All About Pocket Knives

Hello, I am new to the forum. I am not actually a collector of knives but through a family member have come into possession of a Kabar swing guard knife.

There are no numbers stamped on the blade- just "Kabar". It appears to be genuine staghorn and it has brass liners. It does not show evidence of use and the blade is snug at the pivot point.

There is one small hairline crack on the handle that can be seen in the last protion of the image.

Can someone give me an approximate decade of production on this knife? Thanks for any insight.

Randy
Hamilton, OH

There should be a number on the back of the tang which could tell the exact year . I am sure that this knife was probably made in the 1980's - 1990's but the number could help "nail it down" .

Bob R. (RIDGEWOOD CUTLERY)

I believe that is an older Kabar knife circa 1950's to 1960's when Kabar actually made their own knives and with carbon steel blades. That is a relatively common Kabar pattern and is often found with jigged black composition handles in addition to the stag. Later examples circa 1970 on were made with delrin handles.

Thanks to you both, Bob and Steve. There are definitely no numbers stamped anywhere on the knife that I can see. Are there any other methods of determing its age other than having it in the hands of an expert?

I am fairly sure the handle is horn. While they are similiar they are not the same in thickness at each edge. The two pieces of steel that are on each side of the pivot point are of noticeably different thicknesses which would seem to indicate a lot of hand work to "blend" these pieces to the horn thickness.

Randy Starkie
Hamilton, Ohio

The handles are India Sambar stag, which is a deer antler. There is no way that I know of to narrow down the manufacture date any closer than 1950's to about 1968-1969.

If it were a newer one from the 1980's or later, made as a club knife, it would have a stainless steel blade and spring and it would have a model number.

Thank you very much for the information. I appreciate you help.

Randy Starkie
Hamilton OH

The model number of the Kabar Swing guard is 1173, I don't know if the stag handle changes anything along those lines or not, but the black handled one I have is marked 1173. No indication of date is present on mine either.