Summary: a very interesting S-Guard fighter made by Charles Hipp after Ralph left the company. I think the 81 on the back side of the blade means the knife was made in 1981, if correct this little beauty is about 40 years old.

This knife has a 5-1/2” mirror polished blade, brass S-guard, black & brass spacers, wood handle and brass butt cap. The knife appears unused although there are a few handling marks on the blade and tarnish / patina on the brass hardware. A few light handling marks on the wood handle but no cracks. All said and done, I’d rate the knife about a 7.5 to 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The roughback sheath was made by Johnson’s Leather, same sheath maker that supplied sheaths for Randall and Lile back in the day Stamped 1-6 on the back, could have been made for a Randall fighter but now 40 years later it’s nearly impossible to know if the sheath is original to the knife or not. Either way, the sheath itself is probably worth $100-$150 stand alone even with the keeper strap snap broken. (an easy repair as snaps can be replaced) The sheath is in excellent condition, the stone has been used but certainly not on this knife.

10 photos for review – I’ll ship the knife inside the sheath and pack everything carefully so it can’t end up moving around during transit. Ralph Bone knives and those made by Charles Hipp are quite collectible, check my other two listings for a couple of really neat Bone daggers. (one Bone and one Hipp) Thanks and good luck.