Archangel's

Specs:

Blade Length: 5.25" Weight: 6.5 oz.

Blade Thickness: .215" (7/32") Sheath: Leather

Overall Length: 9.5" Blade Steel: Aus8a?

Guard: Stainless steel

Rc: 57-59?

According to factory Literature I have at this time the following is what I know in general about these knives. The knife was engineered by the company and knife maker Howard Hitchmough. According to information I have in a letter forwarded to me from a fellow collector from Mike Stewart there was a batch made with a 5.5" Spear point blade which turned out to be an Al mar design. I had heard that the reason the Spector's which were very similar to the Archangel were made in such low numbers was because of an issue of some sort with Al mar and I had been trying to contact someone at Al mar to confirm or deny that with no luck when this letter was sent to me. Mike states that a sample of the blade was sent to him by the folks in Japan that were making the early knives. The maker stated that knives could be ordered immediately utilizing these blades. An order for 300 was placed. Apparently a few days before the SHOT show Mr. Stewart received a cease and desist letter from the folks at Al mar. Mike of course told the Japanese rep. to fix the problem. Mike states this was the beginning of the end with their Japanese supplier.   The standard version was the Archangel I. These have textured Kraton handles. There were supposed to have been 100 serial numbered presentation grade  knives done in Sambar Stag. The Cocobolo examples were supposed to be the deluxe grade and were supposed to have been offered after the stag models were completed there were 100 of these as well. There were 1200 of the standard Kraton handled Archangel. 

Here is an example of the Al mar mess of which I commented on in the above text, an Archangel marked Spector the knife is shown with it's box and sheath.  These two pictures are also on the Spector page.

Here is another view of the knife with out the box. This side shows the Archangel etch but it is very hard to see it.

Note: Click on the images below for a larger view.

Here is the standard plain Jane version. The Archangel I. The handle is Kraton. 

Here we have one of the gorgeous cocobolo handled versions. There were only a few hundred of these made. They were produced in 1991.

Next up is this example of a stag handled Archangel. According to my records there was only to be 100 of these made. Which I believe to be true since they are not often seen. 

Here we have a prototype. The blade is marked PROTOTYPE ARCHANGEL II . The really interesting thing about this piece is that one side of the handle has stag and the other has  bone. The first picture is the stag side and the second picture shows the bone side.