Anyone here actually USE a Randall Knife?

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Kestrel

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I've always wanted a Randall, but I would want to use it. (Such as a #1, #14, etc.) The price makes me pause, though. I'm reluctant to buy one just to sit in a safe, but wonder what the pros and cons are of actually using it?

Anyone else here use their Randall?

Thanks,
Steve
 
Being a knife nut before I became a gun nut, I was fortunate enough to have aquired some of these. I keep them in a bank vault and would never use them since sharpening one would cause the value to drop about 50%.
Randall was one of the first serious custom knife makers and it's a good thing if you can get one of these.
If you order one, the waiting list is several years out.
 
My RMK #14 is not due until 6/05 but I intend to use it. I can always put in an order for another one (and wait 4 years) if I want a wall-hanger. :D
 
OK fellas, edjucate me. I'm not a 'knife guy', per se. What is it about Randall knives that make them so sought after? Is it the history and prestige or is it something about the knife itself? Are they worth the $ and the wait?
 
They are a good solid handcrafted knife with a wonderful history and incredible reputation, along with being a thing of beauty.
I would like to get a no 1 or 14 someday.
 
I have a #1 that I use.

I imagine the History is what sells them. They are nicely crafted, but you could do better (probably not for the same money). They could be made out of "white" metal for the sake of those who never use them and just let them sit and admire.
 
I've got a Model 3 that goes almost everywhere with me. I spent way too much money on it not to use it.

As far as what makes them so good...

They really are very well designed and crafted -- and the company is historically relevant. My wife is decidedly NOT into knives, but when I got my Randall, she played around with it and had some very favorable comments. Enough so that we've ordered one for her as well... although it won't be arriving until 2007 or so.

BTW, even though my kids are young, I ordered one for each of them over a year ago. My plan is to give them theirs at some suitable time in the future (taking their first deer, making Eagle Scout, or something similar). I also plan for them to carry and USE those knives for the remainder of their lives. The only folks I care about collecting them are future generations... and I'd prefer for them to have some history behind them.
 
Sharpening a Randall does NOT decrease it's value by 50%. I've bought and sold numerous used Randalls and it just isn't so unless you have an OLD Randall that has never been used. If you buy a new production Randall and use it, you've really lost little or nothing in terms of value. The newer ones really aren't collector's pieces like older ones are.

The wait can be cut considerably by ordering or buying from a Randall dealer. You can generally find one of the "stock" knives with a dealer immediately and, if you can't, then a Randall dealer can get one for you in a few months rather than a few years. If you order something unusual from the Randall shop, then it WILL take years.
 
I've several Randalls and really like them. No they aren't made of the latest super steel or synthetic. They don't use the most scientific heat treat and don't test them to destruction dismembering cars and such. IMHO, they are well designed/made and more than adequate for a higher end knife in functionality. But that's just me... :cool:
 
The wait can be cut considerably by ordering or buying from a Randall dealer. You can generally find one of the "stock" knives with a dealer immediately and, if you can't, then a Randall dealer can get one for you in a few months rather than a few years. If you order something unusual from the Randall shop, then it WILL take years
Click to expand...

Yeah I wanted my #14 with a single nickel silver hilt, single finger grip and my name on the blade ... so I gotta wait. :( Fortunately I submitted my order back in April 2002 so I've only got until June 2005. That one will be my first RMK. For the rest, I'll prolly get a stock Model 3 from A. G. Russell.
 
I've owned a few. Often wanted to use thembut couldn't bring myself to do it. They look so nice. I finally sold them all so I wouldn't worry about them anymore.

Now I carry a Case XXchanger with me in the woods.
 
Blackjack Knives seemed to be making a real close copy of the Randall. They went out of business, but now I hear that they're back. I read in one of the gun rags that they have a new model out, I think that it is a camp knife. You are supposed to be able to sharpen it on cardboard. I was going to get one, but I found out that they are over 100.00, so I will stick with the Cold Steel Trail Mate (?) for 30.00.
 
