Mel Pardue Custom ~ Vintage 1977

This a rare find from custom knife maker Mel Pardue. It is a beautiful full tang fixed blade knife with brown Micarta handles. It has a clip point blade with a semi- sharpened top edge. The blade is stamped " PARDUE " 11-77 . It has a nickel silver guard and a lanyard hole. The knife measures 12" OAL, WITH A 7" blade. It comes with the original leather sheath.

The condition of this knife is mint. It has been probably kept in a safe for almost 50 years.

This item requires an adult signature at time of delivery

Pardue’s legacy touches just about every part of the knife industry. He took his first steps into the knifemaking world in the late 50s, although he didn’t make his first actual, full custom piece until 1972. That was the same year that he met Frank Centofante, an experience that Pardue has described as life-changing. Four years later, in 1976, Pardue became a full-time maker, and he’s considered one of the pioneers of the “tactical” custom knife – a style that lead directly into the modern production folder (tactical or no) as we know it today. It’s tempting to say that Pardue’s work blends modern and traditional sensibilities, and that is true in a sense; but really, as with any truly great maker, Pardue’s work stands on its own, with a feel like nothing else out there.

For many knife enthusiasts, Pardue’s most recognizable work is that which he did during his long collaboration with Benchmade. He designed some of their most enduring models, chief among them the Griptilian, a production classic of the first water that is still impressing newcomers to the hobby as well as longstanding collectors. The Griptilian brought Pardue’s understated genius into an accesible, work-ready format that still loooks beautiful in its own rugged way. To this day it’s one of the few enthusiast-approved knives that you might see in the pocket of a non-knife person.

Pardue was also the head of a three generations-strong knifemaking family. His son is Joe Pardue, and his grandson Robert Carter: both men followed in Pardue’s footsteps, creating beautiful custom knives and working on production collaboration models.

Pardue was a BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame® member and a voting member of the Knifemakers’ Guild for almost four decades, 14 of those years as a member of the board of directors, the final 10 as vice president. Furthermore, Pardue received the Ron Little Award in 1992 and is a past winner of the Guild’s Red Watson Friendship Award. In 2016, Mel was presented with the BLADE Show’s Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award for his outstanding work in teaching and mentoring his fellow makers in the art of building knives.