by Though I do not carry or use a knife as a matter of habit, I can appreciate fine craftsmanship when I see it. Randall Made Knives in Orlando, Florida, is a maker that has a earned a reputation for producing knifes that are in equal measures functional, durable, and beautiful. While we were passing through, we took the time to visit the Randall Collection, the company’s museum.
In 1936, W. D. “Bo” Randall admired a hand-made knife of a unique design that was being used ignomiously to scrape a boat in Michigan.
Randall convinced the owner to sell him the knife, so impressed was he at the caliber of craftsmanship that was evident in the knife.
Bringing the blade back home to Florida, Randall set out to create knife as good he could possibly make using this knife as a model.
While still managing his family’s citrus groves around Orlando, Randall’s knife-making hobby began to turn into more than an avocation.
As World War II began, a sailor asked Randall to make a knife suitable for hand-to-hand combat. When the sailor’s friends saw the knife, they wrote asking for one of their own, and then friends of those friends placed orders. In a few years, Randall Made Knives became established as essential tools for those in the service, outdoors enthusiasts, and first responders; coveted by collectors; and admired by multitudes.
/Alan Shepard carried carried a Randall Made knife into space, a model designed for Project Mercury astronauts called the “Astro” — the first knife in space! The museum includes an American flag and the Randall Made knife that Gordon Cooper also carried into orbit on his space flight.
Bo Randall’s son Gary joined the business full-time in the 1960s, and Gary’s sons Michael and Jason joined the business around the time that Bo passed away in 1989.
The company currently makes more than 50 different models, including Bowie, Military Style, Outdoorsmen, Saltwater, Skinning and Hunting, Stiletto, Throwing, and Survival knives. Since each knife is handcrafted, the company will accommodate customization requests, as well.
Today, Randall Made Knives are more popular than ever — so popular that as of the end of 2023 there is a six-year waiting list for orders placed directly with the company, with prices ranging from $300 to $800. In the secondary market, used knives start at around $500 a piece for the smallest models and can exceed $5,000.
To gain access to the museum, visitors stop in at the Knife Shop, hidden away on a back road off a main Orlando thoroughfare. Then one of the staff will be assigned to escort you next door in a renovated old estate home where 9,000 square feet is devoted to examples of the company’s products and Bo Randall’s extensive collection. In our case, it was one of Bo’s grandsons, Michael, who unlocked the doors, gave us an introduction, and allowed us to peruse display case after display case containing thousands of knives from Randall and other makers along with memorabilia from the company’s history. Letters from astronauts and service people are framed alongside examples of the company’s output over the last 80 years, a record of elevated craftsmanship even more striking in today’s increasingly machine-made world.
