I think the Regulator was initially so popular because it was so darn cheap! 1/3 inch thick sharpened crowbar for just under $100 to get started. Then there was the reverse clip point one whose name escapes me…much like the blade escaped my hands (bull-nosed Regulator?). That one, my competition finish BWM, and the pumpkin G-10 R9 I sold back to the guy I bought it from for what it cost me because of a sob story only to see him sell it off for 2x the price the following week are the ones I regret. My War Dog I just miss frown But I digress…

I bought and sold probably half a dozen or more original-design Regulators, including a diff heat treated one (I think). I know that swooping clip point is catnip to some of the guys here (Dognip?), but it didn't push the right buttons for me. Too pointy to be a premier chopper. Too long to be a go-to hunting knife. Too thick to be a great slicer for camp. I also don't like pointy, upswept clip points. Different strokes, and all that.

I don't disparage it--it was one of the Yard's best sellers IIRC. Lots of love out there for it. Struck me as a jack-of-all-trades, but was a bit awkward to be an almost-master-of-any.

Probably an excellent fighting knife, which was its original designation, I believe. I like to hope my days in the octagon as a world champion knife fighter are behind me. I'll probably be wishing I still had a Regulator when some young punk recognizes me on the street from my days in the ring and wants to have a go of it...

Where are my meds?


JYD #126
Super JYD #13

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

- Benjamin Franklin

"A free people ought to be armed."

- George Washington