Could anyone date a 1189 and a 1207 for me?

North Shore

North Shore

Joined
Jun 28, 2016
Messages
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I believe they are both from the 1960s? Would anyone be able to pinpoint based on the picture provided? I won them from the same estate, the 1207 is ground with a consistent bevel but its in very good shape, if nothing else they will be good trade fodder for the swap meet. I'm not sure if I'm able to ask for a price check on anything, always curious if I did well on them.

Thanks

9apild.jpg
 
Any Kabar with a model number on it is either very old or post-1965. These are obviously NOT from the 20s/30s, so that means post-1965. :D

The 1189 was Kabar's Buck 110 wannabe. The Buck 110 came out in 1964. Cole National bought Kabar in 1964 or 1965. Can't remember right now. CN is who started putting model numbers on the knives again, which is why we can definitively say the knife is post-1965. According to an old chart I have, the 1189 was made from "the mid 60s" to 2001. Exact start date is lost to history, or a magazine ad somewhere.

The 1207 was made from "the mid 60s" until 1980.

You can't ask about values unless you are a Gold or above paying member. You can always search fleabay sold items for what they have gone for on various completed auctions,
 
Thanks for the reply, I have seen a few varieties for the 1189 markings, and different hue scales. I was wondering if there was an info available above and beyond what I've managed to find on the internet. I've seen lighter wood instead of the darker rose hue, Ka-bar italicized vs. KA-BAR, the U.S.A. 1189 stamped on the tang vs. it glazed on the blade by the nail nick. There's gotta be some way to narrow it down over the 40 years of production.
 
Unfortunately, Kabar catalogs are few and far between. Most merchants didn't keep the old one laying around after the new one came in. I know my father trashed all old catalogs/distribution sheets as soon as the news arrived. Not knives, thankfully, but for agriculture related stuff he sold. It would just pile up and become a haven for rats to nest in.

His words -

"We have toilet paper now - we don't need to keep old catalogs."

Even Kabar doesn't have much in the way of documentation. Every time the company changed hands and headquarters locations, paperwork was trashed. Brown family (Olean NY) to Cole National (Cleveland Oh) to Cole National (Solon Ohio) to ALCAS (back to Olean). I may even have missed 1 or 2 changes.

Most anything Kabar has is courtesy of our own Gunsil, who gave them copies of everything he has collected over the years. He MOGHT be able to be more precise in dating your knife.
 
Sorry guys, my area of KA-BAR study is pre 1951. I did just donate a bunch of early KA-BAR/Union Cut "outdoor knife" brochures to the factory, but most of my info is earlier rather than later. ZZY is correct, no blade marked model numbers until Cole National, and there doesn't seem to be much info on exactly when they began stamping model numbers on the blades. Some say the model number stamping began in 1966 and some say 1968, but I have not seen any irrefutable proof.
 
This the best 1189
will get to the brass 1207 Proto also the 1950's
Ka-Bar went with the brass guard and the silver Butte
mine Brass guard and Buttte forgive me that box deep but here and old photo



oh yeah a 1189 dressed

 
Pre-WW2 model 598 knives had brass guards and aluminum pommels, and there are some scarce early bowie hunters with bone scales and brass guards. Not home now so I can't give the model number for those brass guard bowie hunters.
 
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