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Early 1940’s 8-inch Fighter |
As a Randall knife collector my interest lies primarily in the early examples of Bo’s work, where I compare and contrast various styles of 1940’s era fighters and stilettos, while learning to distinguish between differences in type. This is good “sport” and the more and closer one looks, the more interesting the discoveries. Normally the differences are subtle rather then great and discussion among collectors who like this era usually center on blade type, spacer variations and handle shapes. Sometimes the differences between like examples of these hand made knives are “thin”, so when one gets an opportunity to view an obviously early 1940s WWII-era fighter like the one in these photographs, interest is peaked.
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The images serve to tell the story. The sheath for this “giant” was made by Southern Saddlery and compliments the knife; as it looks as good in it as it does by itself. Both knife and sheath show normal use as well as careful preservation and they form a compelling image for the collector. Interestingly, the reverse side of the blade carries a name, again in this case underlining the need to preserve these early blades in their original carried and used condition, as hopefully it can be traced to reveal its history and perhaps lead to more factual data on the history of the knife and the man who requested it be built to these unusual dimensions. |
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Normally fighter guards don’t vary a great deal in dimension. Some may be made from the “brass-of-the-day” and show a little variation in shape, but a 4-inch hilt made of steel is another matter. Late in 1948, nickel silver was added as a customer option at RMK. The visual change that it produced on early 1950s knives was pleasing and became popular; the guard then matching the butt cap. There was no such upgrade during the early part of the decade, so most fighters had the same look. Seeing a World War II Model #1 with an 8-inch blade and a guard of steel provides a visual effect of dramatic proportions. In spite of its extraordinary size, the guard does not appear to overwhelm the knife; just the opposite in fact. It still looks like a fighter, albeit a very impressive one, with its long and nicely crafted blade and thick handle circumference, reflecting nicely on the art of crafting a knife of these dimensions which also resulted in a well balanced fighter when held in the hand. 
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