Beg to differ Joe.

The stitching on the butterfly does indeed look Johnson-esque. But all the other key features say HKL. No Johnson brown button I've seen has a stamp that faces in that direction, or was made with a center keeper snap, etc. Except for one outlier, Johnson brown buttons I've found had no model numbers, only the Randall stamp facing east.

Plus the age of the knife would have to call the Johnson era into question would it not? Trying to make that knife fit the 1963 time period would cheat the knife of some of its early life, or require a "magic Randall" type story of re-sheathing, or old blade laying around for a couple of years before sheathing and shipping.

Actually, the back is exactly like I thought it would be. Not saying your other points are not valid or a consideration, it's just that the major cosmetics and construction characteristics are dead ringers for HKL. This is backed by a very large data base that is available in detail in this line. Gary Clinton alone said he looked at over 50 of his knives and all but one fit the thesis.

Indeed it is the whole point of this line. To accept your list of characteristics and ignore the other major ones would defeat the whole discovery of the differences. It would throw the whole HKL/Johnson grand unification back into chaos. Sorry... no go. You have not made a case for the characteristics you listed ... including pictures etc. It is simply a statement of a set of assumptions without any backup. Those assumptions are from the old world of abrakadabra...and the belief that all raw leather sheets comes in the same color, thickness, and other characteristics.

Here are the poster children for a proto-typical HKL (on left) and an example of the fairly rare Johnson brown button on right. You should recognize these LOL... they are yours!



There is an interesting point about the stitching of the early Johnson sheaths that could be entertaining here. But first things first. No, that isn't a Johnson brown button sheath in my opinion. Regards