THE FIRST Gil Hibben PROTOTYPE Rambo III Bowie Knife, No Reserve!

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This is THE original Gil Hibben prototype RamboIII Bowie knife, and it's in pristine mint condition! This knife was the prototype knife for all the Rambo III knives made. This knife was hand made by Gil Hibben for United Cutlery, when United was in Sevierville, Tennessee. The knife measures 17-1/2" overall with an 11-3/4" saber-ground clip-point blade that is marked on the left side with the Hibben Knives logo, "Louisville, Kentucky" and with Gil Hibben's signature. The right side of the blade is unmarked. The guard is marked: "Rambo III". There are no other markings on the knife. The guard and pommel are stainless. Gil Hibben did not start serial numbering his handmade Rambo III knives until later- when the movie came out, the demand for Gil Hibben's handmade knives expanded, and his later handmade Rambo III knives are serial numbed. The handle is black laminated, impregnated hardwood. The spacers are black; the guard and pommel are stainless. This knife is considerably larger than a standard production Rambo III knife; this knife weighs a little over two pounds; the production Rambo III knife weighs about 1-1/4 pounds. The overall length of this first prototype knife is 17-1/2", compared to 16-3/16" for the production Rambo III knife; the blade length of this prototype is 11-3/4", compared to an 11" blade on the production knives. If you have a look at the photos below, the last three photos are of a production Rambo III knife, placed next to this prototype Rambo III. The knife in front in the photo is the production Rambo III; this prototype is the one in back . That way, we figured you could get a better idea of just how much larger this prototype knife is. (We didn't photograph the blade thicknesses, but the production Rambo III is 1/4" thick; this first prototype Rambo III's blade is 5/16" thick. ) And this original Gil Hibben prototype Rambo III is in its original brown leather prototype sheath, also! (Of course, due to the larger size of this prototype knife, its sheath is larger than the production knife's sheath.) This knife and its sheath are in an original Rambo III zipper case, with: "Rambo III" and the Hibben Knives logo on it. With this knife is a letter from David Hall, President of United Cutlery when United was in Sevierville, Tennessee, and when this knife was made. Here are some exerpts from that factory letter: "...This letter is about a Gil Hibben prototype Rambo III knife that you got from me. This knife is the original one, hand made by Gil Hibben, which we copied to make our production knives. You will note that it is about a pound heavier than our production Rambo III knives, and the blade is 11-3/4" long, and 5/16" thick. In comparison, the blades on our production knives are 11" long and 1/4" thick... the handle of our production knives is made of brown laminated, impregnated hardwood. This prototype knife's handle is made of impregnated black hardwood. The knife is marked on the left side of the ricasso with the Hibben Knives logo and: "Louisville, KY", with Gil Hibben's signature. There is no serial number. The guard is marked: "Rambo III". This knife is in its original brown leather sheath, which is unmarked; knife and sheath are in the original zipper case, marked: "Rambo III", and with the Hibben Knives logo. For more information about United Cutlery prototypes, please refer to the general letter I wrote you about our prototype marking practices, and how they evolved. Best Personal Regards, David Hall President, United Cutlery" You get this original letter from David Hall, President of United Cutlery, with the knife, together with a copy of the general United Cutlery letter about prototypes (see below). We got the knife when we bought the contents of the United Cutlery sample room, a number of years ago--when United ... read more

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