|
STAPEL'S HERITAGE "PATRIOT 911" CUSTOM DESIGNED KNIFE
The Heritage Foundation has honored internationally
recognized award-winning knife maker and avid sportsman, CHUCK STAPEL, to
design a special "one of one" knife to raise money for their
Heritage Fund at the NSSF 2002 Shot Show, (sponsored by the National
Shooting Sports Foundation).
The "Heritage Patriot 911" knife will feature one of North
America's most elusive and difficult species to hunt: the Bighorn Sheep.
Through his donation of this knife, Chuck has demonstrated his commitment
to the future of the hunting and shooting sports, which is the cornerstone
of the Heritage Foundation's work. Chuck's knives are not only great
collectables, but also great investment. His one-of-a-kind custom knives
have gone for as much as $15,000 at charity auctions!
Bids may be placed live at the SHOT SHOW 2002 at the Los Vegas Convention
Center between February 2-5, 2002, or online at the NSSF Website, http://www.nsff.org/auction.
Online
bidding opens January 5th, 2002 and closes on February 5th at 12:00 PM
(Las Vegas time!).
Chuck will also be at the Shot Show to discuss this knife,
and to talk about his other custom knives, many of which are featured and
are for sale on his website: WWW. STAPELKNIVES.COM.
PATRIOT KNIFE SPECIFICATIONS:
DETAIL OF ENGRAVING ON KNIFE
NAME:
HERITAGE FOUNDATION "PATRIOT 911"
(NOTE: THIS IS A ONE OF A KIND
CUSTOM DESIGNED AND HAND-MADE KNIFE, MADE EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE
HERITAGE FOUNDATION. IT IS NUMBERED ONE OF ONE)
DESCRIPTION: KNIFE: Over all Length: approximately 15 ½ inches
long, ¼ inch thick, 1 ½ inches wide. Blade length: 9-½ inches
long 1-½ inches wide, thickness ¼ inch.
Blade Steel is 440C Stainless Steel Rockwell 58 with special
hand-polished pure brass guard. Handle is hand-selected
original-form Wild Deer harvested naturally shed antler. SPECIAL
NOTE: There is a custom tooled leather spacer between blade and
brass guard in the tradition of the Bowie knives of the 1800s.
STAND is made of Lace Wood. Overall length approximently: 21
inches. Custom fitted and imbedded into the stand is an official
"Twenty-Fourth Annual Shooting-Hunting Outdoor
Tradeshow" logo pin.
Point of the knife sets into specially selected piece of harvested
Wild Deer antler. The custom knife's handle rests on piece of
High-Mountain Big-Horn Sheep antler (to correspond and match with
the special engraving), polished and sanded with a hardened
polished brass pin rest.
ENGRAVING ON BLADE: Bighorn Sheep
in a mountain scene done by Barron Technology. It is 24 K gold
plated. Engraved in the blade is: "HUNTING HERITAGE SERIES
BIG HORN SHEEP ONE 0F ONE"; along with the official "STAPEL"
logo.
|
 "I
was honored to be asked to make a one-of-a-kind
"one-of-one" custom knife for the Heritage Foundation. I
am a great believer in their ideals, and the fact that this was
such a rare request made the offer even more inspiring!
The Heritage
Foundation is all about preserving the great traditions of
America. I felt, as did all Americans, that after the disaster of
"911" suddenly we all felt a bonding. Our own beliefs in
the American Heritage were not tested, as much as it was forged.
Much like the steel that makes up this one-of-a-kind blade.
Suddenly all our thoughts and motivations, loves and joys that
make us all Americans came together in one pure form. We were
united. We suddenly understood, without speeches… what it really
was to be an American. And how precious that "forged
freedom" really was.
It was then
that I thought of making this knife in the tradition of America.
More specifically in the tradition of the early American Bowie
knife, which symbolizes to me, more than any other knife, the
resilience, spirit and independence that makes us all Americans.
For the very first time this intricate magnificent engraving of
Big Horn Sheep was added to symbolize the beauty of our country;
the beauty of American Heritage, which includes an appreciation
for its natural resources along with a celebration of our hunting,
fishing, camping and great-love-of-the-outdoors rights.
For the Stand, I purposely chose a rare Lace Wood. It is made from
the natural interlacing of wood fibers to create a strong base. To
me it symbolized what makes American so strong. Made up of
people's from around the world, our country stands impregnable…
secure in its resolve and beliefs because we are a melting pot of
all the great souls of all mankind… most of whom came
generations ago… and still arrive to seek, in this special
land… a dream of freedom, of life, liberty a pursuit of
happiness. As the Heritage Foundation reminds us, America is more
a belief than a people. Like no other place on Earth, to call
oneself an American is not to allude to a race or creed… it is
to proudly stand for a set of ideals.
I call this knife the Heritage Foundation "Patriot 911",
not only in homage to those who lost their lives… but to use
this one-of-a-kind knife as a symbol of what America stands for.
We too are "interlaced", we are all strong because of
our sense of "forged freedom". A freedom we will fight
to the death to preserve. This knife is made to lasts as long as
America and its ideas will last… which means… forever. It is
to be passed down from generation to generation to remind those
who follow us that no one crazed individual, no cave-dwelling
organization or rouge country shall ever tear it apart because
"America" is engraved deep into our hearts and souls…
into our very DNA… and therefore can never be surrendered.
CHUCK STAPEL:
12/20/01
|
|
