Teased on social media for the past few months, the Victor 3 Knife from Geissele Automatics offshoot Abraham & Moses Survival Gear made its official debut at last weekend’s Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia.
The story behind this knife is pretty incredible. I’m going to give a very abbreviated version because Recoil magazine did an in-depth article.
Bill Geissele showed me the knife during last month’s SOFIC and I took a few notes. Many years ago, Bill bought a knife from a Vietnam Veteran he knew and wanted to learn more about it. During last year’s Blade Show he set it out on the table in the A&M booth and sure enough, someone recognized it and after referencing a 35 year old issue of Blade magazine, filled him in on a few details.
Turns out, the knife was originally called the Victory 2 and made by Pennsylvania custom maker Dan Valois. Many Soldiers from the local area bought and carried it back in the 60s. Bill described the original knife’s design to me as a cross between a Bowie knife and a short sword. Bill found out that Dan was from a nearby town and attempted to contact him, only to find that he had passed away. Fortunately, Dan’s widow got back with him and gave him permission to carry-on with the knife’s tradition.
The Victory 3 is not an exact copy of the Victory 2, but it’s still what Bill referred to as a “Classic American Knife.” It’s a survival knife, and although it’s a full tang design, one side of the handle opens in order to store small Survival items. The blade is made from 440C stainless steel and heat treated to 58-60 Rockwell hardness. A&M states the blade is 6.875″ with an overall length of 11.75″.
Bill told me they had to purchase a machine to hollow ground the blades, like on the original. The team also preserved the large brass guard which gives the knife its unique look.
One interesting feature is the hex wrench in the butt. It also accepts a cutdown bandsaw blade into that channel, which gives the knife a different functionality than others out there.
A&M also recreated the sawtooth cuts on the back of the blade, so it’s available with or without. Additionally, they’ve introduced a serrated option for the blade.
While the Victor 2 came in a leather sheath, A&M offers a Boltoron version in Black, Coyote or Green.
Although it’s not on the website yet, it’s available now at abeandmoe.com
it’s just a great knife. I have a similar
It looks like a 5-year-old’s drawing of a knife.
M, I wanted to say something as well but was waiting. This is as ugly as a knife could be. I understand well the history of military knives and nostslgia messes with people.
Did the original sheath have a *lot* of room for survival kit? I’m sure I saw this knife (or an identical one) featured in American Survival Guide magazine in the ’80’s sometime.
“Unique” look is right. I found some stuff by Dan Valois on Arizona Custom Knives and he has some decent designs. Not sure why someone would pick THIS one to recreate!
This knife is like the rest of the unwisely cups in Indiana Jones
I’m most curious about the sawback on the knife, but the angle of the teeth it appears to be a push saw?
I’m all for nostalgia, but I’m going to pass on this one.
If I’m paying $295-$375, I don’t want it to look like my cousin made it in his garage.
I have a similar too
Amazing knife! I think that I will buy something like it!