draton2681 Posted July 12, 2020 Share #1 Posted July 12, 2020 I have a KA-BAR knife that is blade marked KA-BAR and the guard is marked USN on both sides of the blade. No MK2 or any other markings. I read several years ago that this is a rare transition going from blade to guard markings. Does anyone have any facts on the variation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedon Posted July 12, 2020 Share #2 Posted July 12, 2020 It has the common dark Parkerized blade finish and a rectangular peened pommel. It is often referred to as the “double marked” KA-BAR. It is shown on page 365 in Bill Walters book. Frank Trzaska talks about this KA-BAR Mark 2 variation in his August 2006 Knife World article “The USN Mark 2”. I did not know it existed until I read his article. I was on the hunt then and found my first one in February 2007. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draton2681 Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted July 12, 2020 Thanks Mikedon, That's it! I'm not a collector so I don't have the books to reference. Any idea when they were produced or the numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedon Posted July 13, 2020 Share #4 Posted July 13, 2020 No I don't know for sure. Frank Trzaska would probably be the only person in the world who would be able to tell you. I am pretty sure they came after the KA-BAR Mark 2's blade marked "KA-BAR - USN MK2". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draton2681 Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted July 13, 2020 Agreed, It's odd there's no MK2 marking on the knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted July 13, 2020 Share #6 Posted July 13, 2020 I feel bad for you. Now your going to have to start finding all the other KA-BAR variants.🤧😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedon Posted July 13, 2020 Share #7 Posted July 13, 2020 I don't think KA-BAR made very many knives of this variation as they are very hard to find. I have one that is a little different from the rest. On most all of the knives of this variation I have seen the “N” in “USN” is partially obscured on the left side of the guard. This knife has the complete “USN” visible on both sides of the guard, (I have never seen another one like it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draton2681 Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted July 14, 2020 Mine is partially obscured identical to the first photo you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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