Review Request: Jon Ek Desert warfare Bowie

Bagheera · Nov 9, 1998

Hi lovers of sharp objects,
I'm looking for info on a John Ek Knife that was produced around the time of the Gulf War and that is named over here in Europe "Secret Agent Bowie". It's grip is desert camo 1/8" nylon line it's riding in a sand/desert camo seatbelt type nylon sheath classic bowie form
. The blade is sand-blasted and parkerized ? I think. Any info about it would be welcome. Oh yeah, I bought it for $30,-. Hope to hear from you all, best regards, Bagheera

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bald1 · Nov 9, 1998

Bagheera,

Sounds like a modification of the Ek Commando Knife Company of Richmond Virginia's M5 bowie series. If it has a brass guard tipped towards the point it was a higher cost model..cheap ones had a slim flat steel guard pressed in place. For $30 you may have the later version, although i don't recall any of them being factory parkerized.

The name "John Ek" is all wrong! John Ek died years before the Gulf War and his son Gary, whom I met while he was operating out of St. Augustine, Florida, still makes knives. The Ek C.K.C bought the Ek lastname rights and later sold out to Blackjack which went bankrupt. A "real" John Ek knife has collectible value.

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-=[Bob]=-

[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 11-09-98).]

Bagheera · Nov 10, 1998

Hi Bald1,
You're right it's the bowie version with the brass guard thats "folded" at the tips to the knife point. I'm shure it's sand/bead blasted allover and the blade is blackened /parkerized. In a German gun magazine they say it had been an official government issue to soldiers in the Gulf war. Could any of this be true ? as you speak of bancrupt company's etc. Hope to hear from you all, Bagheera

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bald1 · Nov 11, 1998

Bagheera,

You've got a Richmond, Virgina M5 bowie that has been parkerized. And no, despite what that magazine says, no Ek, be it one made by John Ek during WWII-Korea-Vietnam, a Richmond or BlackJack model, or one by Gary Ek, none were ever an "issue" knife.

My personal M5 was customized by the Ek Custom Shop in Virginia in 1991. I had bought it because I had pending orders to the Gulf. But neither I nor the knife ever went.

The steel was advertised as "HCS1718" which many have said was really 440C. I've tried to verify this with folks that used to run the Ek Commando Knife Co of Richmond, Va, but they never replied to my e-mails.

By the way, if you picked yours up for $30, its about half the going rate, so you got yourself a deal! The paracord model originally ran in the $80-120 range but was heavily discounted.

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-=[Bob]=-

[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 11-11-98).]