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Box of 6 PAL RH-36 Knives


45govt
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I wish there were pics of the blades. I personally wouldn't spend that much on them. Maybe $1200.

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I believe the blades are parkerized. I've handled several of these boxes and there are no markings on the cartons. I surmise they are packed X amount per carton before being packed in a master container. I'd love to see the master crate, I assume it was a wood one. It would have all the nomenclature and contract data. It would be lovely if Mr.Jerry had said wood crate or pics of it. There is also NOS ones floating around that have bright blades as well.

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Charlie Flick

I am posting the auction image here so that years from now we can all see what these looked like.  Ebay won't keep those images alive.

 

Charlie

 

 

PAL RH-36 knives.jpg

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nothing like unissued mint
It's odd because Unissued mint does seem to get the highest prices, but is the history there? If they never left the states is it part of WWII? Is it any different than commercial made, or Swedish Mausers which are usually in great condition, but don't command nearly as much as K98k. Mainly due to their lack of war use and thus history. It is a cool item, but for me it is like an unopened wax case of sportscards. When I got into Military collecting I promised myself I wouldn't have wall hangers or leave something in the wrap like I did with sportscards. Of course unopened Mosin Crate and Enfields and MAS-36 I had in the wrap would probably be worth a lot more now.

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they are ww2 manufacture and in a mint unissued shape will bring a higher price. war service or not collectors like to get the best they can find. same with guns. unissued 45's, garands, carbines and the like brought home by vets right out of factories command big bucks.

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I would stipulate SOME collectors “like to get the best they can find”.  Personally, I prefer used condition to mint, but to each their own.  I have paid considerably more for an attributed used item than I ever would its mint / unissued equivalent.

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pararaftanr2

There can be room for both in a collection. It's nice to see what an Item looked like when it was first issued to the service man, as well as what it looked like after it was used by him.

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they are ww2 manufacture and in a mint unissued shape will bring a higher price. war service or not collectors like to get the best they can find. same with guns. unissued 45's, garands, carbines and the like brought home by vets right out of factories command big bucks.
I agreed unissued bring a higher price, but it's not because of the history.

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I would stipulate SOME collectors “like to get the best they can find”.  Personally, I prefer used condition to mint, but to each their own.  I have paid considerably more for an attributed used item than I ever would its mint / unissued equivalent.
I agree. For me Unissued doesnt have any history attached to it, and when it comes to firearms to pay top dollar to look at it and never use it as intended makes no sense to me. For instance if I paid anywhere near what an Unissued 1935 Brazilian Mauser sells for, I never would have shot my Unissued example.

I also agree the knives are a cool item, but out of the package are they much different than post war commercial knives was the question I was getting at? At least in the package I assume one can tell they were meant to be issued.

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As more of a history buff than a  collector with an eye to resell, an item that shows a fair chance of having been used in-hand by a soldier has far more interest to me than the same item in mint unissued condition.   That said, a mint in-the-package item does reflect the manufacturing and distribution side of the item's history.  

 

Mikie

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18 hours ago, Charlie Flick said:

I am posting the auction image here so that years from now we can all see what these looked like.  Ebay won't keep those images alive.

 

Charlie

 

 

PAL RH-36 knives.jpg


Thanks, Charlie.

At the risk of diverging off topic, I appreciate this. At one point we weren’t allowing photos unless they were hosted here, but of late it seems a lot of people are just posting eBay links which makes the posts effectively useless for future reference and research. I hope we can get back to posting the images instead.

kindest,

Bill

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  • 3 weeks later...

To add a little more flavor to this thread and why I would be more curious to see the master crate. 

Here are images of aviation cadets at NAS Pensacola undergoing survival training, c.1944. They are clearly wearing and using the PAL RH-36 as we see in these NOS types.276658946_PAL2.jpg.b23e5f37240a275abbea29869bb31510.jpgPAL.jpg.49928b7a71b418b06fd44a660e7e4281.jpg914921938_PAL3.jpg.93272adb0192884c8dab2055fd60ef0b.jpg

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It would technically only be a few days before a NOS issued knife would look corroded and darkened from the beach, sun and surf during these exercises.

