Randall Made Knives

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Randall Made Knives
Type Private
Founded 1938 by Walter Doane “Bo” Randall, Jr.[1]
Headquarters 4857 S. Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, Florida 32839
Key people “Bo” Randall & his son Gary[2]
Industry Manufacturing
Products Custom Handmade Knives
Employees About 20
Website Randall Made Knives
Model 14 "Attack"
Model 14 "Attack"

Randall Made Knives, usually referred to as Randall, is an American manufacturer specializing in custom handcrafted knives and other edged tools.[3] Randall hand forges nearly all models of knives instead of factory stamping.[4]

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[edit] History

“Bo” Randall founded the company in 1938 after making knives for several years as a hobby.[1] Although “Bo” Randall originally designed his knives for sporting use and sold them at sporting goods stores, customers from the military initially provided his biggest boost in business and launched his company nationally.[5] In the early 1940s, Randall knives significantly increased in popularity after receiving good publicity during WW II.[1] Several noted war heroes and GIs on all fronts carried Randall knives with them into major battles.[1] Air Force Captain Ronald Reagan, future U.S. President also owned a Randall knife in WW II.[6]

Shortly after the war, the popularity of Randall knives increased among users outside the military and “Bo” Randall developed additional models specifically for expanding markets. In 1957, bestselling author James Jones mentioned Randall knives in his book Some Came Running and subsequently assisted “Bo” Randall design a diver’s knife.[1] As the U.S. initiated its space program, NASA turned to Randall for development of a survival knife for its astronauts and Major Gordon Cooper worked with “Bo” Randall on the design of the Model 17 “Astro”.[1] These first astronauts carried their Randalls into space.[1] After recovering the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury space capsule from the ocean in 1999, astronaut Gus Grissom’s Randall knife was found inside.[7] Despite spending 40 years at a depth of 15,000 feet underwater, the knife was still serviceable after a good cleaning.[7] Due to the historical significance of the "Astro", the Smithsonian Institution displays two at their museum.[8]

Country music songwriter Guy Clark paid tribute to the company's craft with "Randall Knife," a song about a man inheriting a knife from his recently deceased father.

Singer Steve Earle mentions a Randall knife in his song "Taneytown".

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Jim Williamson. “The Randall Story”, Knife World, April 1999. Accessed October 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Randall Made Knives. "The History", Randall Made Knives website. Accessed October 25, 2007.
  3. ^ Randall Made Knives. "Catalog", Randall Made Knives website. Accessed October 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Randall Made Knives. Randall made Knives brochure, 33d Printing, 5.
  5. ^ Randall Made Knives. Randall made Knives brochure, 33d Printing, 3-4.
  6. ^ Randall Made Knives. Randall made Knives brochure, 33d Printing, 1.
  7. ^ a b Roy Huntington. "Tactical Knives", Guns Magazine, January 2001, page 2. Accessed October 26, 2007.
  8. ^ Randall Made Knives. Randall made Knives brochure, 33d Printing, 8.

[edit] External links

[edit] Websites

[edit] Web Articles