Have an opportunity to purchase one Randall knife. Special fighter or attack?

M

macgregor22

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Hello, long time no see bladeforums.

I hit a milestone in the Army not long ago, and I decided I want to do the thing and purchase a Randall, and make it mine. I'm "that" nco in my unit, who wears a swiss watch to the field, and always harps on buying nice things, so a Randall as the knife in my bag is fitting....plus I've dreamed of one since seeing a case of them at the Spyderco factory store when I was about 13. Anyways, I've carried a lot of "lesser" knives all sorts of places so I think picking up a Randall and putting some weird dirt on it while I can still walk and am still relevant would be a great.

The two options I think would best be suited to the task is either:
A model 14 in O1 with a green micarta handle.
or
A model 16 special fighter in stainless with a model C sheath upgrade.
Whichever I get will be engraved, no upgrades or tweaks possible.

Both seem up to the task, not sure I would pick one over the other. Stainless is an obvious perk for constant field use, but the O1 probably handles abuse and being handed off to joe better, I do ALWAYS have CLP or some sort of oil on me. Most of the pitting seems to come from guys who carried their knives in Vietnam for a year. Weight is another concern, both are honestly excessively large knives to rock, but hey why not. The special fighter is either the same weight or about 4oz lighter than the attack, not really clear. The attack likely has much better tip strength, which I don't intend to pry with either but sometimes you've got what you've got.

I'm a career infantryman btw.

I'd love to hear y'alls thoughts on the matter, there is not a lot of comparisons out there as they are fairly similar.
 
Thank you for your service. 🙏 :)

They are both great choices.
Personally I much prefer stainless for it's ease of care, so I would probably go with the 16. However if you gave me the choice with a Stainless Mod14 I would definitely choose that.

Here is a pic of my custom Mod 14 ordered in 2021 through Nordic Knives.........

 
The SP1 has my vote. It is basically a tricked out model 1 for a discount price.

Which handle shape are you getting?
 
The only handles I can get are the four finger groove handle in black or green micarta. I'm really tempted to snag the SP1, but the heavy duty appeal of the assault kinda appeals to me, plus I have a 3v bark river macv sog that I feel may be too similar to the SP1. Tip strength is another factor. I really wish I could put my hands on these knives.

I'm going to be liquidating most of my knives here soon, been dragging around a bunch of Busse and things that have been in boxes for well over a decade at this point, I do fully intend to put this randall to work and I'm caught inbetween a potentially tougher but heavier assault and a easier to maintain sp1, at this point.
 
Model 16 SP1 gets my vote, here’s mine, I got it from Gary Clinton, his turn around is about 9-months right now

aog2jEE.jpg
 
I had to sell a couple of these.
The Buxton fighter stayed.

The model 1-8 felt “lively” in hand, it was hard to sell. But I already have a 1-7 with my name engraved on it.

My cousin bought the SP1, I found the handle to be large, and not as lively as the model 1-8. But it was really nice.

view


The Buxton fighter was my first border patrol, and I find it a little too insecure in my grip compared to the full finger groove.

My experience with these 2 tell me I would like a single finger groove. So I ordered a replacement SP1 single finger groove but don’t have it yet.
 
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This is the image from RMK of single finger groove
A Buxton fighter with 4 finger grooves and forward curved hilt. Not my knives.



Thank you for your service and good luck with your decision

Edit to add:
If you want a heavier blade maybe the model 16 dive knife? Again not my knife.
 
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Welcome, fellow 11Bravo! I was in the same predicament as you and chose the model 14 stainless with the saw/no saw blade profile. I like it because it's an overall bigger knife than the model 16 diver.
 
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