I've used my Model 8 (trout & bird) for ... cleaning fish! Also, making shavings for starting a fire etc. Works well fot it's intended use. To make sure I never sold it, I had my initials put on the blade;)
I want a model 14 really bad, gotta rearrange my priorities!
 
Sharpening a Randall does NOT decrease it's value by 50%.
Click to expand...
Hmm....I've been living a lie, evidently.
I suppose this is the same logic that is somehow applied by the people who insist that a Luger is just as valuable without a matching magazine.

Side bar: Try locating and purchasing a Corbet Sigman knife. Tell the seller that he can go ahead and sharpen, use and nick it an not worry and see what reaction you draw.
There is such a thing as an "investment purchase".
 
Blackjack Knives seemed to be making a real close copy of the Randall.
Click to expand...

Seems like a lot of RMK copies going around these days. I was thumbing through the Cold Steel catalog and found this:

http://www.coldsteel.com/csstoreonline/14r1j.html

Looks like a Model 1 with black micarta handle and nickel fittings to me.

I may adopt one poster's strategy of "ordering a Randall on each birthday" so that I can have a steady stream of RMKs sent to my door. :D
 
Yes, there are such things as investment purchases. Barring anomalies like the AWB, weapons seldom have dramatic increases in value over a short enough term to be really profitable. In other words, if you have $10,000 to invest, there are numerous better investment choices than purchasing $10,000 worth of Randalls in terms of getting a good return on your money. Becoming a knife dealer, which is perhaps what you are, is a little different. In that situation it becomes like the old David Letterman catchphrase "How do we do it? Volume, volume, volume!"
 
My Randall is well over twenty years old and looks like it is over a hundred. I have used it to the extreme on several different continents. I suppose you boys would date a pretty girl just to "look at" too :)
 
I bought a model 25 carbon steel a couple years ago. Surprise, they don't come sharp!

I sharpened it carefully, doing as neat a job as I could. That hard Swedish O-1 tool steel blade took a very nice edge, and held it better than any stainless knife I've encountered. I later decided it was a little too big for me, so I sold it a year later for about 10% more than I paid, and I did clearly advertise that it had been used.

I also want a couple more, and I will use them!
 
Had a Model 14 Survival/Attack in stainless. Came with sawteeth. Bought it new from a dealer at a gunshow. Had it for about ten years used it camping and hunting, and snapped the blade in half at the guard. Stupidly doing something that was absoultely forbidden to do. Wrote a nice a letter and sent the two pieces and sheath to Orlando. Gary Randall wrote back and said he'd replace it. He did, and had a brand new one in 30 days. Remeber this was after having it 10 years! I replaced it with another 14 in carbon without the sawteeth. I no longer have that knife, as it got too big as I grew older. But you can bet the farm I have a Randall in my safe.
 
Hmm....I've been living a lie, evidently.
Click to expand...

Or you've been taken horribly when selling your sharpened Randalls.

My worst-looking Randall was a #16 SF1 that I'd used extensively and had actually sharpened horribly, leaving all sorts of scratches. I had dropped it point down on a rock and had to file the tip down so that it was no longer a point from the side view but was more like a tiny tanto tip. It still sold at a gun show to a collector of older Randalls for about $40 less than I paid for it from one of the higher-priced Randall dealers.

I've never lost money on any other Randall unless you count two that I gave away as gifts to friends.
 
I think if you get one of the "using" Randalls, like the 25, 14, 5, 8 etc, etc. I think a neat sharpening job and honest use really won't hurt the value much.

Now if you get one of the big ceremonial bowies or the #1 or #2, with stainless blades and fancy fittings, I could see use dropping them in value, unless of course you could document miltary service with one. The #2 of course is designed for quietly killing bad guys in war, and signs of use on one of them might give people pause unless you could indeed explain its service!
 
I have several and I use them all/ I have carried them in war and peace and they are outstanding knives.
 
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