[Candyman]

Guys,
I was just told that my boss back in Arkansas gave me a very special present, his K-Bar.

He was in Vietnam as Marine Recon and did two tours.

As it's described, its got the wooden black handle and black leather sheath.

Any idea's to how I could display it?

 

[dfariswheel]

Original Ka-Bars have a leather handle.
The handle is made of stacked leather "washers" compressed tightly.
Either you mistook a well-used one for wood, or the handle has been replaced.

For display, I recommend having a cabinet shop build you a "picture frame" display case.
This is a picture type frame with a glass cover only thicker than one made for a picture.
You mount the knife on a thin board covered with velvet.
This is then mounted in the frame with a glass cover to protect it.
You can either stand it on a desk, or hang on the wall.

 

[Candyman]

Sorry,
Girlfriend mistook the old leather for wood. I seen a picture of it and it, IS leather. About how much is one of these old K-Bars worth?

 

[dfariswheel]

Value depends entirely on the actual maker and condition.
WWII knives will be worth a little more than Vietnam era knives.

The "Ka-Bar" knife was made by a number of makers.
The original maker was Camillus, but for some reason the knife came to be called a "Ka-Bar".

After WWII and during Vietnam the prime contractors were Ka-Bar and Camillus.
A good many knives were made by non-GI makers including Japanese companies.
These knives were sold in Px's, along with the real issue knives.

The actual value will not be high due to the MANY millions of these that were made and issued over the years.
If you can get hard documentation and "provenance" that the knife was actually used by a Vietnam Force Recon Marine, the value would be a little higher.

Best guess: For a Vietnam Ka-Bar or Camillus genuine USGI issue, the value would be less than $75.00.
For a knife documented as a Force Recon knife, "possibly" $100.00 or more.

 

[A square 10]

a lot of original wwII ka-bars were carried in v.n. my father in law carried one that i now have , it was kept in his tool box in the garage - just a tool , handy hiking knife , im fortunate to have it and treasure it and his memory , sometimes things are worth far more than money

 

[badash5946]

I also have a Ka-Bar that a 4 tour field Marine sold me along with a whole bunch of bringback artifacts and weapons. And I have my own, still on my web gear even tho I retired 12 years ago (but mine has a lot less illustrious history - only used in anger on a can of ham and lima's). I do know that somewhere in my internet wanderings I saw a display case - I think it is from the company they use to engrave their knives. I bought my son one engraved with the medic's caduceus as a graduation gift from training, but when he deployed to Afghanistan in May I bought him an engraved Randall.

 

[alb87]

badash5946,
Which model is this randall made knife?
Can you post some pics?

Thanks a lot,
alb87.

 

[Sarge]

I lost my K-Bar to an inspecting MP when I left VN. I knew I would because anything with a blade over 5" could not be taken in or out of VN. I had it packed in the 2nd layer in the foot locker so it was easy to find. As expected, he bit. Pulled it out and said I couldn't take that (I'm sure he kept it?) and closed the foot locker just like I expected him to. 3 or 4 layers farther down was where the good stuff began.
The K-Bar was nice, but all the other stuff was nicer. Hell I packed my little 6cu ft jap refrigator 1/3 full of ammo and sent it home. Someone had pried up the top - marked refrigator this end up - enuf to see the blue enameled top and closed it up and banded it (I hand't banded it) and sent it on it's way.
Still got that crate in the shed out back.
Sarge