This is good stuff guys but Ron I do disagree with you on the hard to distinguish a Heiser from a Johnson. Without flipping them over I think I can pick the Heiser all the time.
Thanks.

Ronnie,

One of these 3-6's is an unmarked Heiser. The other is a Johnson. Can you identify any distinguishing characteristics?






This is why I'm confident the unmarked sheath is a Heiser:




Best,

Dang, Ron, that's a sexy knife. Look at the lines on that beauty.

Thanks, Tom. It's one of my favorites. I call it a "wasp neck"!

Ron I knew this was probably coming, but as usual when I write something I almost always leave something out. So let me clarify what I'm talking about. First and foremost I 'm talking about Mod. C sheaths. I believe I can tell a Heiser from a Johnson. As for all other sheaths I really don't know as I don't pay them that much attention. So to answer your question above, the distinguishing characteristic that I see is, the unmarked sheath looks like something I would make and not anything like what Heiser would make. I dunno. Could be like the automobile manufacturing business and that sheath was made on a Monday. Really a funky sheath and I just don't think it was made by Heiser, but since it isn't a mod. C and does not have the distinguishing point I'm talking about I simply cannot answer positively your question.

Ronnie,

I qualified my earlier statement by throwing in the word "many" (It is difficult in many cases to tell a Heiser from a Johnson without the benefit of a stamp). I kinda figured you were talking about a Model C sheath and just for grins I threw that 3-6 question at you. I agree: Those Heiser sheaths had to have been made on a Monday, but they're still Heisers. It's interesting to see the variation in the style and quality of Heiser sheaths over the several decades that Bo used them. IMO the finest quality sheaths that came out of Heiser were circa '54.

Best,

You and your trick questions Ron....legit questions are hard enough for me!

This knife has been relisted

Shhh!

Item is relisted as "NASA ISSUE'' knife.

Seller now states, "my reading & input I have received from Randall collectors tells me that the blade is a Solingen blade and that this knife is one of twenty that Randall supplied to NASA in the early 1960s for the Mercury Program [!!]"

I don't know where he was reading, but if it was here he has misinterpreted what he read, because it has been stated clearly that this is probably not one of the original 20 knives sent to NASA for survival training in Arizona. If it is not Rhodium plated (which it doesn't appear to be from the close up photo of the etching) then it is most likely not one of the 20 NASA "survival" knives.

Edited to add:

Without examining the knife in hand, it is difficult to be 100% either way.