Everything below is probably pretty irrelevant to all except the most unhealthily obsesses stitch counters (or serial # counters in this case). But anyways...
As I continued my search for a proper Gerber Mk2, I thought it might be fun/useful to play the game "Which Gerber was REALLY Hudson's!?" I wanted to find
'THE one' "(exact model/version/run). I had fun with it and figured I would share the data.
The website, and specifically the serial # chart, provided by Mr. Demoncase have a HUGE amount of information and this was my process when narrowing the exact blade(s) down.
The charthttp://militarycarryknives.com/DateTable.htmThe Screen CapsAttachment:
aliens_gerber_cap_01.jpg [ 166.5 KiB | Viewed 27581 times ]
Attachment:
aliens_gerber_cap_02.jpg [ 134.29 KiB | Viewed 27581 times ]
The facts-With the movie being released in 1986, its obviously impossible for any knife made 1987+ to be "the one". It is therefore safe to remove any 1987+ blades from the chart.
-The cap clearly shows a "wasped" contour of the blade (as opposed to uniform "straight" edge throughout length of the blade). By eliminating the "straight" blades from the chart, we effectively eliminate 1980-1986.
-I count 15 'teeth' on the serrated portion of the blade in the screen cap. With a 2" serrated portion, clearly it is of the 8tpi variety. The website teaches us earlier versions of the knife had zero serrations, 12tpi, or 14tpi up until the middle 1976. The fact we see 8 teeth per inch is proof we can eliminate ALL candidates from 1975 and earlier.
-The chart shows us the 1976 blades were split with "fine" serrations and 8tpi "course" serrations. So half of 1976 is eliminated. As for the other half, the chart shows they came with Red and Green leather sheaths. More on sheaths below in 'notes', but with so much stacked against it, the likelihood of 1976 knife are not real good*.
-The blade in the scene is clearly not "canted" (bent at an angle) so you can eliminate all the factory knives that were (but by now those blades have been eliminated anyways by other facts)
Random notes-RE: Sheaths. While it is possible someone changed sheaths on the knife, it is not super relevant. The sheath issue is more of a "double elimination" fact. The blade features are pretty telling on their own, but if we do consider Hudson had the black, pointed end, 'wasped' contour leather sheath, we can probably safely eliminate all knives that came with "cordora", "brown leather", 'flat tip' black, 'straight' (no countour) black and no-sheath-at-all knives. (This eliminates many of the "special edition" knives not already removed from contention due to age and doubly eliminates the vast majority of 80s knives). But while the sheath tells us little that the blade doesn't already say, it is absolutely worth noting if you are shopping because they are instantly recognizable!
-RE: Blade color. The "blued" blade doesnt actually tell us anything. Bluing these blades was common and earlier knives even came with a "field bluing" kit (according the site). It could even be aftermarket. No info there at all. The key takeaway is the blade is NOT black. But again, we already knew that. "Black" blades were all post 2008.
-RE: Handles. The black handle should be nice evidence, but it could have been painted. We really don't need that info though, because their are so many other telling facts. Even if the handle was painted black, most versions have been eliminated on other factors. So again, while not definitive on its own, for "quick reference" shopping, the black handle is definitely something to look out for.
THE VERDICT!
Now that we have eliminated what couldn't possibly be "the one" from a HUGE field, we are left with a pretty narrow window of what actually could.
1977-79 (ser#s 044016 - 085000). All these knives have:
-Black Armorhide handle
-Wide Wasp Blade with 8tpi
-Black leather "pointed" sheath (with contours to mirror style of 'wide wasp' blade)
*possible variable is if someone had 2nd half of 1976 knife that they swapped sheaths on.
The good news is that based on the chart, 1978 was the year the 2nd most Gerber Mk2s were produced and that 3 year stretch included 30,500+ knives made. I'm not a knife collector, but that doesnt strike me as super "rare". Also Hudson's Gerber was NOT a "war-time" weapon and hopefully the prices you find will reflect that. If they dont, argue the guy down. The 77-79s aren't that "special" compared to other Mark IIs so use that in your haggling.
Hope someone finds this useful and happy hunting!