Rooster Spur bodyguard knife

[Stormcrow]

A guy who does bodyguard work for rock stars approached me about doing a short, cord wrapped knife for him. It seemed like an interesting project, so I took it. He wanted a 4" blade (about as short as I ever make) and 4" handle (shorter than I usually do), sharpened top edge, cord wrapped handle, but left the rest of it up to me. I took a few tips I've picked up from Ed Calderon and a bit of Spanish navaja influence, some pikal design, and came up with the Rooster Spur.

roosterspur04 by James Helm, on Flickr

It's forged from 80CrV2 steel, with a hemp cord wrap over the bare steel of the tang.

roosterspur03 by James Helm, on Flickr

It has a narrow little point for easy penetration. A two-strand Turk's head provides a mechanical lock for the hand to keep it in place when stabbing.

roosterspur05 by James Helm, on Flickr

As mentioned above, it was designed with pikal techniques in mind, and the handle works well with a thumb anchor grip.

roosterspur06 by James Helm, on Flickr

roosterspur07 by James Helm, on Flickr

And, of course, a Kydex sheath for carry.

roosterspur10 by James Helm, on Flickr

The customer described it as "a tank with a razor edge".

roosterspur09 by James Helm, on Flickr

It's garnered enough attention that I'm strongly considering a mid-tech version once I have the process all sorted out.

 

[Raymond Richard]

James, To me the turkshead would look better if it were the same color as the rest of the handle. This is a small knife compared to what you normally do.

 

[Stormcrow]

Raymond - Yes, it is definitely on the small side for me. Easier for me to make a 12" blade than a 4". I like to keep the Turk's heads and the main overlay the same color usually, but with the hairiness of the hemp cord, it loses its distinctive strands in the Turk's head.

 

[Smallshop]

Looks like an ancient blade with deadly purpose...nailed it! For the look of that knife my personal preference would have been a distressed looking leather sheath...but not really an issue. The kydex looks good too.

I really like the two color wrap.

 

[Stormcrow]

A leather sheath from me sure would look distressed...but not on purpose!