Now to answer the question as to whether they are bright or parkerized blades. 

A nicely presented PAL RH-36 displayed nicely for our view of a parkerized blade. 

I do believe we are seeing the variant with the red/black spacer at the pommel and guard.

 

68488455_PAL4.jpg.46316487e287e2cda39cbd5fe4a70deb.jpg

1878235936_PAL5.jpg.d9c604f215251580fa6bfa005d7f2966.jpg

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I think there is a comparison of apples and oranges here in regards to condition. At some point, all this equipment was issued NOS. Articles needed to be replaced there fore issued NOS while in an individual was in service. These have clearly dodged that fate. Worn and torn condition is just that, wore out! whatever its history may be. Now if that item is attributed in some fashion, then it deserves a second look and also whom it belonged to. You can play make believe fantasy land on a used looking item but without knowing its history its condition significantly deflates value. But to each there own.

Now, I'm saving my best creamy delicious pics of knives for one of my upcoming books, but here are a select few that didn't make the cut of NOS knives.

 

 The first is from the USS Bataan, May 1945. This aircrew wears a NOS PAL RH-36. In other pictures of squadron members wearing same knife, they are brand spanking new. It is crisp, shiny and blonde. additionally, in observing other images, they have the black spacer and identical to the type pictured above. 

 

2144426472_PALNEW(2)c.jpg.7933d8071dd957bee952b547652800a8.jpg

 

302561467_PALNEW(2)cc.jpg.e3884976bb829b249c2647117c1898a4.jpg

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Unfortunately so many pictures have part of knives obscured, funny in that it is hard to find a nice clean shot and many of those are going in my book.

 

This, aboard the USS Tulagi, July 1944, is a PAL RH-36. Note how shiny the handle and blonde the scabbard. Clearly a brand new issued knife, NOS.

 

558466319_PALNEW3c.jpg.bbdffa50b1da94adce435e6e5d31c31d.jpg

 

148103079_PALNEW3cc.jpg.da8de98d51ddc04ee8f2ab723cbad392.jpg

 

 

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The topic is about the PAL RH-36 but in theme is what appears to be a NOS, new issue Mark I. Note condition of blonde, solid and the reflective sheen. That knife is brand new and not a blemish on it.

These three Naval pilots and aircrew were operational in the forward area or combat zone when these images were taken and on combat flight status. So to dismiss NOS as "not being used in combat" is incorrect.

USS Core, November 1943

 

1969115785_PALNEW(1)c.jpg.d7f933c17c8e39c0bd45827704db2b84.jpg

 

896004010_PALNEW(1)cc.jpg.3ee2c79b3270af0050ff28174816fda9.jpg

 

 

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For what it's worth I have added a photo of a parkerized PAL 36, set between a PAL 37, and a PAL 35. PAL knives are quite pleasing to look at even better when you can compare them to others.  SKIP

20200815_213042.jpg

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On 7/28/2020 at 7:00 PM, capt14k said:

It's odd because Unissued mint does seem to get the highest prices, but is the history there?

 

Very, very few WWII fighting knives have any provenance proving they were used in or near combat, but by dating a knife we know if it COULD have been used in combat if it had been issued and that gives it a lot more value. That's why, for example, a piece of 1943 gear is generally worth more, sometimes much more, than a nearly identical piece dated 1945.

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  • 3 months later...

Just to follow up on this one - I had not seen the original posting - these knives were mine.  a few years ago i was contacted by someone that had a bunch of WW2 TL-29 knives- many still in boxes of 6, many wrapped up in wax paper, and still more that were loose. We made a deal on the entire lot of them and there were a couple nice RH 36 knives that were part of the deal.  About a year later- they called me again, this time they asked if I wanted 57 of the RH 36s - "sure!" I said- and we made another deal. When i got them I was shocked to see that they were mostly still in the sealed boxes! (sadly no crate) I sold/traded off the loose ones and then sold the boxes of the ones as a box.  I was shocked at how many people wanted to break them up. But hey what they did with them after they bought them is their own business. One box even ended up in that new knife book by Bill Walters. 

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