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Old 11-16-2011, 01:51 PM
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Moosehead Moosehead is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Canada
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Hi all!

Welcome to Part II (The Club Knives):

Belonging to Rhett and Janie's Randall Knife Society entitled members to more than just the quarterly newsletters.

In December 1990 the RKS had grown to 850 members and Rhett with the full cooperation of Gary Randall was able to offer a specially designed "Club Knife" to members. The first club "Fighter" knife in carbon steel was offered with either stag or black Micarta handles and came with a sheath stamped with the RKS logo on the back.. The grind proved to be very popular and the knife eventually became the "Combat Companion" which is still offered by RMK in their non-catalogue insert. 564 Stag handled and 436 Micarta handled club knives were made for a total of 1,000 knives. As with all the club knives that followed each knife's blade was etched with a serial number, and the member had the choice of having his/her membership number etched as well.

In May of 1994 RKS members were offered another opportunity to order a new club knife, also with a similar choice of handles but with a stainless blade. This time the RKS logo was stamped on the front of the no-hone pocket sheaths. This grind is now the "GTR", named after Gary T. Randall and can still be ordered as a non-catalogue knife. A total of 636 club knives, comprised of 298 stag and 338 Micarta handled were produced.

1997 saw the creation of RKS Club Knife III, inspired by Scagel's knives. The design proved to be very popular and this knife is the forerunner of Randall's "Trailblazer", Model #27. A total of 860 of the RKS III were crafted.

In December of 2000, members had the choice of stag or leather handles for the latest club knife (RKS IV), which was another fighter with a very long 8" blade. 816 stag and 384 leather handled Fighters were made, for a total of 1,200.

In August 2004, the final (sadly) club knife, RKS V was offered to the membership, which by now had grown to over 2,500 active members. It was a full tang miniature which my wife likes as a user. This knife inspired the full sized "Woodsman", Model #28. A total of 1,500 mini RKS Vs were produced.

So thanks to Rhett, not only are there some very neat and collectible knives out there for folks to find and enjoy, but several have served as inspiration for RMK to continue the designs in their regular offerings.


Below, thanks to old photos by Steve Peters (and anonymous RKS member #1209), is a complete collection of the first seven club knives and their sheaths (I'll have take some photos of my mini RKS V and post them on this thread later):


















Part III of this tribute will follow on this thread.

In the meantime your comments and observations would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Cheers!

David


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Last edited by Moosehead; 11-22-2011 at 04:38 PM.
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