Ka-bar 80s Stag history

The KA-BAR brand originated as a trademark of the Tidioute Cutlery Company. Tidioute was later taken over & renamed the Union Cutlery Company which continued making the brand until Union eventually adopted it as the company name in 1952. Cutco Corporation later acquired the company in 1996.
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chorizotaco
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Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by chorizotaco »

Good morning. I haven't seen many new posts so I decided to step back in history some and give y'all a peek. This article is from the Kabar Collector Club's 1989 newsletter. It explains how a stash of stag that had been in the warehouse for 10 years was only used on Collector Club knives. They decided to use it in the early 80s to make what they called "The Stag LIne". I hope you enjoy the reading and my knives. By the way they are lined up in the order as seen in the article.

Dan
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by kennedy knives »

::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu:: Very Nice Knives & info also Thanks for sharing
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by Gunsil »

Being as KA-BAR had no manufacturing facilities in the 1980s I wonder whose warehouse they are referring to?? Nice group of Queen made knives.
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Mumbleypeg
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by Mumbleypeg »

I had the same thought, but in any case that’s a beautiful set of knives. ::tu:: Never saw a stag handled knife I didn’t like! :lol:

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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by 1967redrider »

Very sweet collection! ::tu:: ::tu::
Pocket, fixed, machete, axe, it's all good!

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chorizotaco
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by chorizotaco »

Thanks everyone, love me some Ka-bar stag!!
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by edge213 »

I had one of the folding hunters, but traded it for a Kabar barlow.
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by tnorton »

I'm not really a KABAR but I like trappers - just picked this one up recently - kinda like it
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by Gone2Three »

Very nice of you to share this Dan!
I enjoyed the read....couldn't help myself drooling over your beautiful knives ::tu::
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by atrco »

HI: i enjoyed your post about the Stag Line of kabars. i have all of these knives, but there are two more that were in the line, the 1190 (jumbo jack) and the 1194 (canoe). The 1198 (two blade folding hunter) i got came with its original box and paperwork and the paperwork mentions there were 6 knives in the "Stag Line." i always thought the six were the following: jumbo jack; canoe; gunstock jack; trapper; single blade folding hunter and double blade folding hunter.

Of all of them, the single blade folding hunter is by far the most difficult to find. i just bought one on Ebay after looking for one for five years. In my experience, none of them are common except perhaps the jumbo jack which i have seen with the oval shield both with Kabar in lower case and in capitals. i have even seen one of these jumbo jacks with a dog's head shield with an 1190 tang stamp.

i always thought the "Buck style" single blade lock backs were added to those first six sometime later. Is the full page KaBar ad featuring the "KaBar stags of the early 1980's" in your post something that you put together, or is it an ad that kabar ran? by the way there is also a Buck style lockback number 1189 which is 5" long with brass bolsters that are engraved.

do you think that Kabar actually manufactured these 1980 stags? A fellow collector told me once that kabar stopped manufacturing pocketknives sometime in the early 1970's and that all of the Collector's Club knives were actually manufactured by others like, Case, Queen, etc. Your opinion?
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by tnorton »

do you think that Kabar actually manufactured these 1980 stags? A fellow collector told me once that kabar stopped manufacturing pocketknives sometime in the early 1970's and that all of the Collector's Club knives were actually manufactured by others like, Case, Queen, etc. Your opinion?
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I know this is an old post and you were not asking me ( i'm not a kabar collector) but I recently pulled out the 1195 stag trapper and it looks Queenish ::shrug:: very pretty knife though -- T
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by Mumbleypeg »

I think the answer to your question is in the post from Gene (Gunsil) who is a Kabar collector. Third post from the top.

Ken
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If your religion requires that you hate someone, you need a new religion.

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chorizotaco
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Re: Ka-bar 80s Stag history

Post by chorizotaco »

atrco wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 12:24 pm HI: i enjoyed your post about the Stag Line of kabars. i have all of these knives, but there are two more that were in the line, the 1190 (jumbo jack) and the 1194 (canoe). The 1198 (two blade folding hunter) i got came with its original box and paperwork and the paperwork mentions there were 6 knives in the "Stag Line." i always thought the six were the following: jumbo jack; canoe; gunstock jack; trapper; single blade folding hunter and double blade folding hunter.

Of all of them, the single blade folding hunter is by far the most difficult to find. i just bought one on Ebay after looking for one for five years. In my experience, none of them are common except perhaps the jumbo jack which i have seen with the oval shield both with Kabar in lower case and in capitals. i have even seen one of these jumbo jacks with a dog's head shield with an 1190 tang stamp.

i always thought the "Buck style" single blade lock backs were added to those first six sometime later. Is the full page KaBar ad featuring the "KaBar stags of the early 1980's" in your post something that you put together, or is it an ad that kabar ran? by the way there is also a Buck style lockback number 1189 which is 5" long with brass bolsters that are engraved.

do you think that Kabar actually manufactured these 1980 stags? A fellow collector told me once that kabar stopped manufacturing pocketknives sometime in the early 1970's and that all of the Collector's Club knives were actually manufactured by others like, Case, Queen, etc. Your opinion?
The information that I posted was taken from an original Kabar Collector Club newsletter. There may have been others but according to this information these were the only ones. There was a model 1010 Giant Jack produced in 1979 and measured 7 1/4" OAL. This one and the 1190 are almost identical length. Most if not all of the Kabar Collector Club knives were produced by Queen.
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