[Jacknola]

This is probably legit kit knife but a couple of thoughts are in order.

Randall began putting designators for kit knives on the blades in the late '60s, first a "k" then the word "kit." This dating is according to popular lore (I have not done the research to check this, so....). This particular blade has a post early-'66 stamp so it would have to have been forged between early '66 and .. say ... 1968 when the kit knives were so indicated on the blade.

Notice the apparently uneven brass-back application. According to Gaddis, there was only one guy who could evenly and meticulously apply the brass to the hollow grove on top of the blade without fuse-melting the metals or leaving bubbles, or melting and cracking the blade. This "Mr. White" did the work for 20 years or so. He apparently disappeared about 1975 and the shop subsequently dropped the brassback option a few yers later because they could find no one else who could do the work consistently without damaging the blades.

I suspect the application on this blade was not done by "Mr. White." It could have been applied by another welder who inadvertently melted or partially fused the metals. Because of the lack of the "kit" designator though, it would have been done while the expert, "Mr. White," was still around. Perhaps he was on vacation when the brass was applied to this knife, or perhaps he had a bad day...