The Gerber Mark II is a fighting knife manufactured by Gerber Legendary Blades from 1966 to 2000, with an additional limited run of 1500 in 2002, and full production resuming as of July 2008. It was designed by retired United States Army Captain, Clarence A. “Bud” Holzmann, who based the pattern on a Roman Mainz Gladius .
7-590: At 12.75 inches (32.39 cm) long it has a 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) 420 HC stainless steel double edged spear point wasp-waisted blade, weighs 8 ounces, and has a die cast aluminum handle. It has a distinctive look similar to that of the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife developed during World War II for the British Commandos . The Mark II was commonly carried by troops for the United States in
14-403: A grip similar to that of a fencing foil. This design feature led to a significant number of knives being returned by users for having a "bent blade", so Gerber discontinued that element on subsequent production runs. In the 1970s, the military's base/post exchanges discontinued selling these knives, reasoning that they were "not in good taste" or "too brutal". Al Mar , then working for Gerber as
21-596: A knife designer, added the sawtooth serrations toward the hilt, marketing the knife as a "survival aid", making it more appealing to the PX System, which resumed selling the Mark II as a survival knife , rather than a fighting knife. Gerber manufactured a scaled down version of the Mark II known as the Mark I. The Mark I had a 4.75 inch (12 cm) blade and was marketed as a boot knife . Wasp waist Wasp waist
28-419: Is a women's fashion silhouette, produced by a style of corset and girdle , that has experienced various periods of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its primary feature is the abrupt transition from a natural-width rib cage to an exceedingly small waist, with the hips curving out below. It takes its name from its similarity to a wasp 's segmented body. The sharply cinched waistline also exaggerates
35-578: The Vietnam War , and was second only to the Ka-Bar knife in fame. The MK II was the suggested blade in Paladin Press 's controversial how to book, Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors . During the Vietnam War , the first production run of this knife had a five degree offset between the blade and the grip in order to ride in the sheath more comfortably, and give the user
42-485: The hips and bust . In the 19th century, while average corseted waist measurements varied between 23 and 31 inches (58 and 79 cm), wasp waist measurements of 16 to 18 inches (41 to 46 cm) were uncommon and were not considered attractive. Ladies' magazines told of the side effects of tight lacing, proclaiming that "if a lady binds and girds herself in, until she be only twenty-three inches, and, in some cases, until she be only twenty-one inches, it must be done at
49-622: The expense of comfort, health, and happiness." Fashions instead created the illusion of a small waist, using proportion, stripe placement, and color. Retouching photographs was sometimes used to create the illusion of a wasp waist. Extreme tight lacing (15–18 in or 38–46 cm) was a fad during the late 1870s and 1880s, lasting until around 1887. Among the multitude of medical problems women suffered to achieve these drastic measurements were deformed ribs , weakened abdominal muscles , deformed and dislocated internal organs , and respiratory ailments. The displacement and disfigurement of
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