A.W.A.C.'s

All Weather All Conditions

Spec's:

Blade Length: 6"

Overall Length: 12"

Blade Steel: 440A ( This was listed in the 1995 catalog and is not true-

according to a former BlackJack employee and reliable source.  The steel was really

Sandvik 12C27. a much better steel)

Blade Thickness: .1875" (3/16")

Weight: 8 oz.

Sheath: Black Leather

The Standard handle material was: Micarta

The A.W.A.C. was  designed for the purpose of using blade blanks that were left over from the discontinued A/F model. Early knives, apparently from the first run were not marked BlackJack.  Apparently the knives were not fully inspected in the rush to get samples out the door, and into the hands of knife scribes. There were only about 1,000 A.W.A.C. 's in all, making this model fairly rare. The A.W.A.C.  was introduced in about 1996. Below are a few views of  the standard version.

 What a difference a different handle material can make! They called this Red Stag. It's the usual Sambar Stag with a red dye of some sort. Red Stag, was available on other models as well but, they are fairly hard to come by. This was an option that was offered near the company's end.

Here is a very interesting example that was brought to my attention by fellow BlackJack collector Warren McQuiggan. The knife sports a higher level of polish to the handle and guard than I have ever seen on a A.W.A.C. . Jason Stewart posted the below on the BlackJack forum on knifeforums.com regarding this particular knife.

 " Looks like the prototype my dad made, to me. The original, and subsequent production, thereafter, was made from Applegate blanks after Blackjack ceased production on that model. We had to do something with the left over stock.
If you look at this one, compared to the production models that were ground on Berger grinders, the plunge line is noticeably hand set. Plus, the guard is thicker than the production models and the edge is convexed, rather than bevel ground.
This knife was also in the inventory seized by the banks and was later sold to a private collector after the inventory was purchased back, again."

Thank you Warren for bringing this interesting variation to our attention. Thank you Jason for helping so many of us collectors by providing information about these fine knives.

Here is a very interesting piece. According to factory paperwork this is a handle prototype and was made in March of 1995. Apparently the folks at BlackJack were testing the waters with this design. Personally I like it, but I guess the dealers and distributors that got to check this design out did not really care for it. I don't know how many were made, but I suspect there may have been a dozen or so, that would have been sent to major distributors to review. Though this may actually be the only one that was made. The handle material is black Micarta. Thank you very much Bill for sharing this very interesting variation with your fellow collectors.