Hello all!

Here are the results as of May 27th for our "Buildn' a Randall" project:

MODEL #: There's no clear consensus.

#3 - three votes
#4 - three vote
#5 - zero votes
#7 - two votes
#11 - one vote
#19 - two votes
#25 -one vote
#26 - one vote
#27 - two votes
"Denmark" Special - two votes


BLADE Steel: Stainless wins.

Stainless - 7
Carbon - 4


BLADE Length: A consensus lies some where between 4.5 and 5.0 inches.


HANDLE Material: Stag (8) wins easily over micarta (3).


HANDLE Shape: Too close to call.

Finger Grips - 4
Pure stag - 3
Slab side stag - 1


HARDWARE:

Nickle Silver - 4
Brass - 3
Compass - 6
Thumb Notches- 2
Butt Cap -1
Butt Plate - 1
Name Plate 1
Hilt - not enough votes to pick a winner, but most likely a single hilt would be acceptable to all.


SHEATH: Not enough votes to make a decision yet.


I guess we need to have some more input before we can decide on this hunting knife... :confused:

Thanks very much to those of you who have already participated. :)

David :D

David, and all others,
I find it interesting that "the more things change, the more they remain the same". I am sure everyone who took part in this forum thread has a Randall catalog in their "stash" of Randall "stuff". Go to the centerfold and open it up. Right there, on three pages, is a Model #3-5", with nickel-silver single hilt, stag handle, and right-hand finger grips!
Not a bad choice, not bad at all. I think that we should "finalize" this huntin' knife, by process of elimination. Weed out the "also rans" and take the best of the top vote-getters and see what we come up with. So far that ol' Model #3-5" would be right up there on top, or certainly "near" the top, even though it was pictured in Randall's catalog, long before they even "had" a web site! Of course, this is just one (my) suggestion. Looking at all of the data, one would come up with a knife of this design, probably in stainless, probably with aluminum and black spacers, probable with thumb notches, etc., etc.
A Model #7 with a 4 1/2" or 5" blade is basically the same design, but lighter stock and not quite as thick. Either model works well and would be a good choice. Maybe we should all concentrate on the top 2 or 3 choices and "tweek" the specs to work on those models. I am surprised that more folks haven't hung in there with this idea and contributed to this design. Oh well: It will just make it easier to figure out who is going to be in the running to actually " receive" this knife, once it is delivered to me.
LET'S HEAR FROM EVERYONE!! Best, Captain Chris Stanaback

David and Cpt.

The results were interesting! I still like the #7, either 4.5 or 5. Have a 7-5 yellow micarda, and it "just fits" my hand well. I have used it many times and it seems to be the right size for a hunter. Stag with a compass in the butt would be cool too! :cool: (this is called...trying to influence the judges)!

This project has been great to follow.

Will be looking forward to seeing the final product. :101

Thanks for letting us give our .02 for what we would like to see, and then have it done!

Kent

I concur with the cap and david on a model 3. Although the model 27 is actually my favorite Randall I just love the lines but have never used one. All of mine are safe Queens

David and Kent,
I may have made myself, once again, unclear with observations on the Model #3 "Hunter". Although it is Randall's centerfold and certainly their "premier" seller, with regards to a hunter, it is not my favorite. That distinction would fall to my dealer (Stanaback) special and a Model #7 "Fisherman/ Hunter". BUT!!!! And here is the "BUT">
I hunt a good bit of the time in the southeast and whitetail deer, quail, and ducks (pheasants) are the majority of my game that I am seeking. If I were out in Scott's (Colorado) territory I would opt for a 1/4" stock model over a 3/16" model. More to think about: We probably should have sub-menued (is that a word?) the "hunter" class and made up "regional" knives. NOT::: Not enough time and energy.
Anyway: Ya'll don't vote for, or against what "I" would use. Vote for what "You" would like to use. I certainly have a good deal more experiance with hunting knives than the average Joe, but....so what? It is that "one hunt", that "one dream hunt" that you might go on that counts. Make it count with the Randall that "YOU" want!! Best, Captain Chris Stanaback

Cpt.

I did understand about the knife being Your (My) favorite. I am sticking with the 7-5 since I know it works on deer, waterfowl, and ruffed grouse. The 3/16 blade is tough enough for the sternum on deer, but I Don't use it on the pelvic bone. (Have a small Swedish axe that does it in one swoop).

BTW!! Their isn't quite anything like the fresh smell when you open up the chest cavity on a whitetail, and then see the steam rise! Sorry...Just thinking about using one of my Randalls this fall! :)

Kent

Kent,
...I have not opened up a deer in over a decade but that nice smell came right to me reading your post.
Jeff

...Just a quick observation here. Model 3, Model 7, Denmark Special and Model 27 blade shapes are all somewhat similar. A vote for one is akin to a vote for all of them so that family of blade shapes wins far and away. Model 27 is my favorite model but at 5.75 inches it exceeds the length paramaters we have generally agreed upon. As the Cap mentioned a 3/16th blade may be too thin for western bigger game hunting. The Model 7 is also not available with the finger grips many of us want on this knife. I have a couple 5 inch Model 3s and so I was thinking in a generally different direction but it seems to be the size and shape that most closely fits what the group wants. The tabulation of votes would point towards a SS blade with NS single hilt and stag fingergrip handle. With the addition of aluminum and red spacers and a compass in the butt this knife would be ready to go into a no hone sheath. I am wondering if a waxed sheath might just last a year or two longer hunting in adverse weather? The CAP and I are strongly pointing in this direction. How about somebody come up with a differing line of thought on this so we can get some discussion going.
Jeff

Okay Cap, you've sold me! ;)

How about a Model #3 with a 5 inch long stainless blade (1/4 inch stock), graced with thumb notches on top? :smokin

The tang will be wrapped in a super stag handle, with right hand finger grips, and a compass will be installed in the butt. :eek:

The single hilt will be nickle silver, and the spacers either aluminium and red, or aluminium and black. :)

The sheath will be a tan, Type A with a stone pocket. :p

Now have I forgotten something? :confused:

David

For what it's worth, I agree with what that Moose guy said. :D

Randall Man

Hey Randall Man,

Moosebreath forgot that the nickel silver hilt should be squared. :D

Best,

Ron


PS (Between us don't you think there's something "just ain't right" about that Moose guy?)

