Vintage Gerber ID needed

pcb105

pcb105

Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
229
Hi All,

Trying to Identify a couple gerbers that I will be listing on the exchange forum soon.

Knife 1: I think it is a Vintage Gerber Mark 1 from the early 80s. I have not seen any with the blade finish that is on it (I assume it was user done). The tip looks bent up and the knife needs work. Serial Number is 104337. I tried to find a date guide for gerber, but to no luck. Handle material is metal. I assume it is Armorhide (at least it looks the same as a vintage A400 I have). The butt end of the handle there is wear that shows thru, looks like aluminum. Any idea if I have the model correct? or the manufacturing date.
Mark-a.jpg

Mark-b.jpg

mark-e.jpg

mark-g.jpg


Knife 2: It is a blackie Collins design. I have found a picture on the internet that says it is a Dive Knife or a River Master knife. I have seen pictures that match and don't match the knife. I think this one dates to the early to mid 1980s.
Blackie-a.jpg

blackie-b.jpg

blackie-c.jpg


Thanks for your help
 
Yes, MK 1 is the correct model. Mine from the late 1970s has a seriel number of 029420, so early 80's sounds about right for yours. The handle is aluminum, I think they called that coating Armorhide but I don't remember for certain. The blade on mine is high-speed tool steel, not stainless, and has a bit of black oxide patina much like I'm seeing in your photos.

The mid-80's sounds right on the RiverMaster, but I don't have one of those to compare.
 
yablanowiz, thanks for the quick reply. A quick question on the MK1. The finish of the blade has me stumped. The blade grind has a "swirl pattern" on it, while the Ricasso portion is more of a matte finish, definitely different from the grind area. My assumption is that this was user done (as it does not look uniform). Is this your assumption as well. I saved this from the trash, my mother was going to throw it away as it was in a bag of old radio CB parts etc.

Should I try to find someone to fix it (as well as the tip), or leave it in the condition it is. I know with older guns you should not try to restore it, and I am wondering if that is true with knives as well. I will be selling it in the exchange portion, probably won't fetch much in current condition.
 
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Sorry I couldn't get back to you earlier, I hammered out that reply while I should have been driving back to work. I got to thinking about it on the way back, and I'm pretty sure I bought mine in 1975. I would guess the "finish" you are seeing on the flats of the blade is the result of someone doing a scandi-grind type sharpening. That is, laying each face flat on the stone and running the blade in small circles. That will result in the swirl pattern you see. They didn't have much of a secondary bevel from the factory, and the blade is thick enough and narrow enough to form a 25° edge if sharpened that way. I don't know how much collector interest there is in these, but from what you describe I'd say the collector value is pretty much gone. I'd say clean it up.
 
That's a dremmel tool job at getting rust off. There are too many swirls going in different directions for it not to be. It's a user even if the job is finished properly after this.

Joe
 
Yab is right about the dating on the rafting knife. Gerber sold it as a White Water or Rafting Knife. I had one for a while. Mine was bought from Cutlery World (remember them?) in Orlando, FL in the mid to late '80s. It came with a hard plastic sheath that the spring bar in the handle clipped onto. Kept it snug when worn inverted. Press the bar in and the latch would open enough to draw the knife. It also came in a PE version and a double-edged version, IIRC.
 
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