Prototype USN Mark 1 by Colonial

[shrapneldude]

 

OK, USMFers, I came across this pair of blades tonight. I was actually more interested in the black handled MK1 knife because I've only ever had the PAL ones with the metal pommel and leather grips. So, the black one is marked USN and Colonial.

 

The almond colored handled knife didn't really pique my interest except that I thought maybe it was a civilian knock-off of the issue one. The blade is thinner and inferior. Did some internet research and came across some information on a few forums (though they seem to all be posted by the same few people) that these are actually a prototype of the Mk1 knife made by Colonial and that less than 12 are known to exist in the world. My "this might be a load of BS" flags go up automatically when I hear language like that, especially when it comes to military stuff because the military never made just a few of anything if it was to be field tested.

 

Anyhow, I'm hoping some of the forum members can help me figure out if this knife is indeed one of the prototypes, and if it is as rare as they say on other forums.

 

Thanks in advance for any info I can get on this knife.

[shrapneldude]

[shrapneldude]

 

Sadly, the blade is in terrible shape. It if ever was marked (not sure if these were or were not marked) it's illegible now. Rusted and sharpened to it's current state.

 

The information I got from an article written in 1999 by Frank Trzaska stated that the blades were not made to specs on the original prototypes because it was actually the handle that was considered "revolutionary" in military knives. He said that in the initial tests these were boiled and abused and beaten to see if the handle could stand up to rugged field use.

[shrapneldude]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hobbies-recreation/624938-anyone-here-into-knives-14.html

http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/926439/

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:wSWE7VZVASsJ:www.colonialknifecorp.com/ColonialMk1Aug99sm.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiKrYSBAXrAewtrtrxUhttSehYB5BMGkB6YC6Te3yXGADTYh2Kgk1En-OogFmNOHkRbaatCJG49fuSTKhhnxfEN5DpXuoxi0OwMLrQA17yr6pCx9M2KZOx1LHJwjS0V-r1B9V-Y&sig=AHIEtbQbCLWLmowOOZMxdRxDPYcGY7JUFw

[shrapneldude]

 

Did some additional research. Apparently, these initial prototypes were made of a clear plastic material, and with time have turned this brownish color, but the original idea was to make them clear so as to allow US Navy officials to see how the knives were constructed and how the handle was attached to the blade.

[SKIPH]

Shrapneldude-Good info. Read Frank's article a while back. Nice to see the real thing. Thanks for showing. SKIP

[elbertson]

Somewhere over the years I saw a photo of one which still had enough transparency left to the handle to actually make out the tang..wish I made a copy of that photo now. A couple of the test knives have shown up on ebay a couple of times in the last 10 years in remarkably great shape, and the selling prices reflected it. I bought a couple of the first release of the remake MK1s about 12 years ago and have used one for a GP field knife with good results. I believe the more recently made remakes aren't true to the originals nearly as much from what I've seen in ads, but I've never had one in my hands.