PAL US WW2 USN Military Mark 1 RH 35 Fighting Knife w/ Leather Scabbard

[eveled]

It’s been rehandled. The colored spacers are missing, the guard looks too thick. Is it aluminum? It should be steel. The sheath is not original
Here are pictures of my Dad’s knife I had on my phone.

[eveled]

The blade coating may be original. I have a NOS one I will check it.

IMG_20161022_143612779_zpsjz2sfezt.jpeg (52.42 KiB) Viewed 1505 times

Under the wrapper it was covered in tar, I believe there is a gray phosphate? Coating under the tar. I will check my other ones.

[eveled]

Here are some of my others. They have a gray coating that wears off. I think someone was trying to mimic the original finish. The pommel is zinc. It looks correct. The test of the knife does not.

[eveled]

[eveled]

I found 5 of them to compare. 4 are marked the same, one of them is different. (My Dad’s I posted first). Is not marked RH35

Yours seems to be a mix between them.

[eveled]

I think your blade is original and might be a scarce variant but it has been tampered with. Likely the leather washers deteriorated and someone did a nice job replacing it.

Your sheath doesn’t match any of mine. I have 2 I believe are original and 4 reproductions. They are all different from each other. Yours has the correct looking small rivets, but too many of them. Also the USN phont is different than mine, But they were probably made by a lot of companies.

Interesting that it is a left hand sheath. A lot of these knives have left hand sheaths. It may be original, but it is just too good looking. I think its a good reproduction.

The USN MKI DECK KNIFE was made by at least 8 different companies. PAL was the most common one. They are relatively common. Easily found on Ebay. The nord fiberglass sheaths are harder to find but still available

[eveled]

It’s a neat knife, but not original. Now that you know what to look for, I’m sure you will find a nice one.

Then you need a RH36, a MKII, & a MKIII. LOL.

[eveled]

I don’t think I ever paid more than $100 for any of mine. But I was patient, and saw many of them sell for more. I’d say $150 is a fair price for a nice one, with a nord fiberglass sheath.

I’ll get pictures of my other USN knives tomorrow.

[Gunsil]

Kim, Ed's joshing you, PAL also made RH36, and MK2s and M3s. They go up in price along with the model number with mint blade dated M3 going well over a grand with proper sheath. For value, just look at them on ebay and go to "sold items" on the left toolbar and you will see what every one sold in thhe last 60 days actually sold for. As Ed says, the RH35 is the most common of the MK1s. I usually see at lest one at every gun and knife show I go to. I think you could get an unissued or like new one for $200 in the fiberglass sheath.

Ed, fine collection you have there!!

[eveled]

Thanks Gene. The PAL M3 is too rich for my blood. Plus my focus was always on USN knives.

I was actually talking about the USN MKIII. It was made by Ontario.

You can’t have a MKI & a MKII without a MKIII

[98src]

I think the knife is completely original including the sheath. I doubt anyone could rehandle that knife and make it look that good, The gray coating is just parkerizing and a little WD 40 and 4/0 will smooth it up.

[Gunsil]

I think the knife is completely original including the sheath. I doubt anyone could rehandle that knife and make it look that good, The gray coating is just parkerizing and a little WD 40 and 4/0 will smooth it up.

RH 35 only came in the plastic sheath. Steel wooling parkerized knives only decreases their value. Knife is what it is and eveled is an expert on MK1s.

[eveled]

You did better this time around, it’s definitely original. The handle looks good and tight. The colored washers aren’t cracked. A little worn from sharpening over the years, but that’s ok. Vinny must have liked that knife and kept it sharp. The sheath looks to be in great shape and is worth as much as the knife. I’m sure Vincent will love it.

[Dan In MI]

You did good with that one, methinks. Vincent oughta be really happy with it!

[1967redrider]

Thank you my friend for the assessment. I don't care about the wear from the sharpening, I personally think that makes it even better. I thought the sheath looked great too. Thank you so much for everything and everything that you have taught me so far. My Vincent does love it, so thanks a bunch <3

Kim, if you decide to venture into the Mark 1 field, make sure you do your research first.

https://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kn ... +1#p434892

There's a lot of reproductions and fakes out there.

[SwedgeHead]

Some fun trivia on the topic.
In the late 1930s PAL aquired the Remington Hunting knife factory.

The RH is for Remington Hunting
The 3 is for pattern 3
The 5,6 or 7 is the length of the blade.
So RH35 - Remington Hunting Pattern 3, 5 inch blade
RH36 - 6 inch blade
RH37 - 7inch
Then you get into the Mark I's and 2's and on...
(Mark II's have the sloted stack leather handles, where the earlier models, like yours have the standard smooth stacks)

I recently started collecting old Marble's knives as they are the grand daddy to all of these hunting patterns, so just had some trivia in my head to share here.

[SwedgeHead]

Oh yea, been thinking more about Marbles than Pals recently I guess, but probably 6 months ago I played with this one. My buddy broke it out one day saying it was his uncles, I said GIVE THAT TO ME RIGHT NOW MISTER - NOT ON MY WATCH ! He remembers beating on it as a kid/teen...and it showed that, so I took it for a few days, he was happy.

This was just a fast cleanup, keeping a lot of it's character and memories.
The pommel was upside down and missing the pin (actually not missing, it was in 3 pieces snapped in the center), the leather was rough and the blade, well you can see the blade.

Before:

After: (the sheath got reworked too, have to find those pics ...)

I've wanted one of my own to "fixr up" ever since, but I went further back in time with the early Marbles models.
Looks familiar right !

Marbles1.JPG (30.56 KiB) Viewed 1036 times

Your PAL
Swedge