Re:Boomer's Hero Knife,in Sept 2010 issue of Blade...

Who else read the Hot Handmade article about "Boomer's Hero Knife"?
I've re-read it a few times,and man...I get a lil' leaky in the eyes...
I tried to look up the article,and pics of the knife to post here,but can't seem to find them.
The maker of the collaboration knife is John Wylie,who got the blessing from Trace Rinaldi to use one of his designs,Kit Carson inscribed the blade,and Paul Bos did the h.t.
It was a gift for Tom "Boomer" Conners,who saw his young son Pass Ahead way too early...(RIP Finn).
Beautiful knife,but it's the Spirit of why,and who it was made for that makes
it magnificent...
If anyone can find pics and post 'em,please do.

I read it Wolf,and I may could find it,
but I am not able to post it.
It is a touching story though.

God bless,Keith

Keith,I've sent you an email...

Thanks bud.... Here is a pict of the knife right before I presented it to Tom in my living room...



The blade started out from when I visited Trace at his shop in Calif , he profiled and ruff ground it out , it is basically an XL Gambit model. He was showing me how he profiles and grinds , I was to take the knife home and finish it. But first it was sent off to Paul Bos for HT.
When I got it back , I continued thinning the grinds and putting a hand satin on the flats.
It hung unfinished above my bench , and I would work on it from time to time when I felt I was on my A game.

Tom "Boomer" would drop buy often and always checked on it's progress , I knew he liked it as much as I did. Tom is like family to us.

When his son Finn passed away I was out of town , and I got to thinking of what I could do to lengthen the memory of Finn. A quick call to Trace to see if it would be OK to make this a knife to honor Finn's life , and Trace readily agreed.

A call to Unc , "Kit Carson" to inquire about getting him to work some of his pantograph magic on the blade , and he was ecstatic to do it.

It all just fell together after that , I finished the knife with some nice stabilized Koa from Alpha Knife Supply for the handles , and made the leather sheath and stamped it with the firefighter insignia.

My wife bought a presentation box kit and assembled , stained and lined the box , then had a picture printed of Finn to put out the outside. Kit included the piece of TI he practiced on for the engraving , so that was cleaned up around the edges and placed in the box.

It felt darn good to honor Finn in this way , that knife has special meaning in more ways than one , for the person it honors , the person it was given to , and the guys who helped me with it.

After the knife was given to Tom , he then had each of those involved etch their name on the blade. It was left sterile at first to not detract from the engraving , but Tom insisted so we all obliged.

The pictures in the article were shot by Dweikum of EDC Knives.

Finn was indeed a very special young man , who always had a smile on his face when he came to visit. Many of us could learn a lot from him , even though he was only with us for a short time , he touched many people.

John,thank you for sharing the story of this knife.
As beautiful as it is,it's everything that all you folks put into it's
creation that makes it much more than a knife...
It's a powerful memorial,and even more,a Testament.
God Bless ya man.

Just hearing that story again,is an inspiration.
I can only imagine the inspiration this
little man could have been to me.
Thanks,

God bless.Keith

Thanks for the kind words and special thanks to the makers of this special knife. This is why the knife workd is like no other.
Tom

I'll admit, as a relatively new father, I teared up reading the write-up in Blade. I even got my wife, who cares quite little about knives, to read it and she found it very moving as well.