For what it is worth, I think the sheath is pretty spot on dated to the knife. It looks like a vintage late-50s, very early 60s, Heiser "C model", contemporary with the knife.

At least some of the the Heisers for model 15s in the very early 60s apparently had only two throat and one toe rivets. But this sheath has 5 smaller rivets, the canteen snap, and the keeper strap is riveted, and the sheath is a split-back, as I understand it all hallmarks of the period. I believe these type sheaths were superceeded in the early-est 60s.

The existence of this spot-on period sheath could lead me to speculate - that the earliest 20-30 knives sent to NASA were actually delivered with sheaths (?) ... but sheaths were not included in the survival packages in the capsules.

Why? It would just seem the simpilest way to explain the knife-sheath conjunction. It's somewhat more difficult for me to picture Col. Salvo (a) given one of the first 20-30 knives, and then (b) immediately, on his own, going back to Randall to acquire a sheath, at a time that he was incredibly fully committed to NASA. But maybe he was a hunter, and maybe he was in Florida at the cape, and drove over.

The modification (?) of the handle (see pictures previous post, with possibly shaved handle edges near the guard), if that what it is, would cause me to wonder if maybe Lt. Col. Salvo was left handed.



Tom, you have a knowledgable and intuitive thought process... my first thought reading Lt. Col Salvo's resume was exactly in line with yours ... but I suspect more... maybe Station Chief (by the way, I may be able to confirm that...sources you know LOL). Re: your note above. When I got my Randall in 1967 to take with me to Vietnam, I was not aware of much in the way of Randall collecting. Everyone I knew with a Randall bought them to use. I suspect Lt. Col. Salvo did not regard his knife as a valuable artifact, but rather as a faithful tool. Regards.