The Randall Made "BEAR CAMP" special is not a special Randall dealer special. Peter Stebbins has these knives made through Randall dealer, Doug Kenefick.

From an earlier internet posting:

Bearcamp Special

I just recently called Doug Kenefick who orders the Bearcamp Special Randalls for Peter Stebbins. #40 will be delivered to Peter next month with knives being ordered every other month in the future. I asked if there was a cutoff number and Doug Kenefick said no. So I guess this is not a limited run. I could not reach Peter Stebbins as the phone number I have is no longer good. Peter wrote the article below for the RKS. The following is from Randall Knife Society newsletter #5, January 1990.

PETE STEBBINS: BEARCAMP SPECIAL



In 1977 my wife, Juggi, and I took over ownership of a small shopping complex in Ossipee, New Hampshire. Among the operations was a small sporting goods store we dubbed "The Bearcamp Sportshop". We sold guns, ammo, fishing gear, in--season tourist items and of course .... knives. My main interest was guns, though I had always been keen on knives. But this soon changed as my inventory of factory and then handcrafted pieces rapidly increased. I became a "knife nut".

In 1982, after selling a number of Randalls purchased from Doug Kenefick, I started thinking about what a small, compact all-purpose survival knife should look like. I really didn't like the appearance of the typical versions with the hollow handles. I had spent enough time in the wild to realize that if you knew you were going to be "out there" you would always carry a lot more valuable "stuff" in your pack and pockets than you could ever cram into a knife handle. Also the knife I envisioned was to be for a civilian outdoorsman, not a military item. You would already have a good compass and a light axe with you. The knife would not need to sub for those.

After playing around with paper and pencil for a long while, off and on, I came up with a knife that looked a lot like a Randall Model 5. 1 wanted: a micarta finger-groove handle - white so you could find it easy on the ground or in the grass, sawteeth on a 5 inch stain resistant blade, wrist thong, duralumin butt cap, nickel silver hilt and some sharp top edge.

I called Doug Kenefick because I knew that the sharpened top edge was not a listed "extra feature" and the first "Bearcamp Special" was in-the-works. It was so etched on the right side of the blade, as were all the subsequent pieces, along with the serial number and in several cases the name of the buyer. The first one arrived in June of 1982. The price at that time was $240.

In 1984 we left Ossipee, returning to 'Taxachusetts" where, in 1986, 1 established ATLANTIC BLADESMITHS. A total of 9 more "Bearcamp Specials" have been made since June of 1982, 9 have been sold and #10 is now available in stock at $395.

The rest of the story. I just talked to Peter Stebbins this morning and he made only 50 of the Bear Camp Specials. There will be no more made by Peter.

No exact numbers here but he said about the first 25 knives they were Model 5's with sawteeth. The second half of the BCS knives were the Combat Companion model as Randall stopped putting sawteeth on the Model 5 -5" and it was necessary to change models to get the sawteeth.

Only three knives were made with natural handle material. Two fossil ivory handled knives were made, one in each model. The last knife had an elephant ivory handle and was delivered about two years ago.

Peter thanks all of you for your interest in this model.

Regards,

Rhett

Finally the truth !
I was waiting for this clarification...
Thanks Rhett.
best
Guido

Here is #50, the last one, in ivory.

Nice Knife hows the ivory hold up in your area.

See Ya, Chief

It cracks, but not as badly as you might think. I keep it doused in mineral oil.