RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife
RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife
RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife
RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife
RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife
RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife

RYP Design/ Bill Harsey Billy Waugh #008 Purple Heart Edition Knife

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The Purple Heart Edition DEMO Knife

Commemorating The Purple Heart he Gained in Vietnam

This is the only one made.  The #008 stonewashed Billy Waugh DEMO in Purple Heart purple.   

 

At the battle of Bong Son is where Billy endured a major round of shots and life threatening injuries.  This one (of eight) shots knocked him unconscious, which was a blessing in disguise.  He was assumed dead, buying him time to be pulled out.  That wasn't without sustaining a few more shots on the way; one above the heart, and one piercing his lung.  Billy says of that fateful head wound, “I took another bullet, this time across the right side of my forehead. I don’t know for sure, but I believe the bullet ricocheted off the bamboo before striking me. It sliced in and out of a two-inch section of my forehead, and it immediately started to bleed like an open faucet,” Waugh wrote. “It sounds like the punch line to a bad joke, but you know it’s a bad day when the best thing about it is getting shot in the head.

 

To read more details about his brush with death, read the full recount on ironmikemag.com.

 

More About The Inspiration Behind the Knife Design:


"Why the hell would anyone want my name on their knife?" were Billy’s exact words, when Robert Young Pelton wanted to originally put his name on the Parang- esque jungle knife, the DPx HEFT CHOP.  When it came to the DEMO, RYP disobeyed orders and recruited legendary Special Forces knife designer, William Harsey to make Billy proud. They collaborated on a design only a warrior of Billy Waugh's level could sign off on. 

Who Is Billy Waugh?

Billy Waugh of Bastrop, Texas hitchhiked and signed up for World War II but was sent home for being too young.  He finally signed up for the Army and very quickly chose the most dangerous tasks our nation demanded: U.S. Army Special Forces.  

Robert Young Pelton (founder/designer of RYP Design) first met Billy when he was writing his book Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in The War on Terror.  Driving his cop Harley across the country during the winter,  Billy graciously took out time from his wedding day to meet at the local Waffle House.

The two men - one an author, and one an operator, both veterans of numerous hot spots often at the same time - hit it off immediately. They have been fast friends ever since. 

Pelton, a knife designer with two dozen patents, asked Billy,  "which knives did you use and what did you wish you have?"  Thus, was born a design obsession that started with the CHOP (based on Billy’s love of the Parang) and now is honored with the Billy Waugh Demo and will continue.

To celebrate Billy passing the 90 mark, comes the release the DEMO, a folder that says everything you need to say about the life of special operations behind the lines. 

Learn More About Billy Waugh

If you don’t know about Billy, then you are in for a treat. See the links to books below. Billy is exceedingly modest, but once in trusted company, the stories flow. Billy is the recipient of eight Purple Hearts and has a lifetime of incredible feats.

Billy Waugh continued his special forces career to dedicate another 20 years to the CIA post retirement.  

Billy is featured in the book Licensed to Kill - Hired Guns on the War on Terror and wrote a book called Hunting The Jackal. 

Features include:

  • Custom IKBS pivot system
  • Awl/ Spike on Bronze washers
  • Blade is matte black PVD coated, then weathered M390
  • Tungsten carbide glass breaker
  • Comes with replaceable flat head screw
Weight 6.80 oz/ 193g
Overall Length 9.13"/ 232mm
Blade Length 3.78"/ 96mm
Steel M390 
Rockwell Hardness 60
Blade Coating none
Blade Thickness .16"/ 4mm
Handle Material 3D Titanium in Purple Heart purple