John Ek knives..............

[Samael]

Looks like it's time for me to "man up" and say I was wrong. Oh well. That's the beauty of the forums: Even us old fogies learn something new every once in a while.

 

[barrabas74]

I love EK's and my favorite is a stag handled one i own with very thick slabs and wonderful grinds. Its a newer model that was made in Richmond but its still a fantastic knife imho. Just wish hit had a proper leather sheath instead of the seatbelt sheath.

 

[Samael]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Chris Meyer]

This is the only Ek I own. I don't remember exactly when I bought it, but it's probably about 17yrs old.

 

[Fossil_Diver]

I know this is an old thread but for the sake of reference I have the same Ek knife with the round butt handle like yours but mine has the bowie blade. It's

an oddball because the blade is 5 1/2" instead of 7 1/2". It is listed in the Ek catalog as the Nave #5.

 

[peterinct]

This is the only Ek I own. I don't remember exactly when I bought it, but it's probably about 17yrs old.

I have one with the same guard, wrap and tang stamp, with a dagger shaped blade sharpened fully on one edge and only halfway on the other. On the opposite side, the tang is etched "Made in U.S.A." and on a second line "Effingham, IL."

It is also one of the newer knives, but I don't know exactly when it was made or by whom.

Peter

 

[Sidehill Gouger]

It was made by Mike Stewart and what was Blackjack Knives at the time.

 

[gunbarrel]

I know this is an old thread but for the sake of reference I have the same Ek knife with the round butt handle like yours but mine has the bowie blade. It's

an oddball because the blade is 5 1/2" instead of 7 1/2". It is listed in the Ek catalog as the Nave #5.

Fossil_Diver,

Your knife looks like the short No. 5 that was recently auctioned off on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330771318083

Since that post will eventually go away, here are the photos of it:

They are both short versions of the No. 5 Navy knife; I believe that most of them had the longer bladed. See this one marked with the serial number:

I'm no expert on Ek Commando knives (just a student), but I recently posted a subject thread here:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=150554&st=0

I hope it helps.

GB

 

[gunbarrel]

I read in one of my books, that the idea of those strange handles on some of these was to make them float in the event they were dropped in water. I give up as to whether it worked. Perhaps with the shorter, thus lighter blades, it worked. At least long enough for you to snatch it back up in hand.

Anvilring, not all.

From ‘Allied Military Fighting Knives And the Men Who made Them Famous, Chapter V (“John Ek Commando Knives&#8221’ page 148, No. 244, Robert A. Buerlin, 1984 & 2001

Another of John Ek’s innovations, the “Floating Knife,” so identified through etching on the blade. This 12½” knife actually floated. The 5½” mahogany handle had wooden plugs in place of the usual poured led rivets . The wooden grip was unusually large in relationship to the blade size. As John Ek said in his original catalog “If dropped in water the handle of this beautiful knife will float about 1½” below the surface giving plenty of opportunity for recovery.”

A photo of the Floating Knife appears on my USMF post.

Hope this helps.