Something Different: Mark 2 Theater Knife

[Tip]

A recent find.

-The MK 2 Scabbard is very "clean," -no cracks, whatsoever!
-The frog has no tears in the cotton; rivets and snaps are snug.
-The knife fits really well in its scabbard.



No maker's mark; it must've originally been guard-marked -maybe Camillus or KA-BAR?



I've been reading up on SeaBees and looking at similar WWII Pacific Theater knives. This one, like many the SeaBees made, has brass (the crossguard), aluminum (pommel and against cross guard), and bakelite (in the handle). These materials were often salvaged from downed or disabled aircraft -nothing was wasted.
The handle has no looseness or play, at all.

Here's an interesting site:

http://plowshareforge.blogspot.com/2007 ... nives.html

What do you think fellas?

[gmusic]

The blade looks just like my K-Bar.

[Tip]

Yes, Gary,
I agree. It has the same shape. It's only speculation, of course, since this one was not marked on the ricasso. I imagine someone here can narrow it down to how many makers marked the cross guards.

If anyone else has theater-made knives -please share!

P.S. I just came across something regarding guard-marked Mark 2 knives being mated with MK 2 scabbards. Scroll down to the Beckwith USN Mark 1 and Mark 2 scabbard section, 4th paragraph.

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/bayo_points_14.htm

[Mossdancer]

Great Post.
Theatre made (rehabbed) knives as I like to think of them, a fantastic subject. Can you imagine some devil dog laying in the muck muttering to himself, well the last of the leather stuff just fell off, I have got to do something. When you think a minute you will realize, a fighters knife was his last line of defense and without it he might just die. Way to deep for this conversation though. I think that the rehabbed knife will someday truly come into its own in the collecting world, after all it is about the only one that we are pretty well assured has seen some service doing what it was provided for, whether that be making some sort of shelter or some of the more deadly reasons. My belief says they should be far more valuable than the drawer queens. I do have some of those also. and no I am not ready to give them up. Here are the pics. One is rather reminiscent of yours. I have scanned the leather sheath, It actually has a travel dialogue written on it. On the scan I highlighted the writing. The sort of clear handled one was obtained from a local who is still among us. It has his initials in the top of pommel. He related some of his foxhole stories to me during our conversation(neat). The wood handled knife is a rather strange thing what with its' tiny fuller. It is well done though.
moss