Steam the orange box, 19304 records found, first 100 of them are.
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GERBER MARK II™ KNIVES GERBER Mark II™ KNIVESCopyright ©2008-2020 by John T. SabolKNIFE INTRODUCTIONThroughout the years of its production, from 1967 to 1998, the Gerber Mark II went through many alterations. Changes in blade steel, blade profile, blade serration, handle material, handle coating material and handle coating color resulted in a large number of knife variations.In 2008 the Mark II, with some design changes, was re-introduced and has since had some minor changes in markings and packaging.The knives presented here are organized into several categories, most of which are based on easily observable knife shape or handle type/color.
The categories can be accessed from the active buttons above.For each knife, one or more small thumbnail pictures are included. By clicking on the thumbnail, you can access a high-resolution picture of the knife.I have tried to give an approximate serial number range for each knife. Note that these ranges are just a guide as often there are overlaps between knife types.I've also assigned an alphanumeric code to each of the knife types to aid collectors in describing a particular variation without resorting to a lengthy description.Listed below are over 50 Mark II knife variations, all that I am aware of. CAT'S TONGUE KNIVES'Cat's Tongue' (Gerber called it 'Steel Grip') handled knives gained their name from the rough sandpaper-like surface of the handles. The surface was created by spraying molten stainless steel on the aluminum handle's surface. The molten steel droplets momentarily melted the aluminum and were imbedded in the handle.
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The aluminum quickly solidified, fusing the droplets on the handle surface. The guard and pommel are coated with black, non-reflective, Duracron paint. These handles provide a very secure grip even with hands that are wet or slippery.The Cat's Tongue handles are found on the early 1967-1968 knives as well as the 20th., 35th. Gerber Anniversary knives and knives made exclusively for the Cutlery Shoppe and for A.G. Russell.And there are occasional other Cat's Tongue Handle knives on much later knives, but they are rare. For example I have noted Cat's Tongue Handles on S/N's 010078, 019785, E0077S, E5601S and L8990S.All of these knives have 6-5/8 to 7-inch long blades with an overall length of 11-5/8 to 12 inches.
The total knife weight is approximately 7.3 ounces. All blades are of a flattened diamond shape cross section and have various profiles which are individually described.CT1: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 1: 'COMBAT'; CAT'S TONGUE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; 5 DEGREE CANT BLADE; SLANT 1 LOGOThe CT1 knives are the earliest production knives. They have the narrow wasp-waisted blades with no serrations.
These knives were marketed as 'Combat Knives'. Basically a dagger designed for sticking, but equally capable of cutting and slashing. The blades of these knives are 'canted' about 5 degrees. These blades are also referred to as 'bent' or 'angled' blades. The cant or bend is normally toward the serial number side of the blade. (See for more info.)The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives usually have a dark gray appearance in contrast with the brighter handles of the Anniversary and Cutlery Shoppe knives. The CT1 knives are found on 1967 knives from S/N 001001 to S/N 003747.
However, they also can be found outside this range, due to special orders, up to about S/N 004188.NOTE: The very early serial numbers were inverted, i.e. Stamped where the digits are read with the blade pointing down.
There is speculation that the early inverted serial numbers appear only on the first day of the Mark II's production. Sometime after S/N 001049 and before S/N 001116 the serial number stamping was rotated 180 degrees (digits read with blade pointing up) and remained this way until the end of production.CT2: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 2: 'COMBAT'; CAT'S TONGUE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT; SLANT 1 LOGOThe CT2 knives are basically the CT1 knife, but without any blade cant. They have the narrow wasp-waisted blades with no serrations. These knives were marketed as 'Combat Knives'. Basically a dagger designed for sticking, but equally capable of cutting and slashing.
The blade 'cant' of the earlier knives was eliminated due to many owners who assumed they were defective and returned them to the Gerber factory.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives usually have a dark gray appearance in contrast with the brighter handles of the Anniversary and Cutlery Shoppe knives. The CT2 knives are found on 1967-1968 knives in the approximate serial range of 003541 - 008584.Photo: AnonymousPhoto: AnonymousCT2S: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 2S: 'SIGMA'; CAT'S TONGUE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT; ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; SLANT 1 LOGOThe CT2S knives are probably the most sought after Mark II knives due to their association with the Green Berets of the Vietnam War. Approximately 50 of these knives were supposedly special ordered and they are referred to as 'SIGMA' knives.SFOD B-56 Project Sigma was formed in August 1966 and located at camp Ho Ngoc Tao near Tu Duc, along highway 1 between Saigon and Long Binh. Sigma teams abducted Viet Cong, placed electronic surveillance devices, setup anti-personnel ordinance ambushes and inserted varied electronic devices in order to impede and harass the enemy along infiltration routes into South Vietnam.
