"To the very best of wives!"A Rodgers & Randall dagger stagger.

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ApacheCoTodd

ApacheCoTodd

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To crib from Tiberias in Kingdom of Heaven in his toast to Sybille.

I hold off on noting birthday gifts until well-away from my birthday in a nod to cyber-security.

It seems now to be a good time to boast about that gal who keeps me from being *that guy*.:evil:

A benefit all of society shares in, I can assure you.;)

Among a passel of other gifts for my last birthday were these.

A William Rodgers (not an *I Cut My Way*) dagger and a sweet Randall Model 2-8.

I would never have thought to buy one of these Randalls for myself and consequently had never picked one up. Even at 8 inches it is a surprisingly light and easily handled knife.

The Rodgers - excepting the sheath - is a wonderfully tight and well made dagger. Almost a *cute* little thing.

Anyhow, pulled them for the knife&gun thread, so, there they be.
4tg88v.jpg

Todd.
 
Todd

Happy (Belated), Birthday! Those two fine looking and well constructed daggers make for truly exquisite gifts!
 
I had a bud that I found a #2 for right after he went in the USMC. He carried it on his Med tours to impress the locals and on occasion through out his 27 years.

Bo Randall told me his #2 was what the FS knife should have been!

Might you tell us about that other knife. I am not familiar with it or its story and would like to be.

Also could you have your wife speak to mine?

-kBob
 
kBob said:
I had a bud that I found a #2 for right after he went in the USMC. He carried it on his Med tours to impress the locals and on occasion through out his 27 years.

Bo Randall told me his #2 was what the FS knife should have been!

Might you tell us about that other knife. I am not familiar with it or its story and would like to be.

Also could you have your wife speak to mine?

-kBob
Click to expand...
On your first point. I haven't gotten around to it yet but, in the *go to war knife* thread I had intended to comment on how we would often carry a knife otherwise idiotic in size and weight for a guy to carry. We considered these as *Bar-B-Que* knives to impress or curry-favor while lolling with the indigenous.

This Model 2 would be the cat's whiskers as a Bar B Que knife on the Continent on up through Pakistan. So, you really squared your boy away on that count.

The other is a William Rodgers *Commando Dagger* or stiletto that they were making from before WWII and copies are still made. His handle influenced the Pattern 3 Fairbairn Sykes as far as the ridges are concerned.

For my money from shown, the perfect dagger would be a combination of;

Pommel and handle material of the Rodgers.

Blade weight and dimension of the Fairbairn-Sykes.

Handle and hilt dimensions of the Case V-42.

As to the inter-spousal influences.... It always pays for them to gain perspective, doesn't it?:thumbup:

4tjo8z.jpg

Todd.
 
Ah, interesting. I carried a Pattern 3 FS knife on armed patrols in Southern Germany around active Pershing sites. I felt the blade type improved my chances of penitrating winter clothing, based on comparing it and seversl Bowie types on a Field jacket over a sand bag at the time. When I first arrived in the unit we were "Orphans" having no commissioned officer over our platoon ( well the first month and a half we did but he then became the company XO and moved on and was cool anyway) We carried M7 bayonets if we wanted them and some of us did. several months later and the new commissioned boy from Texas A&M came in and the bayonets went back in the arms room. It was not our fault he walked into the middle of a few guys seeing if they could throw or underhand slip the M7s! It up set him. Took me a couple of weeks to get the FS knife and it stayed with me the next two years. I wanted a VG 42, but it seemed no one was making repros in the mid 1970's. That Rodgers would have been great! Oh when the Aggie left us we went back to being Orphans and I spent more time during those 30 months that way than with a butter bar leading us. I felt it was one of the better things about that tour.

Ah to be 19 again and young and dumb and ....

-kBob
 
I'm thinking the Rodgers deserves a bit more attention since it's lesser known.

Go figure, the other's a Randall.;)

The first photo shows the attention to the pommel nut. Couldn't hardly ask for better. Flush, tight and no gaps on any of the interfaces.
4tktbo.jpg

The second is the handle made of thin brass washers between a synthetic. I'm guessing bakelite or some phenolic material. This handle is wonderful in that the brass sits juuuuust proud enough to add significant fore-aft grip and yet absolutely zero chance of harming the handler. As with the pommel nut, the uniformity of this application speaks volumes to the QC in fitting.
4tktf9.jpg

The third photo shows the Rodgers stamping. As I understand it, earlier knives will be stamped with Rodgers and their logo of *I Cut My Way* either spelled out or in glyphs. Then Sheffield on the opposite side.
The slight tweak between the hilt and the blade is very common after torquing the whole unit together. All so tight you'd assume there was solder or resin within... Unlikely.
4tktj8.jpg

No MOD or any other marks.

I can't really tell the exact weight as our lightest scales are out of commission just now. Suffice it to say that this sturdy, well built little beauty handles very much like an antique Italian dagger or stiletto yet is MUCH more confidence inspiring than the average court-dagger.

Todd.
 
ApacheCoTodd said:
I would never have thought to buy one of these Randalls for myself and consequently had never picked one up. Even at 8 inches it is a surprisingly light and easily handled knife.

Anyhow, pulled them for the knife&gun thread, so, there they be.
View attachment 969761

Todd.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. That Randall is a honey. I recently picked up a long-drooled-after dagger myself. The only dagger I want more than it is a Randall No. 2. What a lovely piece of steel.

:thumbup:
 
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