What is the most recent knife you bought?

Did buy another Ka-Bar at one of my base exchanges yesterday. The price seems to have come down a few bucks, and, of course, no tax on base. I like to give these away to friends and family. Everyone needs one, right? Looks exactly like the one second from the right... (yep, these would be some of my favorite fixed-blade fighting knives).

Screenshot_20230826_111440_Samsung Internet.jpg
What is this knife?
 
Last edited:
Screenshot_20230826_111440_Samsung Internet.jpg

What is this knife?

U.S. Navy MK3 MOD 0 Combat / Diving Knife. Probably Ontario.​

 
Nice looking toothpick, @WisBorn ! We used to call that style of blade a turkish clip, and it was mostly seen on the old yellow composite fisherman's knives with the scaler/hook disgorger/bottle opener second blade. I like the aesthetics of the broad blades that are popular these days, but that narrow blade could get into places the big blades could not. Enjoy!
 
I completed my Ted Frizzlle collection with This one today called a Recluse with 4" x 1"x3/16" blade as usual all 5160 Hardened to 57-61 Rockwell c differentially :
1693495788180.png And this push Dagger I just couldn't pass up , same specs as above. BTW all his knives are shallow hollow ground 1693496086456.png previously bought and posted : 1693496440078.png I'm done and they all have sheaths BTW. 1693500267915.png
 
Last edited:
@WisBorn

Yeah, it's got a flat grind on it. I think that's why it didn't get more attention.

I think if both sides had been ground to match, it would've been reviewed better. Although it won American knife of the year in '95 and got an NSN(?) number as a knife choice for the navy.

I think there's 3 varieties, HSO has the bead blasted, mine is more parkerized and then there's a highly polished black version.

I've heard different things about the first two but nothing about the polished black one. I figured posting it, HSO might have more info.
 
supposedly came with a soft Cordura sheath.

Not quite. The sheath like yours and mine were polyethelene gotta check on material (commonly reports as kydex now) <you're correct, kydex for the hard sheaths> until the really cheap plastic lined "ballistic nylon" webbing sheaths that were done on the last version at the end.

it didn't get more attention

At the time it got enormous attention, but at $400 was a steep price in the mid '90s for a "production" knife and limited the number of people buying. None the less, people clamored for them and they were a radical "new new thing" ushering in the tacticool/SEAL obsession (in spite of not winning the military contract). Many units and individuals bought them though further driving the frenzy. It was just nuts back then. Neely hand ground the Emerson design and Neely designed the sheaths. It really pumped a lot of money into Timberline in the way of volume and into Ernie helping to grow his fame. You couldn't cut a straight line with a chisel grind, but no one cared if it had that SEAL mystique. OTOH, the price of making it and the demand that Neely was trying to keep up with really helped kill the Neely era Timberline (along with the death of their partner).

Just got off the phone with the former Timberline owner/president. He says there were about 10,000 Specwars made between the Colorado Timberline and his NY Timberline and it was the hottest knife in the industry for almost a decade, but it was too expensive to make. Demand was so high in the first seven years there was a wait for them by the retailers. He says the sheaths were molded kydex and all premium "tactical" materials and they too were expensive to make. Camillus had the last stock of the SpecWars and put out a folded over kydex "taco" sheath . He said there were knives at the end sold without sheaths also that all sorts of sheaths were used.
e.g.
1693578303842.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • 1693577955725.jpeg
    1693577955725.jpeg
    79 KB · Views: 5
Last edited:
Sold my Specwar a few years back for $350. It was grail item for me but in hand, it was a no go. The enormous space between the handle and the start of the edge killed it for me.

They sure do look cool though, and it led me to several of Ernie's knives since.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hso
Back
Top