private industry manufacturing founded 1938 ; 78 years ago 1938 founder walter doane bo randall jr. 1 headquarters 4857 s. orange blossom trail orlando florida key people bo randall and his son gary 2 products custom handmade knives number of employees about 20 website randall made knives randall made knives usually referred to as randall is an american custom handcrafted knife manufacturer founded by walter doane bo randall jr. in the u.s. the factory and showroom is located in orlando florida . randall began making knives as a hobby in 1937 . 3 his son and grandson continue the family trade along with 20 craftsmen producing about 8 000 knives per year out of a shop on the south orange blossom trail . 3 randall offers 28 models of knives for different applications each customizable at the factory based on customer specification . 4 randall hand forges nearly all models of knives instead of factory stamping 5 one of few manufacturers to do so . randall uses a 17 step process for making knives which usually takes over 8 hours to complete . 6 the waiting list for obtaining a randall from the factory is typically five years . two examples of randall s model 17 astro designed for the use of astronauts are on display in the smithsonian institution . the company operates its own museum containing more than 7 000 knives and other edged weapons including one of the world s largest collections of pocket knives . contents 1 history 1.1 randall in space 1.2 randall in music 2 randall made knives museum 3 models 3.1 bowie knives 3.2 military style knives 3.3 outdoorsmen knives 3.4 saltwater knives 3.5 skinning and hunting knives 3.6 survival knives 4 notes 5 external links 5.1 websites 5.2 web articles history edit model 14 attack bo randall first became interested in making knives after he purchased a bill scagel knife that was being used to scrape paint off of a boat without showing any signs of wear or damage . 7 he made his first knife in his garage at lake ivanhoe florida using an auto spring . 6 he founded the company in 1938 . 1 although randall originally designed his knives for outdoorsmen and sold them at sporting goods stores demand from military customers initially provided his biggest boost in business and launched his company nationally . 8 in the early 1940s randall knives significantly increased in popularity after receiving good publicity during world war ii . 1 several noted war heroes and gis on all fronts carried randall knives with them into major battles including lieutenant general james m. gavin commander of the 82nd airborne division during the normandy invasion . 1 army air force captain ronald reagan future u.s. president owned a randall knife in wwii . 9 10 randalls were so popular that gis from overseas ordered through the mail by simply addressing letters to the knife man orlando . 11 model 16 sp 1 special 1 fighter shortly after the war the popularity of randall knives increased among non military users and randall developed additional models specifically for expanding markets . in 1956 randall received a united states design patent for models 14 and 15 . 12 in 1957 bestselling author james jones mentioned randall knives in his book some came running and subsequently helped randall to design a diver s knife . 13 in the vietnam war general william westmoreland commander of american military operations in vietnam was often photographed with a randall . pilot gary powers of the 1960 u 2 incident and herpetologist ross allen carried randalls . 6 in 1982 randall was inducted into the blade magazine cutlery hall of fame at the blade show in atlanta georgia . 14 bo randall died in 1989 in orlando florida at 80 years of age . 15 his son gary randall currently oversees production at randall made knives . bo randall was inducted into the blade magazine cutlery hall of fame at the 1983 blade show as an inauguree . 14 in 1997 randall was inducted into the american bladesmith society hall of fame . 16 in 2001 randall s knives were listed as best sheath knife as part of forbes 50 best list . 17 randall in space edit the first knife to journey into space was the randall model 17 astro knife . it was conceived by major l. gordon cooper jr. to be a survival knife specifically for astronauts . proper design and construction were crucial for astronauts orbited over deserts and jungles as well as ocean . cooper studied many factory made knives but found none to be satisfactory . he finally turned to knifemaker bo randall . 18 as the u.s. initiated its space program nasa needed a survival knife for its astronauts and major gordon cooper worked with randall on the design of the model 17 astro . 18 these first astronauts carried their randalls into space . 1 after recovering the liberty bell 7 mercury space capsule from the ocean in 1999 astronaut gus grissom s randall knife was found inside . 19 despite having spent 40 years at a depth of 15 000 feet 4 600 m underwater the knife was still serviceable after a good cleaning . 19 due to the historical significance of the astro the smithsonian institution displays two at their museum . 20 randall in music edit texas musician guy clark wrote and sang the original song the randall knife as an elegy for his father ; the song first appeared on clark s 1983 album better days . vince gill who sang and played guitar on clark s original recording mentions a randall knife in an elegy for his own father the key to life from the 1998 album the key . steve earle a friend and contemporary of guy clark mentions a randall knife in his song taneytown from the 1997 album el corazon . randall made knives museum edit display at randall made knives museum the randall made knives museum is located at the shop facility in orlando and contains more than 7 000 knives and other edged weapons . 