The first came from my father. As a child, I watched him use this knife to clean hundreds (perhaps thousands) of fish that he had caught. Most of them were bullheads - the lake version of a catfish. Over the decades, I forgot about the knife (though not the bullheads - I still don't like fish because of all bullheads I had to eat as a child) until recently when it turned up in a batch of tools Dad was giving away to clean out his basement. When I saw it, I asked if it was the one he used to clean fish with, and it was. So I asked if I could have it.
I brought it home and did some research to find out what it was. Turns out it's a WWII era Marble's Ideal, the "original" hunting knife, designed by Webster Marble over 100 years ago. They made it in several sizes and forms for over 75 years and then stopped until bringing it back in 2007. It goes for around $100 these days. One hundred years ago, it sold for $1.25. I'm guessing the WWII era versions sold for $10 or so.
Here's my Dad's Ideal.
Here's what a well preserved, WWII Ideal looks like.
Here's what a new one looks like.
The standard Ideal has always had an aluminum pommel but during WWII, aluminum was a critical, strategic metal so only goverment contractors could get any. Because of this, the WWII Ideals have a composite, plastic pommel. I've seen one Ideal on sale where the seller claimed the pommel was cocobolo wood. I don't think so.
My Ideal has a 5" blade and the plastic pommel typical of the WWII knives. The stacked leather "washers" that make up the handle have dried and shrunk so the finger guard is loose and the leather sheath is dried and brittle. But it's a cool knife with an interesting pedigree.
Marble's knives have been made in Gladstone, MI since the beginning.
The second knife came to me from an old friend of some forty years who used it in his tool shop. When I brought it home and researched it, it turned out to have a similar history. It's a Pal RH-36 from WWII. One of many versions of the knife issued to thousands of our military men. From the little bit of history I've found, Pal was one of the better contractors making these knives. This one has a 6 1/8" blade, brass fingerguard, stacked leather-washer handle and an aluminum pommel fastened with a steel pin. It has a doubled-stitched, leather sheath that is severely dried and brittle.
Like my Dad's Ideal, the Pal is corroded and the sheath is falling apart.
Here are a couple of Pals in about the same condition. You can see that the first one was used and sharpened a lot.
The best I can determine, the RH-36 was the least common of the military issue knives, and the double-stitched sheath was also uncommon. I don't know if mine was made during or after the war, though the aluminum pommel does indicate it was military issue if during the war.
The third knife is the most unusual. It's a Gurkha Kukri that my friend brought back from India after WWII. It has a 12" blade and 5" handle so it's a big knife, a bit of a monster. The sheath is wood, covered with some kind of leather which has dried to brittle like all 60 yr old leather that has had no care.
There is no maker's mark, only the words "Tempered Steel - Made in India" which could mean anything or nothing.
It could be a product of one of the commercial factories that made kukris for the Indian military or it could be just a cheap, tourist trade item, though I don't think so as it appears to be reasonably well made. The handle is nicely fit to the full, tapered tang and the brass butt-plate is held solidly by what appear to be hammered and filed ends of the tang. In 60 years, the wood has not dried and shrunk away from the tang or pommel.
I'd bet this kukri was made by the same methods as this manufacturer today.
Khukuri House
If I ever were to buy a top quality kukri, I'd get one like this - by Jay Fisher, one of the best knife makers on the planet.
All three knives need new sheaths and the blades need polishing and sharpening. I will probably add the Ideal to my paddling/camping gear as it's the smallest and lightest, and the others will become display items.
Knife sharpening guidlines
Sharpening Jigs and their issues
Sharpening Jigs - a picky detail