Dating Randall\'s is somewhat of an expertise thing. There are many different opinions as to the dates of when certain items started, when they stopped using certain spacer configurations, etc..... What\'s even harder is the KIT knives they sold. According to Rhett Stidham\'s RKS newletters: \"About 1971 Gary Randall got tired of knives coming back intothe shop that were obviously not completed in the Randall shop. He came up withthe idea to mark the blades \"KIT\" at the side of the Randall logo.For a while you had to have your name etched on the back of the blade or\"KIT\" marked on the front. But this did not last long and then\"KIT\" was used exclusively on blades leaving the shop.\"

This Model 1-8, while not having the word KIT on the blade, is clearly a KIT knife. If you look at the pictures of the \"welding\" where the tang and handle meet, you can tell this is not a Randall quality production. The blade itself has serious sharpening marks and a little bit of pitting. The handle is leather, with 7 spacers- 3 medium red, 2 medium green, 1 thick green and 1 thin yellow. Its in fair/poor shape, with the leather gouged in places, scratches and the butt unscrewing easily. Trying to date this knife, you have to look at when they started in 1954 (technically), the 7 spacer configuration ending in the early 70\'s, and the word KIT starting in 1971. You could assume this was made during the late 50\'s to 1971. Be that as it may, I have no idea when the knife was put together. This is one of the oldest KIT knives I have seen and if definitely has some history to it. Sorry NO sheath.Blade Length: 8\"OAL: 12 1/2\"

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