| Robert Gaddis Author, "Randall Made Knives" |
|
 |
Robert L. Gaddis has been interested in history most of his life, especially if it involved some form of weaponry. He combined this interest with an engineering education and spent the first 20 years of his adult life as an ordnance engineer dealing with tactical weapons. Handmade knives had always been an interest of his, so in 1977 he went from being a longtime user of Randall knives to a dealer, and he soon became one of the largest in the country. |
| Bob was a founding member of the Randall Knife Society of America and is a regular contributor to the society's newsletters. He has also helped in the compliation of data for the "Randall Knife Information Collection" CD, especially in helping put together the catalog chronology and obtaining access to many of the rarer catalogs. Bob is the author of "Randall Made Knives", the book described below. | |
| The Book: "Randall Made Knives" | |
 |
RANDALL MADE KNIVES is the authorized history of Bo Randall and his blades, told in his own words and those of the people who knew him best - his family, his co-workers, his friends, and his customers. Compiled through meticulous research that included correspondence, sketches, catalogs, and personal interviews, this book spans the years from 1936 when Bo first became interested in knife-making, through the war years when he had to scavenge for materials and part-time help to keep U.S. GI's in Fighters, through the present where his son, Gary Randall, carries on the tradition of excellence established by his father. |
| It contains correspondence between Bo and and several people whose place in history is well secured, including Ronald Reagan, the Mecury Seven astronauts, writer James Jones of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY fame, Gen. John Singlaub, Col. Rex Applegate, and others. More than 100 beautiful photographs of all 25 models of Bo's knives, as well as treasured and rare photographs of early or famous knives - including a never-before-published and previously lost photo of Bo's very first knife - alone are worth the price of this book. And blade makers and historians alike will want to get their hands on copies of the original sketches Bo used to make some of his special knives, including his bowies. |  |
|
| Just as Randall knives have been the standard by which all handmade knives have been judged for more than 50 years, RANDALL MADE KNIVES is destined to become THE historical reference for knife lovers, historians, and military buffs who want to know more about Bo Randall and his blades. | ||
|
||
|
|
||||