The left side of the First Blood replica with the MAURO engraving on the blade

My take on the First Blood

Jimmy Lile’s First Blood is one of the most recognizable knives ever made. Born in 1981 for the first Rambo film, it changed the way the world looks at survival knives. The replicas I make of this knife are as faithful to the originals as I can make them, but they are also knives of real quality, meant to be used in the field. I speak of originals in the plural because there were six knives used in the film: the same knife, but made by hand, and so each one with small differences that tell it from the others.

First Blood replica by Daniele Mauro, right side, resting on its cordura case — The standard replica seen from the right side, resting on its cordura case.

I started in 2011, when a customer asked me to make a copy from a drawing of his and a few photographs.

The technical challenge was an interesting one, and I took it on. A good many years and a good many knives have passed since then, each blade better than the one before it.

Two different passions came together: that of the people who see an icon in this knife, and my own for detail.

My knives have grown closer to the original over time, and I owe much of that to the sharp eyes of the many enthusiasts who have gathered photographs and frames from the film over the years and brought them to me, pointing out details I had never noticed. I compared everything, collected a great deal of material, and in the end settled on what is now my standard version: faithful to the six movie knives, with an eye to strength — 7 mm of blade thickness against the 6.5 of the originals.

Close-up of the blade thickness and the point of the First Blood replica — 7 mm thick against the original’s 6.5: on request the point and the blade can be made finer.

Then, in 2023, I went further still. I made a numbered run of 13 pieces, like Lile’s first 13, reproducing as closely as I could Lile’s own number 1of13. Not a synthesis of the six, but the most exact replica I could manage of one specific knife, with all its particularities, its small flaws, and the character of a one-off made by hand.

The collectors’ appetite for fidelity found an ally in my habit of losing myself in detail.

From that run onwards the blades carry the MAURO engraving, just as the originals are stamped LILE.

The standard version:

N690co stainless steel blade, hardened to 57/58 HRC
blade 9 x 1.5 inches (22.8 x 3.8 cm)
AISI 304 stainless steel handle, aluminum cap with compass

Against Lile’s original the point and the blade are slightly thicker, which makes the knife better suited to hard work. If you prefer the thicknesses of the original, you only have to ask. Every knife is made one at a time, and can be built to your wishes: a mirror polish, a different steel for the blade, a compass other than the standard one.

Three compasses for the handle cap: standard model, NATO and original — The three compasses to choose from for the pommel cap: standard, NATO, original (used only, and not always available).

The middle of the blade is sandblasted: on the knives used in the film the boundary of the sandblasting runs across the grind of the false edge. That is how the standard version is done as well, but on request the whole false edge can be left polished, the way the First Bloods from no. 7 to no. 13 were made.

First Blood replica with a polished false edge, leather sheath and compass cap — The version with the false edge grind left polished, like Lile’s First Blood knives from number 7 to 13.

The leather sheath is optional. It is made by Francesco Nova, in Rome, and it can be:

light or dark brown (the original sheath was probably light brown when new; use and sunlight darkened it)
right- or left-handed (Stallone is left-handed and the sheath used in the films is a left-hand one; other original sheaths I have seen are right-handed)
in the movie version or the standard one (the standard sheath has a few changes that make it fit the knife better).

Light brown leather sheath for the First Blood replica, made by Francesco Nova — The sheath in leather by Francesco Nova, light brown, with the thigh tie.

The knife starts at 620 euro, the sheath is 210 euro.

Every knife begins with a request, the way the first one did in 2011. To make yours, or just to settle a curiosity, write to me at info@fabbroforgiatore.com.

First Blood replica seen from the right, with the dark cord on the handle and the sawteeth on the spine

First Blood replica, left side, on the leather sheath with its thong