Mad Dog Knife HELL HOUND #1 - Combat Knife
The very first MD HELL HOUND big knife / short sword ever made by Mad Dog Kevin McClung. This is an extremely rare and collectible knife with a rare history behind it. This was a custom blade made for a specific customer. Even the handle was customized to fit the particular customers hand and hence has an awesome fit that just fits the palm of the hand ever so comfortably. The knife was shipped to the customer, but an earthquake hit Northridge, California and the knife went missing after some of the shippers building suffered a lot of damage. We can only surmise that they lost track of the package and it was probably sold at auction along with many other undelivered packages. Eventually it ended up in the hands of one of customers that did not know what he had. But he did know it was special because he was in the business of selling motorcycle parts and this was the only knife that could easily cut through the tires and the bead that holds them in the rim. It cut those beads easier that a hacksaw or bolt cutters. He even used it as a thrower when competing against his friends and their throwing knives - it is that well balanced.
After a number of years of abuse he finally wanted to touch up the edge, even though it was still sharp enough to tires off the rims. He wanted to buy a sharpener from us and I asked to see the knife he was talking about. I didn't even need to see the signature to recognize the distinctive Mad Dog lines and the famous glass epoxy handle. My customer really did not know what it was and I convinced him that we should send it back to Kevin McClung for a tune-up. Mr. Mad Dog McClung himself called me on the phone and asked me where I got this knife. Well, I told him, and then he told me how it had disappeared during the earthquake. I made a deal with the owner of the knife and we sold it for $25,000 on eBay a couple of years back.
Well, I also made a deal with the buyer and told him I would like to have the first option at buying it back if he ever wanted to sell it. He came in and I bought it back and now it is up for sale again. Knives like this do not come up for sale very often. This is one of those really almost to good to be true opportunities to own a fully functional collector's item like this.
Mad Dog Knives was the company which won the 1992 "SEAL Trials" to supply the Naval Special Warfare Groups 1 and 2 with a fixed blade knife. The A.T.A.K. is only knife in US military history to be honored with sole source justification. Mad Dog knives make tactical fixed-blade knives, using Starrett 496-O1 high carbon tool steel which is then given a proprietary heat treatment. This process includes hardening, stress relieving, selectively tempering blade. As result, the blades have an edge hardness of 62-63 on the Rockwell C Scale, whereas the tip, spine, and tang have a hardness of 50-54. Treatment was devised to develop phenomenal edge retention while preventing tip breakage and a maintaining degree of flexibility. A softer spine improves toughness. The blades have a specially coated layer of hard chrome. This method provides great abrasion and corrosion resistance.
Mad Dog Knives utilizes a glass epoxy composite fiberglass for handle material on its knives. It can withstand long term heat in excess of 149 degrees Celsius (300 Fahrenheit), tractive force of 79,000 psi, current of 1,000 volts per mil (0.001") thickness and is impervious to salt water, diesel oil, benzine other caustic corrosive fluids.
Kydex sheath material specifications include "nonmagnetic metal rivets were used to manufacture sheath". Ergonomic grip indexes user's hand, thus letting user know how presented, even in dark conditions. Mad Dog Knives uses a compression bonded hidden full tang.
The knife in the picture is the actual one you will receive. The scratches are superficial only and come from drawing the knife in and out of the sheath. Knife is in perfect condition. If you are looking at this you know how extremely rare these knives have become.
Specifications:
Blade length: 11.75" (11-3/4")
Blade thickness: 0.25" (1/4")
Blade width: 1.5" (1-1/2")
Overall length: approx. 17.5" (17-1/2")
Weight: approx. 1 pound 5 oz. (knife only)
Sheath: (1) Dundee sheath - individually hand crafted shaped kydex composite