Yard Sale Find! Info requested on vintage Kabar *Reply from Kabar*

1

1917 Bolo

Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Messages
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Usually my Google Foo is pretty strong, but I can't find an exact match to this knife anywhere. After pointing out the damaged tip, got it for $8 at a yard sale sheath included.

It appears similar to the Model 1205. It has a mirror finished 4 1/4 inch blade, stacked leather handle, and aluminum pommel. It is marked Kabar only - no USA (or Japan!), no address, no model number. It does not appear to have ever been sharpened properly. It has no wear to speak of but I can run my finger down the edge without fear of being cut. The blade would be mint, but it looks like it was dropped on its tip on concrete.

Could anyone give me a manufacture date on this knife and any other information? Given its condition, steel quality, rarity, etc should I consider this strictly a user or does it has some collector's value? Should I sharpen it or let it be?

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That looks like a stamped version of the leather handled kabar hunter. I am not an officianado but from the research i have done it looks like thats it. The current model number is 1232 but yours looks to have a full flat grind this model not so much.
 
Need something for scale. What is the width of the blade? That blade looks to be too wide to be a 1232. It may just be perspective, but that blade just seems to be wider than a 1232. Looking at my user 1232s in hand, they "appear" to have a skinnier profile than the OPO's knife.

Kabar made several similar models prior to the Cole-National era, which began around 1967, and is when model numbers started being stamped on the blades.

Someone needs to light off the "gunsil call". :D

My pair of EDC user 1232s have blade widths of almost exactly 5/8" and a smidgen wider than 5/8" with blade lengths of 4-1/8" and 4-3/32". That difference could be from manufacturing variances from hand-grinding or post purchase sharpening. The over-all smaller knife is my right-hand knife, which gets both more usage and more frequent sharpenng.

Both of my users are newer than the OP's knife as they both have model numbers - one is from the Cole National era and the other is post-Cole/Japanese manufacture.
 
Thanks for the replies. My knife is definitely wider than zzyzzogeton's 1232. It measures just a hair under 15/16 at its widest point.

I did some more searching on the Internet. I noticed that KA-BAR's website has a section on historical models, and says you can email them for info if your knife does not have a four digit number. I emailed them, but they say it might take a couple of weeks to hear back. If I get more info I'll let you guys know.
 
Received a reply from Kristi at Kabar in about two business days. Unfortunately it wasn't too informative. It reads:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. This knife appears to be made in Olean, around the 1960’s to 1970’s. It is a Hunter/Skinner pattern. Blade has obviously been polished quite a bit. If you seek more information I will refer you to Bernard Levine who works independently of KA-BAR and sets his own prices.

They then included Mr. Levine's contact information. It was nice of them to respond, but their information wasn't very helpful. As a matter of fact, it raises some questions. I thought the lack of a model number should rule out 1970's manufacture? Maybe pre-Cole National blanks remained in the factory into the early 70's? With regards to the blade being polished, I seem to remember seeing lots of mirror finished Kabar fixed blades from the 60s and 70s.

I seem to have hit a dead end on a more precise date for the knife. Maybe it is time to light the bat signal, fire a flare, or whatever the "gunsil call" entails. :D
 
1917 Bolo said:
Received a reply from Kristi at Kabar in about two business days. Unfortunately it wasn't too informative. It reads:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. This knife appears to be made in Olean, around the 1960’s to 1970’s. It is a Hunter/Skinner pattern. Blade has obviously been polished quite a bit. If you seek more information I will refer you to Bernard Levine who works independently of KA-BAR and sets his own prices.

They then included Mr. Levine's contact information. It was nice of them to respond, but their information wasn't very helpful. As a matter of fact, it raises some questions. I thought the lack of a model number should rule out 1970's manufacture? Maybe pre-Cole National blanks remained in the factory into the early 70's? With regards to the blade being polished, I seem to remember seeing lots of mirror finished Kabar fixed blades from the 60s and 70s.

