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Mel Pardue Designed Knives Part I

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    Posted 2 years ago

    dav2no1
    (836 items)

    Mel Pardue Designed Knives Part I

    I am a big knife collector and have several production, custom and a few pre-production and prototype knives. Mel Pardue was one of my favorite designers. I have daily carried a Mel Pardue designed Benchmade 720(#234/1000 First Production Run of the axis lock) knife for almost 23 years. I finally retired it Saturday for a Mike Vellekamp VNives Olmpian.

    Mel Pardue passed away last January at age 81.

    This is a prototype Benchmade Rant designed by Mel Pardue. I asked my friend Mike who was good friends with him to send them to Mel and Mel autographed the knife(with engraver) for me in 2014. At the time, he was about 73 years old and still had a steady hand.

    At that time Mike owned Fox Knives USA, which is where he shipped this from. I covered Mel's home address for obvious reasons.
    Mel wrote a little note to Mike, so I have Mel's autograph as well!

    MEL PARDUE
    "Mel Pardue made his first knife in 1952 and regularly created new designs since 1956. While he produced custom knives throughout his career, he is perhaps most widely known for his work in 24 years collaborating with Benchmade, which produced a number of his designs."

    "Among the most popular and recognizable from this partnership was the Griptilian, an EDC folder that became a prolific part of the Oregon company’s catalog. The manual folding knife with the AXIS® lock eventually became available in nearly every conceivable size and color."

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    Comments

    1. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      ***Links to Mel Pardue History***

      https://blademag.com/featured/knifemaking-great-mel-pardue-passes

      https://blog.benchmade.com/mel-pardue-designer-story/
    2. Newfld Newfld, 2 years ago
      Cool knives today Dave & happy Valentine's Day
    3. jscott0363 jscott0363, 2 years ago
      Dave,
      This is awesome! I love the prototype knife and the fact that Mel autographed it makes it that much more special!!!
    4. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      Thank you Jenni. Happy Valentines Day to you too!
    5. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      Thanks Scott. Mel was a legend in the knife world.
    6. lzenglish lzenglish, 2 years ago
      Very Nice Knife, and History Write Up

      LZ
    7. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      Thank you. Hopefully you saw the 2nd post with the other knife.
    8. PhilDMorris PhilDMorris, 2 years ago
      That knife sheath is a winner, gorgeous piece. Good on you for getting a signature !~
    9. dav2no1 dav2no1, 2 years ago
      Thanks PhilD...it is a good looking sheath.

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