In November 1967 operational control of Sigma was given directly to MACV, and placed under the control of the II Field Force. Sigma was relocated to Ban Me Thuot in 1969 and left Vietnam in mid 1971.The Sigma knives are basically the CT2 knife, but are acid etched. They have the narrow wasp-waisted blades with no serrations. They are Special Forces Presentation blades marked in two lines ' 'SIGMA' - GREEN BERETS / VIETNAM - 1968' on the logo side of the blade.
The lettering was done with the normal factory acid etching used at that time.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives usually have a dark gray appearance in contrast with the brighter handles of the Anniversary and Cutlery Shoppe knives.The CT2S knives are found on 1968 knives supposedly in the serial range of 008001 - 008050. However I have encountered 4 knives in this serial range that had no trace of any Sigma etching. This casts some doubt in my mind about the accuracy of the 008001 - 008050 S/N range.NOTE: The example shown has it's serial number ground off.
The reason for the serial number removal is unknown. Although I have no doubt this example is authentic, I would be very wary of being offered a knife of this rarity, without a serial number, that did not have a foolproof provenance.CT3: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 3: '20TH. ANNIVERSARY'; CAT'S TONGUE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; 5 DEGREE CANT BLADE; ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; SLANT 2 LOGOThese knives are reproductions of the original canted blade knives and were made to celebrate the 20th.
Anniversary (1986) of the Gerber Mark II's introduction in 1966. The knives are found with a brown leather sheath on a red velveteen (imitation velvet) lined insert in a black cardboard box with a label that reads 'Mark II™ / 20th. Anniversary 1966 - 1986 / Serial # xxNNNN / Item No. Included are a Certificate of Authenticity, A history card and care instructions.The knife is a faithful reproduction of the original, the blade being canted and made of the original L6 tool steel and the handle having the 'Cat's Tongue' finish. However there are two major differences: 1) The 4 digit serial number has a XX prefix, while the originals have an all numeric six digit number with leading zeros.
2) The Gerber logo on the Anniversary knives is of the Slant 2 type, while the originals are of the Slant 1 type. (See for more info).There is black script lettering electro-etched on the blade on the logo side that reads 'Mark II™ / 20th. Anniversary 1966 - 1986'. The blade is also coated with a protective lacquer coating. The coating can be removed with lacquer thinner if desired, but should be replaced with a light coat of oil to prevent rusting.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives.
The CT3 knives are found on 1986 knives in the serial range of XX0001 - XX5000. The XX prefix on the serial number is the Roman Numerals for twenty and was used to indicate that the knife was the Anniversary issue and not an original earlier knife.CT3N: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 3N: '20TH. NO ETCH'; CAT'S TONGUE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; 5 DEGREE CANT BLADE; NO ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; SLANT 2 LOGOSome of the 20th.
Anniversary Knives were not marked with the 20th. Anniversary black electro-etch. At some later date, they were repackaged and I believe sold through the Cutlery Shoppe.The knife is the same faithful reproduction of the original, the blade being canted and made of the original L6 tool steel and the handle having the 'Cat's Tongue' finish. However, there is no lettering electro-etched on the blade. Also no protective lacquer coating. The knife was sold with a C3 type Cordura™ sheath in the late, blue and black box with a label that reads 'Mark II™ / WASP / #GB5705'.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives.
The CT3N knives are found on 1986 knives scattered throughout the serial range of XX3701 - XX4825. Again, the XX prefix on the serial number is the Roman Numerals for twenty and was used to indicate that the knife was the Anniversary issue and not an original earlier knife.CT4: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 4: 'CUTLERY SHOPPE'; CAT'S TONGUE; 440A STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT; VERTICAL 1 & 2 LOGOSThese knives were made exclusively for the Cutlery Shoppe. They are very similar to the early non-canted blade CT2 knives, but with the following differences: (1) The knives are made from 440A stainless steel rather than the original L6 tool steel. (2) The knives have a four digit serial number with a CS prefixThese knives were sold with a C3 type Cordura™ sheath in the late, blue and black box with a label that reads 'Mark II™ / WASP / #GB5705'.