I seem to have hit a dead end on a more precise date for the knife. Maybe it is time to light the bat signal, fire a flare, or whatever the "gunsil call" entails. :D
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1917, you don't have to call Bernard Levine. Just post in his subforum here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/f...-Levine-s-Knife-Collecting-amp-Identification
 
I have been lurking a long time and that's a corner of the site I have never discovered. Thanks so much!
 
1917 - That knife is NO LATER THAN 1967, more likely, 1960 to 1962. The Brown family sold Kabar to a couple of Olean businessmen in 1961, who then sold it to another group who screwed the pooch and filed bankruptcy. The Cole National Company bought the remnants of Kabar in 1966. However long it took them to get things going again, they started putting model numbers on the blades. So I personally put any "No Model Number on the blade" Kabar as being pre-1966. There MIGHT have been some old stock lying around to be put out while things were ramping back up into full production, which is why I wiggle around with saying 1967.

Lots of documentation disappeared during the turn-over between owners - the Browns to the businessmen to the dumbasses to Cole, and then the sale from Cole to American Consumers in 1982 (bankruptcy again) and then to ALCAS (current owners) in 1996. Every change of hands probably meant info was lost. Also, Cole moved the company HQ from Olean NY to Cleveland OH. American Consumers moved it again to Solon OH and ALCAS returned HQ to Olean. More docs lost. Gunsil, a member here, has probably one of the biggest accumulations of Kabar docs in the world, and he is doesn't have anywhere near everything. He can sometimes figure out what we have with detailed measurements and digging through his ads/catalogs/etc.
 
Guyon said:
1917, you don't have to call Bernard Levine. Just post in his subforum here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/f...-Levine-s-Knife-Collecting-amp-Identification
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I too am trying to find out more information on my vintage KaBar hunting knife. It has Union Cutlery Co stamped on it. It also has a unique pattern on the leather handle that I have not seen before. Do you have any idea when it was made? Model? etc... Any help is greatly appreciated.

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/ldxzzwav59t87h7/IMG_7839.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tnwn87zj5txxng6/IMG_7835.jpg?dl=0
 
my guess is it was made between 1924 (when the Ka-Bar name was trademarked and started being used on knives) and 1952 (When Union Cutlery Co officially changed its name to Ka-Bar)
 
Bb, your knife is a model 572. The actual model is 72 and the 5 prefix is for a leather ring handle. It is not a real early one, they had different pommels for the first year or two, maybe three. The Union Cut marks on the back of the blade disappeared by 1943, so the best I can narrow it down is circa 1927-1942. Sometimes on the earlier knives the model number is stamped on the blade side of the guard, have you looked there? They made model 72s with many handle options, leather, fiber washers, stag, wood, and synthetic, and they changed the spacers in the leather handles several times. Model 72 was also available in two different blade lengths, 4&1/2" like yours and a rarer 5&1/2" version. Cool old knife, do you have the original sheath too??
 
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Thank you Gunsil and 10066vik for the info. I do not have the original sheath. The leather grip has some damage to it but since the knife is so old I think it is best to leave it be in its original condition. What are your thoughts on having the blade cleaned up and polished? Is that looked down upon since this is a vintage ka-bar?
 
Cleaned-up/polished vs leaving as is is up to the owner and his/her intentions.

Personally, I leave them as is, killing any active red rust with mineral oil and 0000 steel wool and then remove the residue with a carpenter's pencil.

On your knife, I don't see any obvious active rust. As a user, just use it. As a keeper/display. I'd put a really light coat of mineral oil on the exposed steel and put it on a stand/in a case/on a shelf/whatever you want.

When you "polish" them, the ricasso stamps end up getting worn down to some extent. They get shallower with rounded edges. Some sellers then use the phrase "lightly stamped", trying to imply it came from the factory barely stamped with a minty fresh shiny blade. Which is BS.
 
They have very good customer service and try hard, but I don’t think they got the complete history archives when they bought the company.

There are people here who know more than they do about KA-BAR’s past. Not their fault it’s just how it is.
 
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