Vietnam Ka-Bars

[sdh1911]

Attached are a few Vietnam period Ka-Bars, I know you fellows consider them somewhat Rambo style, I'll keep that in mind when I post Gurkas, I almost forgot, there is an experimental in the mix, I'll let you fellows figure it out-SDH

[Claven2]

Wthout knowing squat about them, I'm going to guess the 4th from the left.

[sdh1911]

Good try mate, but that one is just a plated knife used for under water-SDH

[Pete04]

Second from the left. The upper part of the blade at the tip appears straight as apposed to the con-cave curve of the other knives. Oooorrr. The third from left, cause it has a new looking sheath because the experiment failed, due to it funky looking handle and it was pulled from duty.

[Pete04]

Where's them smiley face things?

[sdh1911]

Good guess but a little off the mark. The point about the grind is a great one, it often helps date the knife, different mfg's used different grinds at different times. If you learn them all you have entered into the world of advanced collector. The handle you've mentioned is the wax some folks used as a preservative, again a great observation. Boy I should have put a few more out there, could have made things very interesting-SDH:D

[sdh1911]

Ok guy's if you look to the far left you'll see a real odd looking green plastic scabbard. This is one of a very few molded for trial's and rejected shortly there after. If you find one it will contain a stock Camillus MK 2, i.e. Ka-Bar-SDH. Don't be afraid to pay a little extra for it, it's very rare-SDH

[A square 10]

neet , have you got dates for these ?
not being very into the knives im not qualified to even guess , iv relied on input from gary cunningham , bill porter , and others to determine the age of mine ,
but i have a scabord or two that resemble yours ,

[David K]

... Considering the Ka-Bars were designed not only as a fighting weapon, but as general use knife, they're a superb compromise design. And realistically, they were used more as a general knife/pry-bar/screw driver etc.anyway! Personally, I would have preferred a thicker(heavier?) blade, but the design sure has proven durable ! ...... David K. ......

[sdh1911]

These knives are a mix of 1960's vintage Ka-Bars, while not so rare in some cases and very rare in others, they go well with the rest of the collection. Kinda funny, I needed a knife the other day and ended up using a 1942 Bill hook from Canada, it seemed to fit the need better than a Ka-Bar-SDH