Thanks to all that have posted thus far.

This week we shall look at the Model 12's Bear Bowie, Little Bear, and Sportsman's Bowie 9'' and 6''.

From Randall Made Knives: The History of the Man and the Blades by Robert L. Gaddis.

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...The first order for this knife [Bear Bowie] was recorded in the journal on 6 February 1964, with nine more orders following during the next six months. This is quite impressive for one of the most expensive Randall models, especially when it wasn't even listed in the current catalog! These orders... appear to have been the direct result of one magazine article.... in the February 1964 issue of Argosy Magazine....

Of the four pages, two contained color photographs of 14 different Randall knives, while the remaining two pages were pretty well covered by four large black-and-white pictures.... One of the smaller pictures on the second page of color photos is of an unusual Bowie-type knife with a uniquely attractive shape to the blade. Sand's caption read: "A hefty college student ordered this rugged Bowie knife because he wanted to kill a bear with its 8-inch blade." All evidence indicates that this one color picture and short description led to a flurry of inquiries at Randall, the firm orders for expensive knives we spoke of, and also gave a name to this suddenly popular, previously unknown style of Randall knife -- the Bear Bowie. (pp. 212-213)

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The Model 12, 6-inch Little Bear Bowie was another new knife Randall knife introduced during this time frame. Bo always said that this small version of the Bear Bowie was adopted for much the same reasons as the 6-inch Sportsman's Bowie, i.e., the desire of customers for a similar blade shape in a small and handier size. The Little Bear was introduced in the eighteenth printing of the catalog in 1967. Its standard features included a single guard hilt of brass and a leather-washer handle and aluminum butt cap shaped like the Model 3 and 4 hunting knives.... This model has remained popular over the years, and the blade shape has been copied by a few factory-made cutlery lines. (pp.227-228)

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9-inch Sportsman's Bowie These new models first appeared in a catalog when the revised and expanded edition came off the press in May 1954. Besides the original two bowies with 11-inch blades, a third style was included in the bowie lineup on page 7. It is a shorter version of the 11- by 1 7/8- by 1/4-inch style, with a blade length of only 9 inches....

In January 1959, when Bo gave names to the bowie styles for inclusion in the twelfth printing catalog, he called this one "9-inch Sportsman's Bowie." Quite a number of outdoorsmen had purchased this style, to use as a heavy-duty camp and field knife, so he named it for the men who were using it. (p. 136)

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This "Sketch of #12-6"" is undoubtedly the origin of the 6-inch Model 12 Sportsman's Bowie that first appeared in the twelfth printing of the catalog, and it is interesting to see that it started out with a double hilt.... Very few of these small bowies are recorded in the journals until after this model was first offered in the twelfth printing of the catalog. When this edition came into circulation early in 1959, orders began to arrive quickly. Bo always maintained that this 6-inch model was added to the line because of interest in a bowie-type blade of usable size for general outdoor activities. The rapid response shows that, once again, he had offered a knife style that men wanted. (p. 160)

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Lady and gentlemen may we please some Bear and Sportsman Bowies.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year to all.
Kevin

Here's 3 #12-6's... the first two are Sportsman's Bowies, examples of fairly recent work from the RMK shop. I thought the leather handled one was unique in that it had a double guard. The brass butt cap, in my oppinion, is perfect for balancing the weight of the 6 inch blade.

The other is an older model with a nice fat piece of stag for the handle. I got this one a couple years or so ago when I started getting interested in older models. I let a fellow member add this one to his collection a few months ago. I do not know the age of this one or I would elaborate a bit more for you.

The third one is a Little Bear with an elephant ivory handle. The N/S butt cap makes the weight balance quite nicely as mentioned with the brass on the first one.
~dale

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My 12-6's.

and a 12-9.



I would have a nice 12-8 to show, but the dealer sold it out from under me.
(grumble grumble...)

12-9

See Ya, Chief

12-8 #2

See Ya, Chief