Phrobis 3 U.S.A. Pat. Pend. and Buck 188 U.S.A. V

M

MICHAEL5135

Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Messages
628
Hello everyone,
I purchased a Buck 188 U.S.A. V on the right tang,( What is a Cheveron?) On the opposite tang is M9 Phrobis iii U.S.A. Pat. Pend.
I cannot find any info on this knife since it was made in'89 and buck was told to remove the date codes. It also has the phrobis insignia on the guard? Can anyone tell me what I have. Is this real?
 
I'll take a try at an answer. The "V" is the date code for 1988. If the knife is marked Phrobis on one side and Buck on the other it is a retail/consumer knife. Actual military issue knives, with one exception, were marked Phrobis only. The date code was removed from the Phrobis military contract knives. The only actual military version of this knife with BUCK's name on it instead of Phrobis was an issue to the USMC in 1991. This was after Phrobis and Buck had parted ways and Buck bid on the small USMC order themselves. The USMC knife did have a date code (+). I know there are others on this forum who know a lot about this knife so I welcome any corrections / additions to what I've said. Richard Neyman wrote a book on the BuckMaster 184 and I believe a book on the 188 is in the works.
 
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