Woodsman's Pal

[Aragorn243]

Anyone know of a definitive source that identifies the types and year or approximate years of production of the Woodsman's Pal?

I picked a nice one up a few weeks ago that my limited investigative abilities indicates is a WWII production item.

It's stamped:

WOODMAN'S PAL
280
TRADE MARK - PAT.APPLIED FOR
VICTOR TOOL CO.,- READING, PA.

It has LC-14-B on the rounded hand guard, a leather grip with a finger groove cut out of the front. It also comes in a green/khaki canvas case with a zipper and US military style hanger. The Pal has black paint on the hand guard and the blade is blued.

Yesterday, I found a second one at a gun show that was hard to pass up because of the price. This one has some slight differences. This one has identical markings as the first but has olive green paint on the hand guard and the blade. It also is missing the finger groove in the leather. This one is in a modern black nylon case, has a lot of use marks as well as heavy pitting in some areas. I was told by the seller that this was a Vietnam era knife, which it very well may have been used but it has what my research says is WWII markings due to lacking a patent number which later versions have.

Here is the first which I believe to be WWII production:











And the second, a little harder to read:





Now the second one doesn't have period carrier and is instead with a black nylon sheath with Velcro and a snap.

Woodsan's Pal is still being produced and they are making the military model but it has modern logo's etc and wouldn't be mistaken for one of these.

Information

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