21 it has one of the largest collection of pocket knives in the world and home to the world s largest collection of bill scagel s knives . 6 the museum contains many historical pictures and documents related to randall knives . randall plans to move the museum to a larger facility . models edit bowie knives edit model 6 steak knife model 12 bowie model 13 arkansas toothpick military style knives edit model 1 all purpose fighting knife model 2 fighting stiletto model 14 attack model 15 airman model 16 sp 1 special 1 fighter model 24 guardian outdoorsmen knives edit model 3 hunter model 4 big game and skinner model 5 camp and trail knife model 7 fisherman hunter model 8 trout and bird knife model 9 pro thrower model 25 the trapper model 26 pathfinder model 27 trailblazer model 28 woodsman saltwater knives edit model 10 salt fisherman and household utility model 16 diver s knife skinning and hunting knives edit model 11 alaskan skinner model 19 bushmaster model 20 yukon skinner model 21 little game model 22 outdoorsman model 23 gamemaster survival knives edit model 17 astro model 18 attack survival notes edit a b c d e jim williamson . the randall story knife world april 1999 . retrieved on october 26 2007 . randall made knives . the history randall made knives website . retrieved on october 25 2007 . a b randall made knives ; orlando handmade knives november 2013 florida trend magazine page 87 randall made knives . catalog randall made knives website . retrieved on october 25 2007 . randall made knives . randall made knives brochure 33d printing p. 5 . a b c d coulbourn keith . a cut above the average florida accent february 12 1967 . pacella gerard 2002 . 100 legendary knives . krause publications . pp. 19 20 . isbn 0 87349 417 2 . randall made knives . randall made knives brochure 33d printing p. 3 4 . randall made knives . randall made knives brochure 33d printing p. 1 . gaddis robert l. randall made knives the history of the man and the blades boulder co paladin press 1993 p. 93 94 . hayes joseph . precious metals orlando magazine.com january 2010 . retrieved on june 03 2010 . united states patent and trademark office u.s. patent us0d0177 590 knife may 1 1956 . reed j.d. july 14 1980 . on the cutting edge . sports illustrated . retrieved 3 october 2011 . a b randall . blade magazine . july 1 1982 . access date requires url help cite error invalid ref tag ; name hof defined multiple times with different content see the help page . jean charlie 1989 . bo randall dies at 80 famous for quality knives . sun sentinel . shackleford steve 1997 . family rules at abs hall of fame . blade . f & w media . 24 12 66 . 50 of america s best . forbes.com . 2001 . retrieved 2011 03 11 . a b wolfe thomas c. 1982 knives of the astronauts blade . october 1 1982 a b roy huntington . tactical knives guns magazine january 2001 p. 2 . retrieved on october 26 2007 . randall made knives . randall made knives brochure 33d printing p. 8 . randall made knives . randall made knives brochure 35th printing p. 38 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to randall made knives . websites edit randall made knives official website web articles edit the randall story knife world april 1999 by jim williamson v t e knives and daggers list of daggers list of blade materials types of knives aircrew survival egress knife athame balisong butterfly ballistic ballpoint pen knife bayonet boline bolo boning boot knife bowie bread knife cane knife cheese knife chef s knife cleaver clip point combat knife commander corvo cqc 6 deba b ch diving knife drop point electric knife fairbairn sykes fighting knife gerber mark ii ginsu grapefruit knife gravity knife gunong hunting knife jacob s ladder karambit k la kirpan kitchen knife kukri laguiole knife machete mandau mezzaluna misericorde mora knife multi tool nakiri b ch navaja neck knife nontron knife opinel knife palette knife pantographic knife parang penknife penny knife pocket knife putty knife puukko rampuri resolza sabatier sami knife santoku sark scalpel seax sgian dubh sharpfinger shiv sliding knife smatchet sog knife straight razor strider smf survival knife swiss army knife switchblade taping knife throwing knife tomato knife trench knife tumi ulu utility knife warrior knife x acto yanagi ba yatagan types of daggers anelace applegate fairbairn fighting knife arkansas toothpick bc 41 bagh naka baselard bichuwa bollock dagger cinquedea dirk ear dagger emeici fac n french nail hachiwara hunting dagger janbiya kaiken kalis kard katar khanjali khanjar kris mark i trench knife ocean edge knife parrying dagger poignard push dagger rondel dagger seme shobo sica stiletto tant marine raider stiletto v 42 stiletto yarar parachute knife yoroid shi knife manufacturers aitor al mar knives american tomahawk company bear mcg benchmade b ker buck knives caber camillus cutlery company cattaraugus cutlery company chris reeve knives cold steel columbia river knife & tool cuisinart cutco cutlery dovo solingen dexter russell dirte knives eikhorn ek commando knife co. emerson knives erizo f. dick f llkniven famae fiskars f ritechnics gerber legendary blades global golok 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