I imagine that unless one could hold/ examine either the Col or the Kep
Firstly to establish what " true to the original" might mean.
There appears, from photos, to be quite a difference between the knife the Col. Brothers made and the knife HK ended up with. One could say: oh that's just wear from resharpening. Yes. I could agree. Often when I sharpen a knife the tip needs special attention. Almost like the tip is its own special knife at the end of the blade. After awhile that part probably gets a bit more pointy. Or, other aspects are changed: by methods, or immediate needs, damage, etc
Horace lived a good number of years back. He may have been under the illusion that he could design the ideal knife. Even found someone to make it for him. In the end, after trial, error and use; strayed a good ways from
What Col. bro first produced.
I've only seen pics of the two so it's hard to say. When I try to assemble all I've seen and what has been discussed, as well knives I own... I conclude the Col Bro. Forged the knife and that is damn hard to duplicate with stock removal. These days we see all sorts of knife "designs" it is also hard to "design" a knife- it's just too simple a thing. And you can't make money on that
- secondly...
