JAS a question NOT FOR THE YOUNG

[lt632ret]

Alrighty then, here is the reason tor the topic title. In the mid 1990tys which was a while ago I used to spend a lot of time playing ( a now forgotten game called STUD POKER ) in las Vegas. While out for one of my sojourns, as would happen every so often my visit coincided with one of the great knife shows they used to have. As some of you may remember my main interest was and is domestic automatics. While making the rounds a dealer who I would call whenever out there had a table and showed me two knives I was then unfamiliar with. One was a very early dated Microtech OTF. At that time these were new on the market. the second knife was what was then, very rare. It was a Lockback dually ( the first time I had seen or heard of one ) usable as a manual or automatic with the flush round cartouche as the button throw. the only marking on the knife was J.A.S Both of these knives impressd me but I could only afford one or the other. I bought the J.A.S. In the ensueing decades I have since acquired the same Microtech as well as several others however that was a different era. Also now automatic lockback buck and similar conversions have become common place also it is possible to find a dually if that is what you want however this was 20 years ago. As some of you may know as the years have gone on I wrote a book and opened a museum on the study and history of these items and there place in history. During this period of time I have not been able to find any information regarding the maker or history of the J.A.S which still sits brand new in a display case. Here is what I do know or at least what I think I can remember. I believe that these knives in this pattern were in an ad ( several times) in the original Switchblade newsletter put out by Sheldon. I only have a few copies of the newsletter and the ad is not in those issues so I am not sure if I imagined the ad. I do know that while I did buy from that dealer on a couple of trips he then disappeared and the rumor was he was in jail. I believe he once mentioned that the guy who made the J.A.S was from the midwest but I cannot be sure. I am trying to find out if anyone has any info on these which would be quite limited in number and are an early custom dually. Like i said not a question for the young but who knows who might know? I am attaching some pictures . By the way this knife is very well made and except for the bolster rivit which is a bit off is very well constructed. it functions flawlessly and is quite a beautiful piece. Any help appreciated thankyou for your time. Regards LT

[orvet]

Nice looking auto LT. :
It looks pretty original, not like the maker took inspiration from an existing pattern.

Hopeful someone will come along with some info on the knife and/or the maker.