Hi Matt,
The knife noted above was the 4th Da Grizz knife that I purchased from Daryl back in the day. This knife in particular caught my eye early one morning soon after Daryl posted it.
Within a minute looking at the gorgeous feather pattern my finger typed a PM response without hesitation. I do remember a few members posting after me that day with a bit of disappointment it sold rather quickly.
Daryl lived in Northern Michigan and despite health and heart problems he shared his knife building interest/hobby with our forum and offered our membership some unique one off Damascus knives at affordable prices.
Daryl, I might add was also very generous donating Charity knives to Boofest. while I never won one at Boofest I certainly got quite excited seeing the look on each winners face when drawn that night. You can't erase that memory. Everybody at Boofest wanted to win that knife and the jar was full of draw tickets.
I don't think Daryl intended his knives to be display knives and I think he would scoff and likely curse me for displaying his work on the wall like I did in a frame for years.
Daryl did not spent countless hours on his unique wood handles to make them absolutely perfect but his Damascas blade offerings were just SO darn gorgeous and one of a kind with no two being the same.
What I do like is that his knives featured blade sides were very similar and almost identical on both sides. The uniformity caught my eye for sure..
That's what drew me to your knife Matt. He told me the pattern was symmetrical on both sides just like my other Da Grizz knives.
SO, something happened late last year sitting in my tree stand and it hit me like a 2 Ton heavy brick.
NORM ....TAKE those knives OFF the wall and make use of them. 2 have been gifted since to young apprentice hunters to be used in the field like Daryl intended.
I cannot pay enough money to see the look on these young boys faces after I gave them a Grizz knife.
I have to be truthful and mention the generosity of Boo (Don Katsumi) from this forum had a lot to do with influencing my decision to give those knives to deserving youth.
Matt, I only remember Daryl telling me this was a rare African wood handle on the knife you bought from me. That is all I know.. Hope you get it bloody is all I can say.
A year before Daryl died from complicated heart issues, I contacted him asking if he had a unique piece of wood block looking lonely that I could purchase . He responded by asking for $20 shipping and he would find he something suitable and here it is below. From Africa he said.
7" x 4" x 2".
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it , but whatever it is, its going to be real nice. Wouldn't mind making my own knife to fit my hand one day with it.
The picture of this block of wood doesn't do justice to how real Purdy its features really are.
Cheers!
