Ok. You never said what made you think it was not a Johnson.

I am of the opinion without a doubt it is a Johnson. No other sheath maker used the baby dot snaps as they were introduced by Johnson and he had become the sole maker for RMK. Any "one off" sheath makers were gone by this time as far as I can tell.

Baby dot snaps were and are available at any leather goods supplier. The sheath to me just doesn't look like the quality work that Maurice Johnson was recognised for. If this is his, he made it left handed and with one closed.

Take a look at the original picture of this sheath (front side) and the back of the first two sheaths on pg. 3 (I believe) -near exact, save for the chrome snaps. No doubt, it's a very early MJ/RMK sheath.

I believe you're right rig but this one looks way funkier.

Ronnie -

MJ introduced baby dot snaps. RMK had no need for "sample" sheaths from anyone else beyond his involvement with the shop.

I am confused to what this sheath lacks in "quality" relative a typical MJ baby dot. Trying to figure this out, exactly when did the lack of "quality" first catch your eye? When I posted the front of the sheath over two weeks ago or just a few hours ago when I posted the back?

I can't tell you when I first looked at this sheath.....week ago? A day ago? A month ago? Doesn't make any difference. C'mon Joe stop playing! Of course you see the difference between this sheath and one made in the late 60's......

Taking another look at that sheath heck it could be a Johnny Johnson sheath......made a day or two before he died. His quality went down in the months before he died! All I'm saying is......it's a funky.....cheap looking sheath. Imo.

I was just trying to figure out what you saw.

Initially the point of this sheath was the claim that only Heiser/HKL used the "west facing" RMK stamp and center snap location. Using that "logic", every BB sheath from the latter part of the period was a Heiser/HKL. That has proven to be false. This sheath has baby dot snaps known to have been introduced by Johnson and never used by Hesier, yet it has the "west facing" stamp and the center snap location! Stop the presses!

Ronnie...you raise a very good and valid point in the discussion, i.e.; "heck it could be" an alien made it. The point being, we really can't "know" anything more than we do. Suppliers change, methods change, time itself changes.

This is why, I personally believe, it's dangerous to open this can of worms with new, undocumented "research." It's much simpler to apply the Razor and say Heiser stamped is Heiser, RMK is MJ. Certainly a seasoned collector of these knives has noticed the different orientation of the stamp (C and A sheaths, both), the evolution from center-to-edge keeper strap, etc. However, without much else to go on (and no real value), it was just false economy to pursue a definitive answer. Could all be no more than a necessary evolution and maturing into the field.

Perhaps the above is why Gaddis, Hunt, Hamilton, Silvy and especially Bo & Gary Randall have placed little to no weight on this subject. Perhaps there is no more to it!

I believe, while an interesting exercise, this conversation serves no value to the seasoned or novice collector but instead introduces much undue confusion. We do this for enjoyment, as part of an affinity group, as such, this "new research" does us all a disservice.

As a long time (and educated) collector of RMK -these are my feelings on this matter.

P.S. -IIRC, the last of the sheaths JJ made, on this planet, were smooth-back.

Ronnie & anyone else interested,
Maurice Johnson & Johnny Johnson worked together at their shop in Casselberry, Fl..."BUT" (There's that word again) only for a few years. When Johnny came on board they leased a second sewing machine. That machine was the one that Johnny used. The stitch count was les, per onch, i.e. a "wider" stitch. It also (to me anyway) was more angled than Maurice Johnson's machine.
Below are 3 examples (out of my stash) of:
A) Maurice Johnson's machine
B) Johnny Johnson machine
C) Sullivans machine
I only have limited time right now to search my stash, but I think you folks will easily see the differences. Hope this helps.
Best, Capt. Chris
PS: The sheath in question, in Joe's post, is a Maurice Johnson...CCS