Dawkind
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2000
- Messages
- 12,647
This is something I'd been thinking about for a while now and thought it was interesting, the transformation of a knife from a Maker over the period of 27 years and some of the innovations that followed along with it....finally dug them out and got them together.
This is an email that the fellow I bought this leather-sheathed, historic piece from....he had queried Tom Maringer about it. I also found by going through Tom's Serial Number List(s) that this happens to be the very first non-Proto Vorpal ever made, 1 or 4 consecutively numbered pieces talked about in the email. There were 2 Vorpal-named knife Prototypes made before this one but they had 10" blades and scales....would love to have seen those.
The actual knife was designed by Bob Angell and he also designed and made the 4 sheaths, this knife is 1 of the 2 Bob had.
"That was the earliest version, designed by gun-leather maker
Bob Angell and made for him. He is best known for his rig for carrying and
deploying a compact full auto Uzi, strong side without decoupling...
widely copied now. He was working in New York at the time, later moved to
Chicago.
The leather was a very neat solution, but Bob didn't want to keep making
them for me so we began seeking some other means of quick deployment and
ended up settling on thermoplastic.
I think there were only four of the V-2s made with leather... two for Bob
and two others. When we developed the method of forming and switched to
Kydex it was pretty much like finding the holy grail. Lots of folks using
it now. But what you've got is the background... the REASON that we were
looking for something different that could perform that fast deploy yet be
thinner and lighter."
When I told Tom that I had added this to my collection, this was his reply.....never saw the pictures he speaks of but that'd be quite a piece to have....a Loveless New York Special, this one and the other 3 original pieces have the Loveless-style snap retainer mounted in the handle! I liked the differences in the sheath/harness materials...heavy cotton straps, 'alligator-teeth' adjusters, leather center section with a wet-formed leather sheath to thermo-formed Kydex, nylon strapping with molded 'hinges' and adjusters.
"Awesome! You may also know that Bob Loveless actually made the first of those for Bob Angell... there have been pics of it circulated. He called it the New York Special, but he didn't want to keep making them. So Bob Angell was looking around for somebody else, met me at the 1981 New York Knife show, and that's where the Vorpal line got started. The first Kydex appeared at the New York show late in 1982."
The rest is History....
What I've got pictured is the very first skeleton Vorpal ever made in the front-break leather sheath, the predecessor of the front-break Kydex sheath, a 1983 Vorpal version in it's Kydex harness sporting more radius on the handle plus the addition of a little jimping.
Now fast-forward 27 years from it's humble but fascinating beginning and, Tom one to be never satisfied or resting on his laurals, it has morphed into the Vorpal Haiku, this being the very first and Prototype and almost the antithesis of the original design going from an integral to being comprised of 17 different pieces. The last one is the knife Tom always wanted and perfected before he retired from Knifemaking, a sad day indeed.
It's the Vorpal Haiku with DLC-coated Titanium hardware, double-edged 9" D2 blade, stabilized bamboo handle core covered with o-rings....excellent grip and easily and inexpensively replaced....weighing in at an almost unbelievable 8 1/2 ounces with devastating cutting power. Tom's mastery with Kydex is also evident since this sheath is one piece of Kydex and uses no rivets....too bad it's left-handed. I also have a wooden Trainer with a Kydex sheath since this thing basically has 18" of scalpel-like edge.
I'm biased but Tom's one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met and his cutlery and abilities speak for themselves. I thought it was interesting but, again, that's just me.
Subtle differences during the first year...
This is an email that the fellow I bought this leather-sheathed, historic piece from....he had queried Tom Maringer about it. I also found by going through Tom's Serial Number List(s) that this happens to be the very first non-Proto Vorpal ever made, 1 or 4 consecutively numbered pieces talked about in the email. There were 2 Vorpal-named knife Prototypes made before this one but they had 10" blades and scales....would love to have seen those.
The actual knife was designed by Bob Angell and he also designed and made the 4 sheaths, this knife is 1 of the 2 Bob had.
"That was the earliest version, designed by gun-leather maker
Bob Angell and made for him. He is best known for his rig for carrying and
deploying a compact full auto Uzi, strong side without decoupling...
widely copied now. He was working in New York at the time, later moved to
Chicago.
The leather was a very neat solution, but Bob didn't want to keep making
them for me so we began seeking some other means of quick deployment and
ended up settling on thermoplastic.
I think there were only four of the V-2s made with leather... two for Bob
and two others. When we developed the method of forming and switched to
Kydex it was pretty much like finding the holy grail. Lots of folks using
it now. But what you've got is the background... the REASON that we were
looking for something different that could perform that fast deploy yet be
thinner and lighter."
When I told Tom that I had added this to my collection, this was his reply.....never saw the pictures he speaks of but that'd be quite a piece to have....a Loveless New York Special, this one and the other 3 original pieces have the Loveless-style snap retainer mounted in the handle! I liked the differences in the sheath/harness materials...heavy cotton straps, 'alligator-teeth' adjusters, leather center section with a wet-formed leather sheath to thermo-formed Kydex, nylon strapping with molded 'hinges' and adjusters.
"Awesome! You may also know that Bob Loveless actually made the first of those for Bob Angell... there have been pics of it circulated. He called it the New York Special, but he didn't want to keep making them. So Bob Angell was looking around for somebody else, met me at the 1981 New York Knife show, and that's where the Vorpal line got started. The first Kydex appeared at the New York show late in 1982."
The rest is History....
What I've got pictured is the very first skeleton Vorpal ever made in the front-break leather sheath, the predecessor of the front-break Kydex sheath, a 1983 Vorpal version in it's Kydex harness sporting more radius on the handle plus the addition of a little jimping.
Now fast-forward 27 years from it's humble but fascinating beginning and, Tom one to be never satisfied or resting on his laurals, it has morphed into the Vorpal Haiku, this being the very first and Prototype and almost the antithesis of the original design going from an integral to being comprised of 17 different pieces. The last one is the knife Tom always wanted and perfected before he retired from Knifemaking, a sad day indeed.
It's the Vorpal Haiku with DLC-coated Titanium hardware, double-edged 9" D2 blade, stabilized bamboo handle core covered with o-rings....excellent grip and easily and inexpensively replaced....weighing in at an almost unbelievable 8 1/2 ounces with devastating cutting power. Tom's mastery with Kydex is also evident since this sheath is one piece of Kydex and uses no rivets....too bad it's left-handed. I also have a wooden Trainer with a Kydex sheath since this thing basically has 18" of scalpel-like edge.
I'm biased but Tom's one of the most knowledgeable people I've ever met and his cutlery and abilities speak for themselves. I thought it was interesting but, again, that's just me.
Subtle differences during the first year...
