Made a cool find.

Rock Knocker

Active member
Around a year ago I traded my dad a new flashlight for this old knife. I remember since I was a kid my dad having an old ka bar from serving during Vietnam, knowing he hadn't used it maybe twice since then he was happy to give it up.

He dug around in his old hunting chest and gave me this knife... not quite what I remembered from 20 years ago but I figured I must just be remembering wrong. It had a small bit of the tip missing and I burned through a cheap sharpening stone to fix it then really got a good edge on it with some Arkansas stones.

I put it in my hunting gear pile without looking more into it. I took it out bowhunting once and nearly lost it because the leather sheath started falling apart once used.

Talking to my dad later he tells me "Hey, I found that old ka bar I meant to give you, I don't know what knife you got." So I did a little research and this is an old Pal RH 36 from WWII, we had a few family members serve then but we figured it must have been from my grandpa on my mom's side who served on PT boats in the Aleutian Islands.

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It's a great knife with some great steel, I much prefer old antique blades to the more modern stuff I usually end up with.

I'm not sure I want to carry it around now and beat it up any more....
 
My son gave me a Western knife the other day to try and clean up! From the same time frame and looks like yours. Shape is about the same as yours but different manufactures. Sadly it is a little pitted from neglect over the years. Lots of sanding with 120 grit paper etc. Love the old Western knives and the style they made.
Rudy
 
Really cool knife, congrats! I have my dad's USN knife from the Korean War. I'll try to get some pictures.

EDIT: Pictures of dad's USN MK 1 made by Camillus.

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I like those old knives, they seem to always be able to get actually sharp enough to shave.

I got a draw knife that was my great grandfathers and holy smokes. It took a lot of work, I polished the bottom side so it slid on wood like ice then I did the same to the bevel on top but left the patina of the rest of the blade. Getting it usable for carving some osage bows took hours but I shaved off most the hair on my arm just being amazed at it. I even moved my pinky finger a little too close to the blade and even with a pretty light touch it went through my finger nail and skinned the tip of my finger.

Another cool find I got a few years ago was from my same grandfather that WWII knife is from but it was his D.W. Brunton hand transit from WWII. It's a handy little tool and the condition of it is the same as when it left the factory.

I wish I could put up some pictures of the draw knife and hand transit but I'm in the middle of selling my house and almost everything is in a storage unit. Next time I'm out there I will try to remember to bring my camera.
 
I have my great uncles Marbles knife. Same design and era. I also have a broom handle with the paper work that got it home. Good to hang on to family history.
 
I gave my son my old Marble. We put a whitetail horn on it one night, for the handle and he fell in love with it. It stays very sharp!!
 
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