Wish they still made those. Very nice.

Anybody have a guess to which of the five is the earliest example? And why? Excludes Capt., Perry, Tune, et al.

The one in the middle...bone handle? The grind just looks a little simple to me. Sort of like it was a test piece. Just my thoughts and the scientific "SWAG" method!

Hmmm,
Could it be the bottom one ... the only one without a tapered tang?
(Of course that could mean it's the newest)

The one with smooth grip or the finger grooved one not sure which one. They where made before Griffin handled ones,Walt

Tony -

if you look closely, the tang in the one you mention is tapered, just not as much as the others. You can see it at the butt.




Walt -

Good job, you have it narrowed it down. Not sure how you came to that conclusion since it is a Griffin Drop Point Hunter, so one would think it had a Griffin style handle. So what came first, the chicken or the egg?

So if it is one of the two, what would make one earlier than the other? Hint, the Griffin Handle is the result of the earlier knife.

Smooth handle,Walt

Yep, on closer examination, you're right Joe!

I'd now guess the smooth handled knife.

Appreciate all the photos from the blade show....nice to put faces with the names.

Joe, the smooth handle was probably used first to reduce handle weight. The shop tryed the 14 style finger grips,but it was more time consuming. they tapered the tag for weight reduction and went to the Griffin handle for a better size and grip. Just an observation on my part, Walt RKS#5924