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Old 11-27-2014, 12:16 PM
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Jacknola Jacknola is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 651
Instead of starting a new line just to show another vintage Model 14 I recently acquired, I thought I would just append it to this one. I'll ask Moosehead to change the title to "Vintage Model 14s." I would suggest we use this line to post only old model 14 knives..you be the judge of "old."

I bought this one on line recently. Pictures were bad and it was something of a gamble. However, when the knife arrived, I was very pleasantly surprised. The sheath is a split-back that has been dyed black, but the knife has apparently never been sharpened. The whole package appears unused despite some dings in the front of the sheath. Even the leather ties look original. Supposedly it was found in a trunk in an estate sale package (how often have we heard that).















There is a number crudely placed on the guard. It is most likely a service number, 16418065. This would be a regular army (RA prefix) from mid-Korea time issued to a soldier from Illinois, Wisconsin or Michigan. I have not yet been able to find who this soldier was.

I would guess this is mid '60s because of the filled handle screw hole and the sheath and the type 1 stamp on the blade (pre-early 1966). The two outliers are the yellow-paint stone and the color of the Micarta. It doesn't show the brownish tinge that some other early "black" Micarta handles exhibited.

I've wondered... why were split-back sheaths made, and who started them? I suspect Moore made the first split back, Heiser copied them, then Johnson until he realized that it took a lot more effort to make split-backs. I also suspect the split-back was invented because of a shortage in material, leather, or because by using several small pieces rather than a long piece, you were able to use more of the leather sheet. Whatever.

Last edited by Jacknola; 07-28-2017 at 11:27 AM.
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