2) Sometime in 2011 the knives eliminated the Slant 3 logo and are marked with "GERBER" over "USA" on one ricasso and have a production code 11AGM over a 5 digit serial number on the reverse ricasso. The sale description said in part: "For sale, a prototype Gerber MK II knife. There are three narrow spacers between the guard and handle. First, the sword axis is vertical and in line with the knife blade's long axis rather than being slanted and the sword has a more stylized look.
Although it is fairly rare to find a blade without the Gerber Logo, this knife is only a "Lunch Box Special". (See 2008 Production Code for more information on the production code).
It is unknown how many matching sets were sold. A common effect of a partial breakdown results in missing leading zeros. The GA3 knives have the "wide wasp-waist" blade profile. (See CAT'S TONGUE for more info. However, a lot of military personnel bought knives at the Army or Navy PX's (Post Exchange) and some had them engraved after purchase.
The "Cat's Tongue" handles on these knives have a brighter appearance in contrast with the usually darker gray handles of the original knives. There is black script lettering electro-etched on the blade on the logo side that reads "Mark II™ / 35th.
The spacer colors are red-white-red. They have a two part handle consisting of a solid brass guard and a Zebrawood handle with a brass lined thong hole. The Black handles had an electrostatic dry-powder coated, baked on finish. Discussion in 'General Knife Discussion' started by tomservo, Jul 31, 2004. The BA7 knives are only found on early 1996 Cutlery Shoppe knives in the approximate serial range of CS1579 - CS1610. Finally almost all of these knives have the black handle which was introduced in late 1977. In August 1966 a second prototype was sent to Fort Lewis. NOTE: In mid January 2008, an identical type knife with serial E5601S sold on ebay. In a time of turmoil and war, this knife was born of unparalleled attention to the survival and combat needs it was designed to serve. 06993. A very nice design. The handle length is 5-1/4 inches with 6-1/2 to 7-inch long blades with the narrow wasp profile. (See Blade Cant for more info.). I was told that there were problems maintaining a constant blade thickness with the forging method. The CT2S knives are found on 1968 knives supposedly in the serial range of 008001 - 008050. A second was that "the cant was designed to slip under the ribcage and up into the heart". 5740". They are standard production knives with serial numbers, the only difference being the bright orange colored handle. The photographs will show all that. The lettering was done with the normal factory acid etching used at that time.
In operation since 1998, BladeForums.com has led the industry since Day 1. I know of a collector that has 29 of the ivory handled knives. The OA2 knives are very similar to the GA1 knives, with narrow wasp blades and no serrations. SFOD B-56 Project Sigma was formed in August 1966 and located at camp Ho Ngoc Tao near Tu Duc, along highway 1 between Saigon and Long Binh. Vietnam War protests in 1970 caused Gerber to rethink its promotion of the Mark II as strictly a "Combat Knife" and instead market the Mark II as a "Survival Knife".