Gerber MKII "knockoff"..?

[Shanghai McCoy]

So I'm killing some time after work at a Topeka antique mall and I notice some knives in one of the cases. On the bottom shelf I spot the tell tale wasp shape of a Gerber . I bend down for a closer look and the handle looks a bit wrong so, reading glasses on, I see that the blade is marked Parker,Tn., with some other stuff that I couldn't quite make out.
No sheath and a price tag of 65$ marked down from 75$.
Anyone here ever see one of these?

 

[rcmodel]

BIG SMOKEY SURVIVAL/COMBAT KNIFE from Parker.

Cheap import Gerber rip-off.

Hope you didn't buy it!

http://militarycarryknives.com/CopiesClones.htm

rc

 

[Sam Cade]

It is one of the many adventurers of James Parker d.2004, former owner of Case.

 

[Piraticalbob]

Sounds like a knife imported by Parker Cutlery, one of the brands associated with James F. Parker. They were budget versions of popular brands, similar to today's Frost Cutlery.

 

[hso]

All responses spot on.
http://militarycarryknives.com/CopiesClones.htm

 

[jaysouth]

If it was the real deal, it would be serially numbered. I bought one in 1967, which was stolen from my gear when I was wounded near LZ Sharon in Quang Tri Provence. A month or so later, I bought another from Gerber. The serial number was 1330. I think I paid around $30.00. A couple of years ago, a collector beat me out of it for $2,000.

 

[rcmodel]

Heres the 'real deal' from my collection.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=685500&highlight=Gerber

And yes, every one ever made has a serial number on the blade.


rc

 

[bannockburn]

One of the first knives I bought was a Gerber Mk.I after I saw an ad for it in Soldier of Fortune magazine back in the late '70s. Next on my must have list was a Mk.II, which at the time had a gray handle and brown leather sheath. I gave it to a friend of mine as a Christmas present but unfortunately his dog got a hold of it and made short work of the sheath and knife handle. I eventually replaced it with a new one which then came with a black leather sheath. The Guardian I bought when they were first introduced, having the good fortune to be at knife shop just as they hit the shelves. I also picked up the optional harness/sheath system for it so you carry it other than as a clip-on boot knife.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Nope, I didn't buy it. I figured it to be something like what all the responses here have been. Just had not seen or heard of one before.
I do own a MKI and, till I lost it one night in southern Chile, had a Guardian.
Never had a MKII though.

 

[kBob]

A buddy had one that he bought while at West Point in 73. Upon his death I got his knives. It seemed odd that the Gerber and a Cold Steel Tanto where the only things missing when the family brought his knives over. His had the grey cats tounge grip, leaf shaped blade and small teeth and the slight curve or bend.

It was hard as a rock, but once you got it sharp, it stayed sharp a while.....

He was one of those guys that tried every sharpening system that came out and still could not put a decent edge on anything. He would get agrivated when I would reshape and edge with a file and then sharpen the edge on a stone or two. I just ran across his old Buck Hone Master and DMT Diamond Sharpening System this morning looking for a stone to dress up a kitchen knife I was using to "processing" wood pears with for a couple of hours last night. This better be a good batch of pear sauce and pie filling given the work so far......

I was always a bit concerned with the stub tang on those Goobers. But then I have one of the later M4 type bladed ones myself and an old Taylors Tanto that are the same and have yet to break either as I neither use them for pry bars nor drop them on concrete.

-kBob

 

[amd6547]

I have a Guardian just like the one pictured, bought when they first came out. I also got the harness sheeth, but I never liked it much. I did carry the belt clipped guardian quite a bit.
My other purchase back then was the Mk1 survival version, the one with a serrated false edge.
Still have both.