Today, the USPS delivered the Randall Model 1 that I ordered and paid for several years ago. Mine is not quite plain vanilla, or I’d have skipped the wait and paid a little more to get one from the dealer. I opted for the 8 inch blade (in carbon steel), stacked leather handle, wrist lanyard, and my name factory engraved on the blade.
Randalls are still well-regarded and very collectible, but they don’t have the mojo they did when I was young. Back in the day, they were carried by astronauts, professional hunters, Special Forces operators, and celebrities from the literary and acting worlds. Now, they sell mostly to collectors.
This is actually my second from the company. Back in the early 90s I bought a Number 14. It is a very fine knife, but I always did want to have a Number 1, too. The trick will be keeping my daughter from appropriating one of them the next time she is home from college.
Nice knife. When is your first fight?
At first I thought this would be a rant about the USPS.
That is a fine looking knife. Didn’t know about Randall’s until now, but that sure is tugging at my “must have” heart strings.
I love knives ever since I got my first whittling knife of my own at 8. Goddamn TSA has taken more knives off me than I can count.
Seems appropriate.
$420, I approve.
I actually thought this was gonna be about a guitar amp. :smack:
I fought a raw picnic shoulder with it yesterday. It does fearsome job with thrusts, slashes, and snap cuts. It is balanced too neutrally to chop through heavy bone in a single blow. Very lively in the hand, though. The picnic shoulder made some tasty pulled pork.
The things we go through sometimes to get the knife we want. I have a thing for the Case cow series
because they match the paint on my one motorcycle and are fantastic little pocket knives at the same time. By the time I stumbled across them the factory only had one model in stock. I’ve got five different now but one cost me a day and a ride over to Dayton because the shop wouldn’t mail order. But sometimes that is just what we do. If you could snag one just anywhere it just wouldn’t be the same.
Ooo, pretty and shiny! I have a Soelingen steel hunting knife that is similar (at least the blade is).
Why did it take five years? I get that it’s “not quite plain vanilla”, but it still seems to be a leap from that to a five year wait.
Also, don’t bring it to a gun fight. I heard that somewhere. (Unless you’re James Coburn. It’s OK if you’re James Coburn.)
High demand, limited production due to being entirely handmade. Also, active duty military get jumped to the front of the line and licensed dealers get a big chunk of each month’s production.
If you order one from the factory, the wait is no longer if you want something a little different than if you want plain vanilla. Definitely, if you want vanilla, the way to go is to buy one from one of the licensed dealers like AG Russell. He generally has a good stock of most models and you can have it right now instead of in several years for a premium of 25 percent or so.
It’s right there in the OP, when his daughter comes home from college. 
Really confusing descriptions on which options are or aren’t available mixed with which other options. The site really needs a “build a knife” page with drop-down menus. (Even better would be to show a virtual knife as you build it.)
I considered that, but that wouldn’t be a fight, it would be an assassination. OP wouldn’t stand a chance.
Beautiful knife.
Serious question: Did the astronauts actually carry these? Or any other knives?
What would be the point? The lead time on their knives is currently 6 years and costing well over $400, it would seem enough people are figuring it out. A website change isn’t likely to increase sales (that seems to be maxed-out), so why change? I guess if they were to increase production, the lead time might drop enough to change that, but with increased production, my guess is that the price would drop and it might be harder to maintain quality.
No, I think they are doing it right.
In the Mercury missions, the astronauts carried the Randall Astro, which Randall still produces. Later nissions carried a saw-backed machete produced by Case. During the space shuttle era, they used a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife.
It took five years to buy a knife?! I don’t understand. 
Randall knives are hand made in a small shop in Orlando, FL. Demand is such that the wait on a knife purchased directly from them is measured in years. They do have a handful of licensed dealers from whom it is possible to purchase one of the standard versions of catalog models immediately at a somewhat greater price. I bought mine directly from Randall because I wanted a “bespoke” knife.
Nice, but don’t bring it to a gun fight.