After looking at some of the old parts and fixturing, I decided it was time to give it a facelift. My goal was to keep the same size (5"blade, 11"oal) and basic blade shape but give it a more aggressive look while at the same time improving the ergonomics and retention ability. The original one had sort of a teardrop shape towards the back. I always liked the butt end of my Maxi Melee fixed blade with it's pinky catch so I designed that into the handle. Like all my designs, I made the curves generous enough to be comfy in a gloved hand. In my opinion, the orignal had a back spacer that was just too small. This one puts a lot more material much farther forward and adds two more screws. It also provides a lot more grip. Lastly more material was added at the bottom of the frame in front of the finger notch to provide better retention while stabbing forward. The pocket clip on the drawing is CLOSE to what the final one will look like, I will probably tweek it after I machine the first ones out and see how they feel in the hand. Overall, lots of improvements in the handle area, I hope the styling is appealing as well.
As far as the blade, Jim Burke and I built a couple Skirmishes together over the years. On those, I ground the top of the blade to give them a different look. I always that look as I felt it gave the entire knife a much more aggressive look so I added it to the 2012 edition. Also added are much more pronounced thumb grip serrations. Again, intended for use with a gloved hand. Lastly, gone are the 3 holes in favor of the single oval. I know the 3 holes where very distinctive but...............anyway...........
I'll be working on these with Jim Hintz from Nth Degree Knives. Other than posting updates and photos here, he will be handling orders, etc. With my pending shop move, this will be a HUGE help. Our thoughts are to make a few protos and see what happens from there but right now my main focus will still be Henchman Flippers and Mini Skirmishes. I'm hoping to have one for Jim to carry at Blade.
It takes a while to make drawings like the one above that won't ever be used other than to post here. When I do the inlay side, I'll post a photo of that as well but at that point a finsihed knife will be very close.