Note that this is the same box label used for the CT3N unmarked 20th. Anniversary knives that were sold by Cutlery Shoppe.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives. The CT4 knives are found on 1989-1996 knives scattered in batches throughout the serial range of CS0003 - CS1755. The CS prefix on the serial number stands for 'Cutlery Shoppe' and was used to indicate that the knife was not an original earlier knife.CT5: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 5: 'CUTLERY SHOPPE'; CAT'S TONGUE; 440A STEEL; STRAIGHT; 8 TEETH/IN.; NO CANT & 5 DEGREE CANT BLADE; VERTICAL 1 & 2 LOGOS; 'MARK II™' ETCHED ON BLADEThese knives were made exclusively for the Cutlery Shoppe. They have the straight profile blade (no wasp shape) and have two inches of 8-teeth-per-inch serrations in the center of both blade cutting edges.
The blades are made from 440A stainless steel. In addition most of these blades have a 5-degree cant but others have been observed with no blade cant. The cant or bend is toward the serial number side of the blade.There is black lettering, electro-etched on the blade on the logo side that reads 'MARK II™' on most knives. Others do not have the etch.These knives can be found with C3 and C3S type Cordura™ sheaths or FT2 leather sheaths in either the Orange Slide or Blue and Black boxes. They were sold under the model #GB5710.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives. The CT5 knives are found on 1989-1996 knives scattered in batches throughout the serial range of CS0006 - CS1947.
The CS prefix on the serial number stands for 'Cutlery Shoppe' and was used to indicate that the knife was not an original earlier knife. Note that this is the only Cutlery Shoppe model that is canted as well as having serrations.CT6: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 6: 'CUTLERY SHOPPE'; CAT'S TONGUE; 440A STEEL; WIDE WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT; VERTICAL 2 LOGOThese knives were made exclusively for the Cutlery Shoppe. They have the wide wasp profile blade with no serrations. The blades are made from 440A stainless steel. There is no electro-etched lettering on the blade and there is no blade cant.The knife was sold with a C3 or C4 type Cordura™ sheath in both the orange slide box and the late, Blue/Black box with a label that reads 'Mark II™ / WASP / #GB5705'.
Note that this is the same box label used for the CT3N unmarked 20th. Anniversary knives that I believe were sold by Cutlery Shoppe.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives.
The CT6 knives are found on 1992-1996 knives scattered in batches throughout the serial range of CS0461 - CS1802. The CS prefix on the serial number stands for 'Cutlery Shoppe' and was used to indicate that the knife was not an original earlier knife.CT7: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 7: '35TH.
ANNIVERSARY'; CAT'S TONGUE; 154CM STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; HAS CANT; ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; SLANT 2 LOGOThese knives are a limited edition reproduction of the original 1967-1968 canted blade knives and were made to celebrate the 35th. Anniversary (2001) of the Gerber Mark II's introduction in 1966.
Gerber only made 1250 of these knives. One thousand were for sale domestically and 250 were supposedly sent overseas. The knives are found in a red velveteen (imitation velvet) lined insert in a black cardboard box with dark brown leather sheath and Certificate of Authenticity. It was sold as Model 5710.The knife is a reproduction of the original. It has the 'Cat's Tongue' handle but the blade is not canted and is made of 154CM stainless steel rather than the original L6 tool steel. There is black script lettering electro-etched on the blade on the logo side that reads 'Mark II™ / 35th.
Anniversary 1966 - 2001'.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives. The CT7 knives are found on 2001 knives in the serial range of 010001 - 011250. The 01 prefix on the serial number stands for the year 2001. Although this serial number range on early knives is beyond the end of Cat's Tongue knives, there is a chance that with the removal of the electro-etched script, an attempt could be made to pass these knives off as originals.NOTE: There are a dozen of these knives that have approximately 1-1/2 inches of multi-depth serrations cut in the narrow wasp portion of both edges of the blade. These were sold on eBay with the following text:'Japanese customs will not permit entry to any double-edged blade that is over 6 (six) inches in length, UNLESS (and this is very important) the blade is serrated on each side. Therefore, this Gerber Mark II did not qualify for entry as it was not serrated.' 'A dear friend of mine, who is an importer in Japan, decided to buy a dozen of these boxed items and have them serrated to enable entry into his country.
