I wonder what the true market value of this knife is? On E-bay the winning bid amount is actually an incremental reflection of the 2nd highest bid, not what the winner was willing to pay.

It might be worthwhile to continue research related to this knife. There seems to me to be things that could use further inquiry, and definitely some additional or better documentation.

To believe that handling lots of RMK knives allows one to judge the history and dates of the early space program (and equipment), or on the odyssey and history of Lt. Col. Salvo, is to confuse cart and horse.

The real questions are about the Mercury and Apollo space programs. And uniquely, the knife itself is also an artifact that connects the space program to the military transition into the Viet War period. Thus there are questions that can be only be answered by reviewing the personal history of Lt. Col. Salvo.

This artifact's history may be able to be precisely traced. Research into those two areas will tell us the truth about the knife, not vise-versa.