That's right. D.A . Ruana. Not R.H. Ruana. A new member here asked in a PM about a "Ruana #2 with a five inch blade, full stag handle with brass guard and end cap." This knife is signed D A Ruana". I did not know the answer so I called Mike Hangas, Vic Hangas' son and Rudy's grandson, at the Ruana shop in Bonner, Montana. I will visit them in Bonner, around the first week in April. Mike is a very nice fellow, as all are at the Ruana shop. The three man staff, Vic Hnagas (Rudy's son-in-law) and his two sons Mike and Mark are a busy team.

D.A.Ruana is a cousin (also Rudy's grandson) who worked at the Ruana shop in Bonner for about 1-1/2 years from 1988 to 1989. Since then he made knives in Mizzoula, Montana until due to trademark infringement laws he no longer could make knives under the Ruana name. The Ruana name is protected by Montana and national trademark laws since it is registered. The leather sheath logo is also different from other Ruana knives. The logo on the D.A . Ruana sheath appears to be a rams head with crossed knives below it. Above and below the logo it says, Ruana Bros.

Regards,

Rhett Stidham

Thats interesting to learn. I've been into Ruana's a lot longer that Randalls and wasn't aware that any one else in the family was making knives outside of Bonner. I'll have to look a little deeper into this.

Steve,
My name is Raymond Jack. My username is RayJack615. I'm the one that asked Rhett about the D A Ruana signed knife.
I have three Ruana's as well as three Randall knives. Until about a week ago, I never had the three Ruana's out side by side to compare. My Model 30A 'M' is signed R H Ruana, (by the way, do you know what the 'M' indicates ???)the Model 10A is stamped on the guard with the Ruana logo and name R H Ruana. I am referring to the D A Ruana as a #2 because on the back of the leather sheath, on one side of the stitching (in ball point pen ink that can still be read) it has the number 2, on the other side of the stitching it has the number 5. I measured the blade and it is 5 inches. So I have assumed that the number 2 is the model number. Probably dumb of me to assume anything, but I have not been able, since Ruana does not show pictures of discontinued knives to compare it to a known model 2. I made thiis assumption based on the fact that my #10A has that number and letter on the back of the sheath in ink.
Another gentalman named Steve sent me an email saying he thought that D A Ruana was David Ruana and that David and his two brothers Dennis and Don, apparently the three constituted the Ruana Bros on the sheath, all worked for Rudy on the week ends in about 1980. I don't have a clue as to how factual this information is.

Now, I'm really curious about D A Ruana and if in fact he and possibly his brothers Dennis and Don made knives in Montana under the name Ruana Bros. I had always assumed (there I go again, assuming) that all Ruana knives were made in Rudy's shop.
Since you obviously know a lot more about Ruana knives than I do. Maybe you can tell me, how many different names were signed on Ruana knives and when did they start stamping the name and logo instead of sighning them.
I'm not real good at finding stuff on this site, not because of the site, but because I donn't normally communicate by this means. So if you would like to communicate with me directly, my email is kcajyar@hughes.net.
I appreciate very much that someone with the expertise to research D A Ruana and Ruana Bros is as curious as I am about this knife.

Thank You,
Respectfully,
Raymond Jack

Raymond
I'm not the guy to ask I just collect them but know about zilch as to most of your questions. All I know is Rudy did a lot of one off knives and customer spec stuff. That is what I'm mostly interested in. As far as catalog knives I would guess the shop would be your best bet. Maybe we can talk Sheldon into writing that book on Ruanas that we all want to see. Anyway good luck sorry I was of no help.

The "M" stamp was for Montana...That's about the extent of my Ruana knowledge.

Dubie Baxter