The serrations were done by one of our country's leading knife makers. Japanese customs found them unacceptable.
I have been recruited to auction these knives on eBay.' CT8: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 8: 'AG RUSSELL LTD.
EDITION'; CAT'S TONGUE; 154CM STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT; ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; SLANT 3 LOGOThese knives are a limited edition made exclusively for A. Russell Knives. They have the wide wasp profile blade with no serrations. The blades are made from 145CM stainless steel. There is no electro-etched lettering on the blade and there is no blade cant. Gerber only made 100 of these knives.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives.
The CT8 knives are found on 2002 knives with the serial range of Z00001 - Z00100. The significance of the Z prefix on the serial number is unknown.The knives are mostly found in a green velveteen (imitation velvet) lined insert in a black cardboard box with dark brown leather sheath and Certificate of Authenticity. The tag on the box bottom reads 'KNIFE, MARK II, AG RUSSELL Item: 22-07006'.
Note that the COA reads much like the COA of the 2002 Limited Edition knives with the letter A prefix serial numbers and black handles (See for more info).EU-03 Photo: Valery YanduganovCT9: CAT'S TONGUE TYPE 9: '70TH. ANNIVERSARY'; CAT'S TONGUE; S30V STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; NO CANT BLADE; ETCHED WRITING ON BLADE; ETCHED SLANT 3 LOGO & SERIAL NUMBERThese knives are reproductions of the original Mark II knives and were made to celebrate the 70th. Anniversary (1939-2009) of the Gerber Legendary Blades Company.
The knives are found with a black leather sheath on a gray velveteen (imitation velvet) insert in a wood display case with a glass cover. Included is a Certificate of AuthenticityThe knife is a somewhat faithful reproduction of the original, but there is no cant to the blade and the blade is made of S30V steel rather than the original L6 tool steel. The handle has the 'Cat's Tongue' finish.
The major observable difference is that markings on both sides of the blade are laser-etched rather than stamped.Most knives are marked in a brown colored laser-etch with the Slant 3 logo and 'S30V USA' on the obverse ricasso and all have have a production code of '08CHO' on the reverse ricasso (although I was told of one 09CHO marked knife). (See for more information on the production code).The 1500 serialized knives have the production code '08CHO' over a four digit serial number in the form of 'XXXX OF 1500'. However three other markings can be found on the reverse ricasso.1) There are 60 un-serialized knives that are simply marked '08CHO' over 'GLB'. These 60 blades were made with the Serial Number 'GLB' for sale at the 2008 NRA show and the 2008 Blade Show. The GLB marking is an abbreviation for 'Gerber Legendary Blades'2) A small unknown number are marked '08CHO' over 'GLB-SS10'.
Again the GLB marking is an abbreviation for 'Gerber Legendary Blades' and the SS10 for Shot Show 2010. They were made for the 2010 SHOT SHOW, the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show. Some have an engraved wooden stand that is so marked.3) There is also a small unknown number stamped with '08CHO' over 'EUNN' where 'NN' is a two digit number. I received this information from Valery Yanduganov in Russia.
I've since noted another with the serial EU25. The meaning of the EU is unknown but could possibly stand for European Union.All of these knives also have brown script lettering laser-etched on the blade on the logo side that reads 'GERBER' / '70th. Anniversary Commemorative' / 'Mark II™'.The 'Cat's Tongue' handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives.
The CT9 knives are found on 2009 knives with the above mentioned markings.The wood case with class cover comes in a plain cardboard box with the Gerber Item No. 22-01972.Some very interesting technical details about the knife comes from Thilo Schleinitz, a mechanical engineer and knife collector in Germany.
I have shortened some of his information:He mentions that the knives exist as Wide wasp and Narrow wasp depending on the manual setup done during blade grinding and that the higher numbers tend to be narrow. Possibly there were two manufacturing periods as evidenced by the different grinds.
Thickness of the Narrow is about 66% and Wide about 78% of the original blade width.All the knives should be without a cant. But if the ricasso is ground higher or lower on one side compared with the other, a cant can occur. Also a 'banana' curve can occur if the blade grinding pressure is too high on one side.
Both alter the stress in the metal of the blade.He was able to use a YAG laser, at rather high power, to get the exact gold-brown color of the marking on this steel. The laser delivers a rectangular red-line window on the target, and you adjust the knife manually to have that window in correct position. Then you click on marking, and the laser writing is done in that window.
