Military Action?

[Gary Mulkey]

Ed,

IMHO; after the Sec of State's speech, it sounds to me like we are one step closer to taking action. I hope that all goes well and that you & all your fellow GI's come home safely.

Gary

[Bob Warner]

Absolutely.

[Jamey Saunders]

God go with you. Thank you for sacrificing of yourself for the safety and freedom of others.

[Cliff Krug]

Keep your head below the ridgeline.and watch your 6!!!!!!!

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi Gang!

Yep, I can't say too much, but the title of my post say it all.... when I make it out of here, and after a bit of time passes, I'll sit down and write a post to answer everyone's questions. Suffice to say that all things considered..........I'm glad YOUR not here!


God Bless you all! Thanks so much for your support!!

[Jason Cutter]

But if you can't prevent it, you might as well support those who have to do the fighting. I'm no service person, but I made a few cutting things for some of our guys heading to the Gulf. Made it a priority and pulled out all the stops to get them done in time at reduced cost. My small contribution to those who have to do the things I pray noone ever needs to do.

Cheers.

[Ed Caffrey]

Way to go Jason! I know those folks really appreciated it! How can I say that? Well, it just follows along with what I'm seeing over here. I've had several people recognize my name, and then they got to asking me questions........ a couple of them had customs made just for this occassion. However, what I found interesting is that other folks who were standing around the area during the conversations started asking questions, and many were unaware that custom cutlery was available.

When I came over here, I brought 6 EBKs, and one Progression folder, besides what I brought for me..........they were all sold in short order! What I'm saying is that there are a lot of military folks out there who are hungry for quality cutlery.........it's just a matter of presenting it to them.

Now that's something we should look into........How to get the word out to military folks that custom cutlery is available to them! HMMMMMM??? There's a new market!

[Ken Smith]

Given the apparent determination of the Administration and the recalcitrance of Saddam it certainly looks like there's a dust-up coming.

Take care out there, Ed. There are lots of folks praying for and confidently looking forward to your safe return.

Ken

[C.M. Arrington]

Take care and God bless.

[rayxca1]

I know this may be a better question for a few months from now, but I think it would be interesting to hear what kind of feedback you have gotten from GIs about what they desire in a knife.

BTW - I met you at Lyle Brunckhorst's Hammer-In last June. I was totally green but since then I have taken one of his beginner classes and have forged out three blades (we broke one for entertainment and education). Look forward to seeing you this year!

[Jason Cutter]

I thought I'd throw in what I actually made, to see if there's some kind of trend.

4 guys, one lady made orders. All were "custom" ie.- negotiation about the pattern, handle shape, materials etc.

4 stock-removed O-1 carbon, 2 of which were coated with KGI GunKote (matte black). The other 2 were diff HT-ed with an etched up temper line. One of those was satin hand rubbed to 800grit only. The other one was finished with a "Tigerstriped Camo-etch" done with ferric chloride (easy as anything).

1 was RWL-34 stainless (same as ATS-34 but powdered steel technology), satin hand rubbed to 800grit.

Interestingly, all 5 were between 4 to 6inches, 4 of them were exactly 5.5inches (a mistake in measurement on my part - supposed to be 6inches !) The lady got the smallest one - a 4incher. ALL were in spear-pointed pattern, full height flat grinds, with long UNSHARPENED clips. All were between 5/32 and 3/16inch thick. All specified NO DROPPED EDGE. Double guards. when i offered the choice, ALL ASKED FOR A DOUBLE GUARD MADE OF LINEN OR CANVAS MICARTA. All handles were canvas or linen Micarta, textured for added grip. Minor variations in grip size, width, length, drop, etc. but generally all were a very compact and conservative handle styles.

All got leather sheaths with a Kydex insert. I made belt loops but I think they were going to lash them to LBE upside down. They were happy with the sheath design but didn;t tell me how they were going to wear the knife. A couple mentioned that these knives wouldn't replace their issue blades (not sure what sort) but would be a backup, hence the choice of smaller blades.

None of these guys knew each other, I think, so the consistency was remarkable. I've heard that military operations are a sort of extended camping trip when it comes to choice of knife. So basically, I was trying to make a good double guarded utility knife or camp knife. I hear in terms of factory knives, the Camillus Becker C-U7 is very popular as an alternative to the KBar.

What do you guys think. My website pictures are't up yet but I'll have a pic of one of the black-coated ones in a couple of months.

Cheers.

[floridafred]

Jason, really look forward to seeing those blades.

I just wanted to note that the Australians have been a very good friend to us in the United States for a very long time and it is greatly appreciated by the US. In any time of need the Australian Military has been with us and it looks like they will be there again.

I had first hand experience in Vietnam when at times we transported "Aussie" military on my Aircraft Carrier. Although we were a jet carrier we were a safe landing strip for troops needing an out and helicoptered out to us. We also took troops on board at times who were to helicopter in. A number of times they were Aussies. A real scary bunch of guys until you had a chance to have a couple of beers with them. I have carried a great respect for them ever since as do the many US Military men and women who have had the privledge to serve with them. You could not have put those knives into better hands. I pray for their safe return.

I have an Ek Dessert Storm model that I will be presenting to a family friend who will be departing soon. It's not custom but I think it will work.

[MongoForge]

If a person wanted to donate a
knife to a serviceman/woman..
How would they go about it?

Im prior service but dont have
any contacts anymore?

Thanks
Mongo-