Rare early WW2 “red spacer” PAL Cutlery USN US Navy MK2 fighting knife, orig GI-initialed U.S.N. leather scabbard; excellent

WW2 PAL MK2 fighting knife, rare USN “red spacer” type, original early WW-II issue all-leather U.S.N scabbard. Scarce Mark 2 type excellent overall condition, considering the age.

Original WW2 era famous US Navy Mark 2 “Ka-Bar” fighting knife (the link is a courtesy of Wikipedia) manufactured early in the war by PAL Cutlery. This is the scarce and desirable early-production “red spacer” type Mark 2 with the scarce US NAVY designated blade. MK2 is a classic American WW2 era fighting knife; this type was used in combat by the US Army and the Navy men alike in all theaters of the War.

The knife is marked RH-37 on ricasso – not the type to miss a good business opportunity, PAL Cutlery had purchased the cutlery division of Remington Arms in 1940. After PAL moved the old Remington equipment and knife stock to Holyoke, MA, they began manufacturing knives for the US military using the left-over stock parts with the Remington emblem (RH stands for Remington Hunter). This MK2 is the hard-to-find first-issue “red spacer” type – only the very early production MK2s came with leather scabbards and red fiber spacers handles. Fancy colored fiber spacers were quickly done away with to simplify the wartime production and reduce costs. Also, early leather scabbards were too fragile in the field – the leather would simply rot away after contact with seawater. Moving forward, the US armed forces procurement had quickly replaced the leather with the more durable composite composition scabbards. This specimen is in great overall condition, considering the age. An early US Navy designated Mark 2 “red spacer” with original and correct all-leather sheath is VERY hard to find nowadays.

This MK2 is about 12-1/4″ / 31 cm overall; the blade is about 7″ / 17.8 cm long. The knife is only slightly used; the edge has been lightly re-sharpened; it is razor-sharp still; the tip is intact. Ricasso is stamped PAL / RH-37 / MADE IN USA on one side and U.S. NAVY on the other. Stacked leather washers handle with red and black fiber spacers on both ends. An early double-thickness threaded round hammer-like steel pommel and slightly curved handguard. The handle is tight; all parts are solid with no play; no typical ding marks on the pommel or nicks on the spine of the blade – rare as such.

Original all-leather scabbard is in excellent condition, considering the typical wear and tear in the field. All original rivets and stitching are intact; the leather is soft and supple still. Original keeper is in very good shape as well, but the very of the leather tip on one side is missing – see photos. The throat is GI-initialed WJP in small letters; the back is stamped with GI’s ID number 802 7377. Despite the minor issue with the keeper, this scabbard is in excellent overall condition. During the war most of MK2s were used in the field as intended; these early “red spacer” MK2s are VERY hard to find – a rare find and a great addition to any collection.

This attractive ” red spacer” type US Navy WW2 PAL MK2 fighting knife has not been cleaned or tampered with in any way, it is in 100% original “as is” condition. These are the actual photos; Garand clips are not included with the lot 😉 I have a few more American WW2 era combat knives and bayonets, as well as several scarce WW1 and WW2 fighting daggers and trench knives from other countries available for sale – please take a look in our Militaria section.