My newest addition is this Helle Temagami knife with a triple laminate 4 inch blade that sharpens up very nicely. There is a broad, 3/4 tang as opposed to the rat-tail tang one usually finds in Helle knives. They have tried to be convincing that the rat-tail tang is as strong as a full tang...I can't believe that. At any rate this a fine knife with a beautiful Masur Birch Burl Scandi handle.

Here are two of my favourite large knives both of a survival/tactical bent. The one on the left is a Bark River STS-5 with a custom Cocobolo handle; the one on the right is my fine ESEE-6 with a Honduran Rosewood Burl handle...both handles by Randy Chinn of San Francisco.



Here is my custom made pen by Duncan Suss made from the same Rosewood as the scales on the ESEE-6. I love that wood but is fast becoming endangered and soon you will not be able to get it without running into Federal interference. Sigh!


I will post others as we go along. I hope you enjoyed these knives(and my neat pen!).
Best to all
Leo

My newly rehandled ESEE-5, done in Madagascar Ebony by Peter Rassenti...he calls it the Black Beauty, but I say it is more like the Black Beast. The ESEE-5 is a big, heavy knife and the 5.5 inch blade of 1095 Carbon Steel takes a fiercely sharp edge.



And here are my Bark River knives: The Gunny with Desert Ironwood scales, its big brother, the very excellent Bravo 1 with Spalted Maple Burl scales and the STS-5 before he got his Cocobolo scales. The last two knives were developed by Mike Stewart for the Marine Recon unit and the Bravo 1 was chosen over all the other knives from different companies to be the survival blade for the Marine Recon outfit.



CHeers
Leo

Gorgeous knives, LM.

Does Randy Chinn have a website? I have a BK2. The Grivory scales are ok, but I would like something a little more unique. Also, who did the scales for the Gunny and Bravo 1? They look awesome.

ron_stenbro wrote:


Hi Ron
The Bark River knives came like that from the maker...you can buy them with vanilla flavour scales Micarta and G10 or the fancier stuff like the ones you see here.
Randy does not have a web site but I can give you his e-mail address and you can ask him to do a job for you. Unlike others who do this stuff for a living, Randy does it because wood work is his passion. Anything he charges just goes toward buying wood and new gadgets or for trail running equipment...he runs and climbs and camps in places most humans will not venture into. He also is into search and rescue...and all of this while he does his job as a CEO of a huge IT company. Pretty amazing guy. I will give you his e-mail address and you can check out more of his stuff on You Tube under his mtntrailrunner you tube name.
. When you write him, tell him I sent you.

Good luck
Leo

P.S
He has done several BK2's and I think you will see one on YouTube.

Several people have asked about Randy Chinn and his work...here is a better shot of the Bark River STS-5 with its Cocobolo scales as well as my ESEE-4 with Bird's Eye Maple scales. The latter scales look different than most Bird's Eye Maple scales because they have been stabilized not with acrylic like most knife scales, but rather by being cooked in an oven at 350 degrees for 3 days. This makes for the different colour.



Here is a shot of the back of the ESEE-5 showing the fine fit of the ebony scales by Peter Rassenti and the thickness of that 1095 steel blade. You also get a good look at the laser gonimeter from CATRA...you can clearly see the v-notches where the knife blade is inserted for measurement of the bevel angles.



I have more but I won't put them up until they have had their scales customized by Peter Rassenti next winter.

Cheers
Leo

your WEPS hasn't been delivered yet, while you are waiting, it would be great to see some of the knives in your collections that will soon be sharper than ever. Here is another one of mine that I love. In my write up about my story, I mention that I took Defendo from an ex-commando and at that time I developed a love for knives starting with the Fairbairn Sykes commando knife. Recently I found a custom maker, Peter Parkinson, in New Zealand and he makes these daggers to the original specs but with better material and with great care to fit and finish. I bought myself one and it was worth every cent. It is a Pattern 2 with black nickel-plated brass handle and a nickel-plated SS blade of 7 inches length. He does a masrerful job and will even customize the knife further for you even you want to add your own flavour to this knife. Here is mine second from the right. Scary to think what the knife's purpose was in those dark days of WWII and even the Korean and Viet Nam conflicts.



Let's see some of your knives too!


Leo

An excellent collection of knives, Leo!