Above: Jason Randall holds a new Model 1 All Purpose Fighting Knife at the Randall shop in Orlando, Fla. This Model 1 is almost identical to the ones his grandfather, Bo Randall, started making in the 1940s.

Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who are getting ready for deployment and need a best-quality field knife from a company that has been making them by hand for three generations, can now get expedited service from Randall Made Knives of Orlando, Fla.
A Randall knife ordered today would normally arrive in five years, but military personnel can have one in less than 12 weeks. If you deploy sooner than that, they will ship to overseas service addresses so your knife will still reach you in theater.
W.D. “Bo” Randall started making hunting knives in 1938. According to the Randall catalog, when the United States became involved in WWII, a Sailor ordered a knife from Randall for hand-to-hand fighting. Word spread among this fellow’s friends who ordered Randall knives for themselves. Then someone wrote a story and orders started coming from all over the world, many addressed simply to, “Knife Man. Orlando. Florida.”
That first Sailor’s knife became the Model 1 All Purpose Fighting Knife. It featured a bowie-style blade with a sharpened top edge, a double hilt and had a leather handle.
During the Korean and Vietnam wars, Bo and his son Gary Randall continued making the model one and introduced two more models for their military customers-the Model 14 Attack with a larger bowie blade and a finger-grooved handle made of Micarta, and the Model 15 Airman, a more robust survival knife than the ones normally issued to pilots and aircrew members.
Bo Randall passed away in 1989, but Gary and his sons Jason Randall and Michael Randall are still making fighting knives for the men and women of the armed forces. In addition to the models One, 14 and 15, they offer the Model 16 Special Fighter. This newest version of Randall fighting knife features a 7-inch stainless steel blade, double hilt and finger-grooved Micarta handle.
“We’re shipping about 10 knives a week to service members,” said Scott Maynard, the shop supervisor at Randall Made Knives. “We offer to refund their money if they bring us Osama Bin Laden’s head,” he joked.
While the Randalls and the master craftsmen in their shop offer more than 30 different models of handmade knives for all applications, they can only offer 12-week shipping on the previously mentioned four models (1, 14, 15 and 16SF) and only to active service members who have a valid military ID or an overseas APO/FPO address. The rest of buying public will have to wait until 2012 to receive their new Randall Made knives.
For more information, call (407) 855-8075.