Hartley: Depending on the condition of that knife, it's absolutely worth that much money. It's a treasure. How about some pics? :D

MK-IIs of that vintage were going for half that about five years ago.

Is yours serrated? It's right on the edge of when they started offering that as an option in 1971. Prior to that, they were all plain edged, narrow wasp blades.

If you sight down the edge, you may notice that the blade is canted five degrees, towards the serial number side. If you got it in 1971, it's possible that it's one of those earlier pieces.

These knives were introduced in 1967.

Gary Armorhide was made until 1977.

They were all made of L6 until 1979.

Forged until 1972, hand ground after that until 1979.

There was also a variant called the Command that had a sharpened swedge with serrations instead of being fully double edged. Those aren't nearly as common as the MK-II.

Details
 

Hello DJ et al,

Mine is not a canted model, has the normal double-edge and it has the "fine" serrations (14/inch, I think). The only thing I can't jibe with the records I've seen is the color of the sheath - all the sources say it should be "brown", and I've seen a number of pictures with fairly light brown sheaths - but mine is quite dark - not quite black, but almost. The only thing I can think of is that I may have rubbed a load of Sno-seal into it, which would certainly darken it - at least it sure darkened my hiking & ski boots.:)
Mine never went to SE Asia (I didn't either) but the L6 steel definitely does stain - I cleaned it with a "green pad" a few times and that helped, tho there are still some light stains on it. That steel definitely takes and holds an edge, though - if I remember right, it took many, many hours to get it up to "shaving sharp" - but it kept that edge for a looong time between sharpenings.

I really should build up a "light box" for taking pictures of things - one of those projects that needs to get started.. I've always admired folks who can take pictures of things like guns and knives and had them look really good. My pictures always have that "deer in the headlights" look to 'em. Sunsets, sunrises and sailboats I can do, but stuff, not so much..:(

Hartley

My sheath started out light tannish brown and is now really very dark brown. It had oil and sno seal and who knows what I might have rubbed on it on the outside, and LSA on the inside from the blade plus a lot water. You can see the tip of the blade poking out and the black tap around the top holding the sheath together.

The pictures were taken several years ago before I understood the effects of background color on objects.

The lanyard is a real genuine jungle boot lace marinated in rice paddy mud. :D

Wow!
 

Buffalo Bob,

I merely THOUGHT my knife & sheath were high-mileage -- I can see mine is practically new compared to yours..;)

I bet they're still sharp, tho.

Hartley

Gerber MK II
 

I bought a MK II mail order from Gerber in 1968 while in VN. This model had the 5 degree canted blade. It's serial number was 1330.

Last year I sold it to a collector for $2,000. The proceeds were promptly spend on a new Les Baer Super Tac 1911.

It was in average condition considering it's age.

The Randall #14 that I carried while out in the bush is still in the safe and will be buried with me.

After Fiskar took over Gerber, the execution and materials for the knives went down the drain. They still have many classic designs and ideas, just poorly implemented. I can see how "pre-fiskar" Gerber knives become more valuable due to their better construction and slowly-its rareness.

Gerber..
 

I'll agree with that 1000% - after having that MK II and seeing how well it stayed sharp, I bought a nice little folding knife by Gerber.. nicely sized, rubber-covered which felt nice - and a blade that was softer than the peanut butter they use for "Swiss Army knives" I gave it the heave-ho and I've never considered buying Gerber again.

Hartley