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Vietnam K-Bar

3K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Sarge 
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.
 
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.
 
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