Ka-bar slippie question

The Fort · Mar 26, 2016

Hi all! Last week I posted this question in the KaBar sub forum, but I think I'll try "the Porch" now. I picked up a 1984 KA-Bar Gold Dog's Head Stockman. It's serialized and came in a hard, velvet covered box with a certificate of authenticity. Supposedly the shield is solid 14K gold. I'm curious if anyone may know who manufactured these? Any other information that you may have would also be appreciated. Sorry, I'm unable to post pics. Thanks in advance!

The Fort · Mar 27, 2016

Thank you to nutoknives and dadpool for sharing their knowledge. Anyone else with any input? There's still a lot of uncertainty. C'mon porch dwellers! The suspense is killing me.

supratentorial · Mar 27, 2016

The Fort said:
Any other information that you may have would also be appreciated...

Here's a photo of the information card that came with the sleeveboard pattern from the series...

The Fort · Mar 27, 2016

Thanks Jake for posting the pic. Do you know who manufactured them?

supratentorial · Mar 27, 2016

I don't know who manufactured them. The brand was owned by American Consumer Products at the time. According to Official Price Guide to Collector Knives by Houston Price

...In 1982 Cole National filed for bankruptcy and the KA-BAR product line was purchased by American Consumer Products and moved to Solon, Ohio. American Consumer Products would retain ownership until May 1996, when KA-BAR was sold to Alcas Corporation of Olean, New York...

The Fort · Mar 27, 2016

Thanks again Jake!

The Fort · Mar 28, 2016

Well, I heard back from Ka-Bar today............ They said that they would continue to research it, but at this point they haven't been able to tell who manufactured these! 😳

supratentorial · Mar 28, 2016

The Fort said:
Well, I heard back from Ka-Bar today............ They said that they would continue to research it, but at this point they haven't been able to tell who manufactured these! 😳

It's understandable. The brand exchanged hands several times and the knives were made under completely different ownership. They may not have ever had any records for these knives. You might look to see if American Consumer Products is still around. A quick Google search suggested that company may have changed ownership as well.

American Consumer Products Inc.
Distributor of keys, knives, gloves and house numbers to hardware retailers
Sold to: Vista 2000, Inc. (Roswell, GA)

You could also show the knife to Bernard Levine. He has an ID forum here.