He suspects that is how they were produced, without any fixation tooling, because the text is always in a slightly different location on the blade.He has a 70th. Knife with a COA that is a gray metal, laser etched plate with the exact lettering of the paper ones with the exception that there is no serial number line.He also mentions that the box was made in China and that some have a styropor (styrofoam) form underneath the velveteen (imitation velvet) insert to stabilize it and some do not. GOLD HANDLED KNIVESWhen production started on the Mark II, management thought it would be a good idea to offer special MKII's with gold plated handles that would sell at a higher price. In the beginning every even 100th.
Serial numbered knife would be built with a gold plated handle. Later, it may have been changed to every even 50th. The Mark II's Cat's Tongue handles were plated with real gold in the Gerber factory plating shop.Photo: Harvey ReisbergThe only documentation I have is a copy of a flyer from Adrian Van Dyk that states: 'A special presentation deluxe Mark II combat knife is now available with a Gold Plated Finish.
Supply of these may be limited since only every 50th. Knife is a deluxe. Price is $10.00 extra for deluxe.' The reverse side of the flyer is shown at left:At that time, the Mark II Combat Knife with scabbard sold for $25.00 and the Mark II Combat Knife with steel and piggyback scabbard sold for $31.95. Since $10.00 was 30-40% of the total cost of the knife, not many were ordered.I've been told just under 200 Gold Handles were produced but from the very few Mark II gold handles that I know of, this seems like too high a number. It may be that the 200 included other Gerber Models.
I did see a Gerber Pixie knife with a gold handle on ebay in 2005.I understand it took a few years for all of the gold handles knives to be sold and no more were made.All of these knives have an overall length of 11-1/2 to 12 inches. The handle length is 5-1/4 inches with 6-1/2 to 7-inch long blades with the narrow wasp profile. There is only one version of this knife.Photo: AnonymousGH1: GOLD HANDLE TYPE 1: 'SPECIAL ORDER'; GOLD PLATED; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; CANT & NO CANT; SLANT 1 LOGOThe GH1 knives are very rare and I have knowledge of only five 1967 knives, S/N's 002500, 002600, 000 and 004000. GRAY ARMORHIDE KNIVESIn the later part of 1968 Gerber changed the handle finish from 'Cat's Tongue' to a light gray colored crinkle finish called 'Armorhide'. This finish was made by John L.
Armitage & Company. Armorhide is a textured coating system based on vinyl dispersion resins (a fluid suspension of a vinyl resin in a liquid plasticizer system).
The coating provided superior abrasion resistance when compared to ordinary paint and easily covered scratches and imperfections in the bare handle surface. The gray finish on the guard and pommel portions of the handle were then coated with a smooth black paint.Supposedly the handles were painted by a company called Specialty Enameling in Portland, Oregon.All of these knives have an overall length of 11-1/2 to 12 inches.
The handle length is 5-1/4 inches with 6-1/2 to 7-inch long blades.These gray handles are found on the late 1968 through late 1977 knives.NOTE: There is a great deal of variation found in the gray handle knives, including blade profiles (narrow wasp and wide wasp), manufacturing process (forged and hand ground) and non-serrated blades as well as 3 serration patterns (two fine and one coarse).There are at least two shades of gray used on the gray armorhide handles, possibly more. The appearance of these light colored gray handles spawned tales of rare 'White Handles'. Of course there are no White Handles.Mike Silvy states the lighter gray was on earlier knives and that seems logical.
Maybe someone thought the light gray showed too much dirt. At any rate the shade was made darker and remained so until Gerber changed to the baked on black powder finish.GA1: GRAY ARMORHIDE TYPE 1: 'COMBAT'; ARMORHIDE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; SLANT 1 LOGOThe GA1 knives are the earliest gray handled knives. They have the narrow wasp-waisted blades with no serrations. The earlier knives were marketed as 'Combat Knives' and the later as 'Survival Knives'. Somewhere between serial no.
024323 and 025186, the Gerber Sword in Stone Logo on the GA1 knives underwent a change. (See for more info.) The GA1 knives are found on late 1968 to early 1972 knives in the approximate serial range of 008696 - 022983.Photo: Daniel H. EdwardsPhoto: Daniel H. EdwardsGA1I: GRAY ARMORHIDE TYPE 1I: 'I.G.S.' ; ARMORHIDE; L6 STEEL; NARROW WASP; NO TEETH; 10 DEGREE CANT; IGS STAMPED ABOVE SERIAL NO.; SLANT 1 LOGOThe IGS knives were a special order of approximately 12 knives made for the now defunct Inglewood Gun Shop of Inglewood, California. The knives were ordered with 10-degree canted blades.
