REGRIND GERBER MK1 SERIAL

He was observing a military parachute drop at McMinnville, Oregon and approached me on the drop zone and asked if I would like to test the knife.

In 1967, I was a young Special Forces Officer and was given the knife to test by a Gerber Salesperson. 001043 and that number is read with the blade pointing down.

REGRIND GERBER MK1 SERIAL

I have a early Gerber Mark II, Serial No. I received the following information via email:

Tests were done with actual production knives under field conditions. It identifies Bud as a Gerber Company Representative authorized to do business on behalf of the Gerber Company. The picture at left is a copy of a notarized letter from Gerber to the Commanding General of the USMC base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The goal of course was to obtain a government contract to have the knife become standard issue. When first starting to market the Mark II, Bud would travel across the country to visit all the major military forts, Benning, Bragg, Lewis etc. This version was given a favorable rating. In August 1966 a second prototype was sent to Fort Lewis. Sometimes it was a leather sample for the scabbard or a piece of metal sprayed with the cat's tongue material that eventually was used on the hilt. His son Mark, who was about 10 years old at the time, can remember him bringing home materials they were testing or deciding to use in prototypes. He worked for Gerber during design and for about a year after the knife actually hit the market. The assessment resulted in several additional suggestions and the changes were incorporated into the design.Д«ud was very involved with the knife from the original design he brought to Gerber to the actual finished products. In July 1966 a prototype was made and sent to Fort Lewis for evaluation. The square spine was eliminated and a one piece handle was suggested.ДЄn undated intermediate design without any nomenclature is shown here. The design was submitted to an industrial design firm which made a number of changes. The cant helped to keep the blade level for better penetration in a lunging move. The offset would allow the blade to be carried in the boot, on the hip or in the small of back without snagging and aid in concealment.ДЄlso, the cant of the blade offset the natural wrist's tendency to raise the blade.

The pommel was drilled for a wrist thong.Д«ut its unique feature was the canted blade with a 5-degree offset. The handle was to be checkered or ringed with concentric circles. The blade had a wasp-waist shape and a square ridge ran down the center on both sides for added strength. The second picture is a copy of the initial design, which shows a guard, grip and pommel very similar to a Fairbairn-Sykes knife.Д«ut unlike the F-S blade which tapered to a point, it instead had a wide double edged blade.

The left picture is a copy of a letter sent by Pete Gerber returning the original design document to Bud. Gerber Jr., President of Gerber Legendary Blades, on and submitted his design. But almost 20 years after his discharge, Bud began working on an idea to create a military knife, suited for 'hand to hand' combat, for our nation's soldiers serving in Vietnam.Д«ud Holzmann met with Joseph R. Holzmann pursued a career in automotive sales. Holzmann was awarded the Bronze Star, our nation's fourth-highest individual military decoration.ДЄfter the war, the retired officer returned to a peaceful life in Portland Oregon, where he and his wife Paula raised their family of three children while Mr. For his gallantry under enemy fire, Capt. The division was renowned for action during the Normandy landings and in the Battle of the Bulge. 'Bud' Holzmann served with the famed 101st Airborne Division in the European Theater. Back to the Mark II Main Page GERBER MARK IIв„ў HISTORY

Regrind gerber mk1