Most people think that the zebra’s black and white stripes would be poor camouflage because these animals are often shown running across open country. However, among the thorny shrubs of the African bush the stripes make zebras hard to see. The zebras apparently also use their stripes for identification because the pattern changes from animal to animal. As with the zebra, no two of Cabot’s Zebra Damascus 1911s are identical. All the hand-made components reflect their individual origins and provide a dramatically different appearance for powerful precision handguns built to competition standards.

When making a Damascus billet, each technique and choice of raw materials gives a distinctive result. Usually craftsmen are satisfied to alternate two types of steel to make their Damascus. These layers are folded, reheated and reforged many times to make a product containing the hundreds of layers found in a typical Damascus blade. The danger in making Damascus is that heat alters the chemical and physical attributes of the product which can yield a disastrous result. The masters of making stainless Damascus steels must balance all of these factors to produce a product strong enough to make firearms.