“For me, folders have always been a compromise. I’d find a blade I’d like but the grip wasn’t right, I’d find the perfect grip but hated the blade. A fixed-blade knife has always been my preference, but a belt sheath often isn’t acceptable, and because of a few major surgeries on my face and neck, a little necker wouldn’t work either. So, the search for a fixed-blade, pocketable knife started, without much more success.
I finally started to sketch out what would work best for me. The blade needed to be stout—I’m not gentle with my knives. I wanted a handle I could grip well, one that would still pivot in my hand easily for slicing an apple. Stout, sturdy, a small knife that cut ‘big’—everything I need in a knife, and nothing I don’t.
I finally settled on a design. Then, I found a very talented young knifemaker in Ontario, Canada, Craig Wheatley, who made my ‘grail knife’ a reality. The Dragan, which is also my screen name on several Internet knife discussion forums, is a little beast—5 inches overall with a 2-inch, 1.25-inch deep, .25-thick, bead-blasted 440C stainless blade, textured Micarta® scales, and a custom leather pocket sheath. The Dragan has replaced six other knives that used to make up my EDC rotation. Even though it’s a small knife, it’s done everything I’ve ever asked of it. I don’t know that I’d ever cut down a tree with it, but it’s tough enough that I wouldn’t be afraid to try.
Even though my original vision was to carry this knife in a pocket sheath, it would also make a great little necker. I’m very pleased to say Craig will be adding the Dragan to his line of beautiful fixed-blade knives in the very near future!”
Wayne Reimer, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
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