However the example shown seems to be closer to 18 degrees. They have the letters 'I.G.S.'
Above a 5 digit serial number, both being acid etched. I believe they were all issued with a RT5 type sheath. The GA1I knives were probably ordered in 1969.
They have the special serial range of I.G.S./00001 - I.G.S./000126) GERBER USA Logo: This is the sixth logo to appear on Gerber Mark II blades. Adopted sometime in 2011 it is the only logo that doesn't have a 'Sword In Stone' type marking. It was replaced by the Vertical 3 logo sometime in 2013.7) Third Vertical Logo: This is the seventh logo to appear on Gerber Mark II blades and was newly adopted sometime in 2013. I have only seen a stock photo of the new marking so I don't know any serial number information.Logos were also etched, for short periods, when the logo stamping machinery broke down. Early knives were acid etched. Later knives were electro-etched.Acid etching forms a deep etch and the etched area has an uneven pitted surface with a bright appearance.
By contrast, electro-etching is very shallow, the etched area has very flat surface and is dark gray or black in appearance.Examples of several of the etched logos are shown below. BLADE ENGRAVINGBLADE ENGRAVING - One of the options the Gerber Company offered on the Mark II was 'Engraving' the blade with a name and/or serial number. Engraving is a misnomer as the lettering was done by means of acid etching.
The method used was to first coat the blade with a 'resist', a material that is acid resistant, such as wax. Next the letters are scored through the coating down to the blade surface and an acid applied over the scored lettering. After waiting a period of time to allow the acid to etch the steel, the acid is washed from the blade and the 'resist' removed.Acid etching results in very distinctive lettering which is different from machine engraving, electro-etching or laser marking. When looked at under a magnifying lens, acid etched lettering is seen to be comprised of a series of small uneven pits in the metal.Machine engraving means the marking wasn't done at the factory at the time the knife was ordered.
However, a lot of military personnel bought knives at the Army or Navy PX's (Post Exchange) and some had them engraved after purchase. So the lack of acid etching doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a valid marking.WARNING: Unscrupulous individuals have been known to use machine engraving on an older unmarked knife in an attempt to fool unsuspecting buyers into believing a knife was carried in Vietnam. If the lettering on a Vietnam era knife is examined and found to be smooth and uniform, the engraving was done at some later time and not by the Gerber Factory. There may be exceptions but again, I would be very wary of a knife with smooth engraving that did not have a foolproof provenance.An example of Gerber Factory acid etching is shown below.
2008 MARK II KNIVESMark II - 2008 Commercial Edition - The 2008 version of the Mark II is a serrated, fixed blade knife that includes a Ballistic Nylon Sheath. Released in July 2008, this product was designed to have the same look and feel as the original knife with a few modifications for today's Military.The 2008 Commercial Edition has a die-cast aluminum handle that is powdercoated black and a 420HC blade that is Black Oxide coated. The handle has a lanyard hole similar to the original and is contoured to fit comfortably into a person's hand. The Double Bevel blade includes serrations on each bevel.
These serrations are different than the original Mark II Knives in that there is a flat area between each scallop, allowing the serrations to be field-sharpened. The black Ballistic Nylon Sheath includes a black, plastic-injection molded, puncture-proof liner to secure the blade, two straps to secure the handle, a leg strap and is MOLLE compatible.The laser etching on the mark (front) side has one of three logos as shown below. A serial number is laser etched on the reverse side of the knife (starting at 01001) along with a production code to identify some of the specifics of the knife.
2018 G1-002 LIMITED EDITION KNIFEG1-002 LIMITED EDITION - This knife is the second edition in the Gerber G1 Series of limited edition, high-end knives. The G1-002 was introduced at the 2018 Blade Show and is a tribute to the Mark II combat knife.The blade appearance is true to the straight sided, non-serrated, spear point Mark II blade but made from S60V steel which gives added wear resistance over 440C steel.The handles were designed and custom-machined by Zev Technologies and have a Cerakote ceramic coating. Blackpoint Tactical produced the custom Kydex hard sheath which allows either a vertical or horizontal belt carry as well as providing click-in retention.
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