bobcat87 Posted January 26, 2017 Share #1 Posted January 26, 2017 I have never posted a thread about this knife here before, so I thought that I would share. This is a very rarely encountered example of a WW2 I.C. CO. OLEAN, NY KA-BAR TL-29 that has a little bit of history associated with it. A couple years ago I was fortunate enough to have purchased this knife from a very nice gentleman named Ross Askins. He was a personal friend of the late M.H. Cole. Many of us grew up with his books that pretty much fueled our interest and helped us grow our collections with the power of knowledge that his books conveyed. Of course, I am referring to M.H. Cole's "US Military Knives, Bayonets and Machetes" books III & IV. More specifically, this VERY KNIFE is the same knife loaned to M.H. Cole to do a full page of drawings dedicated to this particular knife in Book IV, page 50 by Mr. Askins. He is credited at the bottom of the same page. As far as I remember, this is the first time I have posted this knife on this site. Of course, now everyone can view this knife in full color pictures instead of the black and white drawings that we are all so grateful for. And yes, I did also get the funny inside out KA-BAR box depicted in book IV with the knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcat87 Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share #2 Posted January 26, 2017 Here are some more pics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfishcraig Posted January 26, 2017 Share #3 Posted January 26, 2017 Congrats a very nice knife! Thanks for sharing Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcat87 Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share #4 Posted January 26, 2017 Thanks Craig. One thing that I would like to find out is what does I.C. Co. mean? We all know about the Union Cutlery and KA-BAR. Where does I.C. Co fit in? The box is dated 1945. That is my only clue so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted January 26, 2017 Share #5 Posted January 26, 2017 Could the knife markings be U.C. Co; the I looks like it has a bit of a tail bending to the left? That could be just a bad strike or wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcat87 Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share #6 Posted January 27, 2017 Actually Thorin, it is for certain I.C. Co. It is listed in Cole IV that way too. Mr. Cole's book has an exact drawing of the tang stamp. It is a crisp stamp, just very small. I wish I could get a better pic. The box has a stock number and order number. I wonder if any more info can be obtained from that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinb Posted January 27, 2017 Share #7 Posted January 27, 2017 The stock number begins with the number 6 which is the classification for tools in the Signal Corps. And the order number is just that; an order number. I would look closer at the letter I as it may very well have supposed to be a U but the die may have been chipped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted January 30, 2017 Share #8 Posted January 30, 2017 I don't claim to be an expert on pocket knives, but I have some background and I have discussed this with a couple of very knowledgeable collectors. My opinion, and theirs, is that the marking die was damaged and the I should actually be a U. Everything points to this knife being a Union Cutlery (Ka-Bar) knife and I cannot find any record of an I.C. anywhere, and of course Union Cutlery is in Olean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcat87 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share #9 Posted January 31, 2017 I borrowed a 40X loupe from a friend to examine the tang stamp a little closer. Under this magnification, it does appear that the die was damaged at some point. I can see little specs around the stamp and it appears that the die may have in fact been damaged. A tang stamp of U.C. Co. does seem logical. Regardless I.C. Co or U.C. Co, this is one scarce Ka-Bar. I have never seen the U.C. Co. tang stamp on a WW2 TL-29 before. Amazing how a 70+ year old mystery can be solved on this board by a few very observant people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcat87 Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share #10 Posted January 31, 2017 The tang stamp used on this knife appears to be small in comparison to the size of the tang. Do you think it possible that Kabar used a stamp on this knife that had been used on another knife with a smaller tang at some point? Before this example, I had not seen a stamp so small on a tang this large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted January 31, 2017 Share #11 Posted January 31, 2017 You may very well be right about them using a smaller stamp. Although it is on a small blade, the one in the photo below (taken from an online sale ad and is curved) seems to be similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted January 20, 2022 Share #12 Posted January 20, 2022 Reviving an old thread here: I recently picked up this TL-29 set. I have no idea if the Boker pliers are military issue or commercial, but when I looked at the manufacturer’s stamp on the knife, I was stumped and couldn’t figure out what the first letter was. At first I thought it was possibly a J, then maybe an I. Then, I found this thread and realized that the original post had the same dilemma I’m having now, trying to figure out who the manufacturer was. Seems the general consensus is the die was deformed when the blade was stamped “U”. Knife referenced in the OP and my knife must have been stamped at about the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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