PJ
"PJ" Pararescue Pattern Tanto Knife
- Size: Length overall: 12.75" (32.4 cm), Blade Length: 8.0" (20.3 cm),
Thickness: .188" (4.8 mm)
- Weight: Knife: 12.0 oz. (340 grams) Sheath: 7.4 oz.(210 grams)
- Blade: 440C High Chromium Martensitic Stainless Steel, Hardened and Tempered to Rockwell C58, mirror
finished
- Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic High Nickel, High Chromium Stainless Steel, mirror
polished
- Handle: Polished Stabilized Box Elder Burl Hardwood
- Sheath: Emu Skin Inlaid in Hand-carved Leather
- Knife: The "PJ" is my original tanto
pattern I designed with United States Air Force Pararescuemen
for a combat search and rescue knife. This is the large, full
sized model, and the origin of my most popular selling CSAR
knife, the PJLT. I decided to offer a
full sized PJ done in a graceful, lightweight, artistic and
elegant version and this is the result. This PJ has an
impressive and beautifully polished hollow ground blade, thin
and long, in high chromium 440C martensitic stainless steel for
the highest corrosion resistance and most beautiful finish of
any stainless knife blade steel. The grinds are sweeping and
graceful, with nicely radiused terminations and clean, crisp
grind lines well-matched. The blade has a half-length top swage
that leaves plenty of spine thickness to support the aggressive
blade. The eight inch blade length is measured from the tip of
the point to the front bolster face at the front quillon. The
knife has 2.5" of my sharply ground Vampire Teeth serrations,
and the cutting edges are hand sharpened to a razor-keen single
bevel cutting edge. The tang is fully and thinly tapered for
perfect forefinger balance, and sports fine and accurate
filework throughout in a "double square arrow" design. The
bolsters are clean, mirror polished 304 high nickel, high
chromium austenitic stainless steel, the same stainless used to
make tough stainless bolts and machine screws. They are
zero-care and extremely corrosion resistant. The front bolster
is sculpted and polished to follow the blade termination grind,
and the rear bolster is full and large with a substantial
"hawk's bill" for a positive grip. The bolsters are dovetailed
and bed a pair of stabilized Box Elder Burl hardwood handle
scales, secured with eight stainless steel pins. The Box Elder
Burl has been pressure stabilized with over 19,000 PSI of
polymer resin, so is essentially waterproof and extremely
durable. The burl has nice eyes and good figure, and is very
strong for its light weight. In fact, when you grip this knife,
you'll be surprised at how light it feels for such a large
knife.
- Sheath: Of course, the sheath had to be
commensurate with the quality of the knife, so I designed and
constructed a sheath of 9-10 oz. leather shoulder, hand-carved and
inlaid with a surprising 35 individual inlays of light
brown Emu skin; there are
fifteen inlays on the sheath front alone! I like the geometric
design; it matches the angularity of the tanto blade, and the
quill "eyes" in the Emu go well with the eyes in the Box Elder
Burl. I formed a noticeable mouth in the sheath face to
highlight the handle material, and the sheath body is
hand-stitched with polyester sinew, dyed
black, lacquered and sealed.
- A beautiful, light, and graceful version of a proven tanto design suitable for investment, collection, or use.
Thanks, B. M.!
Got the knife today. Wow. Love the stabilized Box Elder handle and the unique file work throughout.
--B.
Please click on thumbnail photos