Dubie,
I will attend the guild show on Friday morning and afternoon, but there are no Randall knives allowed on the floor, therefore I am not bringing any. I will be "carrying" the first Triathelete with musk ox, but none for sale. But I'll be shopping for handle material!!
Best for now, Capt. Chris
P.S. Besides: Just how many "Stanaback Specials" do you think I own? CCS

Captain, please explain what you mean when you say "No Randall knives will be allowed on the floor"?

I was going to wear my #3-4". Will I be allowed in?

Not being too familiar with the Guild show, is this only for custom makers who are members of the Guild?

I just wanted to talk to you about a Stanaback Special...Are you allowed to speak about Randalls'?

Dubie Baxter

You can "wear" a Randall but the sales of any type of display of Randalls, even behind the table, out of a briefcase, is grounds for expulsion!...and they ain't kiddin'. Kinda ridiculous: I remember when Dave, Pete, myself and a few other "Randallholics" manned the Randall knife booth at this very Guild's show a few years back. Actually: It was the 50th anniversary of Randall knives and we were invited to set up...but that's it. Charlie Scannapeico walked around the floor with a cart trying to advertise and sell Randall knives out of it. He was asked to leave. He tried the same thing in the lobby. He was "asked" again...They're serious!! I'll see ya', along with Tom on Friday. Just give my phone a ring. I'll hook up with you guys at Rhett and Janie's table. Best for now, Capt. Chris

Regarding the allowability of Randall's at the Guild Show, I remember running into Pete Hamilton at the 1995 show and asking him why RMK was not set up. He explained, I think by saying something like the Guild considered Randall's to be production line knives--never mind that they are 100% handmade.

That always seemed ironic to me, considering that so many of the luminaries of the "custom" world over the years have had one or more employees who worked with them on a division-of-labor basis to turn out their knives, meaning that the workers' names did not (usually) go on the finished product (the only exception that I know of is the Loveless-Johnson collaboration when Steve worked with him). A couple of examples are Lile with local hires, Loveless with Johnson, Draper with Johnson and Hibben and others, etc. I never pursued this with members of the Guild, but wondered if it is a matter of "degree" versus "kind", i.e., some employees are OK, but some number of employees is too many.

Anyway, I always suspected that from the perspective of RMK it was not worth the bother--recall the saying "The best revenge is living well."

Bo was one of the founders of the guild. He is one of their pioneers and is in their hall of fame (for lack of the proper word). The Guild is going through..and "has" been going through a great deal of internal struggle over this very subject. It ain't over..not even close. Too bad. The show used to be so good and now it is half the size it used to be...but we are not sticking to Randall content when I rant, so I'll shut up and go and spend money anyway!! Hope to see a batch of ya' there!!
Best for now, Capt. Chris

Fantastic photos! Anybody have a Stanaback Special with a double guard? I have one coming early next year.

Anybody have a picture of all the Stanaback Specials together?

See Ya, Chief

Chief..I think there are only 2 models of the 'Stanaback Special', the 4 inch blade model and the 4 5/8 inch blade model, in the standard configuration. Here are my 2 in the Standard configuration, these were 'Limited production' the 4 inch was 01/100 and the 4 5/8 inch was 01/200, both mine are #010. If this info is incorrect please correct it.

I started offering my "Stanaback Special" 25 years ago. Actually: Maybe a hair longer, but nobody can seem to come up with the exact date, so let's just say 25 years ago. The knife was only available, at that time, in a 4" stainless steel blade, forged from 1/4" stock, BCP (Bowie Clip Point), TB (Top Bevel Sharpened) and TN (Thumb Notches). To this day, my "Special" and the Randall "Fireman" are the only models available in this blade length and stock thickness!
Various handle offerings, almost unlimited were available. This singular model went on for about 3-4 years, when Gary reluctantly agreed to make the longer Stanaback for me. I can go on and on, but the 2 are both offered today.
The reason I am posting on here at this time is to share one of my "Specials" that I have recently picked up from the Randall shop. It ...and I explain, during the next series of photos you are about to see, a good deal about my "Special". I also wanted ya'll to see a couple of "current" knife models the Randall shop has just completed.
Please keep in mind that this "Special", along with 2 other Randall catalog models that I am going to post today, were/are "stock" Randall knife orders. No special handle material or requests were made. So: Check 'em out!
Best, Capt. Chris

This "Special" is the longer version. It is 4 5/8" and can be easily disinguished from my 4" model by the oxblood sheath and EZE-Lap diamond sharpening steel, located in the tube pouch on the front of the sheath.
Best, Capt. Chris