All About Pocket Knives

Recently acquired this Kabar from a widow and wondering about it as im not familiar with these knives .Seems like jigged antler or bone. Any information on Model specs value would be appreciated. Thanks

Nice find, should make a good user but not much collector value. Hard to judge from your pictures and without it in-hand but it could be bone or Delrin. Must be a fairly coming pattern - lots of them on eBay. Here’s a link to sold listings. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ka ... &LH_Sold=1

Ken

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2026 2:02 am Nice find, should make a good user but not much collector value. Hard to judge from your pictures and without it in-hand but it could be bone or Delrin. Must be a fairly coming pattern - lots of them on eBay. Here’s a link to sold listings. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ka ... &LH_Sold=1

Ken

Yes ,I seen some of those on ebay but my blade doesn't say 1052 on it.So I wasn't sure if it was a special variation early example or replaced blade. I got it in a grandfather clock,so it was an extra.

CountryBoy77 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2026 2:51 am

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2026 2:02 am Nice find, should make a good user but not much collector value. Hard to judge from your pictures and without it in-hand but it could be bone or Delrin. Must be a fairly coming pattern - lots of them on eBay. Here’s a link to sold listings. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ka ... &LH_Sold=1

Ken

Yes ,I seen some of those on ebay but my blade doesn't say 1052 on it.So I wasn't sure if it was a special variation early example or replaced blade. I got it in a grandfather clock,so it was an extra.

Model numbers didn't appear on Kabar knives until 1969. So any knife made by Kabar from 1953 (when the company changed names from Union to Kabar) to 1969 did not have a model number on it. This dating was determined by NIB Kabars that had paperwork in the boxes with 1969 printing dates on the paperwork. One such knife with 1969 paperwork had a model number on it and another one didn't.

Most Union Cutlery knives did not have model numbers, either. A few pre-WW2 Union fixed blades had model numbers, but not even many of them.

Okay, you have the knife in-hand. I thought it looks like it’s stamped 1052 in your picture. The knife looks like the 1052s on eBay. If it doesn’t say 1052, what does the stamp say? To find value do a search of eBay sold listings using whatever it says.

Ken

Definitely Delrin - contact knife made by Camillus - note the lack of handle pins.

The only natural handle materials I've ever seen on a script stamped Kabar with a pattern number are stag or mother of pearl. Never seen one with bone.

btrwtr wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2026 3:20 pm The only natural handle materials I've ever seen on a script stamped Kabar with a pattern number are stag or mother of pearl. Never seen one with bone.

Yes, it seems that Kabar after WWII used very little bone and switched to jigged black synthetic, then Delrin. Most other knife companies continued to use bone in the 1950's; alternating with other synthetics and then eventually switching to Delrin.

That said, I can think of maybe two or three examples of the script stamped Kabar pocket knives that I have seen or owned with bone handles. These were all the earlier script stamps (without the pattern number as part of the tang stamp).

Mumbleypeg wrote: ↑Wed Apr 08, 2026 3:22 am Okay, you have the knife in-hand. I thought it looks like it’s stamped 1052 in your picture. The knife looks like the 1052s on eBay. If it doesn’t say 1052, what does the stamp say? To find value do a search of eBay sold listings using whatever it says.

Ken

Good eyes ,I thought it said USA,not a model.Thanks again with the identification.