Buck: No worries, I'm not concerned. There's nothing to "torpedo" here. The knives are what they are and they're legit, with 1 owner previous to me and that being a long time repected maker/collector who was personal friends with Bo and Gary Randall. Bo Randall took delivery of knives made by Earl Witsaman and put them directly into the Randall museum collection. They were long time friends. As a little time goes by, the etch is concerning me less and less. A stainless seven spacer Sportsman's bowie is a very rare bird. My main question regarding the etch was if it signified that this one was the very first with stainless. Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. Would be nice to know if it was the first, but doesn't matter greatly, the knife is still one of only a few. As far as the etch itself, keep in mind that my picture is an extreme closeup. In person, it looks professionally etched, not scratched in and after seeing Rex's, I don't doubt that mine was shop done. Dave thinks it was and I trust his opinion. Anyone who knows Dave, knows that he's not prone to reckless speculation. The history of the knives is not in question, it's documented and solid. The etch is there on both and there's no reason to think that it was not done at Randall when the knives were made. At any rate, it's secondary to what the knives obviously are and to the well documented history of ownership. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your interest in these and it's definitely fun to have a pair that is rare enough to spark discussion. Thx,

Pete