In July of 2015, and after that first hit, I wanted more of the drug. Luckily, the phenominal Renzo Pascotto had built twenty-odd prototypes in two sizes and after many back room deals, bribes, and an effort to make my collection GREAT again, I got these two beauties. The 10" Frosolone grind was the only one available with a bottom bolster and the 14" was the only nickel-silver dagger offered.
Then I REALLY went on a bender! In August, 2015, I recruited Straydog to mangle some Frank B. 11" swingers into a pair of pseudo-priolettas. Like all of Ron's knives they came out beautiful, but no amount of shiny abalone acrylic or handsomely wrought nickel-silver was going to give me the high I was craving. One is a bayonet, and the other is a semi-dagger (or extended bayonet, if you prefer that terminology.) They're still lockbacks, but they no longer have swinging guards. They're more Prioletta homage than Prioletta.
And after that hit wore off, there was nothing left to do but to go to the modern master. It took a while for Lucio to chase down the perfect set of Brazilian scales, but it all came together in November, 2015, with this Havlin masterpiece. It's a 14" picklock, with swedges on both sides. Pat wasn't wild about the idea, but he allowed my craziness to reign. He built it with a cool football shaped safety.
Now this has been an interesting road trip, dear friends, and you are probably asking yourselves, "Where is he going with all this?" The point is I have tried to add every possible modern rendition of the Prioletta to my collection. However, none have given me my ultimate high. I always wondered, where would the Prioletta be if it had continued to evolve and pass through that era of juvenile delinquents and West Side Story. You may very well ask that ... but watch this space.
