"Doubleletto" Double Trouble

This is a forum for discussion on automatic an switchblade knives.

Moderator: The Motley Crew

Forum rules
There are a few things you should know before posting in these forums. If you are a new user, please click here and read carefully. Thanks a lot!
Post Reply
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

"Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

Today my grail knife arrived. This could not have been possible without the help of Bill DeShivs, who so graciously and generously provided a left handed sear to George Cameron, the creator of this magnificent chunk of steel. It is 13" (33 cm) of highly polished O-1 tool steel with layers of stainless liner and red spacer, all scaled in stunning Bear Tooth Woods "Ghost Trails" acrylic, which reminds me of traditional black horn but with a punk rock overtone. In case you are wondering, it weighs in at 16.5 oz (467 g.) and measures 1.25" (32 mm) at the thickest part, excluding the buttons, of course. George took extra care to make sure that the blades sit nice and deep. It's a bit hard to grasp what you are seeing in a photograph, since there are so many reflective surfaces.

Image

Each blade is tang stamped with the "GC" logo, of which DonC has #1 & #2. This is #3 (or maybe #3 and #4 depending on how you look at it.) The right hand blade is fired normally and it's a dagger. The left hand blade is fired with the right index finger or the left thumb if you hold it that way, and it's a bayonet. The modified double locktabs allow one side or the other to be picked comfortably. I conceived this as one right handed and one left handed. It has great snaps, locks solidly, and both sides operate totally independently, or simultaneously.

Image

The 'trails' part refers to the silver metal flake that is present all the way through the acrylic. I think it works here, especially with George's red spacers. I'll have to take another shot of this, but the knife has a beautiful deep waist at the bottom. It's not a wasp per se, but it is a bit different than the average stiletto.

Image

I conceived the knife and laid it out in CAD, but George suggested modifications along the way and they are amazing. I particularly liked that he added center inside liners and spacers, and wrapped the spacer around the top of the scales. Left to my own devices I would have created a big expanse of silver colored stainless, but George had the better idea to set it off with color and I am so glad he did.

Image

There's a bit of photo distortion going on here, the blades and locktabs match perfectly.

Image

Beautiful symmetry.

Image

Thanks for looking and commenting. I don't think I will ever be able to repay my debt for creating this masterpiece. I will add another part of the story later about double knives I have seen before and why I wanted this one like it is.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

boski66 wrote:Freaking amazing! The mechanicals and the materials alike are fantastic! Look up the double 1911's made in Italy. This is the companion knife to one of those double barrel hand cannons.http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www. ... kMj8_mM76g
There are certain handguns that will always be on my bucket list and high among them is the Arsenal AF2011-A1:

Image

I have seen and handled this gun and it's visually stunning (even in simple blue for $4500 or stainless for $4900). The price on the engraved one must be astronomical! Let me touch on your point and those of others. It's really cool when you take two items you love and merge them together as a functional pair. The Arsenal gun is two .45 ACP 1911's merged together and uses parts interchangeable with any government standard pistol. The clip, for example, is two ordinary magazines on a special bottom plate and they exist side-by-side with perhaps an eight inch of space between. There are two triggers and pulling either one fires both barrels; there is no option to do otherwise.

The reason that these guns are on my bucket list is that my hands are not large enough to close around the butt and make me feel that I really have a secure grip and am ready to fire. I wanted a 10mm, but a double stack of those creates one of those large butts that I can't manage. I could not safely hold a Colt Delta Elite, a Glock 20, or a Kimber 10mm. Those guns remain forever on my want list, maybe for the next reincarnation when I have bigger hands (enlargement of other undersized pieces would be greatly appreciated as well ;)). The Desert Eagle .44 magnum being a single stack is OK. :bow: My Springfield XD-M .40 cal is a double stack, but with the smallest of the three interchangeable back straps it works fine. :thumbs Up: Someone pointed out to me that the .40 S & W is actually a "10mm Kurtz (short)" much like the .380 is a "9mm Kurtz". I think that nomenclature, as much as any other factor, was the tipping point in my purchase. In the interim, the original 10mm's have been toned down ballistically and by selecting the correct bullet weight, the .40 S & W now comes very close. I know how it feels when I fire it. Subjectively, the .40 hits like a heavy hammer, closer to the .44 mag than any of the .45's or 9mm's. I like those .45's though, like throwing a bowling ball!
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

For me, this journey and this fixation began around the time I joined the SD forum. At that point, despite having collected Italian style knives for over fifty years, even buying a few directly from Maniago, I was largely unaware of this group of users, especially with respect to their passion and knowledge, their extensive collections, their expertise, and the wonderful few of them who either created these knives from whole cloth or took them apart and reinvented them. One of the first sites I visited was the one featuring this first knife, and I'm sure you know whom I'm talking about. I'd bought a couple of other things off the site and mentioned it in the forum, which brought me into contact with another forum member who wanted to buy the knife below, but had issues with the guy who was doing the selling. He was my first enthusiast friend and while we aren't close, we still talk and trade with each other occasionally.

