Buddy Thomason
Well-Known Member
The interesting history of this first knife, a "Parnee Fighter", is detailed here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/899374-Paranee-Fighter-9-by-Nick-Wheeler-JS
Paul Long did up a nice sheath for it. OAL is 12 1/2 in, the damascus blade is 7 3/8 in, blade thickness at the guard is a solid 1/4 in. The handle is carbon fiber. The time I spent handling this knife in my photo studio caused me to discover several design elements so well integrated into the whole by Nick that they aren't immediately appreciated - like the optimal balance point, the flat underside of the handle up front for indexing and added grip security, the 'reversible' handle shape (it feels equally right with either a stab grip or a plunge grip), the finesse Nick used in his distal taper so the blade tip has real support... and more.
The second knife is a sweet damascus integral - what I would call a 'gaucho style' long knife (or bowie). This handle, and I'm guessing here, is ? Walnut Burl. It's truly beautiful to behold and well suited for Nick's highly sculpted handle style. Sheath is by Paul Long. OAL is 15 in and blade is 9 3/4 in. Great design 'flow' is evident in both these knives, and all of Nick's knives that I've seen. He's got that good eye for design such that it's probably impossible for Nick Wheeler to make an ugly and/or non-functional knife! As an exercise in appreciating Nick's design skills, observe in the image below that relationship between the clip and the knife overall. Imagine how it would look (and feel) if the clip were even slightly longer, or shorter. It's like they say about wildlife photography, "If you don't have the animal's eye(s) in sharp focus, then you got nothing". With this particular knife, IMHO, if the clip isn't exactly right, then... But of course it is right, and that's my point.
Paul Long did up a nice sheath for it. OAL is 12 1/2 in, the damascus blade is 7 3/8 in, blade thickness at the guard is a solid 1/4 in. The handle is carbon fiber. The time I spent handling this knife in my photo studio caused me to discover several design elements so well integrated into the whole by Nick that they aren't immediately appreciated - like the optimal balance point, the flat underside of the handle up front for indexing and added grip security, the 'reversible' handle shape (it feels equally right with either a stab grip or a plunge grip), the finesse Nick used in his distal taper so the blade tip has real support... and more.
The second knife is a sweet damascus integral - what I would call a 'gaucho style' long knife (or bowie). This handle, and I'm guessing here, is ? Walnut Burl. It's truly beautiful to behold and well suited for Nick's highly sculpted handle style. Sheath is by Paul Long. OAL is 15 in and blade is 9 3/4 in. Great design 'flow' is evident in both these knives, and all of Nick's knives that I've seen. He's got that good eye for design such that it's probably impossible for Nick Wheeler to make an ugly and/or non-functional knife! As an exercise in appreciating Nick's design skills, observe in the image below that relationship between the clip and the knife overall. Imagine how it would look (and feel) if the clip were even slightly longer, or shorter. It's like they say about wildlife photography, "If you don't have the animal's eye(s) in sharp focus, then you got nothing". With this particular knife, IMHO, if the clip isn't exactly right, then... But of course it is right, and that's my point.
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