Al Mar 5003 Fisher-Collectors knife 1 of a kind-Engraved and Scrimshaw handle

Description

A rare collectors piece offered for sale.
One of a kind piece.
Comes with leather sheath.
It has been on display or in the safe all theseyears.
All original never used.
Overall length is 8 inches blade is 41/4in.
Below a little history.
One of a kind collectors piece from Al Mar's personalcollection.
The knife was commissioned for a feature article which ranin knife magazine.
I purchased it fromMr. Mar back in 1983.
Al Mar was born in the US, a son of Chinese immigrants. Marserved in a Special Forces Reserve unit and in the late 1950s volunteered toserve in Vietnam with a special project using all-Asian Special Forcessoldiers. The project was run from Okinawa.
Mar went on to become a packaging designer and eventuallythe head of knife design for Gerber Legendary Blades in 1968.
Gerber's head designer had retiredand Pete Gerber gave Mar the task of coming up with an aluminum handle for akitchen knife. Gerber thought the project was very successful and offered Marthe position of design chief.
In 1979, Mar left Gerber to form his own company: Al MarKnives
The knives were manufactured in
Seki City
, Japan in a 1000 year-old swordmaking facility; Al Mar knives have been made by the firms of Mitsuboshi,Kencrest Corp, Sakai, Fujita, and Hattori.
With thefounding of Al Mar Knives, Mar aimed to blend custom knife quality with massproduction methods. Drawing on his experiences as martial artist with blackbelt rankings in
judo
and
kendo
, and his history asa Green Beret, the majority of Al Mar Knives were initially designed for policeand military use. However, as the company evolved the designs merged frommartial to hunting, fishing, and kitchen knives.
TheAl Mar
SERE
knife was the first knife accepted for use by
SpecialForces Colonel Nick Rowe
for theSERE Instructor School at Camp McCall, North Carolina.
The SERE was the first factory-madeproduction knife to sell for more than US0 in the United States.
Al Mar diedin 1992 from an aneurysm. The color guard provided for his memorial service wasdrawn from the reserve Special Forces company then stationed at the PortlandAir National Guard base. Mar had supported the unit for some time and was anhonorary member of the company.
The metal engraving is done by ValadeDated 6-11-82
The Scrimshaw is done by M. GostnellDated 9-9-82