sheath

[camillus]

is this the right sheath for the mk1 or is it just one that works.

[camillus]

forgot to ask what can I do to clean it up its a little stiff and dirty

[dustin]

That looks to be a sheath for a 5" Western

[thorin6]

The original sheaths for the Western Shark Knives had double stitching. The sheath in question will work for any 5-inch Mk 1 but it's hard to say if it is original for any of them.

[camillus]

I'd be surprised if it was, leather breaks down fast under the conditions they were subjected to.

[sactroop]

I think it's hard to say for sure. There were a lot of different leather sheaths for the 5 inch knives. I suspect that there may have been some sheath only orders made for replacement purposes but so far I haven't been able to find anything that moves that beyond the rumor stage.

Western used sub contractors during the War to provide their sheaths. They didn't make their leather shop until the early 1950's. Some of the sheaths that came with Western knives were single stitched.

While a lot of sheaths don't make it to 70 years old some do and occasionally in pretty darn good shape.

[dustin]

The original sheaths for the Western Shark Knives had double stitching. The sheath in question will work for any 5-inch Mk 1 but it's hard to say if it is original for any of them.

 

I am going to have to disagree. First I do not recall any sheaths for MK-I's having a low throat retaining strap, it is missing from Camillus's sheath but the rivet is still there. Single stitch and double stitch are equally common for western knives. I strongly believe this to be a sheath for a Western 5" baby shark. I think the low throat strap really narrows down the playing field here. Are there any MK-I's that have low throat sheaths? and to take it a big step further was there any other knife manufacturers during the war that used low throat straps for 5" blades and this sheath pattern?

[thorin6]

 

I am going to have to disagree. First I do not recall any sheaths for MK-I's having a low throat retaining strap, it is missing from Camillus's sheath but the rivet is still there. Single stitch and double stitch are equally common for western knives. I strongly believe this to be a sheath for a Western 5" baby shark. I think the low throat strap really narrows down the playing field here. Are there any MK-I's that have low throat sheaths? and to take it a big step further was there any other knife manufacturers during the war that used low throat straps for 5" blades and this sheath pattern?

 

Not going to disagree, as I missed the low throat strap. As for my comment that it will work, I was trying to say that as a 5-in sheath most likely from the period, any Mark 1 could go in it (but not necessarily be correct). I don't know of any reference that has all the possible permutations of sheaths for Mark 1 knifes.

[camillus]

I was wondering if there was a particular sheath issued with the MK1any 5" sheath would do. But you know the military everything has to be according to specs

[bayonetman]

The USN Mark 1 knife was essentially whatever 5 inch blade knife the supplier normally sold commercially. Although specifications were drawn up, they were not followed to the letter since to do so would require that the makers modify their existing knife which would greatly retard production and slow down supply. The PAL RH-35 knife was about as close as any knife came to specs, and it was not exact either.

 

My father, along with most members of his Company B, 42nd Naval Construction Battalion was issued Robeson No. 20 knives at Dutch Harbor, Alaska on March 5, 1943. These were fully commercial knives with no USN markings whatsoever. I have his and another that was issued to another member of his unit at that time and they are both unmarked and in commercially marked sheaths.

 

As such, each supplier of the knife supplied it with whatever sheath they normally used on their commercial version. Most did not make their own sheaths and purchased them from outside sources. This led to a wide variety of sheaths used with the Mark 1s, and since the sheaths were basically interchangeable it is sometimes difficult to determine for sure just what sheath was used with any specific maker.

 

[camillus]

thanks for you input, I have liked knives all my life and have always wanted to own certain military knives like the M3 and M4 bayonet and the famous kabar or MkII. Since I have started studying I am even more fascinated