By Joe Berk
A Randall knife. Wow! I never thought I’d own a Randall, primarily because the ticket in is so high. Randall knives are the Patek Phillipes of the knife world, and they are priced accordingly. Good buddy Paul collects them, and one recent day, out of the blue, he bought this one for me.
I’ve known Paul my entire life. We were next door neighbors in the early 1950s and then our paths diverged after high school. Paul went to college in Florida, and that’s when his interest in Randall knives emerged (the Randall factory is in Orlando). Paul visited the Randall plant back then, and he explained that there were windows through which you could watch the Randall craftsmen create these knives.
Paul couldn’t afford a Randall back then, and that prompted his interest in making knives himself. Paul became a very talented knifemaker. I commissioned him to make a couple of knives for me not too many years ago. As nice as the Randalls are, when I examine the knives Paul made and compare them to my Randall, I think Paul’s craftsmanship and quality is right up there with a Randall-made knife.
The subject of today’s blog is Randall’s Model 27 Mini, and although the knife is small compared to other Randalls, it actually appears to be about the perfect size. I’m not Davy Crockett at the Alamo or Daniel Boone fighting with a bear, so this is really an ideal size for me. Here’s how it is described on the A.G. Russell website:
The Copper Model 27 Mini has a 3-1/2″ blade of 1/8″ stock. The narrow tang handle is Green Linen Micarta® with leather and black fiber spacers, a single copper guard and a copper butt cap. Measures 6-7/8″ tip to butt.
The knife and its copper components are unique. Check out this note on the Russell website:
This is the first time I have seen a Randall knife with copper fittings. As far as I can tell, there has never even been one made as a single for a customer.
I love the Model 27 colors. The copper guard, butt, and spacers, the stacked leather spacers, the green Micarta, and the brushed stainless finish are aesthetically perfect. It’s a visually arresting example of the knifemaker’s art.
Read this about the Randall backlog and the time required to get one:
Due to Randall’s high volume of orders, if not on our shelves when you order, delivery of Randall knives ordered from A. G. Russell is currently taking 10-12 months. If ordered directly from Randall the wait is currently about 6 years.
The Randall Model 27 comes with a nice sheath, too, although it’s unlikely I’ll ever use it. I can’t see carrying something this exclusive, expensive, and beautiful and using it as a camp tool. My Randall will spend its life in my safe, taken out occasionally so I can admire it.
Randall knives are incredibly exclusive. General William Westmoreland (whom I had the pleasure of meeting in the early 1970s) carried one in Vietnam.
Perhaps influenced by General Westmoreland, I carried a couple of different knives when I was in Korea in the mid-1970s. One was a cheap imitation-stag-handle Bowie that I think I bought for $3. I never had a need to use the Bowie for anything (I just thought it looked cool), and one day when I saw a Republic of Korea soldier eyeing it enviously, I took it off and gave it to him. My other knife was a Smith and Wesson folder (similar to a Buck 110 in size). My father bought it for me before I went overseas, so I wasn’t about to give it away (I still have it). The S&W folder has become somewhat collectible; I’ll write about it in a future blog. I was a lowly second lieutenant when I was in Korea, and if our commanding general or the battalion commander had spotted me wearing either knife, I would have been in deep kimchi. I was lucky; that never happened.
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