Anyway, this knife really caught my eye. I didn't think it was worth the $400 and I absolutely hated the deep stamp on the blades, but the idea of a two-bladed knife was very intriguing to me. This one is based on the familiar 28 cm/11" knife, only it comes out around 16" with both blades open. I also didn't care for the fact that it had essentially standard top cross-guard bolsters at both ends and for some reason I have yet to figure out, extra brass liner material at both ends. Anyway, my new friend bought it. To this day, I think this knife is pretty weird.

Image

Image

During the course of our conversations he mentioned that this was actually his second double bladed knife. He traveled to Italy each year, was good friends with Angelo Campolin, and had purchased the next knife sight unseen for $900, a unique Renzo Pascutto creation. I didn't get to see an actual picture of the knife until months later. As it turns out, it's even weirder. I'm not 100% sure of the size, but when closed I believe it appears to be a standard 23 cm 9" knife. On one side, it's a normal double button picklock bayonet. However on the other side, it's a no-safety oval button swedge lockback that comes out of the bolster end.

Image

Image

Image

At this point I need to admit that I have attempted to have my own version of these knives created for quite some time. I conceived this project as a mangle starting with two regular production stilettos, one in bayonet and one in dagger. The first guy I approached about building it turned me down cold. The second guy, whom has since mangled dozens of knives in my collection turned me down because he was too new. I later asked him again and he still felt his skills weren't quite up to speed. He's also busier than a one-armed paper hanger, so who knows when it might have happened? I next approached one of the most renowned manglers around and came to terms with him. I bought donor knives, a superlative block of Acryliwood and liner material and waited patiently for four months for it to be my turn. At that point, he returned everything to me including my deposit, saying that I had bugged him so much it no longer sounded like fun and he'd rather disappoint me immediately than the inevitable later.

All of the preceding text was written months ago around the time that George had begun work on the project. I wasn't aware of Merlin's elegant solution to the double-bladed switch. It would have been frustrating at the time, because I like his and I'd bet the ones in existence are not for sale. For starters, he capitalized on the opportunity to use two different blade grinds and two complete and independent systems. I've actually puzzled through a tripleletto and a quadreletto at least as far as the firing mechanism, but those are ideas that should only be an exercise in free design and not real possibilities. You all know me and my passion for 13" knives, nobody had done that big of a double (as far as I know). I've seen double leverlocks, but they are essentially designed to be used one blade at a time and have to be flipped in the hand to be deployed. The double enders also require a rotation in the hand, but gain the advantage of going from a closed length of 6" to an open length of 16" (based on 11's). This is handy for Sith Lords, but not so much for this Yankee boy.

So George's creation is my big, dream, double 13 with two different grinds. That's my story, and I am sticking to it.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

Really? Not even one 'attaboy'? Tough audience.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
User avatar
Viking45
Posts: 7795
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:07 am

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by Viking45 »

That is one bad-a..,no doubly bad-ass knife. The red spacers are very tasteful and classy.
My hat's off to the creator of this outstanding work of art.
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

Thanks, Dave.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
User avatar
whippersnapper
Posts: 8355
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 12:39 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by whippersnapper »

Pretty darn cool! 8)
User avatar
Belmont800
Posts: 563
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:59 am
Location: VA

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by Belmont800 »

Wo!!! SO MANY AWESOME doubles here!! :shock: :o

Fantastic knives everyone, amazing stuff.
Belmont800
User avatar
Rave
Posts: 148
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:45 pm

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by Rave »

You do like doubles/twins!
One word sums them up for me,awsome!
Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures of your treasures! :D
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

Update: I have had my hands on a couple of the Dual Speed, but passed them on. I've never been face to face with any of the others.

I have seen quite a few of the Arsenal double .45's, but they're rather like holding on to a 2 X 4, my hand simply won't accommodate them. Also, my wallet won't accommodate the $4500+ price tag.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
sammy the blade
Posts: 4023
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:18 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by sammy the blade »

Your doubles are da bomb! Don't feel bad about having small hands, I do too but it makes my weenie seem bigger! Pm sent to you.
2024 candidate for president
User avatar
DonC
Posts: 579
Joined: Wed May 07, 2014 2:24 pm

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by DonC »

I had a chance to see Dave and George's double while it was under construction and my admiration for the design and construction started early. Hat's off to the proud parents. A truly one of a kind piece.
DonC
User avatar
ILikeStilettos
Posts: 1576
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:36 pm
Location: Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Contact:

Re: "Doubleletto" Double Trouble

Post by ILikeStilettos »

DonC wrote:I had a chance to see Dave and George's double while it was under construction and my admiration for the design and construction started early. Hat's off to the proud parents. A truly one of a kind piece.
DonC
Two of a kind, I believe you saw the green one before George changed the profile and started over. I'm hoping he will complete the one you saw one of these days, but George is a consummate perfectionist. I fear he may have just trashed it.
Dave Sause
oldandfat@cox.net
(405) 694-3690

"And you're telling me this because, somehow, I look like I give a shit?"

"Let a smile be your umbrella and you're gonna get your dumb ass wet."
Post Reply