Bo, I agree about the Moose guy. He "just ain't right" I wonder if Randall man really knows who he is agreeing with! :confused:

Jeff,
I am not really "leaning" towards anything, but the vote sure is leaning that way...and why not? That is a very nice hunter! Folks could do a whole lot worse. When I went to New Mexico on my last (and I do mean "LAST" at that altitude anyway) elk hunt, I carried a "Stanaback Special", a Model #12-6" "Litttle Bear" and my Model #7-5" with #6 grind. We (the skinners and I) used all of them, but a model #3 would have served the same purpose, pretty much. Of course 3 Randalls with 3 guys working on the critter did a more than fantastic job and in a small fraction of the time!
There was a gutter/ skinner there named "Kiwi". He was there for the season and his family books red stag hunts in New Zealand. He ordered a Model #7 from me and a "Stanaback" for his uncle back home. I have no idea what that adds up to, but I'm not chargin' for the story either!
As far as butt cap, butt plate, compass, or whatever on the tail end of this knife: There are good points for all of the above. A nickel silver or bright brass butt plate can be real handy as a signaling mirror out in the woods. A butt cap most certainly protects the handle best and in a pinch can be called into service for light and I do mean "light" hammering. The most practical is probably the compass. It can be used for a variety of chores, of which "being lost" is only a small part. I have used them to set up stands for wind direction, figuring how to keep the rising or setting sun out of my eyes, etc. I also bow hunt. One of the handiest things about a compass for a bow hunter is trailing. That's right, I said trailing!
When you stick a whitetail, moreso than a hog, you sometimes have a difficult time finding a blood trail right away. If the shot is a bit high and a complete pass through, the deer may run a good ways before any blood is pumped out of the body cavity. The wound channel can collapse for a bit and the deer can "suck it up" and haul buggy! I take a compass reading "BEFORE" I ever get out of my stand! I read the direction to the point where the deer leaves the area. I can then get down and walk directly over to that point and begin my stalk. Stuff looks a lot different from the ground than from above it. The compass doesn't lie. Amazing how that simple reading can save a lot of time and energy/ looking in the wrong place!!
And ya'll thought this was going to be easy! Hah!! Best, Captain Chris Stanaback

P.S. After this is all over, I'll tell ya' my pick for a "one Randall hunter". CCS

Wap,

I think that if Moosebreath and Randall Man ever met face-to-face they'd never hit it off. Just not enough in common ;)

Ron

We each have something that makes us smile or something we trully enjoy... one of the changing factors is where we live and another is what we do...

The one thing that brings us together is our one love of the same thing... A Randall Knife... whethere it's a hunter, fighter, utility knife... it all depends on who, what, where, when and why...

And as we all have the same mistress we also have a myraid of differences and this series of threads made that clear and very interesting to follow...

Like Capt said I live and hunt where the animuls are bigger and heavier... therefore I "need" a thicker spine on my blades... but my model 8 fits in anywhere I want to go as long as I use it for the right thing... and I admit I have no clue how it would hold up to, say, skinning a gator in the south, or a rhino in africa... but for my needs, the 8 and the 19 are paramount to perfection... good thing this did not tangent off into east versus west... :lol or worse North versus South! right Rob?

enough for tonight... got spider bit and feel ill and need some sleep...

#### I hate spiders...

Colorado, if I got bit by Mr. Arachnid and felt ill and a need for sleep, I'd be going to see Dr. Jeff at the emergency room. We've some very unfriendly spiders around here and I'm sure you've got the same ones out there.

Someone talk to me about the hone versus no-hone sheath. The no-hone sheath just sounds like a decision about the thickness of the sheath package or the looks of the outfit. If I had a user, why wouldn't I want some way to sharpen it in the field unless I did my dressing at a "camp" where I could have my stones close by? Cap hunts more than anyone I know and from previous writings seems to carry his special with an eze-lap sheath.

Seussbrother :confused:

They only fatal part of my bite was when I squished the dang thing...

Thanks for your concern Seuss... but having been an EMT off and on for years I know when to seek a Dr's Counsel and thankfully this was not one of them... When a Reculse got me in the 70's THAT was a time to seek a Doc... God I hate spiders...

I wonder about hone/no hone sheath myself... I think if I ever used the stone on the sheath I would lose a section of my thumb... but somehow its comfoting to know that little stone is there if I really need it... Redundancy is my middle name...

Scott the Hapless...

...I always seem to get into the thick brush. The hone on the sheath is just gonna get caught in the brush. If you order no hone on the sheath RMK still sends you a sharpening stone. But, I would rather use an EZ lap to resharpen a knife in the field. When I fished offshore and cleaned lots of fish I always carried an EZ lap to resharpen my fillet knife. When I used to hunt deer (a long time ago) none that I shot were big enough to require resharpening after field dressing.
Jeff