Ka-Bar identification needed....

jfever311

jfever311

Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Messages
537
Hey fellas, my nephew found this at a yard sale a few weeks ago. I am assuming it is a Mark 1 or 2, but beyond that, I am at a loss. We tried searching both the forums and the collective gathering of info that is the internet, to no avail. The handle is unlike any others I am finding as well. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.

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I'm no expert but I think it's a custom. The blade looks like it has been sanded and I've never seen anything like it before. Add to that the plane-jane leather sheath with a knife with a fancy handle and pommel. The handle doesn't appear t be shaped like a regular USMC F/U either. I would think that if it came from Ka-Bar it would still have the same shape in the handle even if the material was different.
 
Custom or counterfeit?! I am considering this knife to be a fake. My nephew only paid twenty dollars for it, so no big loss. Do you really think it's a custom and not a fake?
 
Looks like someone took a 1217, removed the handle material, sanded the blade down, and then stacked acrylic discs over the tang and riveted that brass cap over the end to hold it all on. Looks a little bit like the old "theater-made" knives from WWII in the Pacific Theater.
 
jfever311 said:
Custom or counterfeit?! I am considering this knife to be a fake. My nephew only paid twenty dollars for it, so no big loss. Do you really think it's a custom and not a fake?
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What I meant is:

hawaiianhawk said:
Looks like someone took a 1217, removed the handle material, sanded the blade down, and then stacked acrylic discs over the tang and riveted that brass cap over the end to hold it all on. Looks a little bit like the old "theater-made" knives from WWII in the Pacific Theater.
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I didn't mean custom as in from scratch. Just a customized F/U. The blade, guard,and sheath look like genuine Ka-Bar. The handle and pommel look custom. The stamp does look older but I couldn't begin to guess how old. Especially with it sanded down like it is. IIRC the guards used to be straight early on but around WWII they went to the bent guard like you have so that brush and whatnot would have less of a tendency to snag the guard and unsheath the knife.

For $20 I'd have snatched it up. Probably not worth any more than that but it's a cool piece.
 
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I would say theater knie of sorts. It was not uncommon for soldiers on a base, or back home after the war to rapid of customize their knives that had been worn or damaged. Leather will only last so long in mud and water so many had the stacked leather replaced with either wood, or more commonly these acrylic discs. From what I have been told, many of these handles were made by cutting out pieces from windshields of damaged planes.
 
Yah I think this is just a knife someone got a hold of and decided to customize it. Beyond the handle difference it also seems like the fuller has been extended/widened a bit, the grind is not the same as normal KA-BAR F/U and it seems to be convexed to the edge. Also the grind lines on the clip seem to have been removed. This all could have been done by sanding down the blade. The tang stamp looks right, but is it just me or does the blade seem wider? I know its probably just that skinny handle messing with me but just by judging with my eyes and gut it just seems wider. Probably nothing.
 
The pommel has the marine core emblem on it. It looks like they used a black epoxy under those clear acrylic washers. It looks as though it was sanded judging by there being no real definitive grind marks. Just my opinion
 
As has been earlier said, the sheath is a recent, (post 1975), made item.
Some of the earliest KA-BAR made 1219C2 pattern (Mark 2) knives were made without marking for the specific branch of the service, ( U.S.M.C. or US Navy), on the knife. IMHO this blade appears to be one of those.
Again IMHO it’s a nice looking knife. I only wish that it still had some of the original finish on the blade. It’s usually hard to establish when and how one of these blades were modified. Could be an actual “theater modified” piece, or one that was made this way years after the war.
Either way IMHO well worth the price.
 
monstrum said:
The pommel has the marine core emblem on it. It looks like they used a black epoxy under those clear acrylic washers. It looks as though it was sanded judging by there being no real definitive grind marks. Just my opinion
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Good eye on the EGA, its different than the ones given at the Emblem Ceremony to New Marines in modern times.

Perhaps getting some information on the Emblem itself could give you ideas about the date of the knife.
 
Ill ask my wife. she's a Sargent in the marine core. a better pic of the but cap would be verry helpful too.
 
if theatre made, perhaps worth even $25 :)
 
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