat for cutting or skimming, as in, for example, shaving.  The other is more for a hacking type of cutting.  Both have their place.  Neither works best for both types of tasks.  If you hack with a flatter edged blade you may bend or break it along the sharpening line.  If you try to skim cut with a steep edged knife, you are soon going to be pretty frustrated.  Trying to get the blade angle just right can be more than difficult for most of us. 

7) Sharpening is the most frequent way good knives are ruined to the point that they need fairly expert edge repair.  Truth be told, some folks, including me, should leave the sharpening to experts.  And, beware the so called expert who does not ask you what type of edge you want on your knife.  Edge to a knife is sort of like load and bullet to a gun.  There are options.  You need to understand your options so as to make informed choices.

Me, I just plain like knives and own far more than I need.  It is a rare day when I'm not carrying at least two of them.

CJ