All About Pocket Knives

Can anyone tell me something about this knife. It's 3 1/4" long closed, it has what appear to be brown jigged bone handles, the tang stamp reads Kabar and nothing else. I have some doubts about it because it does not have "USA" or "Olean, NY" on the tang. I can't find a match in the Big Book Of Pocket Knives. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Appears to be 1960's delrin handle #1059 Ka-Bar
#1059 3 3/8" pen and spear blade

nutoknives wrote:Appears to be 1960's delrin handle #1003 Ka-Bar

Did KA-BAR use a tang stamp that didn't include USA or Olean, NY? The handles are derlin? I wasn't sure about that, they look like they could have been bone.

Some just get missed when stamped I also have a few, and or someone will replace blades as they wear down to keep their favorite knife a good user
Sorry about the #1003 went off of memory not working so good, did check material it is a #1059 not very common but you see from time to time

So it is 60s vintage? The book I have doesn't even list that model number. Is there a good source of info on KA-BAR knives?

None that I have found just have some old material from the collector's club that goes through some of the older knive's

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

You are Welcome enjoy the game

I plan to. You do the same, my friend.

Hey nutoknives,
Can you help me date this one too? It has KA-BAR on the master blade tang and Union Cut Co, Olean NY, USA on the secodary blade tang. I think it's very old but haven't been able to date it.

Sasquach wrote:Hey nutoknives,
Can you help me date this one too? It has KA-BAR on the master blade tang and Union Cut Co, Olean NY, USA on the secodary blade tang. I think it's very old but haven't been able to date it.

Sometime between 1923 and WWII.

Seriously? That's great! I haven't had much luck finding info on older Ka-Bar knives.

Sasquach wrote:Seriously? That's great! I haven't had much luck finding info on older Ka-Bar knives.

I really like the old 1920's to 30's era KA-BAR pocketknives with the brown/green bone handles myself...and yes they are hard to find, harder than the older Case knives even.

Look for a 1983 edition "Official Price Guide to Collector Knives" by Parker / Voyles. Might be able to snag one off ebay for cheap. Probably the best Kabar reference I've found.

Aimus,
Here are the pics of my Ka-Bar Canoes. I included the yellow Camillus Canoe with the Ka-Bar to show the similarities. Any help you can give me in dating and manufacturer is greatly appreciated.









Sorry, I'm not much of a photographer. I hope to get better at it though!

Use the "macro" setting on your camera to take close-up shots. It may be marked with a flower icon.

Johnj wrote:Use the "macro" setting on your camera to take close-up shots. It may be marked with a flower icon.

Thanks for the advice. However your avatar gives me pause in accepting it! I looked in the instructions and sure enough, there it is, a flower! I'll try it on the next round 'cause I'm done for today.

The Pearl and Stag are from 1979 see the club knives post and very nice and all get better at photo's after a little trial and error.

Camillus Canoe with the Ka-Bar to show the similarities You said

With your eyes closed. Does the Ka Bar feel nicer?

justold52 wrote:Camillus Canoe with the Ka-Bar to show the similarities You said

With your eyes closed. Does the Ka Bar feel nicer?

At first I couldn't tell the difference. After holding them in my hands for a few minutes I could discern a difference. One was ever so slightly heavier and seemed a bit smoother in fit and finish. When I opened my eyes, it was the Dogs Head. So, yes, from my purely subjective test the Ka-Bar feels better.

The book Toejammer mentioned is a great source of information on the old Kabar's like the one Steve commented on, but it won't have information on the newer delrin handled one in the first post. Also, the Canoe in the next to last picture looks interesting. Any chance you could try a few more pictures until you get one in focus? It looks to be one of the old ones, and in excellent condition, but the picture is a bit too fuzzy to be sure of anything.

I was using my son's I-phone to get those pics back when I posted that, sorry. I have gotten a camera since and am attempting to develop some skills with it. I have some better pics now. The focus on these still isn't perfect but I'm workin' on it.